Google brings full RAW support and new face-editing tools to Snapseed for iOS

Snapseed 2.9 dynamic range 002

Google has brought full RAW support to Snapseed, allowing people who are serious about their iPhone photography to edit images saved in the professional RAW file format on their iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. As its name suggests, RAW stores original image data as captured by the camera’s sensor, without any post-processing. Snapseed 2.9 for iOS also includes user interface improvements, bug fixes, a new face-editing tools and other improvements.

RAW support

The new RAW tool opens automatically when Snapseed detects a RAW file.

Some of the available adjustments for RAW include Structure, Tint, Shadow control, Exposure (-4.0 to 4.0 f-stops), and Temperature (1.700°K to over 8.000°K), but it can also be used with other Snapseed adjustments like Healing, Brushes, Frames, Text, HDR and Details.

Picture top of post shows you the difference between regular photo capture in the JPG format and the full dynamic range possible when images are captured in RAW format.

Our team has been working for many years to profile 144 camera models so that Snapseed can read full sensor data from the RAW file. Now, changing the exposure in a RAW file in Snapseed has a comparable effect to adjusting the settings within the camera’s electronics: the high-resolution, full dynamic range data from the CCD or CMOS chip can now be tweaked.

To import RAW images from a DSLR camera into Snapseed, you’ll need an Apple USB SD card photo adapter or a Wi-Fi SD card. A list of the 144 camera models that Snapseed supports is available here. You may also want to check out Google’s support document which details the process of importing RAW files to your iOS device.

When iOS 10 lands, your iPhone will gain support for RAW image capture and editing via the stock Camera and Photos apps.

New Face tool and other tidbits

This edition of Snapseed also introduces a new Face photographic tool which helps you bring focus to faces, smoothen skin and add clarity to eyes. And lastly, in Snapseed 2.9, you can now set the preferred JPG compression rate or save your images in the lossless PNG format when exporting.

Snapseed is available at no charge on the App Store.