- The Google Photos Backup app for Mac and PC can automatically back up photos from your Mac or Windows PC to the cloud as well. Sharing: Select one or multiple images or an album and tap the Share.
- I also find editing on iCloud Photos Library to be better than Google Photos. While both apps offer built-in options, due to the deep integration with iOS, third-party apps can also access your library (with permission that can be revoked) to edit your pictures.
- The editing tools on Google Photos are, indeed, pretty weak compared to pro editing tools. If you need to import a picture or two from Google Photos into a desktop image editor, it's easy to download.
- With more than 100 million installs, Prisma Photo Editor is the BEST way to express your artist talent! Join one of the largest creative community who use Prisma Photo Editor as their #1 creative app!
The Mac App Store opens to a selection of third-party photo editing apps that are compatible with Photos. Turn on extensions on your Mac After you install apps that include Photos extensions on your Mac, turn the extensions on. While you can trim videos in Photos for Mac, that's about all the editing you can do. For more, including titles, traditions, and other effects, you have to escalate to iMovie #sadtrombone. If you started or stopped recording a little too early or late, it's easy to remove the excess from the beginning or ending of your video.
Best Mac Photo Editing Software 2019 - Photo Editor Reviews
Recently, we spent over 50 hours testing 10 Mac photo editing programs. We compared the programs' editing capabilities by importing the same group of photos into each one and applying the same edits. We also took into account how easy each program is to use, preferring those that are powerful as well as easy to learn. We further evaluated each software’s photo organizing features, including how many categorization and search options it offers. After all our testing was said and done, CyberLink PhotoDirector Ultra 10 stood out as the best Mac photo editing software. We think it is a good fit for users of any skill level, but it has features that make it especially good for beginners. To find out if this software is a good option for you, check out CyberLink’s 30-day free trial.
Best OverallCyberLink PhotoDirector Ultra 10
PhotoDirector not only offers some of the easiest-to-use editing tools, it also offers one of the best photo organizing systems we've seen.
Best BudgetPixelmator 3.3
Pixelmator 3.3 is easy to learn and costs less than many other programs. It is compatible with a wide range of file types and offers editing tools to enhance your images like a pro.
Best Alternative to PhotoshopAffinity Photo
This software's tools are comparable to Adobe Photoshop. One of the biggest differences between the two programs is Affinity's lower-cost.
Product | Price | Overall Rating | Pricing | Editing Tools | Organizing | File Compatibility & Sharing | Trial | Ease of Use Score | Filter Presets | Editing Tools Score | Photo Organizing Score | Supported Image File Formats | Sharing Options Score | Help & Support Score | Minimum OS X Supported |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CyberLink PhotoDirector Ultra 10 | View Deal | 4.5/5 | 6.8 | 9.5 | 10 | 9.5 | 30 Days | 100% | 42 | 100% | 100% | 7 | 100% | 84% | 10.9 |
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2018 | View Deal | 4/5 | 6.5 | 9.3 | 7.8 | 9.8 | 30 Days | 100% | 98 | 96% | 86% | 10 | 100% | 100% | 10.11 |
Acorn 6 | View Deal | 4/5 | 9.5 | 10 | 2.3 | 10 | 14 Days | 90% | 139 | 99% | 29% | 12 | 100% | 84% | 10.11 |
Corel AfterShot Pro 3 | View Deal | 4/5 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 9.5 | 5 | 30 Days | 100% | 21 | 86% | 86% | 4 | 80% | 100% | 10.9 |
Pixelmator 3.3 | View Deal | 3.5/5 | 9.5 | 7.5 | 4 | 8.8 | 30 Days | 90% | 126 | 89% | 43% | 10 | 80% | 84% | 10.6.6 |
Affinity Photo 5 | View Deal | 3.5/5 | 8.5 | 9.8 | 1.8 | 9.3 | 10 Days | 90% | 36 | 100% | 29% | 10 | 90% | 92% | 10.7 |
PhotoPad Photo Editor | View Deal | 3.5/5 | 10 | 6.5 | 4 | 5.3 | Unlimited | 90% | 15 | 86% | 43% | 6 | 70% | 92% | 10.4.4 |
DxO PhotoLab Elite Edition | View Deal | 3/5 | 5.8 | 5.3 | 8.8 | 5 | 31 Days | 85% | 37 | 76% | 86% | 3 | 80% | 92% | 10.11 |
ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac 4 | View Deal | 3/5 | 6.8 | 3 | 9.5 | 5.3 | 30 Days | 90% | 2 | 68% | 86% | 6 | 60% | 92% | 10.12 |
Luminar 2018 | View Deal | 3/5 | 8 | 6.5 | 1.8 | 7 | 14 Days | 90% | 67 | 81% | 29% | 6 | 80% | 84% | 10.1 |
Best Overall
CyberLink PhotoDirector Ultra 10
PhotoDirector 365 Monthly$14.99
PhotoDirector 365 Yearly$43.99
PhotoDirector 10 Ultra
It's easy for beginners.
