To use the Chromebook's basic image editor, you have to open a file saved to your hard drive. There are a couple of ways to do that. Here's one way: click the Files app and open an image from there. Double-click an image in the Files app, and it’ll open in the “Gallery” app, a simple image viewer with slideshow and other image-viewing features.
Click the Edit button at the top-right corner of the window. The Gallery app offers basic tools for cropping, rotating, resizing, adjusting its brightness and contrast levels, and using an “autofix” option for automatically fixing the brightness and color of your photos.
Our students all have this extension installed and you might want to add it too! It enables you to take a screenshot of all or part of a screen. You can then edit it, add arrows, circle things, or blur faces. You can also use this tool for screencasting.
Pixlr Express has a few less features than Pixlr (see below), but still has loads more than the native Chromebook photo-editor app.
Hint: Click Fullscreen to work without being distracted by lots of ads.
Pixlr is a robust image editor that’s easy-to-use and packed with the features you’d expect for typical image-editing, including layer support.
Enable flash for this to work. Look for the prompts.
Hint: Click View > Fullscreen to work without being distracted by lots of adds.
Polarr is a more powerful photo-editing tool. It can even open RAW image files. If you’re a photographer looking to have lots of options, apply and adjust filters, and have greater control adjusting color settings, this is the tool to use on a Chromebook.
Resources:
Polarr's Wiki for more information