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Google+ brings power to online photo editing (pictures)

It's still no Lightroom. But Chrome users now can perform sophisticated adjustments to their photos with online tools stemming from Google's Snapseed software. Here's a look at what's possible.

Stephen Shankland
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Stephen Shankland
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1 of 8 screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET

Google+ photo editing

With an infusion of Snapseed image-editing technology, Google+ has built in a range of options for common photo adjustments and customizable filter effects. The Google+ tilt-shift tool lets you adjust the position and strength of the blurring effect as well as fiddle with contrast, brightness, and saturation. Google has kept a steady emphasis on improving photos for its social-network site, largely replacing the old Picasa Web Albums with Google+.

Click to read more about the new Google+ photography tools.

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2 of 8 Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET

Google+ photo editing

Google+ photo editing offers a variety of customizable black-and-white conversion options, including color filters that simulate the behavior of screw-on filters that attach to cameras.
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3 of 8 screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET`

Google+ photo editing

If you don't want all the photo-editing options Google+ offers, you can also just fiddle with the "auto enhance" settings, which start from Google's estimation of how to improve your photo.
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4 of 8 screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET

Google+ photo editing

To change a specific region of a photo, Google+ uses control points that can change brightness, saturation, and contrast for a circular region. The effects fade gradually to avoid abrupt edges.
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5 of 8 screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET

Google+ photo editing

Control points are tied to a specific color, so you can for example click to place one in the blue sky, drag the size slider to make it fill the whole screen, then drag the brightness slider to darken only the sky.
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6 of 8 screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET

Google+ photo editing

The control points let you adjust specific regions of an image, for example increasing the brightness in this shadowy region. The green ring around the dot indicates that brightness has been increased. You can move, duplicate, and delete control points.
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7 of 8 screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET

Google+ photo editing

The Center Focus filter lets you darken and blur the periphery of an image, brighten the center, and change the point of focus. It comes with a number of presets as well.
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8 of 8 screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET

Google+ photo editing

If you're on the fence, you can undo and redo editing changes or revert all the way back to the original photo.

Click to read more about the new Google+ photography tools.

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