8 tricks you do not know to use Snapseed

Social networks play a fundamental role in the dissemination of the photographs we take, since we upload them to applications such as Instagram, Facebook, we even share them on WhatsApp. We use our smartphones to continuously take pictures, whether of family, travel, parties, etc. And we want them to be perfect, and what better than use the Snapseed application, and if it is knowing a few tricks in handling the application better than better.

Therefore we are going to see some tricks that make the task easier for us, and have some great photos so that everyone can enjoy them, and get more “likes” and “likes”.

As we already know Snapseed is a photo editing applications produced by Nik Software, now owned by Google, for iOS and Android that allows users to take photos and apply digital filters. With more than a million downloads and a 4,6 star rating, we can say that it is the application that reigns in today's photo editing scene.

Snapseed
Snapseed
Developer: Google LLC
Price: Free

Snapseed

Let's now get to know this tool a little more and see what we find as soon as we open it: a "+" symbol to add our chosen photo to edit. Once done, you will see that there are a number of filters on the screen with different names, such as Portrait, Smooth, Pop, Accentuate and many more.

In this case I have chosen this photo, and the Pop filter, we are now going to apply the following tools that we will find:

Snapseed

You can choose to apply it or not, but if you are looking for a finish similar to that reflected in these filters, apply it, and Even if you are not happy with the result, do not worry. We will work on it as a base and we will treat it with the different tools that Snapseed has, and obtain the best possible result.

As you can see, there are a multitude of options and tools at our disposal. Let's talk about the first one:

Enhance Photo

It is the main tool that will modify values ​​such as brightness, contrast, saturation, shadows, warmth, etc. But at the top of the screen we can see "Brightness" which is the first option that comes out by default.

You already know that if you slide your finger on the screen to the left or right, you will raise or lower the values. And by doing it down or up you will be able to choose between the available options "Enhance photo”, And that we have already mentioned.

The option "Highlights”For example it allows us enhance areas of the photo that have been "burned" or very light. With the option "shadows" if we raise the values ​​we can obtain more information about the photo in question. If you don't like the quiet result, we've just started working with Snapseed, and there is still homework.

Snapseed

Details

In the next option of Tools we have "Details", Where we can define"Modular"And"Sharpness improvement”. Values ​​that will give us more information and will help define aspects and details of the edited photograph. If you take it to its maximum values ​​you will be able to appreciate it, but the interesting thing is that you keep trying until you reach the desired result.

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Everything we can do with this application does not end here, since in the following option:

curves

Hold on, curves are coming, as the expression says ... we will be able to modify as its own name indicates color curves, interesting since we can modify main colors of the photograph such as red, blue and green.

We choose the desired color that we want to modify, for example, if the photo came out very bluish due to the incidence of a lamp, or a very close light with this option we can lower that tone. It is an option that repairs parts of the photo that we do not like very much, but it is something that you have to touch little if you are not very expert in the field, since they can spoil the final result. Therefore we recommend varying just enough to continue editing.

Snapseed

White Balance

The next tool that we are going to use is the “White Balance”. In this option that we will use with great care, so as not to spoil the photograph, We must use it so that the whites that appear in the photograph are really white, and not yellow or dirty.

If something appears in your photograph that was originally white, but it comes out yellow or bluish, if we manage to modify it in such a way that it comes out as white as possible again, we will generally have the rest of the colors very well represented. But you already know that it will depend on the photography itself, that it will never be the same.

Expand

Another tool that we find is called Expand, and it is another spectacular function that allows us to expand the size of the images by automatically filling in the new workspace that we have created, we can add sky to that landscape photo that has been a little short at the top, increase the upper or lower part of a building that has been unbalanced ...

The work done on our photo can be spectacular, but we should not abuse it too much since it would be artificial and a final result not very showy.

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In the photo you see I have made the option on all four sides, slightly enlarging the sky and the walls of the wall on the left and the facade on the right. Thus giving another sensation to photography.

What the application does is replicate the texture closer to the edge to give us more space. Obviously, the result will depend to a large extent on the complexity of the texture, but in the case of ceilings or walls, what it achieves is surprising. In the same way, it allows us to slightly correct the perspective of the photograph, so if you have been somewhat lopsided, you can modify it to make it look more frontal.

Expand

Selective

With this tool we can edit parts of the photo separatelyIn other words, we have the possibility of modifying, for example, the sky, without altering the façade in this case. It allows us to change options such as brightness, contrast, saturation and the structure of the photo. In this example we have set very high values ​​so that it can be seen as the intensity has varied only in the part of the sky, while the facade has not been affected by these changes.

To know the area that will be affected, you must do with two fingers zoom in or zoom out (zoom in or out) to make this area larger or smaller, and those changes will affect only that area that we determine.

Selective Snapseed

How you see the sky now stands out greatly, without having altered the facade or the wall, and also using the tools that we have seen so far we obtain the result that we see. If you like, you can copy those selected settings, by clicking on the letter that appears when you select this effect, and a series of options will appear, you can paste and copy those settings in a different area of ​​the photo. If it is to your liking you save time and effort, otherwise you erase it and that's it.

Brush

Now let's go with the brush tool that will help you create effects with the subtlety of a painter. It is used to remove or give importance to parts of the photo, to our liking, or to leave some area in black and white, and / or highlight a color.

A single finger swipe on this screen displays a brush that offers advanced editing options. If you want to change the brush size, enlarge or reduce the image. Touch

 to access the menu of brush effects, which apply only to selected areas of the image:

  • Light and exposure: you can subtly lighten or darken them.
  • Exhibition: you can increase or decrease their exposure.
  • Temperature: you can add cold or warm tones to them.
  • Saturation: you can increase or decrease the intensity of the color.

In each brush mode, select 

 o 

 to change its opacity, or "Eraser" to cancel the brush effects in the areas where you have applied them. Touch 

 to preview brush strokes in orange.

Snapseed

If you notice, I have applied the brush on the door of the facade, highlighting the color of the wood, which previously appeared duller in the original photo. How you see at the bottom when selecting the brush, you have options to modify light and exposure, exposure, temperature and saturation. Without a doubt it is just a sample of everything you can do with this Snapseed application.

Look at the result of the original photo to the one edited with Snapseed, I'm not a professional by any means, and the result proves it, but as you can see, you can take a completely different photo with one of the best photo editing apps.

Original

Final result

Double exposure

We all love those photos in which one image appears within another, like the one we are going to see now, with a tower inside a boat.

To use this option of Snapseed, which allows us to be creative to the maximum, we must select the first photo which in this case is that of a boat (You can choose the theme that you like the most, of course), and later edit it to our liking.

When we have it edited with the tools that we have known so far, we must use within Tools: double exposure. Several options appear, with different icons at the bottom, the first is a photograph with a «+» That will allow us to choose the second image that we are going to add to the first one.

The next icon that appears is a series of labels used to apply effects to this second photo such as adding clarity, making it darker or brighter, etc. And lastly, a drop with which we can regulate the intensity of the transparency of this second photo.

We must place the photo to our liking, and in the desired position; regardless of how the rest of the photo we are using looks like and apply the options that we like the most. We give him to accept and… we are not finished.

In addition, the photo has not been as we want, therefore we must click on the undo symbol undo snapseed

at the top of the mobile Then click on «See Editions» and then on «Double exposure». Now A brush appears that we must select and increasing the main image we will use our finger as a brush and depending on how we paint, the second image will appear where we draw, and now we have our edited image ready and the double exposure finished, as we see below.

Double exposure Snapseed

As you can see we can make many improvements to our photography, with a little time and practice these tricks will help us to be artists in photo editing.


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