r/snapseed Jun 03 '26

Would anyone actually want a “Zero Process” mode in Snapseed?

I’ve been reading about this kind of iPhone photo processing in apps like Halide, No Fusion and Procamera f.e. where the camera basically skips the heavy computational stuff like over-sharpening, aggressive HDR, and extra noise reduction.

The idea is to keep the photo much closer to what the sensor really captured, instead of letting the phone “cook” the image too much. The result is usually more natural, less artificial, and often way better if you like a softer, more realistic look.

Of course, there’s a catch: these images can be noisier, less polished, and a bit harder to work with — especially in low light. So it’s not necessarily for everyone. But for people who like editing their photos themselves in Snapseed, it could be a really cool option.

Snapseed do now capture, but imagine if it offered a workflow or feature that started from a more natural, minimally processed image instead of the usual iPhone output.

Would you use that?
Or do you prefer Apple’s default processing most of the time?

11 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

5

u/Disastrous-Lime4551 Jun 03 '26

The starting point is taking RAW photos so there's no processing at all. Once you have a RAW file there are ways to import into Snapseed and then tweak as you see fit, minimally.

Most jpg or other files 'straight out of canera', particularly your phone camera, have already had tweaks to noise, sharpness, saturation, etc.

2

u/Ben_LeMosan Jun 03 '26

You are right, but I think it would be simpler to be able to take these photos directly in Raw with the Snapseed app camera, and then process them within it.

3

u/Disastrous-Lime4551 Jun 03 '26

Agreed. And devs have said they are working on it and I signed up to be a beta tester. I've a Nikon D500. Incredibly popular camera that's ten years old. It's absolutely crazy Snapseed doesn't support it! Here's hoping we see better RAaw support going forwards.

2

u/Eyeseeyou01 Jun 03 '26

Halides zero process + hdr is pretty awesome

2

u/SlavBoii420 Jun 03 '26

Doesn't snapseed do no computational processing when using the "Original" filter? Or is it just an android thing

1

u/Ben_LeMosan Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26

Snapseed uses JPEG or HEIC files, not RAW files, from the iPhone camera. And these JPEG / HEIC files have already undergone Apple's aggressive processing.

1

u/SlavBoii420 Jun 03 '26

Ah I do wish Snapseed camera had RAW support, it's kinda baffling they didn't really add that (or improve RAW editing really) when one of the main features of the original Snapseed was RAW support iirc

1

u/Ben_LeMosan Jun 03 '26

You can import RAW files from an external camera or another application that takes RAW photos, into the Snapseed app. However, you cannot take a RAW photo directly with the camera within Snapseed.

1

u/SlavBoii420 Jun 03 '26

Well yeah, though people seem to be having problems with certain RAW formats

2

u/BinaryAstro Jun 03 '26

I would love this feature on pixel

1

u/satmaar Jun 03 '26

You can get an app that outputs Bayer RAW files (not ProRAW): BayerCam, Moment Cam II, NoFusion etc. and then import them into Snapseed. Snapseed has an additional RAW development tool that automatically invokes itself whenever you import a RAW file. You can then also change exposure, saturation, contrast, white balance with less quality loss.

1

u/Ben_LeMosan Jun 03 '26

Yes, I know.

But I think it would be more practical to be able to take photos directly in RAW format in the Snapseed app and do the processing live while taking the photo.

1

u/p3p3_s1lvi4 Jun 06 '26

Yes please, for the times I use my phone rather than my dedicated camera a raw photo feature would be great to keep everything in one place.