Now that 144 camera models (see list) are supported in Snapseed on iOS, how can you get images from them into the app? Ah, glad you asked. Here’s some info from Snapseed Help:
Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader: will read all supported RAW files and allow the user to import them to the Camera Roll. Note: Some DNG files may appear blank in the interface and Camera Roll but will be shown correctly in Snapseed. Check it out in the Apple Store.
Lightning to USB Camera Adapter: can be used in combination with a camera’s USB port or even a USB SD card reader to read all supported RAW files and allow the user to import them to the Camera Roll. Check it out in the Apple Store.
EyeFi MobiPro: RAW files can be transferred to an iOS device via Wifi using “Eyefi Mobi” app and selecting share/save photo. Photos will be saved as RAW files to the Camera Roll. Note: This requires iOS 9.3.4.
Google Drive: Select a photo in Drive, tap on the dot dot dot icon, then select “send copy”. Drive will download the file. Select “Save Photo” to save it to the Camera Roll, or “Open in” to directly open it in Snapseed. Note: This requires Drive v4.12 and iOS 9.3.4.
Apple Mail: Email a RAW file, fully download it in Mail, then open the photo preview and tap the “share” icon. Select “Save Photo” to save it to the Camera Roll, or “Copy to Snapseed” to directly open it in Snapseed.
I believe the Android version of the app only supports DNG format; the list of 144 supported camera models appears to be for the iOS version only. I’m hoping this is not tied to some system-level Android limitation, and that it gets addressed soon.
The actual list of supported cameras has grown bigger this year: https://support.google.com/snapseed/answer/6312515?hl=en.
I still struggle with some RAW formats, so I use raw2dng (free on Google Play) to convert to DNG first. My workflow: https://www.download3k.com/articles/How-to-convert-DSLR-RAW-images-to-DNG-and-edit-them-on-Android-01463.
Great Feature! But: Waiting for Snapseed for Mac …
Thanks for the excellent advice on working with raw file’s in Snapseed on iOS devices. Actually, thank you John Nack for all the excellent advice, and inspiration, for all these years first at Adobe and now with Google.
As someone who teaches Snapseed with both iOS and Android tablets though I was wondering if you knew of a similar recourse for the Android users. Is there advice somewhere on all, or any of the methods, of getting a dng file into Snapseed on Android other than through an OTG cable?
Many thanks for any insights that you and your team can provide.
If I import raw files to my iPad Air 2 to edit in Snapseed, is it opening the actual raw file or a ‘fake’ which is actually a jpeg extraction from the raw??
It reads & processes the real raw data.
I am excited to learn that it uses the original raw data and that the IOS/Photos/ or Snapseed does not extract a jpeg on importing.
My intention here is to figure out a workflow to be able to edit Raw images on the iPad. And most importantly, be able to bring them back to my desktop (wirelessly I assume) to do further work in Ps and to print.
I experimented by opening a raw file (18.85mb), did some editing in Snapseed on my iPad, saved it and brought it back to my desktop. Even though the pixel dimensions are the same, the Snapseed version is 8.57mb. Which makes me think that either I somehow messed up along the way or there was some compression applied.
can you help throw light on this and guide a workflow please?
I moved it to & from used a file transfer app.
Snapseed takes in raw data & emits edited JPEG data, just as Photoshop, Lightroom, and other apps do. HTH.
I see the Raw file confirmation under development tools.
After editing, I Save. And I get confirmation that it was successfully saved.
It appears in the Snapseed folder in Photos.
*But….and here’s the problem – the new filename has a jpg extension. It is smaller (in MB but with pixel dimensions intact) & is no longer a raw file.
And if I Open it in Snapseed again, the Raw file confirmation at the top of the editing tools is gone.
My workflow intention was to be able to bring the Snapseed edited raw file back to my mac (via a wireless transfer app?) for further raw editing (acr) and/or final work in Ps, prior to printing.
So Snapseed can do Raw In, but not Raw Out (only jpeg out) ?
Is that what you’re saying?
I guess what I was hoping for doesn’t exist – yet. A (dedicated) raw editor that stores its edit adjustments within, or as a sidecar file.
After struggling with WiFi downloads, iOS 10, Nikon WMU and RAW files this workflow finally works:
1. After you connect your iOS device to the camera via WiFi, select the .NEF image file in WMU and download to iOS . This seems to only save a .JPG version on your camera roll. Attempting to open this file in Snapseed will not open the RAW editor.
2. In WMU select “Latest downloads” and select the .NEF file you downloaded in step 1.
3. Select the upload option (lower left of screen) and select “Open in other app” and select “Import with Snapseed”. This will open Snapseed and the Development Tools should open.
Note: you might need to reinstall Snapseed before this works.
Thank you so much. It worked for me. I was going out of my mind when I was not able to transfer raw files from my Nikon to my iPad, yours was the only work around I found, searching for hours on the net and it worked like charm. So thank you.