Editing With Snapseed - Getting The Best Out Of Your Photos

"You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear! ..."

One of the most common statements heard in this day and age of photoshop runs along the lines of:

"Oh.  You just photoshopped it."

People have been manipulating images from the moment the technology existed to create them. Previously manipulation occurred either at the point of shoot, or in the darkroom.  Photographers were always looking for ways to capture the scene in front of their eyes.  Today is no different.  Only now our darkroom is digital.  It is impossible to photoshop a great picture out of a bad one.  You have to start with good raw material.  Editing is about bringing the best out of the picture you took:  colour balancing, contrast, sharpening and the other tools of the digital darkroom all help.

Snapseed is an awesome free app for your phone or tablet.  It allows you to do detailed editing on your images and is a powerful app.  As well as allowing you detailed editing, it also has a set of filters for those of you that like to go that route with your pictures.

Lets take an image of Pompeii and see how we can effect changes to balance the picture.

The Tools

To select your tools, tap the picture, then tap the pencil in the lower right corner.  A selection of tools will appear.  Tap the one that you wish to use.

Most of the tools are self explanatory - but a few are important.

Tune Image: - this is where you will find adjustments for highlights, shadows, contrast, etc.  It's the main place you will work.

Details: - The sharpening and structure tools are here.

Brush: - This allows you to use your finger as a brush and make adjustments to just one part of the picture.

Once you have selected a tool you will be dropped back in your picture.  If you run your finger up and down, a menu will appear and you can select from that.

To use the tool simply run your finger left and right and watch the changes.

Watch the videos below to see how to use the tools and see Snapseed in action.

Simple Editing Using The Tune Image and Details Tools

Editing Isolated Parts Of Your Image

More Photography Tricks and Tips?!  Check Out Our iPhone Photography Series ...
Part One  - What's The What? An introduction to the basics of the iPhone camera
Part Two  - Panorama Mama!  Getting the best out of panorama mode on your camera
Part Four - Going Further! Some great apps to take things further in your photography