Did you know that, on WhatsApp alone, the 500 million users share more than 700 million photos a day?
With the leap to digital photography , the accumulation of home files has become a difficult problem to control. And with it, the deletion (and possible recovery) of said photos..
Hundreds of repeated folders, a ton of idiotic photos shot in burst mode, et cetera. Smartphone cameras may have improved exponentially. But our way of managing files is still just as chaotic .
On the other hand, we need versatile applications in terms of options. We want to avoid exporting files to edit them from the PC, to be able to create collages for social networks and, at the same time, that we have the guarantee that our files are not accidentally deleted or overwritten..
Luckily there are a good handful of applications that facilitate these and many other tasks. Let's see how far we can squeeze the mobile camera. And, incidentally, our creativity.
Be selective with the photos, be a better photographer
First of all, a note. There are many professionals who insist on this point: taking a photograph is only the first step in the process ..
Observing and selecting the best ones requires that we become more involved in what we do, that we strive to be better and not fall into trivializing this noble art.
Editing, on the other hand, helps us better understand the photograph we have taken, what we would like to improve on — and I'm not talking about correcting red eyes, that too — and how we would like to see ourselves facing the world.
It is not about filling everything with filters. It is like a good dish: spices, in their proper measure. A dressing is only part of the final product, never the main ingredient.
Connect to the world
No matter how bad it is, all connected has given us an irrevocable sense of security. There are few times that we fall into the comfort of dumping everything to a hard drive, with the confidence that it will be there when we need it. And then we get scared.
Cloud solutions are key to avoiding this. We recommend taking a look at this article we publish on the subject.
In addition to alternatives such as REACHit, the project created between Microsoft and Lenovo from which we can synchronize the new data that reaches the HD, or a cloud storage system like Flickr - it offers up to a tera of free storage -, it would not hurt acquire an HD with read and write via WiFi.
My Passport Wireless would be a good solution: it allows file encryption, protection by Drive Lock, transmit to any compatible device using DLNA / UPnP protocols, and a battery with up to 20 hours of autonomy. In this way we also guarantee the loss of data in the event of power outages.
Put some order
If we already have a ton of poor photos, there is still some solution left.
Gallery Doctor is an app that cleans and brings order to our photo library in just two steps. Find blurry, dark, poor quality , similar or identical photos, even those taken by mistake and they are just a dark and meaningless texture. To do this, use a "health" meter from our gallery.
AVG Labs are known for their file recognition algorithm, also creators of the MyRoll photo gallery. So you can rest easy when it comes to data management. In addition, it does not delete the photos immediately, but instead sends them to a trash can and, if we made a mistake, recover them from there. Because even the most ramshackle photo can be a good memory if we know how to edit it.
You can download Gallery Doctor from here and test its potential.
By the way, let's take a look at the editors, which after all is the step that determines who has the best photos.
Looking for the perfect photo
Once these steps are taken, we go to the core of the exquisite photographer, a handful of applications that will help us create the perfect photo, share it, and not forget it.
- Fotor Photo Effect Studio
The Swiss study Everimaging has been behind that holy grail for many years: creating the most complete application.
Knowing that the desktop market has been satisfied before, they have focused their efforts on the mobile sector. And with Fotor they have created the closest thing to Photoshop on a portable level , at least as far as photo editing is concerned.
It includes improvements for the camera such as timer, burst mode, grid, the option to edit on the fly or a classic shallow focus mode that simulates the blurring effect of SLR cameras.
Download | Fotor Photo Effect Studio
- PhotoDirector
Versatile photo editor from Cyberlink. This application has a powerful engine to add HDR, bokeh, smooth skin effects, correct RGB color, tone, exposure , intensity of each area, adjust white balance and even saturation, with great precision.
Like Fotor, once we edit the original photo, it creates an exclusive folder for the app where it dumps the new results.
It also takes care of the social counterpart: every so often it adds new scenes and frames, in addition to being able to upload and share our photos directly.
If our smartphone is compatible, this application gives us the option to save the files up to UHD 4K. Also, as you can see in the image, we can continue working on our photos from the desktop application.
Download | PhotoDirector
- Airbrush
Dubbed " the best selfie editor in the world, " AirBrush is another phenomenal alternative to the previous two.
Airbrush manages the content of the smartphone directly, being able to access all our folders and classify them. From its editing engine we can alter practically any parameter and, once we have the photos at will, upload them to Facebook, Flickr, Instagram or Twitter.
Download | Airbrush
- Photo Lab PRO
Vicman has put the best of the social component on this application. Apart from the classic holes to put faces in portraits like the Mona Lisa or pop characters like Iron Man and Darth Vader, it offers more than 570 frames, filters, effects and photomontages - with covers of magazines such as Playboy, Vogue or GQ.
Outside of these specific whims, on the photos we can apply textures or transparencies, and even apply drawing masks, with a result that is well above average.
Download | Photo Lab PRO
- Bonfire Photo Editor Pro
Although this Hugo Software app includes purchases within the system, its free version already provides more and better options than most of its competitors.
More than 110 filters where to turn the photos into true expressionist canvases - through specific configurations of names such as Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Turner, Van Gogh or Monet.
Its greatest virtue lies in the option to clean imperfections and defects intelligently, without individual treatments, thanks to image processing algorithms accelerated by OpenGL ES 3.0 .
The problem is in their compatibility, of course. You will need a powerful device to take full advantage of Bonfire.
Download | Bonfire Photo Editor Pro
- PicsArt
PicsArt is considered the best Android editor.
It is practically a complete study: we can create masks, stickers, apply filters and textures or assemble collages where each photo has an independent treatment. It offers a drawing suite from which we can make tutorials and share them via YouTube.
It's somewhat invasive in terms of advertising — it offers us to participate in photography contests, gives us recommendations every so often, and every week they add new packages of paid content — and it consumes a lot of resources, but its fame is deserved.
At first it is difficult to get hold of its file management system, since it encourages us to upload and share for others to edit, or ourselves to edit users' photos , but soon you will feel more comfortable than in any other.
It is an independent social network made up of experts and demanding amateurs; What more can you ask.
Download | PicsArt