A common question I get is whether Snapseed is better than Lightroom, or the other way around. The short answer is that if you know how to use curves in Snapseed, it is a great app.
Curve is an incredibly powerful tool that enables you to adjust the RGB channels separately. You can customize it by adding multiple control points, offering a different level of precision compared to sliders. It’s excellent for detailed color grading. Regardless of the app you use, if it has the curve feature, it’s likely a good app. Otherwise, you’re just applying filters.
I don’t believe in absolutes; everything is relative. If anyone claims that one app is the BEST or a MUST-HAVE, you better be careful. I appreciate both apps, which is why I create tutorials for Snapseed users—I feel there aren’t many resources available for them.
Pros and Cons
We can all agree that Snapseed is the OG mobile app. It’s free and has no hidden costs, making it ideal for hobbyists who just want to quickly touch up their photos. However, if you need batch editing or consistency, Lightroom is the better choice.
Adobe Lightroom is more advanced, allowing you to synchronize your library across your laptop and mobile devices via the cloud. However, too many bells and whistles can be daunting for beginners.
Stuff that Lightroom can’t do but Snapseed can:
- Double exposure: Snapseed allows overlays
- Grunge Texture
Stuff that Lightroom can do but Snapseed can’t:
- Tweak the hue of a specific color: Color Mixer
- AI detection mask: Sky mask, subject mask with facial features
- Color Calibration
- Synchronize and batch edit
Stuff that Lightroom and Snapseed have in common:
- Curves
- White Balance
- Exposure
- Healing tool
- Perspective
- Glow
- Frame
- Vignette
- Crop
- Detail Sharpening
Features comparison
| Snapseed | Lightroom |
|---|---|
| Curves | Curves |
| Selective, Brush | Mask, Color Mixer, Color Grading |
| Healing | Remove |
| HDR-scape | Dehaze, Texture, Clarity |
Masking Tools
A mask enables you to modify specific areas of an image. In Lightroom, you can perform various types of selections.
| Snapseed | Lightroom |
|---|---|
| Brush | Brush |
| Selective | Sky, Subject, Object, Linear Gradient, Radial Gradient, Color Range, Luminance Range |
Snapseed doesn’t have masks, but it has “Selective”. You can change the brightness, contrast, saturation, and sharpness, but not the hue. With the Brush tool, you can dodge and burn.
Lightroom’s mask feature is unparalleled, offering a multitude of options that enable users to easily edit specific areas of an image. Thanks to AI, it can automatically detect the sky, people, and even facial features.
Color Grading Tools
| Snapseed | Lightroom |
|---|---|
| Curve | Curve |
| Selective | Color Mixer |
| Brush | Color Grading |
| Color Calibration |
From a color grading standpoint, Lightroom offers enhanced flexibility through its color mixer, color grading, and color calibration features. You can adjust a specific color easily with color mixer and point color. Therefore, it’s reasonable to conclude that Lightroom excels in this category.
As I mentioned before, the tone curve is the most essential tool in Snapseed. When used effectively, it can be incredibly powerful.
Here are the Snapseed tutorials I created on YouTube. I explored various methods to achieve comparable results in Lightroom.
P.S. Most of the photos I used were taken with a smartphone.
Snapseed Tutorial 1 : Dark Urban Tone
Tools : Selective, Curves
Snapseed Tutorial 2 : HDR Landscape Edit
Tools : RAW develop, HDR-scape, Healing
Snapseed Tutorial 3 : Turn the sky into purple
Tools : RAW develop, Curves
Snapseed Tutorial 4 : Night Street Edit
Tools : Curves
Steps
1. Go to Luminance curve: increase mid-tones and shadows values
2. Go to Blue curve: add blue in the shadows
3. Go to Red curve: add cyan in the shadows
4. Go to Green curve: add a tiny bit of purple to shadows and highlight 5. Go to RGB curve: add contrast by making an S-curve, also intensify the colors
6. Go to details: increase structure, this will enhance the texture details on the ground (optional)
Snapseed Tutorial 5 : Moody Green Look
Tools : Curves, Selective
Snapseed Tutorial 6 : Soft and Dreamy effect
Tools : Double Exposure, Vintage, Glamour Glow
If you want to learn Lightroom, here are several tutorials that can help you.
Lightroom Tutorial 1 : Urban Dark Tone
Tools : Color Range Mask, Object Selection
Lightroom Tutorial 2 : Japanese Tone
Tool : Color Mixer
Lightroom Tutorial 3 : Japanese Movies Tone
Tool : Tone Curve, Color Mixer
Free Presets
Did you know that Lightroom has a community page? You can see how others edit their photos step by step. It looks like this:
Follow me there and use my free presets: https://lightroom.app.link/hNhVghStKLb