Editing Photos Using Google Photos - Crop and Align

We all have several photo editing tools available to us, many of them free.  While the free applications are not going to be as capable as paid for applications such as Photoshop and Lightroom they are likely to be adequate for those just starting to edit photographs and, being less complex, are a better toolset to learn with.  Because we all have different makes and types of cameras and computers we have adopted Google Photos as our preferred photo sharing application.   

Let's start with a photo I took with my iPhone for the fruit assignment, a small crab apple laying on the path.

The image in Google Photos

So that the editing method and screen shots are the same I am going to view Google Photos via a web browser.  Open your preferred web browser and navigate to https://photos.google.com/

You will have to sign in with you Google ID if your computer or mobile device does not remember you.

I am working with Google Photos using the Google Chrome web browser on my desktop computer, but the method is the same for other browsers on computers or mobile devices.  On the other hand, the Google Photos apps on your mobile devices may vary between Apple/Samsung and the web application.  So, for now, let's all stick with the web version.

Start by opening the photo you wish to edit in Google Photos, the image must not be in a shared album.

The first thing I want to do is crop the image to a square format.  To do this, I need to go into the editing application.

If you hover your mouse over the image or touch the screen you will see a row of menu icons appear in the top right: 

The photo view icons, edit is 3rd from left

Hover over the third from the left (the icon looks like 3 horizontal lines with sliders) and the tooltip "Edit" will appear.  Click on/touch this to get into the editing application. 

The edit window

A sidebar will open to the right of the image with 3 icons at the top and the last set of tools you used below.  Each icon opens a different set of tools.  The 3 icons are, from the left:

1. Color Filters
2. Basic Adjustments
3. Align and Crop

Click on the Align and Crop icon:

The crop and align window

The crop window will open and there will be 4 icons in the top right, from left:

1. Preset Formats
2. Rotate image (90 degree increments)
3. Auto - useful for straightening horizons or anything with an obvious line.
4. Done

You can crop the image anyway you want by dragging the sides of the image in and out but it is often useful, as it is in this case, to use a preset.

You can also rotate the image using the angle slider on the right.

To crop into a square format:

• Select the preset button
• A drop down menu will appear, select the square option
• Use the angle slider to rotate the image as you want , e.g to make the stalk point up.
• Drag the corner of the image box in/out to crop closer in on your subject.
• Drag the image left/right, up, down to position it as you want.
• When you are happy, press done.
• To exit the editing tools press done.

Note there are options to cancel your edits and revert back to the original at any time.

The cropped and rotated image

We will look at the other editing tools in later posts.

The following video shows the editing process: