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Color grading can take your smartphone photos to the next level. Your images will look more natural, and you’ll also make yourself automatically stand out as most people ignore this aspect. Below are some of the best color grading tools for smartphone photos.
1Lightroom CC
I useAdobe Lightroomfor both professional color grading and editing my smartphone photos. Lightroom CC is its mobile version, and you get access to four color grading wheels:
After making basic saturation and white balance adjustments, you can use Lightroom’s color grading wheels to add the final touches to your picture. This feature works with both RAW and JPEG files, so it’s worth trying out.
Lightroom CC starts at $9.99/mo for an Adobe Photography Plan, and you need a subscription before you can use this feature. Nonetheless, I think it’s well worth the money if you plan totake your smartphone photography more seriously.
Download:Lightroom CC foriOS|Android(Free, in-app purchases available)
2IMGGen.ai
If you want to adjust the colors in your picture without manual work, giveIMGGen.aia try. All you have to do is go to the IMGGen website and then drag and drop your picture. Within a few seconds, you’ll see a version of your image with adjusted colors (you can then download this).
The downside of IMGGen is that it offers nowhere near as much control as Lightroom. However, if you just want an easy-to-use editor, this is a decent choice. You can make further adjustments via thesefree photo editing apps for Android and iPhone.
Fotorwas one of the first photo editing apps I used, and I recommend it if you want something more advanced than IMGGen but also don’t want to pay for Lightroom. In Fotor, you can—like Lightroom—change the hue and saturation for shadows, highlights, and midtones. You’ll find these sliders in theColor Balancetab.
The main difference between Fotor and Lightroom is that you can’t alter the luminance for each section within the Color Balance tab. Nonetheless, it’s a pretty good free tool. Fotor has a handful of other free tools to help you polish your smartphone pictures, such as Denoise—but you’ll have to pay if you want full app access.
Download:Fotor foriOS|Android(Free, in-app purchases available)
4Photoshop Express
In addition tofree online AI photo editorsand other paid-for apps, you can use Photoshop Express to color grade your pictures and add some extra pop. To grade your colors, you’ll need to use Split Toning, a feature that used to exist in Adobe Lightroom.
Split Toning inPhotoshop Expresslets you change various aspects of your picture by moving some dots along the color graph. I actually prefer using Split Toning in circumstances where I don’t want to make drastic edits, or—honestly—when I don’t have the capacity to think fully (it’s more beginner-friendly than color grading, in my opinion).
Photoshop Express is free to download, and so are most of its features. However, you’ll need toupgrade to Photoshop Express Premiumfor RAW file editing (some smartphones now have these).
Download:Photoshop Express foriOS|Android(Free, in-app purchases available)
Another simple color grading tool for your smartphone photos is CapCut. However, to access this feature, you’ll need to use the web app (I tried color grading in the mobile app and was unable to).
CapCuthas AI color correction if you want to adjust everything with a single click. However, you can also adjust the warmth and tint via sliders if you prefer. Similarly, you can alter the saturation and vibrance. If you use the AI color correction feature, you can adjust the intensity.
you’re able to color grade your photos in CapCut without getting a full-paid subscription, making it another alternative to Fotor and Lightroom CC.
Regardless of your expertise level, and whether you want automatic adjustments or TO make your own, plenty of tools can help you color grade your smartphone photos. Try the ones we’ve mentioned here to make your pictures look more visually appealing.