The photo organizer is one of the best we've seen.
You need to pay for technical phone support.
Experienced editors might take awhile adjusting to the interface.
CyberLink PhotoDirector Ultra is one of the easiest programs to use, which makes it ideal for beginners.
Experienced users will also find that it offers the tools needed to edit and organize their work. You can arrange your photos using a star rating system, color labels, keyword tags and even by tagging specific people's faces. There is a wide range of editing tools and we found that they work super well when making changes. The object removal tool was especially impressive, removing unwanted elements and replacing the space believably. We also found an easy HDR feature and lens distortion correction tools. Unfortunately, there were no vector graphics tools.
The interface is built differently than many other photo editing programs. Instead of displaying toolbar icons, the program is split into category tabs, which contain various editing tools. Instead of simply clicking on the cloning brush icon in the toolbar, you'll need to click on the 'People Beautifier' tab in the 'Edit' section to access this feature. PhotoDirector works with the most common image file types including PSD, JPG, TIFF and RAW files. This software also makes it easy to post your favorite images directly to Facebook or send your photos to loved ones using email from within the program. You'll find tutorials and a FAQs page on the website. While emailing the company is free, you have to pay for a phone support plan if you want to get technical help.
The interface is built differently than many other photo editing programs. Instead of displaying toolbar icons, the program is split into category tabs, which contain various editing tools. Instead of simply clicking on the cloning brush icon in the toolbar, you'll need to click on the 'People Beautifier' tab in the 'Edit' section to access this feature. PhotoDirector works with the most common image file types including PSD, JPG, TIFF and RAW files. This software also makes it easy to post your favorite images directly to Facebook or send your photos to loved ones using email from within the program. You'll find tutorials and a FAQs page on the website. While emailing the company is free, you have to pay for a phone support plan if you want to get technical help.
Best Budget
Pixelmator 3.3
Pixelmator
This program has background removal software.
The interface is simple and easy for beginners to use.
There are no lens distortion correction tools.
Pixelmator 3.3 is a less-expensive photo editor with advanced editing capabilities. Considering all included tools, this is a very good value.
You get all the basic tools such as red-eye removal, selection tools, and color management, along with more advanced tools like background removal, creative filters and automatic editing options. Unfortunately, while the program works in layers, you cannot apply layer masks to your images. You also cannot easily fix lens distortion, create HDR images or stitch together panoramas with this software. There is no organizing system, so you will have to purchase a dedicated program if you want that capability. You can, however, view your photos' EXIF information.
Pixelmator works with the most common image files, including RAW, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, PSD and PDF. It can also help you optimize your photos for online usage. You can post photos directly onto social media sites such as Facebook, or email photos from within the program, but there is no online photo gallery. Also, you cannot make animated GIFs with this software.
If you want help with Pixelmator, there are various video tutorials, FAQs and even a user forum to help you learn and find answers. If you want to contact a representative, you can do so via email.
Pixelmator works with the most common image files, including RAW, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, PSD and PDF. It can also help you optimize your photos for online usage. You can post photos directly onto social media sites such as Facebook, or email photos from within the program, but there is no online photo gallery. Also, you cannot make animated GIFs with this software.
If you want help with Pixelmator, there are various video tutorials, FAQs and even a user forum to help you learn and find answers. If you want to contact a representative, you can do so via email.
Best Alternative to Photoshop
Affinity Photo
Affinity Photo
It has powerful, professional-level editing tools.
It works with a range of photo image files.
It has a short trial period.
Affinity Photo is one of the most powerful photo editing programs we tested. It didn't score as high as other program since it lacks a photo organizing feature.
You'll find that many of the tools you use in Photoshop are also in this program. In fact, it uses many of the same hotkeys. We were quickly able to remove unwanted objects from our photos with the content-aware fill tool. We counted 42 preset filters in the program that you can quickly add to your images.
We also found it easy to work with and manipulate the various layers as we worked. The program will help you create HDR photos and panoramas using simple step by step windows. There is no lens distortion tool per se, however, you can use the perspective tools to fix any warping caused by your camera. This program can be bought for a one-time purchase of roughly $50, which is much cheaper than Adobe's monthly or yearly subscription plans.
Affinity does offer a free demo of the software, but you'll need to use it quickly as it only lasts for 10 days. There is no photo organizing system built-in to this software so if you're specifically wanting a program that can sort your images, this might not be the best choice for you. We didn't find any printing project resources within the program. It will only allow you to make basic print requests.
We also found it easy to work with and manipulate the various layers as we worked. The program will help you create HDR photos and panoramas using simple step by step windows. There is no lens distortion tool per se, however, you can use the perspective tools to fix any warping caused by your camera. This program can be bought for a one-time purchase of roughly $50, which is much cheaper than Adobe's monthly or yearly subscription plans.
