Much has been said about AI and photo editing, particularly by Google, but it’s worth looking at what’s on offer from the biggest phone company in the world: Samsung. Samsung make some impressive phones, and some of the best camera phones in the world. But if the software on offer wasn’t up to scratch, then all that effort making the best cameras would be rather pointless.

So, let’s look at what the built-in photo editing software offers. To access the photo editing features, all you need to do is open the default Gallery app. In the Samsung Gallery you have a range of options – including AI’s generative editing, sketch to image, reflection removal, and more depending on the scene, but let’s start with the basics, because most of the time, this is all your image will need.

Cropping tools

Once you enter the editing options and select the cropping tool, you’ll be able to freely crop the image, flip the image, rotate the image, and straighten the image, but press the expand icon (third from left) and you can choose from the preset crop aspect ratios, such as 1:1, 4:3, 16:9, 3:2 and more.

Filters (adjustable) – give you images some extra style

If you just want to quickly add something extra to your images, the preset filters can give your images more punch, or more style, with each filter giving a different look. These are adjustable, and give a quick way to add grain, which is all the rage of course. Make sure you click “save copy” so that you still have the original, otherwise in 10 years’ time you’ll be wondering why all your images have grain on them. There’s even an option to use an existing picture AS a filter!

Adjustments

The icon looks like a clock, and is where you’ll find all the useful adjustments, each with a slider underneath letting you adjust the strength. You can quickly adjust these and the effects can be seen immediately on screen, till you’re happy with the results. Options available include: Light balance, Brightness, Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Saturation, Tint, Temperature, Sharpness, and Definition.

Drawing tools… (draw, stickers, text)

There are a number of drawing tools, as well as stickers that you can apply to your image. If you want to add text, this is also where you’ll find it. If your phone has a stylus like the S24 Ultra and other Ultra phones, then you might find the drawing tools much more useful.

EXTRA editing…

Is where you’ll find Object eraser, Lasso, Spot colour, colour mixer, and style (aka bad art filters). Object eraser can be used to remove objects and any other things that need cleaning up, and you’ll also find the option to erase shadows, and erase reflections. Spot colour does what it says on the tin, letting you keep spots of colour in your image, and colour mixer lets you adjust the hue, saturation, and luminance either for specific (preset) colours, or even picking you own colour from the image.

Built-in AI tools

Pull up the details of an image, and you’ll find a couple of options (Remaster and Live effects), potentially more depending on the scene detected, such as Fix lens distortion, Erase reflections, and Background blur. Or press the magic star shaped icon in the middle of the editor to enter the AI editing section.

Generative editing / eraser

Using the Generative edit tool, you can draw around an object, and move the object, resize the object, or delete the object, with the phone filling in the details as needed. The results can be quite impressive, and you have the ability undo each step if needed. The phone lets you save a copy so you always have the original photo untouched.

Sketch to image…

Here I’ve drawn a round yellow circle to add a sun to the image, and below you can see the results, which seem okay. Depending on what you draw, your results may vary. Draw a rough shape of a cat (or other animals), and you might get some impressive results. …Sketch to image (for example, draw a sun in the frame, and it will generate a nicer cartoony version of it)

These are labelled with “AI generated content” in the corner. Results can be mixed, sometimes really impressive, sometimes a little disappointing, and sometimes it will ask you to redraw the item if it doesn’t like what you’ve added (for example if it’s too big).

Portrait Studio

When people or pets are detected in the image, you will find the option to use Portrait Studio, and this will let you generate a “Studio” shot, a 3D cartoon, Fisheye lens effect, Oil painting, Watercolour or Sketch (again depending on what the phone detects). You can see the results below.

There are a number of options available, and these are pretty impressive, although I was hoping they would leave the background of the image intact.

If you haven’t tried the photo editor, then you might be surprised by what it can achieve. It’s certainly worth using for quick edits and adjustments, with some fun to be found in the more advanced options available.

Related reading

• 1
• 2
• 3

Follow AP on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.