Snapseed Filters

A filter is a built-in effect inside Snapseed. It changes colour, tone, or texture in one tap, and you can change its strength after you pick it.

A preset is a saved set of edits. It can come from a Look you saved, or from a QR Look you scanned, and it applies the same edits to a new photo.

A Look is the name Snapseed gives to a saved set of edits. A QR Look is a Look shared as a QR code, so another phone can scan it and apply the same edits.

Drama adds texture and contrast, so fine detail stands out more. It suits photos with strong shapes, such as stone, wood, and old buildings.

Use a light touch on faces and soft skies, because a strong Drama setting can make skin look harsh and skies look dirty.

Vignette darkens or lightens the edges of a photo, so the eye moves to the centre. It suits portraits and single subjects, and it can add a moody feel.

Keep the edge change soft. A hard dark ring pulls attention to the frame instead of the subject.

White Balance fixes colour casts from the light in the scene. A photo shot under warm bulbs can look yellow, and a photo shot in shade can look blue.

White things should look white, not yellow or blue. Skin tones are a good check, because a wrong setting makes skin look too red, too yellow, or too pale.

Curves lets you change tones point by point. You can lift dark areas, pull down bright areas, and shape contrast without changing the whole photo at once.

Small moves work best. One large move can make the photo look flat or make shadows turn grey.

Tune Image holds the main light controls, including Highlights and Shadows. Highlights change the bright parts, and Shadows change the dark parts.

Lower Highlights to bring back detail in a bright sky. Raise Shadows to show detail in dark areas, but stop before the photo looks washed out.

Selective changes one part of a photo and leaves the rest alone. It suits a dark face in a bright scene, or a dull sky over a bright subject.

Place the point on the area you want to change. Pinch to make the area larger or smaller before you change the value.

Brush paints an effect onto part of a photo. You can change Exposure, Saturation, or Temperature in one area, such as a face or a patch of sky.

Paint with short strokes and check the result often. A heavy pass in one spot shows as a clear edge.

A custom colour filter is a set of edits you build yourself. Start with Tune Image for brightness, contrast, and saturation, then use Curves to shape the tone.

Try a Look such as Vintage or Glamour Glow as a start, then change it with Tune Image until it fits your taste. Save the finished edit as a Look in the app, so you can use it on other photos.

To share it, make a QR Look from the saved Look in the app. The QR code holds the edit settings only, not the photo.

A filter never looks the same on every photo. Light, colour, and subject change the result, so a setting that suits one photo can look wrong on the next.

Lower the strength first. If the photo still looks wrong, undo the filter and start with Tune Image, then add the filter at a lower strength.