Affinity does offer a free demo of the software, but you'll need to use it quickly as it only lasts for 10 days. There is no photo organizing system built-in to this software so if you're specifically wanting a program that can sort your images, this might not be the best choice for you. We didn't find any printing project resources within the program. It will only allow you to make basic print requests.
Best for Learning Adobe
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2018
The interface is very easy to use.
This program has some of the best editing capabilities.
There are hundreds of video tutorials to help you learn the software.
It doesn't offer batch processing.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2018 is one of the best Mac photo editors on the market. You navigate through the interface by choosing between the Guided, Quick and Expert modes. As expected, Guided mode helps you become acquainted with the various tools. It even offers tutorials and written instructions to fully explain everything.
Quick mode allows you to automatically make common adjustments to your photos, which can save time when you know your enhancements won't take long. You can adjust contrast, brightness and color. The Expert Mode gives you access to all of Photoshop Elements' tools.
There are more than 90 filters that can quickly add artistic effects to your favorite images. It also features advanced tools like content-aware fill, which gets rid of objects in an image and fills the space believably.
Photoshop Elements comes with Elements Organizer 2018, a separate program dedicated to organizing your photos. You can tag photos by time, date, name and rating. While Elements Organizer 2018 allows you to organize and catalogue your photos in a variety of ways, it can get tiresome jumping between the two programs. You can use Elements Organizer 2018 to store your photos directly in the cloud so you can access them anytime, anywhere.
This program is compatible with all the common image file types, including RAW, PDF, PSD, PNG, GIF and TIFF. You can also choose to share your photos directly onto Flickr, Facebook and Twitter. Should you need help, there are dozens of video tutorials online along with user forums and a FAQs page.
There are more than 90 filters that can quickly add artistic effects to your favorite images. It also features advanced tools like content-aware fill, which gets rid of objects in an image and fills the space believably.
Photoshop Elements comes with Elements Organizer 2018, a separate program dedicated to organizing your photos. You can tag photos by time, date, name and rating. While Elements Organizer 2018 allows you to organize and catalogue your photos in a variety of ways, it can get tiresome jumping between the two programs. You can use Elements Organizer 2018 to store your photos directly in the cloud so you can access them anytime, anywhere.
This program is compatible with all the common image file types, including RAW, PDF, PSD, PNG, GIF and TIFF. You can also choose to share your photos directly onto Flickr, Facebook and Twitter. Should you need help, there are dozens of video tutorials online along with user forums and a FAQs page.
Free Photo Editor For Macbook Pro
Best for Making HDR Images
Acorn 6
Acorn 6
It creates excellent HDR images.
Use the tools to alter the hue, brightness and contrast of your images to make them look the way you want them to.
This software also works in layers to quickly view and select various elements when making changes. You can create both HDR and panoramic images using this software. The HDR guide steps you through the process making it easier to combine two or more images into one for a vibrant and lively finished product. Since it works with HDR images, it's not surprising that the software is compatible with RAW images, in addition to the most common file types. There is no photo organizer, so you'll have to purchase another one separately if you're wanting to manage your images. Fortunately, it does include a batch processor to make changes to multiple images at once and save you time. The cloning tool can help you eliminate unwanted objects from your images whether that be acne from a portrait or phone wires from a landscape. It also happens to be one of the least expensive programs in our comparison, selling for roughly $30.
Why Trust Us?
We have been testing Mac photo editing software for the past seven years. Whenever we evaluate products, we use the same testing methodology on each product to get fair and honest results. Our testers are often a mixture of experienced and inexperienced users, so we can gauge how different audiences react to a piece of software. With photo editing software, we look at every feature, tool and capability to determine how useful and intuitive each program is overall. Our testing helps us determine whether or not a program is best for beginners, advanced users or a mixture of both. We prefer to recommend programs that help you grow from a novice to an experienced artist while offering all of the best editing tools and sharing capabilities.
We contacted Brooklyn Parks - a graphic designer of 6 years – and Lisa Dixon – a professional photographer of 4 years to get more insights about photo editing programs. We also reached out to John Yoo, Head of Sales at CyberLink to learn more about PhotoDirector Ultra.
How Much Does Mac Photo Editing Software Cost?
You'll find that the best Mac photo editing software ranges between $30 and $100. Usually, programs costing $50 and up will give you more creative freedom and control over your work. The excessively expensive programs that cost more than $100 aren't always worth the cost, since you can usually find a program that fits your needs for less. Determine the tools and features you want most and then choose a program that offers them.
How We Tested
Google Photo Editor For Mac
This year alone, we spent 50 hours testing 10 products. Our testers are graphic designers and photographers with a range of photo editing software skills. To determine which programs have the best editing capabilities, we uploaded the same images to each piece of software and applied the same edits. We paid attention to the intuitiveness of each product and compared the edited images side by side.
