The top Google Photo editing tricks you need to try today

Google Photos started as the default gallery app on Android and eventually became a one-stop solution to back up media files, edit images and videos, and create beautiful memories. Google Photos’ editing capabilities have evolved to a stage where the majority won’t need a separate photo editing app to make small tweaks.

Not every Google Photos editing feature is available to free accounts. Some Google Photos editing functions carry a colorful circular icon, requiring an active Google One subscription. You must subscribe to one of the Google One plans to unlock more storage and editing features.

1. Enhance your photos

Google Photos has a default Suggestions tab to offer editing options based on an image. You can check suggestions like Luminous, Radiant, Stormy, B&W Portrait, and Color Pop and make changes with a single tap.

1. Launch Google Photos on your phone and select an image you want to edit.
2. Tap Edit at the bottom.
3. Try the suggestions to improve your photo.

4. We used the Color Pop suggestion. Check the final image in the screenshot below.

Dozens of photo editing suggestions can overwhelm you. If you are unsure which option to use, tap the Enhance button and let Google Photos make relevant tweaks to improve an image.

2. Try Google Photos filters

Filters have become a norm for gallery apps, and Google Photos is no exception.

1. Open the Google Photos editing menu (refer to the steps above).
2. Scroll left to the Filters menu.
3. Check all the available filters to use. Tap a filter to check the live preview.

4. All filters are set to 100{f5ac61d6de3ce41dbc84aacfdb352f5c66627c6ee4a1c88b0642321258bd5462} intensity. You can tap the same filter button to adjust it using a slider.

3. Crop or rotate a photo

Do you want to remove your annoying friend making a weird face in the photo? You can easily crop or rotate a photo in Google Photos.

1. Open an image in Google Photos and tap the Edit button.
2. Select Crop and tap the first rectangle icon to check available aspect ratios.
3. Tap the third icon to crop an image manually to your preference.

You can’t resize an image in Google Photos. The company should add the function in the future update.

Google Photos has several useful tools to change the sky look, apply a blur effect, remove unnecessary objects from an image, and improve portraits.

1. Open the Google Photos editing menu (check the steps in the first section).
2. Scroll to the Tools menu.

3. Choose a tool:

• Portrait light: Adjusts the position and light brightness of portraits.
• Blur: Adds a background blur to your images. You can adjust the depth and blur intensity.
• Magic eraser: Removes photobombs from images. It is limited to a few devices only.
• Color focus: Desaturates the background and keeps the foreground in color.
• Sky: Select several palettes to adjust the color and contrast of the sky.

5. Adjust photos

You can adjust saturation, shadows, skin tone, white point, HDR, contrast, and more.

1. Select an image in Google Photos and tap the Edit button.
2. Scroll horizontally to Adjust.
3. Select a relevant option you want to adjust. Use the slider to adjust the intensity.

You’ll have a lot of fun once you know how to use all the tools. The Saturation tool is a great way to create eye-catching food photos.

6. Annotate or add text on photos

Google Photos has a dedicated markup tool to add annotation and text on images. You can also use a highlighter to point out important details in a picture.

1. Head to the editing interface in Google Photos (refer to the steps above).
2. Select Markup and then choose Pen, Highlighter, or Text.

3. You have seven color options to choose from. However, you can’t modify the pen and highlighter thickness.

4. Tap the Save copy button once you make changes.

7. Export a frame from a video

Google Photos video editing features are mostly identical to photos. With the Google Photos export frame feature, you don’t need to press the shutter button while taking videos. You can follow the steps below to export any frame from a video.

1. Open any video in Google Photos.
2. Tap the Edit button at the bottom.
3. Play the video or use the timeline slider to jump to a specific part.
4. Tap Export frame and save the image to the Camera folder.

5. Go to the Library menu and open the Camera folder to check your exported frame.

Google Photos also shows editing suggestions based on the photo or video. You must upload media to the Google Photos servers to let it scan the image and show suggestions accordingly.

Google Photos is more than enough for most of us

After slowing down development on Snapseed, Google has steadily brought its features to Google Photos. Apart from editing images, you can create new collages and movies and even hide confidential media in a Locked Folder. Check our best Android phone recommendations if you want an excellent camera setup on your next purchase.