ACD-See Studio for Mac 2026 – Not Lightroom But Not Bad

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few weeks ago the folks at ACDSee reached out and asked if I’d like to review the new version of Photo Studio for Mac.

I hope they won’t think too unkindly of me if I admit that I was much less enthused by the prospect of testing this software than I would be if someone like DXO or Capture One came knocking at my door. And that’s because this app and I have a bit of history.

The first version I reviewed was version 8 back in late 2021, and even though I reviewed four subsequent versions (including two Windows builds), the old quality dial never budged much further than ‘competent’ and certainly didn’t stray into ‘impressive’ territory. Then I fell off ACDSee’s Christmas card list for a couple of years, and since they didn’t reach out to me, I assumed that nothing much had changed with the app and they could well do without a ‘non-affiliate’ review.

But here we are at the tail end of 2025 and I’ve been welcomed back into the ACDSee fold. Does this mean they’ve finally got their shit together and actually upgraded their app?

Short version: wasn’t exactly counting the days for this, yet here we are. Seatbelts on, legends. It’s good news for a change.