When the programs allowed, we also shared images to social media sites to see how well the sharing process worked. Programs with more editing features scored higher, while programs with fewer features scored lower. Our ease-of-use score was determined by the number of tools each program offered combined with the effectiveness of applied edits and the intuitiveness of each program's interface. Programs that were well organized and offered plenty of help tools scored higher.
We looked at file compatibility and awarded programs with more points when they worked with a wider range of common image file types. This also included the ability to optimize images for use on the web. The best software also comes with extensive resources, especially online video tutorials. Programs that offered a larger quantity of quality video instructions, a FAQs page and a user forum scored higher in our review.
What to Look For
Editing Tools
When we spoke to Parks, she told us that the best programs are the ones with intuitive tools. 'The name makes it obvious for what [the tool] does and it's easier to find what you are looking for,' she said. We score programs higher that were easier to use, this included making it easier to find the specific tools you need. What you need from a photo editor depends on what you intend to do with your images. Any true photo editor should offer basic editing tools like red-eye removal, cropping, color management, shape tools and the ability to add text to images. More comprehensive programs also have background removal software and a variety of brushes. Advanced tools help you make fine tweaks to your photos like touching up skin blemishes with touch-up or cloning tools.
It's also nice having a program that can fix lens distortion and create panoramas and HDR images. Batch processing is a super-convenient feature that allows you to make the same edits to several images at once. If you plan on taking dozens of photos at a time on a frequent basis, it's worth finding a program that offers it.
Yoo told us that if you can take the time to correctly adjust your camera before taking your photo, you will save yourself some hassle. 'The biggest lesson I learned that saved me time in post-processing was to take the extra time to compose the photo and light in the beginning when shooting. A well-composed photo will save you a lot of time later.' So, it's worth taking the time to prepare your scene.
Pricing
As far as Mac photo editing software goes, you should be able to find a basic editing program for under $100, typically starting for as little as $30. Paying more than $100 will often land you a professional editing program with additional editing tools and presets compared to the basic versions. It's good to note that you don't always have to pay the more expensive prices to get the specific tools you need. Before making your purchase consider what you think are the most important tools and find a software that offers them. If content-aware and cosmetic brush tools are most important to you, you can get a relatively cheap program that still includes those options like Affinity Photo. Programs generally have a trial period as well, so use this to try out the software and see which ones work best for you.
As far as Mac photo editing software goes, you should be able to find a basic editing program for under $100, typically starting for as little as $30. Paying more than $100 will often land you a professional editing program with additional editing tools and presets compared to the basic versions. It's good to note that you don't always have to pay the more expensive prices to get the specific tools you need. Before making your purchase consider what you think are the most important tools and find a software that offers them. If content-aware and cosmetic brush tools are most important to you, you can get a relatively cheap program that still includes those options like Affinity Photo. Programs generally have a trial period as well, so use this to try out the software and see which ones work best for you.
Organizing
Not all photo editing programs come with built-in photo organizing systems. While this isn't a critical feature, it can be incredibly convenient and save you time. The most common systems organize by location, faces, dates, times, titles, ratings and color labels. Categorization options vary from program to program.
Not all photo editing programs come with built-in photo organizing systems. While this isn't a critical feature, it can be incredibly convenient and save you time. The most common systems organize by location, faces, dates, times, titles, ratings and color labels. Categorization options vary from program to program.
File Compatibility
Since file compatibility is an important factor of a program's usability, we gave more points to programs that covered the most common image files such as RAW, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, PSD and PDF. Make sure you choose a program that works with the file types you use most. Yoo told us, 'I always shoot in RAW since it keeps the most light information in case I need to edit.' RAW images give you the most control over the editing process when they are imported into editing programs, which is why many photographers prefer to work with them.
Since file compatibility is an important factor of a program's usability, we gave more points to programs that covered the most common image files such as RAW, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, PSD and PDF. Make sure you choose a program that works with the file types you use most. Yoo told us, 'I always shoot in RAW since it keeps the most light information in case I need to edit.' RAW images give you the most control over the editing process when they are imported into editing programs, which is why many photographers prefer to work with them.
Sharing Capabilities
Being able to post photos to Facebook or email them to family and friends directly within a photo editing program is a nice feature. Many companies offer online photo gallery accounts for you to use for free, but some cost extra. This can be a good place to back up your photos in case of computer failure.
Being able to post photos to Facebook or email them to family and friends directly within a photo editing program is a nice feature. Many companies offer online photo gallery accounts for you to use for free, but some cost extra. This can be a good place to back up your photos in case of computer failure.
If you plan on printing your photos or designs, Dixon told us it's best to work with 300 dpi, which is short for “dots per inch”. 'You can print pretty much anything,' she said. Many photo editing programs allow you to determine the resolution and size of new files or adjust the resolution and size of current images. This high resolution allows you to print images the size of movie posters and larger without getting blurry or pixelated imagery.
