Graphic Design

Acorn Image Editor

• Description: User-friendly yet powerful layered image editor; author's preferred tool over Photoshop, Pixelmator, and GIMP for most design tasks.
• Price: Paid

A Mostly Free and Open Source App Collection for Image Workflows

• Description: Roundup of specialized image tools the author uses instead of a monolithic app; covers optimization, conversion, viewing, and editing.
• Price: Mostly Free
• Workflow Tips: Yes — describes combining multiple small tools into a complete image workflow.

Corel Painter

• Description: Professional-grade digital painting app from Corel; reviewed after seeing it on sale; found to still be excellent for illustration and fine art.
• Price: Paid (subscription or one-time purchase)

FlowVision

• Description: Free image viewer for macOS with a clean interface; reviewed shortly after developer's Reddit post.
• Price: Free

ImageOptim

• Description: Free open-source utility combining multiple image optimization tools to reduce file sizes without quality loss; recommended for all Mac users.
• Price: Free / Open Source

Musebox

• Description: Digital asset management app for photos, graphics, and videos; a one-time purchase ($15) alternative to Adobe Lightroom.
• Price: Paid — $15

Octavo

• Description: Focused macOS app for booklet printing and imposition; by veteran Mac developer Amy Worrall; replaces expensive professional imposition software.
• Price: Paid

Putting Mac Apps to Work: Image Management Workflow for Writers

• Description: Detailed workflow post for managing screenshots, stock photos, and web images in a blogging and documentation workflow.
• Price: Varies
• Workflow Tips: Yes — complete image management workflow for writers/bloggers.

ToyViewer

• Description: Free, long-standing graphics viewer and basic image editor; a reliable alternative to Preview.
• Price: Free

Upscayl

• Description: Free and open-source AI image upscaler; enhances and enlarges low-resolution photos using neural networks.
• Price: Free / Open Source

XnConvert

• Description: Free powerful batch image editor and converter supporting 500 input formats and 70+ output formats.
• Price: Free

24 Hour Wallpaper

• Description: Wallpaper app by Jetson Creative that displays time-appropriate wallpapers based on the current time of day.
• Price: Paid