Free photo editing for Android devices
Snapseed is a free, Google-owned photography editing software. This app brings the power of a computer editor to your phone with simple-to-use preset filters. Beyond that, for professional or aspiring photographers, there are many tools to edit images in ways that otherwise only exist in expensive photo editing software.
Powerful tool totally for free
What is special about Snapseed is that it was the first totally free image editor. Also, compared to professional software like Adobe Photoshop, it does not fall far shorter in features or effective power to manipulate pictures.
There is a reason that this app has a strong following among the photography community. The tools used here are efficient and do exactly what you ask of them. Nik Software originally developed the app before being bought by Google.
Google supports the app now so the software stays up-to-date. One thing to note as well is the app has an iOS version that is slightly different. The Android version is just as good, and there is a PC version of Snapseed available as well.
How to use Snapseed
Once you have downloaded and installed the Snapseed APK, it’s easy to get started. The opening screen will ask you to select a picture. For the first time, it will ask to be able to access your pictures. Otherwise, you can opt for the tutorial, which is at the top of the screen.
Once you have selected the picture, it will open up to a screen with options at the bottom: looks, tools, and export. The first consists of the preset editing themes. These will automatically change your pictures, much like the Instagram filters.
The tools section has all the things like crop, glamour glow, Noir, and more. These settings help you get exactly what you want from your images. Brushing up your pictures becomes easier by using this. One problem is that there is an overwhelming number of options crammed into one tab.
Finally, remember to export/save your file. You can either save it to your phone, export it as a JPG, export it to a particular folder, or share it directly to social media whether to your story or feed. However, one problem is that Snapseed does not automatically save your picture.
Is Snapseed good?
The quality of what Snapseed does is the next feature. It was designed with mobile phones in mind, so it is easy to use. For example, when changing tones, you can easily control it by sliding right and left to increase or decrease.
These features aren’t always intuitive; however, tutorials help clear up any confusion you might have as a user. You’ll get a better handle on them and be able to apply the knowledge to your edits. The quality of the pictures when they come out is also crisp and clean. It is also able to edit RAW photos.
One of the best things about Snapseed is that through the Stacks, you can have much greater utility. Not only does it allow you to revert what you have done with an edit to an earlier version, but, it also allows one to save the format as a look so that in the future the same settings can be used.
Alternatives
The leading competitor in free apps against Snapseed is VSCO. What is good about the competition is that it has an emphasis on taking pictures allowing you to place settings in advance for taking photos. Beyond not having as strong a feature set in photo editing, VSCO has many things locked away behind the subscription screen.
Adobe’s Lightroom mobile app is technically free and more powerful than Snapseed. Unfortunately, there are many things locked behind a subscription payment. Also, it is not as easy to use as Snapseed. If you are pro, Lightroom would be a better choice, but it is too much otherwise.
The last competitor is Photoshop. The utility of this program goes far beyond merely touching up photos. On the other hand, Snapseed efficiently condenses down all the editing tools while remaining free. If you want a lot of things in one place, Photoshop might be a good purchase.
Excellent picture editing for your phone
The Snapseed mobile app has done an excellent job of being good enough to be extremely useful while not too good not to be free. Even for professional photographers, it is enough while still being easy to use by the learner. Overall it has a good place.
The most recent update made the user interface simplified which made finding everything much smoother. They introduced the perspectives tool which allows you to shift where the focus of the photo is. Finally, 11 new looks were added to the already extensive collection.