Parks told us that a super simple thing to help you when using photo editing software is to know the size of your project before you start. 'It will save you headaches later on,' she explained, 'otherwise when you transfer your files it can look like garbage.' Pulling a small image onto a larger file can make the small image pixelated and blurry so it's best to know the size of your end goal project when you start.
Help & Support
Advanced photo editors have so many features that you will likely need help learning how to use them. Video tutorials, FAQs pages and user forums can go a long way in helping you become an editing expert. Look for companies that also offer customer service in the method that you most prefer, whether through email, live chat or phone.
Advanced photo editors have so many features that you will likely need help learning how to use them. Video tutorials, FAQs pages and user forums can go a long way in helping you become an editing expert. Look for companies that also offer customer service in the method that you most prefer, whether through email, live chat or phone.
Parks told us that 'the biggest resource for learning is YouTube.' She further explained that she loves using it to find multiple ways to solve the same problem. If you ever get stumped jump on the web and see what other users have figured out.
Tips from the Pros
- If you're wanting to add vectors and symbols to your work, Parks suggests you use The Noun Project, a royalty-free icon library. 'You pay for vectors or PNG objects and symbols. It saves you a lot of time.'
- 'There are a billion artists and YouTube tutorials out there. There are things out there that already exist, there are pictures for you to use. Don't steal things outright, but use things to help you make something.' Many professional artists and graphic designers use imagery that already exists but combine it in a new way to make something unique. As long as you aren't stealing someone else's work, this can be a good method for enhancing your own photography.
- As parting thoughts, Parks explained, 'When looking for a job, it might not be something you imagined, but you can get something using [photo editing] skills.' We couldn't agree more. Being able to use this kind of software opens doors to many different job opportunities, from freelance work to positions within a company.
More Photo Editing Guides:
Related Product Reviews
Google Photos offers image editing, unlimited cloud storage, and more, for free. Here's everything you need to know about Google's photo-storage service.
- March 19, 2019 4:50PM EST
- March 19, 2019
PCMag reviews products independently, but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use.
Internet users are not at a loss for services that automatically back up photos and provide access to them on any device. There's Dropbox, OneDrive, Amazon Photos, and iCloud, just to start. But Google Photos has grown fast since its launch in 2015.
Google Photos offers truly unlimited backup of all the photos (and videos) you take. Every single one. For free. The caveat: images must be less than 16 megapixels to qualify for the unlimited storage. You can upload larger images, but Google converts them on the fly to 16 megapixels (and downgrades video shot above 1080p), with your permission. Since even the highest end iPhone today has a 12MP camera, you're not losing any quality at all most of the time.
If you upload images at their original size and quality, they will count against your allotted 15GB of free online storage with Google, which is shared with Gmail, Google Drive, and other Google services.
Google Photos came about by salvaging the best part of the Google+ social network that no one wanted to use—the photo storage and sharing. Google Photos also replaced our former Editors' Choice photo software Picasa, the desktop program Google acquired in 2004. You can still use the Picasa desktop software, but it'll never get an update. It's time to let it go.
To be honest, you won't miss it if you are willing to leave desktop programs behind. Google Photos was built from the get-go for use on mobile devices via apps (iOS and Android) and on the web. For iOS users, it even supports Live Photos.
And did we mention the unlimited storage? As long as Google doesn't pull a Flickr and go back on that promise, Google Photos is the best place online to store, edit, tweak, and share a massive amount of photos. Plus it adds new features sometimes. Read on for all the little tricks that will allow you to get the most out of your pictures on Google Photos.
