Start Your Own Project: #6 Review of Photo Edit Apps

Photography

Here Are Some of the Photo Editing Apps I've Tried

Since moving to the city I've started the Chicago Neighborhoods Project. I'm in the process of visiting and photographing architecture in all 77 community areas of the city.

I've tried some different types of editing software to produce my finished photos. I work as cheap and simple as possible--which means easy to use programs available for free.

Finding the Right Software

Before you begin trying out some of the photo editing apps, I recommend reading my previous blog post about advice for using the camera on your phone. Before you select a photo editor, you want to be sure it's going to be compatible with the equipment you plan to use. So you'll need to decide on your camera and/or computer hardware first.

Finding the Right Media

The best camera and equipment is suited to where you plan to ultimately showcase your project. Which means first, before choosing the equipment, the very first step is to decide on what primary media you plan to use for your content. Video has different requirements from photography. If you're planning mainly audio, what best captures sound? See my previous blog post about deciding where to post the content you create for your project.

Reviews

Once you've decided on your needs and equipment, below are some apps I've tried and liked. I recommend playing around with several different choices to find what works best for you. If you're relying on free downloads, like I do, keep in mind they can be discontinued. So it's good to be familiar with more than one.

Fotor

Review of Fotor at Stuff

Review of Fotor at maketecheasier

There's a lot to recommend Fotor. The best feature is that it's compatible with a wide range of devices. You should be able to use it on both mobiles and computers, although the reviews said Android can be dicey. I've tried it in the past on iPhone and Windows on my computer. It worked fine.

I stopped using it because most of the advanced features used to cost money. Recently they've made a number of upgrades free. A sticking point for me is Fotor HDR still costs $1.99. I know two bucks isn't much money, but reviewers are pointing out that Fotor may start slowly charging for the upgrades again as you get hooked on the software. You should be fine if you just want the basic features.

The basic program is good for fixes like making photos brighter or adding saturation. If someone is looking for simple enhancements, this can be enough. Fotor also offers a number of pre-set adjustments to add to photos. I'm never happy with the auto settings for special effects. I have a background in art and design, so I want to fine tune the features myself. The auto is good for people not interested in learning those skills.

Aviary

Review of Aviary at PC mag

Review of Aviary at Android Apps Review

If (okay, when) Picasa doesn't work anymore, I will look at switching to Aviary on my computer. I've used it on my mobile phone with nice results, except I learned my eyes aren't good enough to edit photos on a small screen only. I later realized I'd made the photos too dark.

Aviary is compatible with a range of devices and has lots of fun features. If you need a program to use on your computer, this is a good bet. If you are going to edit on a mobile device only, I would recommend Snapseed over Aviary.

Photo Edited with Aviary

Snapseed

Review of Snapseed at techradar

Snapseed is the most fabulous app for editing landscape photos I have ever tried. I particularly like the Drama, HDR Scape, Grunge, and Grainy Film filters. I also like I can edit my photos until they look more like artwork than photographs.

A couple years ago Google bought Snapseed and ruined it. First, they got rid of the desktop version. Then they proceeded to eliminate of some of the best editing features, claiming they thought it was too difficult for most users. It's the only time I've gone to a product review to leave one star and complain.

About a month ago I noticed an interesting photo. The composition was rather plain, but the finishing effects were fabulous. It reminded me of the old Snapseed. I still had the app on my phone. I tried it out and sure enough, Google has been quietly restoring some old features.

I need to spend more time using Snapseed. I still need to learn how to create photos with drama which aren't quite so dark. I wish they would bring the desktop version back. As a side note, I enhance colors, but I generally don't add new colors or try to remove anything from the photo. I'm happy using Snapseed because I don't need tools as advanced as full Photoshop.

Original Photo

Edited with Snapseed (and Picasa)

Picasa

Review of Picasa at tom's guide

Review of Picasa at tech crunch

Has Google learned from their Snapseed disaster? It remains to be seen. Google has bought and owns several overlapping software products and services. The rumor is Picasa is going to be eliminated in favor of some of their other products. They have already gotten rid of an associated web photo album. 

Picasa has never been developed into a mobile app, doesn't support photos stored in the cloud, and isn't being further developed or supported by Google anymore. One of these days it probably will stop working all together.

I still use it because it has functions I haven't found anywhere else. The HDR is awful, but I like a lot of the others. The first thing I always do when editing my photos is adjust them to be brighter. Picasa has a nice auto adjust button. Same for auto contrast. I will continue to tinker with the brightness as I edit, but the auto is a good first step.

Even if I have done some editing of photos while they were still on my phone, I will finish with Picasa. One of the features I really like is that it can easily add my name as a watermark on the bottom right of the photo. While not a slick logo like some photographers use, it works really fast, allowing me to do a high volume of photos.

Picasa easily makes a set of my edited photos into a movie. I then add additional slides with info about me and where to find my project on social media. When I upload the movie to YouTube I have built in advertising for my project.

As a final piece of advice, I would tell everyone to store their photos somewhere like One Drive. Don't rely on being able to retrieve edited photos from websites, such as Instagram or a web album. The companies and technologies can disappear in a flash.

Photo of East Garfield Park edited in Picasa