Is designed to appeal to a broad audience, with simple editing tools that let anyone improve their photographs. But is that it? Even though it’s a 1.0 product (replacing iPhoto and Aperture), a lot of editing power is actually hidden beneath that user-friendly surface. Click the arrow (left) to expose the Light controls (right). For example, when you edit a photo and click the Adjust button, you’re presented with sliders for improving light and color. Dragging a slider makes the image brighter or darker (Light), or more or less saturated (Color); you can also click the Auto button that appears when the mouse pointer moves over the tool.

Clicking the down-facing arrow icon, however, exposes individual controls. That’s just the beginning. Jump into editing To access the editing view, normally you click the Edit button when viewing an image, but there’s a better way: simply press the Return key. This shortcut also works in the Moments view when a photo is selected. Shortcuts also go directly to specific tools, even if you’re not yet in the editing view. Press C to open the Crop tool, F for filters, A for the Adjust tool, R for the Retouch tool, and E for the Red-eye tool.

While you’re editing, press the arrow keys to switch to the previous or next photo without leaving the editing view. To compare your edits to the original version of the photo, press the M key for a quick before-and-after.

Choose which version to edit If you shoot with your camera set to Raw+JPEG format (which records both a raw image and a high-resolution JPEG version), Photos treats the two separate images as one. However, the application defaults to editing the JPEG instead of the richer raw version.

To switch, open the photo in the editing view and choose Image Use RAW as Original. (The option is disabled unless you’re in the editing view.) Add more adjustments The Light, Color, and Black & White adjustments in the Adjust tool are just the most common adjustments. Several more are available by clicking the Add menu (see image below). I find having the Histogram visible to be helpful, for example. If you use some controls regularly, such as White Balance, choose Save As Default at the bottom of the Add menu; those adjustments will appear every time you edit a photo. Edit the photo using several adjustments that aren’t immediately visible. Extend edit ranges A funny thing happened one day when I accidentally pressed the Option key while editing a photo: The tick marks on several of the adjustment controls moved.

Many of the controls use a scale that ranges from –1.00 to +1.00, with the image’s original value sitting in the middle at zero. The Exposure control, for example, darkens the image significantly at –1.00, but doesn’t turn it black. When you hold Option, that range changes to between –2.00 and +2.00, letting you darken the photo even more (or go the other direction and brighten a dark photo).

This feature is also useful when you’re looking for more pop or an extreme treatment for a drab photo. In the images below, I’ve taken a photo of dried leaves and pushed the contrast to its initial maximum value of 1.00. With the Option key held, however, I can push that higher and get a more dramatic effect. Adjusting the Contrast control beyond the obvious range. Original (top), contrast set to +1.00 (middle), contrast set to +1.70 (bottom).

Multiple levels of Levels The Histogram is good for identifying the color and tonal values in a photo, but it’s there just for reference. The Levels adjustment, however, lets you manipulate those values in some sophisticated ways. Choose Levels from the Add menu to view it. The histogram in the Levels adjustment shows RGB and Luminance values. Looking at a histogram, the left side represents dark values (with black at the far left) and the right side represents light values (with white at the far right). The colored areas within indicate the distribution of red, green, and blue (RGB) pixels within the scene. If you want to isolate and edit any of those channels, click the options menu that appears when you move your mouse cursor over the controls.

You can also choose Luminance to view only the brightness values. The teardrop-shaped handles at the bottom of the Levels histogram control (from left to right) the black point, midtones, and the white point. To brighten an image, for example, drag the white point to the left—the values to the right of the white point get pushed to their full luminance, increasing the overall brightness of the photo (see below). Drag the white point to make the photo brighter. Similarly, dragging the black point makes the image darker, and dragging the midtones lightens or darkens the values that fall between the light and dark extremes; the smaller handles that flank the midtones control affect shadows (left) and highlights (right). Sometimes, for instance, it may be better to adjust the midtones to brighten an image to avoid clipping, which is when pixels are pushed all the way to pure white or black. There’s more to the Levels adjustment, however.

The handles at the top of the Levels adjustment allow you to fine-tune the edits made with the bottom handles. In the image below, I’ve reduced the white point setting (by moving it to the right) so the lightest areas aren’t blown out, and then also dragged the top-center control to brighten the midtones. The result is a brighter, more saturated sky, but also detail in light areas such as the pyramid-topped building in the center of the skyline. You can also hold Option and drag a top handle to also move its connected bottom handle in unison, maintaining the relationship between the two.

Use the top controls for fine-tuning. Copy and paste adjustments After you’ve edited a photo to your liking, you probably have similar shots taken at the same time that would benefit from those adjustments.

