Develop / Editing

The develop function includes all major tools for editing images, including cropping and straightening, whitebalance correction and much more.

Default or Simple Mode

When firstly accessing the editing features, you can choose between a default or simple mode

Simple mode

Is intended for lightweight editing and adjustments. It covers basic options including whitebalance, Exposure, Contrast, Shadows and Highlights, Clarity, Sharpness and Noise Reduction.

This mode is recommended for Smartphones, smaller tablets or for users who just want to do quick edits.

Default mode

Extends the simple mode by offering Whitebalance presets (raw images only), Layer-Based adjustments (Gradient, Circular, Brush, Lasso), Lens-Corrections and Effects

Since the default mode has a lot of options and sliders, it's recommended to use on tablets or devices with larger screen size (at least 7")

 

Changing modes

You can always switch your mode, even while editing your images. Go to Menu -> Edit Mode

 

Crop

Use the cropping icon in the menu to switch to the cropping mode

Use your fingers to adjust the cropped area

Use two fingers to rotate your image

Tap on the  to show additional options

You can now choose a fixed Aspect Ratio, Mirror and rotate the image (in 90° steps) or straighten the image.

Editing templates

Photo Mate supports saving of edits.
This means, all the changes you do to an image (exposure, contrast and even layers) can be stored as a preset for similar or other images.

Furthermore, you can also import or export multiple of these presets to save them or get presets from other users.

Creating a preset

  1. Switch to the develop mode
  2. Adjust any image with the values you want to store as a preset
  3. Tap on the   in the upper right to show the add preset dialog
  4. Follow the steps to store the edits as a preset

Loading a preset

  1. Switch to the develop mode
  2. Choose any image which you want to apply the preset to
  3. Tap on the  in the upper right to show the choose preset dialog
  4. Choose the preset you want to apply

Importing template files

  1. Download a pmx-template file from www.photo-mate.com/presets or somewhere else (using your device)
  2. Open Photo Mate and navigate to the download folder
  3. Tap on the PMX-File in Photo Mate
  4. Follow the steps to finish import

Exporting template files

You can export all your presets in case you want to share them with other users or copy them to a new device.

  1. Go to Menu -> Preferences
  2. Choose Editing on the left
  3. Tap on Export XMP-Presets
  4. Check the Notification to find the exported pmx-file

Compare before/after

Go to the "Preview" heading. There are several icons to use:

Show the whole edited image
While this button is pressed, Photo Mate will show the "before" image
Show the current edits on the left, and the "before" on the right
Show the current edits on the right, and the "before" on the left
Show the current edits on the top, and the "before" on the bottom
Show the current edits on the bottom, and the "before" on the top
Switch the current edits and the "before": All edits you've done will now be stored in the "before" side, and you can do a new edit. Press it again to switch the current edits again with the last stored edits. This allows you to easily compare two seperate edits.

Customizing the interface

Photo Mate allows you to customize your editing interface.

Histogram

Go to Menu -> Histogram to choose the Histogram mode or to disable it

Top bar

Use the  to unlock the bar from the top.

Editing tools

Long-Tap on an heading (like "Basics") to re-order the tools.
Note: You should close all tools first by tapping once on each of the headings

Sidebar size

Go to the "Tools" heading and use the "Sidebar Size" slider to adjust the width of the tools section

Lens Adjustments

This section covers various information about using Lens-Profiles or doing custom lens-adjustments.

Lens-Profiles

Lens-Profiles provide an easy way to automatically correct distortion, vignetting and chromatic-aberration for common lenses.

Photo Mate ships with the Lensfun Database, which contains several profiles for lenses from various manufacturers.

When you open a raw-file, Photo Mate will read the exif-data and check if it finds a suited lens. If so, the option "Use Profile" is enabled. Activate it to use the automatically detected profile.
Note: When you use a Fixed-Lens camera and edit your raw, this option is may active by default.

Important: When editing jpg-files, your camera may already applied lens-corrections. Do not use this option in such cases.

Using layers

Layers are a great way to make local adjustements to an image.

Open the "Layers" panel and choose the  icon to add a new layer.

Choose one of the layer types from the list:

  • Gradient: A gradient layer. Good for doing large-area adjustments like changing the sky in a landscape image
  • Circular Gradient: An ellipse layer. Good for effects like vignette or adjusting skin tones
  • Brush: A layer which allows you to draw several points. Good for more complex structures.
  • Lasso: A layer which allows you to draw an outline: Good for more complex structures or masking.
  • Threshold: Allows you to select a source color. All areas with the same color will be affected. Good for color keying or other effects.

After the layer is added, you will see several adjustment options below.

To delete a layer, select the layer from the list and use the  icon.

Shortcuts

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