Show a Slideshow
Go into any album of images and display it as a slideshow, which is especially nice when you pair your device with a Chromecast on a big TV. On the web or Android app, tap the ellipsis menu () at the upper right. Select Slideshow and they'll display in order.Play With Search
Try some searches in Google Photos, using terms common and obscure. Google's auto-tagging of images is pretty amazing, beyond just the face recognition (which I found could ID people in photos even if they're in the background). For example, a search of the term 'dog' got just about every image I could conceive of with my pups in the pics—even some with just a pup statue or paw. I didn't tag any of those pics with 'dog' or 'statue,' by the way: Google just knows. Yes, useful and creepy! (It also pulled in pictures of stuffed animals, a woodchuck, and my brother in a Chewbacca costume, so usefulness is in the eye of the beholder.) Location searches are also easy with geo-tagging, making it easy to find, say, all your vacation pictures at once.Label the People
Whether you're using the mobile apps or web app, click on Albums, and at the top of the screen you'll see a few pre-set options. One is People&Pets. Click it and you'll see head shots from your photos. Click a person and enter their name. In the future, searching by name in Google Photos will make it easier to find (almost) every picture of that person, dog, or cat. Google's face matching takes care of the rest. (You may have to turn that feature on in the Android app.) These Live Albums have a hefty limit of 20,000 images each.Is Google then using it to know everyone in the world and make it easy to find them? My tinfoil-hat-covered Magic 8-Ball says 'signs point to yes.'Create a New Live Album From an Old Album
If you've created albums of people or pets, you can automatically add pictures to those albums based on facial recognition. Open the album, click the ellipsis/overflow menu () and select Options. The option to automatically add photos is right there—click the icon and add a person or pet that has already been assigned a name. New pix will start flowing into that album as you take them.Pinch to Change Your View
On mobile apps, pinching or expanding your two fingers on a single image to zoom in or out is standard. Google Photos lets you change the look of the entire mobile app with a two-finger move. Zoom from 'comfortable view' all the way out to the by-year view, with stops at days and months in between. Or use the ellipsis () menu to go in and change the view. Pinch outward on a single picture to zoom into a view for editing.Batch Upload to YouTube
If you shoot a lot of video on your phone, it's easy to add it to your YouTube channel all at once. With Back up & sync turned on, smartphone videos and images will auto-upload to Google Photos. So just go to your YouTube upload page and click the button to import video from Google Photos. Once they're ready, go in and give them a title and some tags.Upload Other App's Images
Back up & sync will grab images from your phone's main images folder. On Android, you can go deeper, and have Google Photos grab pictures from apps like WhatsApp and Instagram. In the Google Photos app, tap the hamburger menu () and select Settings > Back up & sync > Back up device Folders. Tap it and you'll see other folders from which you can/should grab images to back up automatically. Access those folders by tapping the hamburger menu and selecting Device Folders.Don't Share Your Location
Images taken with almost any device these days, especially smartphones, have location data. Google Photos uses that to actively map where your pics were taken. That's a nice feature, but sometimes when you share an image, you may not want the recipient to know exactly where the pic was taken. The workaround: visit photos.google.com/settings, click Sharing, and check off 'Remove geo location in items shared by link.' Then, when you generate a link to share an image, the person who sees the image at that link won't get any geo-data. (This doesn't work if you share by other means, such as social media.)Quick Select Pics
On a mobile device, hold your finger on a picture to select, then just start dragging your fingertip. All the pictures you touch will be selected. That makes it a lot easier to delete or move a bunch of photos in a batch or use them with the special tools like creating animations, movies, or collages.Save Device Storage
A feature in the mobile versions of Google Photos can save some space on phones or tablets: once an image is backed up to Google Photos, the app can delete the local version from your phone or tablet. (That means it's not really a backed-up image anymore; Google might have your only copy.) Find it in iOS and Android via the hamburger icon () > Free Up Space. It will ask if you want to really remove all the pictures Google Photos has backed up, which means instantly deleting them from your Android Gallery or iOS Photos app.Using this feature truly depends on several factors. How much do you care about having a high-resolution version of every picture (assuming Google Photos is downgrading image quality as it uploads)? How much storage is on your device? Are you using other services for backup? You don't want Google deleting an image before it goes to iCloud or Dropbox.You may simply want to plug your phone into the PC and copy photos over rather than let Google Photos make the decision for you. But if you're a frequent photo deleter, this is a handy option.Convert Uploaded Images to Save Space
If you've been uploading images with the backup option set to 'Original' and the images are over 16 megapixels, you're using up your free online storage allotment from Google. However, you can switch the setting back to 'High Quality' (so Google automatically shifts image uploads to 16 megapixels if they're bigger) and convert existing images down to 16 megapixels.On a desktop, go to photos.google.com/settings and click the RECOVER STORAGE button. Don't worry about this if you don't have a device that take images bigger than 16 megapixels (even iPhone 7 is limited to 12 megapixels). This also doesn't impact images you've stored on Google Drive—but it will convert images bigger than 16 megapixels you have uploaded on Blogger, Google Maps, Google Hangouts, and your previous Picasa Web Albums.Make Sure Images/Videos on Google Drive Show
