How to Edit Photos on Your Phone to Look Professional

It isn’t always necessary to use complicated or expensive editing software to get the job done. Using your phone and free editing software can also do the trick.

Let’s begin.

Download Snapseed from the app store. (I like Snapseed because it’s simple and easy to use and provides wonderful tools to edit a photo.)

Import your photo from your gallery to Snapseed.

From Styles select Portrait as this will give the image a slightly softer look. Most smartphones tend to oversharpen their photos during post-processing, not sure why.

The settings we’ll be focusing on are Tune image and Lens blur. (Using these two tools are more than enough to get you started. We’ll get into the other tools in a different tutorial.)

Click on Tune image, and a series of settings will pop up with which you can play around with.

All of these photos were taken with a Samsung A70

Photo 1

From original to Snapseed edit
From Snapseed edit to Lightroom mobile edit

Settings:

Brightness +50
Contrast +20
Saturation +20
Highlights +20

Below is an example of how I used the blur setting to create my desired effect. You can pinch the circle to change the size and shape.

Blur strength +20
Transition +35
Vignette strength +10

To get the specific colour scheme I imported the photos into Adobe Lightroom for mobile and used my personal presets. They’ll be up for grabs soon.

Photo 2

From original to Snapseed edit
From Snapseed edit to Lightroom mobile edit

Settings:

Brightness +50
Contrast +20
Saturation +20
Highlights -50

Blur strength +20
Transition +30
Vignette strength +50

Photo 3

From original to Snapseed edit
From Snapseed edit to Lightroom mobile edit

Settings:

Brightness -10
Contrast +50
Saturation +10
Ambience -15
Highlights +51

Blur strength +15
Transition +5
Vignette strength +60

Photo 4

From original to Snapseed edit

Settings:

Brightness +30
Contrast +30
Ambience -20

Blur strength +20
Transition +20
Vignette strength +20

And that’s it. Sweet and simple. If you liked it and found it helpful don’t just keep it to yourself, share it with your friends!

Categories

Foundation of Photography

Phone Photography Tips

Photography Tips

24 Comments

  1. aparna12 March 10, 2022

    Wow. It’s so amazing.

  2. Sheree March 10, 2022

    Very interesting! I just occasionally crop my photos but, after reading your tips, and seeing the results, maybe I should experiment a bit more. Thank you

  3. Anonymous March 10, 2022

    Thank you for the tips! I’m using Snapseed, too! Very user-friendly for someone non-techie like me!

  4. Kate @ Feathered Turtle Press March 10, 2022

    These are really helpful, thank you!

  5. Anonymous March 10, 2022

    Thank you for article!!! It was interesting to download the app and try it out. I will use it as a from of expression.

  6. Ahmed Ali March 10, 2022

    Beautiful

  7. Jessie Snaps March 10, 2022

    These are great! Snapseed is such a great app

  8. Alessandra Chaves March 10, 2022

    Cool tips! Yes, smartphones do get everything in focus and sharp!

  9. sandyroybessandbugzy March 10, 2022

    Thank you. I have shared this and will try it.

  10. Terry March 11, 2022

    Snapseed is my fave editing app. Thanks for sharing your settings for the different effects!

  11. fajarlatif March 11, 2022

    That’s wonderful. The pink flower looks amazing

  12. ranonymuse March 11, 2022

    Absolutely amazing work!

  13. Aletta – nowathome March 11, 2022

    Sal dit beslis gaan probeer! Dankie vir die wenke!

    1. Wandering Ambivert March 11, 2022

      Groot plesier!

  14. Mimu March 13, 2022

    Thanks! I’m going to try this out!

    1. Wandering Ambivert March 14, 2022

      Goodluck and have fun!

  15. Collin March 14, 2022

    Awesome tips and apps

  16. Collin March 14, 2022

    Really awesome tips

    1. Wandering Ambivert March 15, 2022

      Glad I could help šŸ™‚

  17. Two Heads Are Better Than One March 15, 2022

    Very interesting article I’m going to give this app a go. Thank you for sharing.

    1. Wandering Ambivert March 18, 2022

      Goodluck and have fun! šŸ™‚

  18. Study Cravers March 19, 2022

    Thank you For sharing your Amazing Tips……

  19. JoAnn March 21, 2022

    Thanks for sharing all of the great tips and photos.

    1. Wandering Ambivert March 22, 2022

      My pleasure šŸ™‚

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