12 Useful iPhoto for iOS Tips [Video]

Now that it’s vacation season, you’re going to want to nail down an efficient method for editing all the photos you’ve been taking on your summer trips. In the past, this might have meant lugging around your laptop. Now, that’s unnecessary. Arm yourself with an iPad and the official iPhoto app ($4.99), and execute the same pro-level effects with a few simple swipes and taps on your tablet.

See iPhoto in action:

It is possible to remove acne and other skin imperfections with iPhoto with the Repair brush. Below you’ll see this process in action. You can find 12 more iPhoto tips after the jump. 

1. Crop a photo

• Select a photo and tap Crop, the first icon in the lower left menu. (Alternatively, tap the Edit button in the upper right.)
• Touch the image to crop it. Twist your fingers to rotate the photo freehand, pick up the crop handle by its edges, or pinch to zoom the image itself and adjust what fits in the frame. Or touch the digital dial along the bottom edge of the app to rotate the image with more precision.

Bonus tips:

• Tap the Gear icon on the lower right to crop the image automatically using the aspect ratio of your choice.
• Tap the Lock Aspect Ratio icon (beside the Gear icon) to crop the photo while keeping the aspect ratio of the original photo.

• Select a photo and tap Color (the third icon in the shape of a palette in the lower left).
• Touch the part of the image that you want to adjust. IPhoto automatically senses if you’re touching blue skies, skin tones or greenery, and lets you drag your finger horizontally (left and right) across the screen to tweak these color controls.
• Touch anywhere on the image and drag your finger to adjust saturation. Drag up to boost saturation and down to desaturate the photo.

Bonus tips:

• Tap the “WB” icon on the lower right to apply preset color adjustments such as “Cloudy,” “Incandescent,” and “Sun.”
• Tap the Gear icon and toggle Preserve Skin Tones to maintain the natural skin colors while boosting others

3. Remove red-eye

• Select a photo and tap Brushes, the fourth icon in the lower left. A fan of art tools springs up from the bottom edge of the screen.
• Touch the Red Eye brush.
• Tap directly on your subject’s eye. IPhoto detects the flaw and fixes the image.

4. Remove blemishes

• Select a photo and tap the Brushes icon. A fan of art tools springs up from the bottom edge of the screen.
• Touch the Repair brush.
• Rub out the blemishes on your subject’s skin for a flawless look.

Bonus Tip:

• To make the brush smaller, pinch to zoom on your photo before using the brush.

5. Brighten (or darken) photos

Adjust the whole picture:

• Select a photo and tap the Exposure button.
• Touch the part of the image that you want to adjust. IPhoto automatically senses if you’re touching shadows or highlights and adjusts the bright and dark areas accordingly when you drag your finger up or down.
• Touch the image and drag side to side to adjust contrast.
• Alternatively, touch the sliders along the bottom edge to adjust the photo with more precision. The outermost sliders adjust shadows and highlights, the inner sliders tweak contrast, and the center slider fine-tunes the brightness of the whole picture.

Adjust part of the picture:

• Select a photo and tap Brushes. A fan of art tools springs up from the bottom edge of the screen.
• Tap on the third, fourth, fifth or sixth brush, depending on what you need to accomplish. In sequence, these brushes are labeled Saturate, Desaturate, Lighten and Darken.
• Choose a brush and touch the relevant parts of the image to apply the effect. Generally, you can keep rubbing the same spot to build up the effect of an individual brush.
• Pinch to zoom on your photo before using the brush to give yourself finer control over adjustments.
• Turn on Edge Detection by tapping the icon in the lower right (beside the Eraser). This helps you apply adjustments without unwanted bleeding of brushstrokes.
• Use Eraser on the lower left to spot-erase brush effects.

6. Add Instagram-like effects

• Tap the Special Effects icon in the lower left to access professional-grade effects.
• Tap once more on the hinge of the Swatch Book to make six professional-grade filters fan out: Artistic, Vintage, Aura, Black & White, Duotone and Warm & Cool.
• Select an effect, then tap or drag along the strip to apply the effect.

When you’re applying a gradient:

• Swipe on the photo to adjust the placement of the gradient.

When you’re applying tilt-shift or vignette effects:

• Pinch on the photo to increase or decrease the effect’s intensity.

How to use Vignette, Grain or Sepia controls:

• These appear as dots at the end of the strip when you use the Black & White filter. Tap them to toggle on or off.

Bonus tip:

• The best way to learn what effects are available within the Swatch Book is to tap the Question Mark icon in the top menu bar. Doing so triggers labels that hover above the interface, showing what each swatch does.

iPhoto for iOS Intro and Video Tutorial

• Tips 1-6
• Tips 7-12