Certified Animation Professional (CAP) Practice Test 2026 - Free Practice Questions and Exam Study Guide

The primary software used for editing images and combining them realistically is Adobe Photoshop. This program is widely recognized for its robust editing capabilities, allowing users to manipulate photographs and create complex compositions with various layers, filters, and adjustments. Photoshop's extensive toolkit caters to professionals in graphic design, photography, and digital art, enabling intricate work such as photo retouching, creating composite images, and applying effects that enhance the realism of images.

Adobe Illustrator, while powerful for vector graphics, is more focused on drawing and design rather than photo editing. Adobe Animate is geared toward creating animations and interactive content, which is a different application altogether. Adobe After Effects is specialized for motion graphics and visual effects, often used to create animations for videos but not primarily for image editing or realistic combination of images. This distinction underscores why Adobe Photoshop is the go-to software for realistic image editing and composition.