Rather than try to replicate everything by hand, it’s much easier to copy the work you did on the first one and paste it onto another. While you’re still in the editing view, choose Image Copy Adjustments (or press Command-Shift-C). Next, switch to the unedited photo and choose Image Paste Adjustments (or press Command-Shift-V). All the changes you made to the first apply to the second. Looking ahead These advanced or hidden editing features exist in the current 1.0.1 version of Photos for OS X, and there’s more to come. An update arriving with the upcoming OS X El Capitan will support editing extensions: third-party developers can create modules that will enable you to edit your images within Photos for OS X using the developer’s tools.

Power Up Photos For Macbook Air Without Keyboard

This capability already exists on iOS—you can use the editing tools of Pixelmator or Camera Plus, to name just two examples, without leaving the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad. For now, though, Photos for OS X turns out to be a much more capable photo editor than it first appears, which is a good place to start moving forward.

Nik Bhatt spent 14 years at Apple, first as a Senior Director of Engineering on the and iPhoto teams. Later he served as the CTO of the Photo Apps group, working with the Core Image and RAW teams before founding his own company,.

His first app, built on his knowledge of Apple’s Photos and iCloud frameworks to provide a robust RAW editing workflow as a Photos for Mac and a standalone app. RAW Power brings all of the features of the Mac version and more to your iPhone and iPad. Interface and Organization When you first launch RAW Power, you’ll see a list of your recently accessed photos and albums from the Photos app. This is because RAW Power is deeply integrated with. The app is designed to work seamlessly with its Photos extension counterpart on the Mac. Any changes you make to a photo in RAW Power are non-destructively synced across all your devices with iCloud Photo Library, and you can pick up an edit where you left off on your Mac.

Since the app’s workflow is structured around iCloud, you won’t find options to import photos from other locations. This wasn’t a problem in my testing, since iCloud Photo Library can the RAW photos on my Mac to my iPhone for editing.

After you choose a photo, you’re presented with both the editor and an info panel displaying the photo’s EXIF data. This is especially handy on iOS, since the default Photos app displays very limited metadata.

Editing If you’ve used RAW Power on the Mac, you’ll already be familiar with the editing controls on iOS. The app processes photos with Apple’s RAW engine, so the same power that’s available on the desktop is possible on your iPhone.

Contain minimally processed data, allowing for wider editing capabilities. If you’re new to RAW Power, the controls are pretty easy to get started with.

There’s a handy guided tour and link to a user manual built right in. After you begin editing, the UI can get a little cramped on the iPhone. Collapsible sections and tabs hold lists of toggles and sliders, and tap targets felt especially tiny at times. The app isn’t needlessly crowded, though – there’s a lot of features to explore. Power users will appreciate a histogram for judging and adjusting exposure, as well as comprehensive curves adjustment tools.

I spent a lot of my time in the RAW tab. By adjusting a range of sliders available only on RAW format photos, I was able to push my images far beyond what would normally be possible in a standard photo editor on iOS. Blown out highlights were recovered, and muddy details became sharp and vibrant without looking over-processed. RAW Power supports hundreds of RAW camera formats in addition to iPhone and RAW files, so there’s a pretty good chance your photos will benefit. Depth Effect If you haven’t taken any RAW photos, the app can still be of value. RAW Power for iOS includes a brand new depth feature that takes advantage of taken on the iPhone X, 8 Plus, and 7 Plus.

By interpreting the depth data stored in the photos, you’re able to manipulate background and foreground controls independently, allowing for an unprecedented amount of control with just a few sliders. If this was the only feature of RAW Power, I’d still be satisfied. It’s that cool.

When you open the depth tab, you’ll see options for foreground and background highlights and shadows, followed by a slider called depth map. Start dragging the sliders and the effect should be immediately clear. Foreground sliders control the highlights and shadows of your subject, while background sliders only adjust – you guessed it – the background.

If you want to see how the effect is being pulled off, tapping the depth map button reveals a grayscale version of your photo containing only the depth data saved by iOS. Using the depth map slider, you can control which parts of the image RAW Power considers foreground, and which it considers background. There are a few caveats with the depth effect.

While Portrait mode was introduced with the, the depth mask has only been accessible, making older images incompatible. I also ran into issues editing photos in my library that had been sent to me by friends, since iMessage and share sheets tend to strip out depth map data before sending. Availability RAW Power for iOS is compatible with iOS 11 on the iPhone 6s and iPad mini 4 or later. The application is a with a single $9.99 in-app purchase to unlock an Advanced Adjustments Pack containing the white balance, curves, and depth effect options. RAW Power for Mac is available as a separate purchase in the Mac App Store. While RAW Power might not replace your main photo editor, it’s a valuable tool for anyone looking to drive the most out of their images on iOS. Take a look at some the results I was able to achieve below.