There's a setting in Google Photos that makes sure that any photos or videos in your Google Drive account (with the same username) synchronize with the rest of your Google Photos images. Turn it on and you'll see them all. The images have to be larger than 256 pixels and the file types supported are limited to JPG, GIF, WEBP, TIFF, or RAW. Note, it apparently doesn't work on PNG or HEIC files. It also doesn't work on work or school G Suite accounts.Note that it doesn't actually move the files from Google Drive. Also, if you edit the image/video in Google Photos, those changes will not appear on the image in Drive. However, if you delete an individual image/video on Drive, it will be deleted on Photos... unless you put it in an album. Best bet: on Drive go to the gear icon () > Settings and check the box to Create a Google Photos folder. If you delete the whole folder, it will not delete all the individual images synced to Photos. (So many rules!)One note: if the images/videos are in Drive, not Photos, they're using up some of your allotted storage, even if they're under 16 megapixels.Deep Edit the Deep Blue
Basic photo editing on Google Photos is a breeze—click on an image, click the Edit icon (), and you're presented with filters to apply, sliders to adjust, light and color (plus a 'Pop' slider to make the image pop more), and a speedy crop/rotation tool. They're simple tools that work on mobile and desktop.When you adjust light and color, you get a few nice extras by clicking the down-arrow () next to each slider. Under Light, there's exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, and vignette (to put a spotlight on a section of the image). Under Color is saturation, warmth, tint, Skin Tone, and Deep Blue. That last one adjusts the color blue only, which is nice when the shots involve water. (Want more lush greens? Crank up saturation, then decrease Skin Tone and Deep Blue).When making edits on the desktop, click and hold the cursor on the image (or hold the letter 'O' on your keyboard) to instantly see how the edits look compared to the original.Apply the Same Edits to Multiple Shots
If you've perfected the edits on one image, you can apply it to a bunch of them. On the desktop, while editing an image, go to the More options menu ( ) and select Copy Edits. On the rest of the images, use the same menu to Paste Edits. You can also just use the copy/paste keyboard short cuts (Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V, respectively). This isn't an option on the mobile apps.Edit a Video Clip
Google Photos is obviously not just for photos, and neither are its editing tools. You can do some rudimentary edits on video too—but only on mobile devices. It's not supported on the web/desktop. Open a video and hit the Edit icon () to access some quick tools for trimming size and even rotating a vid up to 45 degrees at a time.Make a Movie
The fun comes in putting multiple video clips together into one movie. Go into Albums > Videos to find your clips, select those that would go great together, and from the Plus (+) menu, select Movie. The app will 'download clips' and display an interface with a little bitty clip from each of your vids, all strung together with music picked by the Google AI. You can re-trim each clip to pick the best part. Click the musical note to change the music that Google choose for you, or to remove it entirely. (Weirdly, you can't send the finished film direct to YouTube.)Create Collages, Animations, and More
Don't be afraid of that Google Photos section called Assistant. It displays 'cards' of suggestions, like making collages of photos that are similar, even creating animations of images in a series or from videos. Swipe them off the screen if you don't want what's in each card.You don't have to settle for just Google's auto-creations. Click the buttons at top to create your own Album, Collage, Animation (and on the mobile apps, Movie, as noted above), and Photobooks (see below).If you really hate the Assistant and just want the extra storage, turn off the suggestions at photos.google.com/settings under Assistant Cards > Creations, or in the mobile apps via Settings > Assistant Cards > Creations.Save a Copy When Editing
When you go into the editing tools in Google Photos, you get the usual stuff. Change the lighting, the color, apply some filters, crop, rotate, etc. When you click Save at the end of editing, the app will ask if you want to save the changes, and then overwrite the original image stored on your device. If you don't want that to happen, hit the ellipsis icon () to either go back to the original or to Save a Copy, so you'll have both versions.In the web-app version, it says Done instead of Save, and will not ask you first about overwriting, it just does it. But you can access the menu again to save a copy. What's nice is, if you go to edit the image in the future using the web interface, you can undo all previous changes, even if you did the edits in the mobile app.Auto-Upload From Mac or Windows
Google Backup and Sync will sync your Google Drive documents to the PC as well as videos and pictures—and it'll copy any and all of them from the PC to Google Photos automatically. Backup and Sync also supports the High Quality upload option on photos so they won't count against your Google storage allotment.Back Up With Wi-Fi Only
In the mobile apps under Settings > Back up & sync, you can turn off 'Use cellular data to backup photos' (or videos). It's a good idea for those with a limited data plan. Otherwise the auto-upload aspect of Google Photos can eat through your data like water dissolving cotton candy.Recover Items for 60 Days
Deleted an image you want back? Go to the menu (on mobile or web), and select Trash. Your deleted images hang out here for a couple of months before they're truly gone. That is, unless you hit the EMPTY TRASH option. Then they're toast.Download All Google Photos
The editing tools on Google Photos are, indeed, pretty weak compared to pro editing tools. If you need to import a picture or two from Google Photos into a desktop image editor, it's easy to download. For a single image, click the photo, then Download. Same goes for Albums (select Download All), or downloading multiple selected thumbnails. If you do it that way, you can only get 500 at a time; Google Photos provides them as a ZIP file.The best (and only) way to download every single image in Google Photos is to use Google Takeout, a service Google provides so you can grab everything you've put on any Google service, such as Blogger, Calendar, Drive, Hangouts, Keep, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, and others. If you go this route, the images may lose all their EXIF data, the information attached to each image about location, camera used to take the image, etc.Scan Old Photos
