Apple Adds Advanced Editing Features to Photos App in macOS High Sierra

Alongside a bunch of hardware announcements—new iMacs, the iMac Pro, and a new iPad Pro—Apple also took some time at the WWDC to announce a new macOS: High Sierra. Jokes about this “fully baked” operating system aside, the new OS adds some intriguing “pro-level” editing features to the Photos app.

Ever since the death of Aperture, the Apple faithful have been waiting (and waiting… and waiting) for the Photos app to “catch” up. Many people have given up, but with the release of the so-called macOS High Sierra, Apple is finally giving the Photos app some ‘pro-level’ photo editing love.

In addition to a persistent sidebar (we welcome this feature back from the iPhoto days) and some easy-to-use photo organization tools (a new selection counter, drag and drop interface, batch rotation and favoriting, etc.), Apple added a few “advanced editing tools” that have been sorely lacking in Photos.

Namely: Photos in macOS High Sierra will now include Levels, Curves, Definition, Sharpness, Noise, and Selective Color adjustment tools.

And if the tools inside Photos aren’t quite enough, the app now plays nicer with Photoshop and other third-party editors.

You can now open an a picture in a third‑party photo editing app like Photoshop, Pixelmator, DxO Optics Pro and more directly from Photos, and any edits you make in those apps will automatically be saved to your Photos library:

Of course, neither of these updates make Photos a professional editor of choice, but it does make the app a lot more appealing as a “home base” where you can organize your library. The advanced editing features allow you to apply some edits in-app, and third-party integration means you can easily jump between Photos and Photoshop without losing edits or multiple exports.

It’s not Aperture reborn… but it’s a step in the right direction.

To learn more about Photos in macOS High Sierra, click here and scroll down to the Photos section. macOS High Sierra with all of its Photos and non-Photos related updates will be available to the general public “this Fall,” but if you want to get your hands on it early, a Public Beta will launch at the end of June.