How I use Google Photos to make my shots pop without going overboard

My main reason Paying for a Google One plan It’s Google Photos — no, I’m not talking about the extra storage you get for media. Of course, having more storage is a serious plus, but I love the interesting AI-powered smart tools that Google One opens up in Photos. Its easy-to-use interface and accessibility make it my default photo management tool on both Android and iPhone.

Whenever I need to work on a photo before I post it on Instagram, I instinctively get to work Google Photos and start working with its many artificial intelligence and manual editing tools. Over the years, I’ve found a workflow that helps make my photos Instagram-ready without looking overly processed. And here I come to spill all my secrets.

My first tip is obvious: Use Google Photos’ AI tools. I don’t speak Newer Request Photos features this allows you to ask the app to edit photos on your behalf. Instead, I’m talking about the good old Enhance and Dynamic tools that sit on the first screen after you click the Edit button. They’ve been around for as long as I can remember, and if you’re not sure what you want the final image to look like, the duo offers a great starting point.

I use Dynamic, especially on photos that look a little blurry. It slightly increases the overall brightness, so it is not suitable for images that are always quite bright. Enhance sits somewhere in the middle. It doesn’t forcefully light up shadows or dark areas, which helps the image look natural.

There are many days when I don’t find either tool particularly useful, but either way, I usually switch to manual editing right after I’ve dabbled a bit with Google Photos’ actual generative AI capabilities.

Photo editing actually starts before you click the photo. You’re trying to get the exposure right, frame your subject, find good lighting, set up the scene, and then—just as you press the shutter button—someone photobombs your perfect shot.

I used to get upset and try to recreate the moment without disturbing it. But Google Images has helped me calm down a bit in these situations now. In the back of my mind, I know that I can wipe clean (mostly) of any little things I don’t want in the shot.

I am far from in favor of using artificial intelligence to make fundamental changes to an image that no longer resembles reality. However, just as Photoshop helps people clean up small imperfections or unwanted objects, Magic Eraser does the same thing less effort for me. Thanks to artificial intelligence, the tool has become better at handling surrounding details, including reflections and shadows.

After cleaning up the image, I move on to my favorite part of the process: the manual processing.

I like my photos populated, just enough to stop people scrolling through Instagram, but without looking artificial. I’m very careful about which options I touch and how far I push the sliders, because even a few points difference can make a photo look otherworldly.

I often start by increasing the brightness, as it sets the stage for how the image will turn out. Even going up a few steps can make a big difference. Increasing the overall brightness unfortunately makes some areas too bright, and that’s where White Point comes into play. This helps bring back detail from brighter areas of the photo.

I also like my photos with a bit of contrast. This helps reduce any washed out look and makes the colors stand out enough for the image to actually stand out – I’m just making sure I’m not overdoing it. If needed, I’ll balance out the extra contrast by raising the shadows a bit, which almost always works.

Instead of cold, boring photos, whether it’s my favorite person or my favorite food, I prefer photos that capture and radiate the warmth the subject gained during the shot. No matter where you share it, a little warmth makes a photo feel more human and relatable.

Finally, Google Photos has one hidden gem: Skin Tone. I think this would be used when you want the photo to appear. Even when there’s no person in the frame, I’ll often increase the Skin Tone a bit – I always limit it to 15 points. Somehow, it adds just the right amount of vibrancy to the image every time; I don’t know how. Use it once and you’ll immediately understand the feeling I’m talking about.

It should be an established fact at this point that portrait shots are often added on Pixel phones fake looking blur effect. Google appears to be using the same approach when applying portrait blur to photos later in the post.

This is one trait I’ve naturally learned to ignore. This is no longer the case in my muscle memory as the results have disappointed me time and time again. The blur added by Google Photos often feels like a solid blur board stuck behind the subject, which can make otherwise good photos look like low-quality imitations.

No brownie points for guessing my least favorite editing tool in Google Photos: Move. The AI-powered tool lets you reposition elements in the photo, but that’s where I personally draw the line. Deleting a small unwanted object is one thing, but moving things around or adding elements that weren’t there in the first place feels like cheating to me. I don’t use it and I wouldn’t endorse it.

Google Photos actually encourages you to take Snapseed-edited photos from the More section for extra work, and I do that often. If you’re not familiar with it, Snapseed is also owned by Google and it recently received a major visual update it made using the app even more enjoyable. I usually start in Google Photos, make basic adjustments, and then take the photo into Snapseed for more creative editing.

I have a lot of presets saved there to get a consistent look between images. For example, I have a vintage-style preset that I use for photos of my partner and I, which I then convert to Polaroid-style photos.

While Google Photos helps keep photos as natural as possible, Snapseed feels more like a playground where I can experiment with different moods, overlays, frames, and styles depending on how I want the photo to turn out.

What’s your favorite Google Photos editing tool? Are you against the overuse of artificial intelligence in photo editing, or are you opposed to making major changes to your photos with AI? Let us know in the comments below.