I have a folder on my phone called "Photo Apps" that used to contain 23 apps. Snapseed, VSCO, Lightroom Mobile, TouchRetouch, Photoshop Express, Canva, PicsArt, Focos, ProCamera, and 14 others I downloaded, tried once, and forgot about.
I deleted 18 of them. Here are the 5 that survived and what I use each one for.
1. Lightroom Mobile (Free) — Color and Exposure
What I use it for: White balance correction, exposure adjustment, and batch editing presets.
Why it survived: It's the only mobile app that lets me create and save editing presets, then apply them to a batch of photos. I shoot 20 products, edit the first one to get the color and exposure right, save the settings as a preset, and apply it to the other 19. Consistency in 30 seconds.
The killer feature: The white balance eyedropper. Tap on something that should be white (the background, a white label), and Lightroom corrects the entire color balance. This alone fixes 80% of color issues.
What it can't do: Background removal, resizing for specific platforms, or adding text/graphics.
2. Pic1.ai (Web App) — Background Removal and Platform Sizing
What I use it for: Removing backgrounds, centering products, and exporting at the right size for each platform (Amazon 2500×2500, Shopify square, etc.).
Why it survived: It does the three things I need most — background removal, centering, and sizing — in one step. Other apps require three separate tools for these three tasks.
The killer feature: Platform presets. Select "Amazon" and the output is automatically 2500×2500, pure white background, product centered at 85% fill. No manual sizing or background color selection needed.
What it can't do: Color correction (do that in Lightroom first), infographic creation, or complex compositing.
3. Canva (Free/Pro) — Infographics and Marketing
What I use it for: Creating infographic images (feature callouts, dimension graphics), social media posts, and marketing materials.
Why it survived: Templates. Canva has thousands of product-related templates that I can customize in minutes. I've saved my own templates for Amazon infographics, Etsy banners, and Instagram posts.
The killer feature: Brand Kit (Pro feature). I saved my fonts, colors, and logo, and every new design automatically uses my brand styling. Consistency without thinking about it.
What it can't do: Precise photo editing, high-quality background removal, or batch processing.
4. TouchRetouch ($2) — Spot Removal
What I use it for: Removing small imperfections — dust spots, lint, small scratches, stray threads, background blemishes.
Why it survived: It does one thing perfectly. Tap on a blemish, it disappears. The AI fill is seamless for small spots. I use it on maybe 20% of my photos — the ones where a small imperfection is visible that I missed during shooting.
The killer feature: The line removal tool. Draw along a scratch or a wire, and it removes the entire line cleanly. Perfect for removing visible fishing line in jewelry photos or thin scratches on products.
What it can't do: Anything beyond spot removal. It's a one-trick pony, but it's the best at that trick.
5. ProCamera ($10) — Shooting
What I use it for: Taking the product photos in the first place. Manual control over white balance, ISO, focus, and exposure.
Why it survived: My phone's default camera app doesn't let me lock white balance to a specific Kelvin value. ProCamera does. Setting white balance to 5500K and locking it ensures consistent color across an entire shooting session.
The killer feature: RAW capture. Shooting in RAW gives me more flexibility in Lightroom for exposure and color correction. The files are larger but the editing latitude is worth it for products where color accuracy matters (cosmetics, clothing, food).
What it can't do: Editing. It's purely a capture tool.
The Workflow
- Shoot with ProCamera (RAW, 5500K white balance, manual focus)
- Edit in Lightroom Mobile (white balance fine-tune, exposure, apply preset to batch)
- Spot clean with TouchRetouch (if needed — dust, lint, small blemishes)
- Process through pic1.ai (background removal, centering, platform sizing)
- Create infographics in Canva (feature callouts, dimensions, marketing images)
Total time per product: about 8-10 minutes for 7 finished images.
What I Deleted (And Why)
VSCO: Beautiful filters, but filters aren't appropriate for product photography. Products should look accurate, not stylized.
Snapseed: Good editor, but Lightroom does everything Snapseed does plus batch presets. Redundant.
PicsArt: Too many features, most irrelevant for product photography. Cluttered interface.
Photoshop Express: Decent but the mobile version is limited compared to desktop Photoshop. Lightroom Mobile is better for the specific edits I need.
Focos: Portrait mode/depth effects. Useful for lifestyle shots but I rarely need it for product photography.
The lesson: fewer apps, used well, beats many apps used poorly. Each of my 5 apps has a specific role with no overlap.
For the complete photography workflow, check out my FBA process from phone to listing. And for the lighting setup that makes editing easier, here's the $25 setup.