Google Photoscan is a free mobile app that is not part of Google Photos. If you've installed it, you can access PhotoScan right from the menu in Google Photos. It's worth using if you're 'scanning' old snapshots. The app uses a special method of taking a picture of a picture with your smartphone camera to reduce glare, enhance resolution, and detect the edges of the original shot. The result is, of course, instantly saved into your Google Photos.Share a Library Auto-Magically
Sharing is a hallmark of almost everything you do with pictures online, and Google Photos is no exception. Specifically, you can share your entire photo library with your partner—and only one partner.Go to Settings > Shared Libraries > Get Started. Pick a person from your contacts who also uses Google Photos as your partner, and then you can choose to share either All photos or Photos of Specific People (made easy with the built-in facial recognition), and you can even specify if you only want to share images from a specific date forward. Once confirmed, that person will have access to all images or that one face whenever recognized in an image (but even Google will warn you when you do so that it's own facial recognition isn't perfect, so its possible they'll see some images without that person or pet).This is sharing one-way only. If you want to see the same person in your partner's photos, they have to share it back with you. Which is easy; when they accept, have them click Share Back at the top right.Print a Book
Photo books let you share photos with that Luddite friend or family member who still thinks pictures are for paper only. It doesn't hurt that Google and its partner in printing can get a few extra bucks out of you. It's $9.99 for a 7-inch square softcover or $19.99 for a 9-inch square hard cover; each is 20 pages minimum, but you can add extra pages for 35¢ in soft or 65¢ in the hard covers. It's a max of 100 photos per book—that's 100 pages. Shipping is not included.Google tries to pick the best images, but you can change them. If you want more than one image per page, make a collage of images using the Google Photos Assistant feature, then select it for the book—otherwise, it's one pic per page, with a big white margin around it.Here's our full tutorial on how to create a Google Photos photo book.Make Books Elsewhere
Not sold on that limited Google Photos book layout? Many other services that support photo books will let you work directly with the images you've already placed in Google Photos. Shutterfly for example (pictured here) can pull in images from Instagram, Facebook, and Google Photos. Click the Upload button to get access. (Shutterfly was buggy for me and didn't want to show anything, but give it a try with your favorite photo-book-maker.)Don't Rediscover Everyone
There's a feature of Google Photos Assistant called Rediscover this Day, which brings photos from days in your past bubbling to the surface. It's an option you can turn off or on in Settings > Assistant Cards > Rediscoverthis day. But sometimes it's nice—until you see someone you don't like, perhaps an ex. If you like the feature but not who is featured, use the facial recognition to cancel them out of rediscovery.To do so, tap the search box, and you'll see a 'list' of faces. Click the arrow () and you'll see all the faces Google Photos recognizes. You should, of course, assign them all a name for sharing, but you can also merge faces that Google hasn't realized are the same person, and more to our point, select Show & Hide People, so you can prevent them from reappearing.Archive Images Worth Keeping, but Not Seeing
If you're smart, your smartphone camera is used to take pictures of more than just friends and family. Use it for menus, store hour signs, notebook pages, license plates of cars that fill you with rage, etc. It can all be useful info later. Of course, it's not pretty and you may not want to see it in your Google Photos stream. The service knows: the Google Photos Assistant will suggest that you archive the non-photographic stuff, including screenshots from your phone or tablet, via a 'clear the clutter' card. Go ahead and use the archive. Go crazy. Just like with Gmail, an archived item is not deleted, and you can always find it later with a search.Sadly, Google Photos does not search in the text in a picture, so you can't just type in words you've got in a picture (like a restaurant name on a menu) to find it.Peak Inside with Google Lens
Want more interesting info on an image in your Google Photos? Google Lens is an option built right in, providing search results based on the image or it's hidden info. For example, take a pic of a book, use Lens to search with the image, and Google will show you some info. You can read the full tutorial at How to Peek Inside Your Photos With Google Lens.Live Photos Live
Live Photos—which add 1.5-second videos on either side of a photo—have been around since the iPhone 6s, and Google Photos supports these little mini-movies. You can tell which shots are Live Photos because they have a little toggle button at the top, which allows you to turn off the animation if you want. If you leave animation on, it plays in an endless loop, with sound. If you edit a Live Photo in Google Photos, it gets saved as a still.Google Photos also provides another feature that can make Live Photos look great, or sometimes a bit off—it stabilizes the background of an image, freezing it to avoid a 'shakey cam' look.Sharing a Live Photo from an iPhone to someone who does not have an iPhone 6s or above typically means losing the motion, and that's true if you just do a straight share from Google Photos as well (say, try to send it via iMessage). However, Google Photos has a workaround—use the menu on a Live Photo to Save as video. It'll save the vid right in Google Photos, even loop it three times for you. Use Google Photos tools to trim the length or rotate it, then share it anywhere. You can't save it as an animated GIF from Google Photos, but Google offers a free iOS app called Motion Stills to handle that.