Edit photos and videos on iPhone

After you take a photo or video, use the tools in the Photos app to edit it on your iPhone. You can adjust the light and color, add a filter, and more.

When you use iCloud Photos, any edits you make to your photos and videos are saved across all your devices.

Tip: To choose the background color of Edit mode—for example, to set it to always be dark—see Set the background color of Edit mode.

Adjust light and color

Go to the Photos app on your iPhone.
Tap a photo or video to open it, then tap .
Swipe left under the photo to view the lighting adjustments you can make—for example, Exposure, Brilliance, Highlights, and Shadows.
Tap the lighting setting you want to adjust, then drag the slider to make precise adjustments.
The level of adjustment you make for each lighting setting is indicated by the outline around the button, so you can see at a glance which lighting settings have been increased or decreased. Tap the lighting button to switch between the edited photo or video and the original so you can see the difference your edits made.
Tap Done to save your edits, or if you don’t like your changes, tap Cancel, then tap Discard Changes.

Tip: Tap to automatically enhance light and color in a photo or video.

Edit the Photographic Style of a photo on iPhone 16 models

After you choose your default Photographic Style on an iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro camera, you can edit the style or apply a new style to photos in your library.

Note: To edit Photographic Styles in the Photos app, Camera needs to capture photos with High Efficiency image capture. To turn on High Efficiency, go to Settings > Camera > Formats, then tap High Efficiency.

Go to the Photos app on your iPhone.
Open a photo taken with a Photographic Style, then tap .
Make sure Styles is selected at the bottom of the screen, then do one of the following:
- Choose a new style: Swipe left or right on the style choices below the image.
- Adjust the tone and color: Tap , then drag your finger to simultaneously adjust the tone and color. Drag your finger on the slider below to adjust the intensity level. When you’re done making adjustments, tap the image.
  Note: As you make adjustments, the values for tone, color, and intensity are shown at the top of the screen. Tap the round arrow to reset these values.
Tap Done.

Apply filter effects

On iPhone 15 models or earlier, you can apply filter effects to change the tint of a photo.

Note: On all iPhone 16 models, use Photographic Styles instead of filters to give your photos a customized look. See Use latest generation Photographic Styles with an iPhone 16 model camera.

Go to the Photos app on your iPhone.
Open a photo or video, then tap .
Tap to apply filter effects such as Vivid or Dramatic.
To remove a filter that was applied when you took the photo, tap Original.
Tap a filter, then drag the slider to adjust the effect.
To compare the edited photo to the original, tap the photo.
Tap Done to save your edits, or if you don’t like your changes, tap Cancel, then tap Discard Changes.

Copy and paste edits to multiple photos

You can copy the edits you made to one photo (or video) and paste them onto another photo, or a batch or photos, all at the same time.

Go to the Photos app on your iPhone.
Open the photo or video that contains the edits you want to copy.
Tap , then tap Copy Edits.
Review and turn off any edits you don’t want to copy, then tap Copy.
Tap to return to your library.
Tap Select, then tap the thumbnails of the photos you want to paste the edits onto, or open a single photo or video.
Tap , then tap Paste Edits.

Note: Photos automatically adjusts the white balance and exposure of the edited photos to create a better match and make the photos look even more similar.

Add stickers, text, and more to a photo

Go to the Photos app on your iPhone.
Tap a photo to open it.
Tap , then tap .
Tap to add stickers, captions, text, shapes, or even your signature.
Tap Done to save your edits, or if you don’t like your changes, tap Cancel.

Helpful?

iPhone User Guide