In our Local Guide profile, photos uploaded to Maps are usually one of the predominant elements. In a world increasingly led to “visual” communication, in which showing is faster and more effective than telling, our images are predominant.
When I search for a restaurant in Maps, the first thing I do, even before reading the reviews, is to look at the photos of the dishes, and I imagine that for many of you it is the same. The same thing I do if I have to visit a museum or a park.
However, taking a good photo isn’t always easy, especially in restaurants. The light is never the one we would like to have, and sometimes when we photograph from above we find that our photo is rotated 90 degrees. Does this ever happen to you? To me, always!
So here is a little edit, to add a bit of saturation, a little more light, can turn a gray and flat photo into the beautiful and tasty image of the dish in front of us.
I was used to do this before uploading the images to Maps, retouching them with Google Photo.
Recently, however, almost by chance, I discovered one of the most hidden functions of the Google Maps App: photo editing
The feature, which allows you to retouch photos taken with your phone before uploading them, is not mentioned in the Maps Help Page, and there is no clear command to get started.
So let’s go now to see how to find the button to activate the function for “editing” the photos.
It is done in three simple steps, but remember that the photo, to be editable, must have been taken with the same phone you want to use to edit the image, and must be stored in the phone’s memory.
- Step 1: Select the place
- Select from Google Maps the Business Listing where you want to add your photo
- Tap on Photos
- Tap on “Add a photo”
- Step 2: Select a photo
- Select a photo from your device (in Folder or in the suggested photos)
- Tap on the preview
- Step 3: Tap on “Edit photo” on the bottom
In this way you will start the edit feature. If you are used to editing photos in Google Photos, you will find it very familiar, because in fact it is exactly the same feature, activated by a button in Google Maps.
Well, I love Google Integration between products, because it makes easier to use them.
Here we are. Here below is the list of the series of Command that are available. I will not give too many details about how to use them. As I said already, the feature is the same that you have in Google Photos, so for going in deep you can read Edit your photos from Google photos Help Page.
A tip before you start: if you want to practice and the tool is new to you, use Google Photos for your tests, as any edit that is wrong, or that you don’t like, can be undone. When a photo is uploaded to Maps, on the other hand, if you don’t like the edit, you have to delete it. Remember: photos can only be edited BEFORE uploading. Once uploaded, photos can no longer be edited.
Another thing that I want to remind everyone is that we are Local Guides, and that there are rules that define the limits of the changes we can make to a photo before uploading it: Format Specific Criteria
Well, it’s time to start with a quick overview of the tools available
Suggestions: The one that I love more. With a single tap you can choose one of the four more common mix of filters to improve your photo:
- Enhance, always my first choice. Improves the light a bit and gives more saturation, but the photo remains very “natural”.
- Dynamic, perfect for a photo with low light
- Warm, and Cold, to balance the light of the room
Crop: Perfect if there is something near to the sides of the photos that you want to remove, or to rotate the photo.
Adjust: Everything is controlled by you. 16 different values that can be adjusted one by one. Before to try that function, it is better to practice a bit in Google Photo
Filters: 12 Filters ready to use. The most common combination of settings all in a single shot
Markup: My suggestion is: Skip this function!! Even if it is included in the set of possible editing features, the use of this one can easily end in a violation of the rules.
More: this command will address you to other editing Apps available in your device, if you have some. In my case I have Snapseed and Resize Me! Apps.
Ready for fun? Perfect, let me just add a couple of notes:
- Remember to choose only your best images, to upload them to Maps. Remember also that an image uploaded several times, even if with different editions, still remains a duplicate. Over the years I have seen many former Local Guides use this technique, and the fact that they are no longer Local Guides … well, it taught me something.
- Editing your photo will improve it, but the elements that turn a photo into a “good photo” are others, from the choice of subject, to the light, to the framing. If you want to improve your technique, I recommend the posts of three authors. Two are Google photographers, and the third is a Local Guide, and all of them have written extremely interesting posts on photography. Check their profiles for finding great tips
- Anna Dickson
- Christina-NYC
- @PaulPavlinovich
Of course we have other great photographers here in Connect, so I hope they will forgive me if they are not mentioned here, and there are also great tools for editing photos. The purpose of this post is not to be a compendium on the editing functions, but only to illustrate how these are available, with a simple tool to manage, directly starting from your Google Maps App.
As we mentioned Snapseed, you may find interesting also: How to edit your photos using Snapseed
Do you already use an editing tool? If so, which one, and what advice would you like to give to someone approaching editing for the first time?
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