How to Make Your Smartphone Photos So Much Better - The New York Times

Smartphone cameras and the bundle that automatically processes the images person go truthful bully astatine creating fantastic photos connected the alert that astir radical don’t adjacent transportation a abstracted camera anymore (well, but for immoderate Gen Z-ers going retro). There are plentifulness of apps that tin slap a filter connected a representation to marque it look adjacent better, but if you truly privation to elevate your mobile photography skills, see the format the pros use: RAW.

Editing a RAW record is much work, but it allows the lensman to person much power of the airy and colour successful the representation aft it’s been captured — and successful immoderate cases, capable pixels to importantly harvest the photograph and inactive person it look sharp. Here’s a usher to getting started.

What is RAW?

“RAW” means earthy information — and tons of it. Many telephone cameras automatically seizure and prevention images arsenic JPEG oregon HEIC files, which crunch down and discard immoderate of the representation information to trim the record size. However, erstwhile you take to seizure images arsenic RAW files, you get uncompressed and unprocessed information from the camera’s sensor. Without the compression, RAW images incorporate much item and colors to enactment with. But the files tin beryllium huge.

The iPhone’s RAW settings

On an iPhone 12 Pro (or later Pro and Pro Max models) moving astatine slightest the iOS 14.3 operating system, you tin seizure and store RAW files by going to the main Settings app, and choosing Camera and past Formats. Tap the fastener adjacent to Apple ProRAW, which is Apple’s saltation connected the RAW format. On iPhone 14 Pro models, you tin take the solution to store your RAW files: 12 megapixels oregon a whopping 48 megapixels.

A 48-megapixel record allows for photos with bully item adjacent with important cropping, but the record size of each photograph tin beryllium 75 megabytes oregon larger. If you person an iPhone with a terabyte of space, the larger record sizes are little of a problem, but phones with little retention tin tally retired of abstraction fast.

Only images taken with the iPhone’s main camera tin beryllium saved astatine the 48-megapixel resolution. Those snapped with the phone’s wide-angle oregon telephoto cameras (or photos captured successful nighttime mode oregon with a flash) are automatically saved astatine the 12-megapixel resolution.

RAW options for Android

Finding the RAW settings connected an Android telephone varies based connected the instrumentality and its manufacturer, truthful cheque your phone’s enactment tract for circumstantial instructions.

If you person 1 of Google’s Pixel phones moving Android 13, spell to the Camera app and pat the Down arrow successful the upper-left corner, past take More Settings and past Advanced. Next, pat the fastener adjacent to RAW + JPEG control. The camera volition seizure the representation successful some JPEG and RAW formats, but it saves the larger files into a abstracted RAW folder connected the Google Photos app.

On Samsung’s Galaxy phones, the Camera settings includes a Pro mode and precocious representation options to prevention images arsenic RAW files. In the settings, spell to “Format and precocious options” and pat the fastener for RAW copies. For late-model Galaxy phones, Samsung besides precocious released its escaped Expert RAW camera app, which is disposable successful the Galaxy Store.

Edit your RAW files

If you person an iPhone, you tin usage Apple’s Photo app to edit RAW files. For Android phones, Google Photos offers “limited” enactment for the format, but its older photo-editing app, Snapseed, has a instrumentality to edit RAW files. The Snapseed app, which is escaped and works connected some Android and iOS, has a enactment tract with an online tutorial and an instructional video connected YouTube for beginners.

At archetypal glance, RAW files tin look flat, murky and bulky. But erstwhile you commencement to process them successful a compatible photo-editing program, you tin instrumentality vantage of each that other data.

In the editing app, you tin usage the onscreen slider and different controls to set an image’s white balance, which neutralizes colour casts; alteration the exposure; propulsion parts of the representation retired of shadows; deepen colors and more.

Some photographers similar to grip RAW files utilizing tools successful Adobe Lightroom, which person mobile versions for Android, iPhone and iPad devices (free, with in-app purchases). Adobe’s tract has a tutorial, arsenic bash galore websites specializing successful integer photography.

To edit your photos connected a bigger screen, you tin store the files successful a unreality server oregon transportation the record from your mobile instrumentality to a desktop machine utilizing Wi-Fi oregon AirDrop, and past usage either Adobe Lightroom’s subscription desktop version oregon 1 of the galore desktop photograph apps (including Apple’s Photos for Mac).

Once you are acceptable for much precocious techniques utilizing RAW files, you tin bargain oregon subscribe to the myriad specialized photography apps successful your app store, including VSCO (for Android and iOS) and ON1 Photo RAW (also for Android and iOS). For those utilizing iPhones and iPads for editing, you could besides see the apps Halide Mark II, Darkroom and RAW Power.

When you’re done editing your RAW image, you tin prevention it arsenic a JPEG oregon different communal formats for sharing, printing oregon making art retired of.