Editing pictures is never an easy task. There are many things involved which can elevate a photo from being annoying to looking stunning. Well, that is if you get all the filters, editing and everything else just right that help the picture in looking great and not making it horrible towards the end.
Thus, for all your photo editing ventures, there are several surplus options that you can choose form. Amongst the plethora of options that you have out there, few stand out to be the best. Well yes, they happen to be the best because of their features and the flexibility in doing wonders with an ordinary photograph.
Lightroom and Snapseed are the two photo editors that stand out from the rest of the competition. Well, they are the best as they offer a simple and easy to understand user interface. Using them is never a daunting task. But it’s a simple affair where you can try out everything and anything to fill your heart’s content.
Hence, if you want to know which one seems to be the better take on photo editing, then we have a comprehensive review give below that can provide you with everything and anything that you wish to know about Snapseed and Lightroom. Let’s get started.
- User interface. (Snapseed – 1 lightroom – 0).
The general user interface of a photo editing application has to be simple and straightforward. Making it complicated can make the user drive away from using the app and try out some other options. Thus, all the features that a photo editing application is willing to offer have to be a tap away.
Best Photo Editor ? Snapseed vs Lightroom ? Pick the Best!
Snapseed is a powerful photo editing application that has a clean and unique user interface. You can open one photograph at a time, and the options are present at the bottom. Tools, styles, and export. Other than this, you can choose different templates based on your choice, and there are separate tabs from which you can select necessary editing tabs or effects to be applied to a photograph. Once you are happy with the changes, you can directly export it onto your phone library.
Lightroom, on the other hand, sports a sophisticated user interface that takes some time getting used to it. Well, it offers a direct take on the lightroom that you would find on a PC platform. There is a floating bar on the bottom of the screen. Beside that is a camera button to take pictures on the editing application directly. You can take photos in RAW or a compressed version as well. If you are a beginner, then it will surely take some time to figure out things. But then the options are scattered and would be difficult on your first try with the application.
- Photo editing menu. (Snapseed – 2 lightroom – 0)
Let’s come down to the central aspect of these two photo editing applications. In Snapseed no matter which editing template you are on; you can view the entire photo that makes it a more relaxed take of determining how well the effect is looking on the picture. Also, the whole editing too is gesture-based such that you can choose the places where you want the effects to be put and which areas shouldn’t have the effects.
You can toggle through different menus and editing options by simply swiping left and right and choose the places where you want the changes to be present.
For lightroom, its not that great of an experience as half of the screen is taken up by the changes in these editing options. There are several sliders that you have to choose in terms of getting the filters, edits, and much set just right according to your well and wish. But when half of the photograph is being cropped off, it makes it harder to determine as to how the picture might be looking after the changes.
- Features. (Snapseed – 2 lightroom – 1)
Features are what separates these photo editing applications. More significant the number of features, handier is the application and can uplift your editing game.
Snapseed has a plethora of editing options. But then there’s one problem. These editing options are scattered here and there, and the user might not be able to determine which editing options do what. Thus, if it were categorized into different sections, then it would make complete sense to know which filter did what.
Snapseed comprises of all the editing options that you would want from a typical picture editing application. There are some exciting features, such as double exposure, picture expansion, HDR, and much more.
Lightroom, on the other hand, doesn’t comprise of such features but offer something more significant than Snapseed. There is an HSL tab that makes photo editing a pleasant experience. For those pro-editors out there, HSL tabs are quite essential that Snapseed fails to offer. HSL stands for Hue, Saturation, and Luminance. You can alter this in any way possible to ensure that you get the best format of the image at all times.
Both the applications are high in terms of the editing options that they offer. Interesting editing options such as selective masking, cloning, healing is all present in both the applications. If you are looking for control and the extent of filter application, the lightroom provides a better take on these options whereas Snapseed is all automatic.
- Pricing. (Snapseed – 3 lightroom – 1)
Snapseed is a free application ever since Google acquired it. But lightroom, on the other hand, demands $5 every month on using special features such as healing, geometry, selective masking, and much more. Well most of them would find it expensive to pay that much, the level of precision and accuracy justifies that it offers in editing photographs.
If you already have a desktop paid version, using the mobile variety is free.
Pros and cons:
Well now that we have gone through the pillars of what makes an image editing application great let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of Snapseed and Lightroom.
Snapseed App.
Pros.
- Deep google integration meaning advanced AI and machine learning integration.
- Simple and straightforward user interface.
- All the editing features are free to use.
- High-quality photo editing options.
Cons.
- Limited social media integration.
- Scattered photo editing tools.
Lightroom App.
Pros.
- Excellent image management capabilities.
- HDR support.
- Facial recognition support.
- Pro editing user interface.
Cons.
- Not for beginners as user interface complex to understand.
- Extensive learning periods to understand the application.
Conclusion: it’s entirely based on your preference as to what you would want to go for. Both of them offer intuitive editing options. While Snapseed might be free and easy to use, lightroom is paid, but the features are just amazing. Snapseed is only available for mobile phones whereas lightroom is available for MAC, PC, mobile platforms.
