Chrome OS Post-Processing on Chromebook - Mostly Snapseed

[Covey22]

Disclaimer; I've been on a JPG only workflow since moving to Fuji XF several years ago. I do take RAW back-ups for critical shots, but oftentimes they're just insurance, I've yet to really use them.

I can upload my photos using a USB-C reader and they can be copied to the local file system and manipulated.

The most seamless and cost-free workflow I can have on Chromebook is Google Snapseed. The app runs just fine under ChromeOS as a stand-alone Android application. Most of the pre-built tools do what I need, crop, basic image adjustments, HDR (as needed) and even basic watermarking. I can build one set of export settings and adjust size and quality for final output, which is usually the Web or e-mail sharing.

Alternatives - PhotoPea (as long as you're tethered to the Internet somehow) is a great PS substitute, but it's more than what I really need, and I wanted to be able to operate without a WiFi connection if I could.

Lightroom CC Mobile is available on the Chromebook as a native app. I just don't want to pay a recurring cost of 120 a year minimum to gain access to the Development Module.

There was never any real intention to replace my Desktop with this setup. I had bought a Chromebook for other mobile computing needs; this is just a neat experiment that I've been doing since getting it.

Rough sample attached. Taken at lunch with the RX100M3, transferred over and worked on. About five minutes work.

 

[john m flores]

Cool. Good to know. Chromebooks are interesting budget machines. Do any of them have decent displays?

 

[Covey22]

Yep - typically 1300 x 760 or so. Mine is 2400 x 1600 bit that's a little out of the norm.

 

[MoonMind]

You get many FHD displays as well (1920x1080 in my case).

btw. Since I was an early adopter of Polarr and own one of the rather rare perpetual licences, I use that app.

@Covey22: How well does Snapseed scale on your display? I'm still very wary of re-activating Android app support on my fickle Chromebook - but if it's worth it, I may try it again ... I remember a couple of issues from my last attempt, but that's a while back.

M.

 

[john m flores]

Yep - typically 1300 x 760 or so. Mine is 2400 x 1600 bit that's a little out of the norm.

I’m more interested in color gamut, i.e, how much of sRGB and Adobe RGB is covered.

 

[gryphon1911]

I have not tried PhotoPea yet, but I normally use Snapseed and Polarr on my Chromebook.

 

[MoonMind]

I’m more interested in color gamut, i.e, how much of sRGB and Adobe RGB is covered.

Not that great, in all honesty. I found this rather damning information on the display of my (better!) 14" Chromebook:

Despite the resolution upgrade, there are no changes in colour accuracy. The display on the 2016 model could only produce 54% of the sRGB colour gamut, and the new model achieves the same result. Images lack depth and aren’t particularly vibrant. Likewise, an average Delta E of 6.32 is very poor indeed.

This sounds rather bad - but it's not what I'm experiencing; I have very accurate, fully calibrated screens to compare it with, and I find that at least for some quick post, it's absolutely usable. But YMMV - if you're a stickler for gamut and accuracy, only the very best Chromebooks will get you closer to something more valid.

In practice, it's okay to work with for my personal needs. What's more, I've also used the smaller C720 (11", 1366x768 screen) with its way less(!) accurate screen for post while travelling; it's workable - nothing to write home about, sure, but adequate.

That said, even my cheapest Windows "laptop", a Medion tablet/keyboard dock combo that I bought for $99, has a 70% sRGB gamut and a 1280x800 screen that I can actually calibrate; my new, cheap travel laptop, a $199 Trekstor model with a very frugal N4000 Celeron processor, but FHD display and M.2 SSD slot (a boon for storage hungry applications!), ups the ante with 99% - and I can use darktable as well. The $249 model with the N5000 Pentium processor might well be a nice replacement for any Chromebook if you can live with the frankly marginal build quality.

However, the Chromebooks usually offer much(!) smoother performance than equally priced Windows machines; I've tested quite a few of impossibly low-spec'd machines over the years (it's part of an ongoing, though slowly fading project to find the cheapest solution that actually works for my students and/or other people with little money). I think the you can now do better than the 14" Chromebook for the price I paid in 2016 ($379) when my first unit broke (I found spare parts later to have it repaired ...), but the C720 is still impressively competent after all these years ($279 when new in 2014) - and for us photographers, it even sports a SD card slot ...

M.

 

[Covey22]

I’m more interested in color gamut, i.e, how much of sRGB and Adobe RGB is covered.

Not that great. Color management is not a CB forte. Surface does a good job in comparison.