Google Photos started as the default gallery app on Android and eventually became a one-stop solution for backing up media files, editing photos and videos, and creating beautiful memories. Google Photos’ editing capabilities have evolved to a stage where the majority don’t need a separate photo editing app to make small adjustments. Most of the editing features in Google Photos are limited to Android or iOS apps, so you won’t find the same features in Google Photos for the web on Windows, Mac, ChromeOS.
Not all editing features in Google Photos are available for free accounts. Some editing features in Google Photos have a colorful circular icon, which requires an active Google One subscription. You must subscribe to one of the Google One plans to unlock additional storage and editing features.
1. Enhance your photos
Google Photos has a default Suggestions tab that offers editing options based on an image. You can check suggestions like Luminous, Radiant, Stormy, B&W Portrait and Color Pop to make changes with a single tap.
- Launch Google Photos on your phone and select a photo you want to edit.
- Press Edit on the bottom.
- Try the suggestions to improve your image.
- We used Color pop suggestion. Check out the final image in the screenshot below.
Dozens of photo editing suggestions can overwhelm you. If you are unsure which option to use, press Improve button and let Google Photos make relevant adjustments to improve a photo.
2. Try Google Photos filters
Filters have become the norm for gallery apps, and Google Photos is no exception.
- Open the Google Photos editing menu (see steps above).
- Scroll left to Filters Menu.
- Check the available filters to use. Tap a filter to check the live preview.
- The filters are set to 100% intensity. You can press the same filter button to adjust it using a slider.
3. Crop or rotate an image
Want to remove that annoying friend who makes a weird face in a photo? You can easily crop or rotate an image in Google Photos.
- Open a photo in Google Photos and tap Edit button.
- Select Crop and tap the first rectangle icon to check the available aspect ratios.
- Tap the third icon to manually crop an image to your preferences.
You cannot resize an image in Google Photos. The company should add the feature in a future update.
Google Photos has several tools to change the appearance of the sky, apply a blur effect, remove unnecessary objects from an image and enhance portraits.
- Open the Google Photos editing menu (check the steps in the first part).
- Scroll to Tool Menu.
- Select a tool.
The available tools are:
- Portrait light: Adjusts the position and brightness of portraits.
- Obscurity: Adds a background blur to your photos. You can adjust the depth and blur intensity.
- Magic eraser: Removes photobombs from images. It is limited to a few units.
- Color focus: Desaturates the background and keeps the foreground in color.
- Heaven: Select multiple palettes to adjust the color and contrast of the sky.
5. Adjust images
Google Photos lets you adjust saturation, shadows, skin tone, white point, HDR, contrast and more.
- Select a photo in Google Photos and press Edit button.
- Scroll horizontally to Adjust.
- Select the option you want to adjust. Use the slider to adjust the intensity.
You will have a lot of fun when you know how to use all the tools. For example, the Saturation tool is a great way to create eye-catching food photos.
6. Comment or add text to photos
Google Photos has a dedicated markup tool for adding comments and text to photos. You can also use a highlighter to point out important details in an image.
- Go to the editing interface in Google Photos (see steps above).
- Select Markup and then select Pen, Highlighteror Text.
- You have seven color options to choose from. However, you cannot change the thickness of the pen and highlighter.
- Press Save copy button when making changes.
7. Export a frame from a video
Google Photos’ video editing features are largely identical to photos. With the Google Photos export frame feature, you don’t need to press the shutter button while shooting videos. The app suggests top frames in a video to detect and export a frame easily. Follow the steps below to check it in action.
- Open any video in Google Photos.
- Play the video or use the timeline slider to jump to a specific part. You may notice white dots above the video slider. It suggests top images in a video.
- Tap a white dot and select Export top images.
- Select Export frame and save the image in the Camera folder.
- To export a video frame to your phone gallery, use the video timeline below.
- Go to Library menu and open Camera folder to check the exported frame.
Google Photos also shows editing suggestions based on the photo or video. You need to upload the media to the Google Photos servers to allow it to scan the image and show suggestions accordingly.
8. Stabilize your shaky video
If your phone doesn’t have OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), you may end up with shaky videos. Shooting videos in dark scenarios is challenging without OIS or gimble stabilization. You also get blurry videos due to shaking. Google Photos has a neat add-on to stabilize such videos on the go.
- Open any video in Google Photos.
- Press Edit button at the bottom.
- Tap the rectangle icon and let Google Photos stabilize the video.
It may take some time to complete the stabilization process. The estimated time depends on the phone’s CPU power. When video stabilization is complete, tap Save copy button in the lower right corner.
9. Edit date and time
If you want to change the date and time of a photo or video, you can easily do so in Google Photos.
- Open any photo or video in Google Photos.
- Press the kebab menu (three dots) in the upper right corner.
- Press pencil icon next to the date and time.
- Select date or time from the bottom menu and make adjustments.
When you change the date, the app adjusts the day accordingly.
Google Photos is more than enough for most of us
After slowing development on Snapseed, Google has been steadily bringing its features to Google Photos. Apart from editing photos, you can create new collages and movies and even hide confidential media in a locked folder.
