Most of the professional photo editing apps are complicated and have a steep learning curve. But Snapseed comes as a fresh breath of air and combines professional photo editing with ease of work.
Snapseed is a mobile-only photo editing app that is known for its user-friendly interface and powerful editing capabilities.
The software was developed by Nik Software but later, acquired by Google.
And today, this Google product is packed with professional editing tools and can do almost all the fancy things you expect from a professional photo editing app.
Moreover, you’re allowed to share your creation on all the social networks straight from within the mobile app.
And all this, absolutely for FREE that gives you another reason to use this product.
Now:
The most important question is: can it take on the big players like Adobe Photoshop?
Well, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of the tool and see what we get.
Snapseed Pros
#1. What separates Snapseed from most of the other photo editing apps is its dead-simple user-interface.
Google takes a very minimalistic approach with this software, and unlike other tools, working on it is a cakewalk.
When you open the app, you find that all it contains is a big ‘+’ icon in the middle and a few options on the upper side of the screen.
So, just tap on the ‘+’ icon or the ‘Open’ option on the top left corner to import any image.
Similarly, all the different editing tools and effects can be implemented with a single tap once you’ve opened the image.
On top of that, you can always use the in-house tutorials to take your editing skills to the next level.
In short, even a novice can make full use of the app without any additional help. Which can’t be said for most of the heavyweight photo editing apps.
#2. With more than 29 editing tools, Snapseed is like a one-stop-shop for any serious photographer.
You can use the tool to perform all the basic tasks like cropping, rotating, applying different filters, adjusting the brightness, contrast, saturation, and more.
But this is not it.
The mobile app is powerful enough to do most of the tricks you find in professional editing apps.
Some of the notable mentions are:
- changing the background
- removing blemishes from selfies
- portrait mode
- black & white balancing
- adding texts to your images
- lens blur
- and the new ‘face pose’ tool.
Among all these different editing functions, my personal favorites are the ‘lens blur’ and ‘face pose’, aka ‘head pose’ features.
Using the ‘lens blur’ function, the user can blur a specific portion of the image, giving it an impression of a DSLR shot.
You can choose different shapes like star, hexagon, pentagon, etc. to define the area that will be visible.
And once you tap the ‘Okay’ sign, i.e., ‘✓’, the rest of the area is blurred by the app.
Similarly, the ‘Face Pose’ or ‘Head Pose’ tool is handy for all your photos that consist of a single face.
It helps you adjust the focal length, smile, and pupil size of the person’s face.
In other words, if you think the person in the photo is looking quite serious or his/her eyes are partially closed, you can rectify these issues using ‘Head Pose’.
Moreover, you can make the person’s face tilt upwards, downwards, and sideways by simply dragging it towards the desired direction.
Isn’t it amazing?
I used this particular feature on many of my selfies and got incredible results.
However, I would repeat – the tool works only with single face images. So, if it’s a group photo or a selfie with your friend, I would recommend using the ‘portrait’ mode.
#3. Like most of the popular photo editing apps, Snapseed has an in-built sharing feature.
Once you’re done editing your photo, you can tap the ‘Export’ button and share your creation on all the social networks.
Additionally, if you’re not active on any social platform (which is kinda rare), you can also distribute your projects via email or WhatsApp.
#4. Finally, when it comes to device compatibility, the app supports all the smartphones and tablets, whether they’re running on Android or iOS.
And the best part?
You’re free to install the software on as many devices as you want to.
That said, Snapseed also had a desktop version of the software, but Google scrapped the desktop version a few years ago.
So, if you’re looking for a photo editing software for your computer, you might ditch this app altogether.
Snapseed Cons
#1. Like I mentioned in the above point, Snapseed doesn’t have a desktop version of the software. And that’s the only notable drawback of this tool.
However, using some third-party apps like Bluestack Emulator or Andyroid Emulator, you can still install the app on your computer.
#2. Unlike Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom, you don’t get separate cloud storage to store your photos.
Snapseed pricing plans and payment options
Snapseed is free for everyone. No in-app purchases or any hidden costs.
Do I recommend Snapseed?
With more than 100M downloads on Google Play itself and an average rating of 4.6 (after 1M+ reviews), there’s hardly any reason to turn down this Google product.
Snapseed checks all the boxes.
The software is:
- Extremely easy to use.
- Boasts all the features of a professional photo editing app, and above all…
- It is free for everyone.
Of course, the software lacks a desktop version, but you can still make your way by using a third-party app.
So yeah, I definitely recommend using Snapseed to everyone – from novice users to veteran photographers.