I do the bulk of my photo editing from my computer, but there are some occasions when using my smartphone makes more sense. Here, I’m going to discuss the main situations in which I prefer editing my shots on my mobile phone.

1When I’m Posting on Stories

After recentlyreintegrating social media after a long break, I’ve been more actively sharing my photography on Instagram. While I used to spend hours editing in Lightroom for Stories, now I’m more laid-back.

For me, the whole point of Instagram Stories is to share my creative process and some of my pictures in real-time. This is very different from most of my editing; it usually takes two to three months after photographing before I get around to editing them in Lightroom.

To edit photos for Instagram Stories, I usually edit in Lightroom CC, Photoshop Express, or Canva. At the very least, I would change the aspect ratio to 16:9 if it isn’t already.

Editing smartphone photos on a computer is, in my opinion, a tedious experience. I’d much rather adjust the picture on my phone, especially when a) that’s the screen size it was taken on, and b) I’m solely going to use it for social media.

I find it fascinating how much you can do with smartphone photos as they often look quite dull when you first take the picture. I especially enjoy adding contrast and using different filters and effects.

VSCO is typically my go-to app for editing pictures I take with my smartphone. Consider checking out thisVSCO vs. Lightroom CC comparisonto understand each app’s pros and cons, but I would suggest using both of them.

3When I’ve Started Editing on My Computer, but I’m on the Go

Lightroom Classic is my preferred photo editing software for several reasons, but I’ll sometimes use Lightroom CC (especially if I’m traveling). If I’ve started editing images on Lightroom CC for desktop, I will then use my phone to continue editing while on the go.

Adobe syncs your files in Lightroom CC across all devices, making it easy to access everything you need. You can then download the files from your computer if you’d prefer to save them there.

4When I’ve Transferred JPEGs From My Camera to Smartphone

For deeper edits of pictures I’ve taken with my Fujifilm camera, I’ll always use RAW because you get more editing flexibility. However, when I’m traveling, I often transfer JPEGs from my camera to my phone. To be honest, many Fujifilm JPEGs look amazing right out of the camera—but sometimes, I’ll retouch the image.

How I edit these JPEGs depends on my camera settings. For example, I often shoot underexposed, so I’ll raise the exposure in the editing software if needed. Everything else is to taste, I gravitate toward somewhat saturated images.

I normally use Apple Photos to edit JPEGs from my camera. However, I sometimes experiment with different filters in VSCO.

5When I’ve Already Saved Full Edits on My Phone

I often transfer completed edits from my computer to my smartphone for three reasons:

If there is something else that I’d like to add, such as some more brightness or a different filter, I’ll do it on my phone. This often happens when I revisit pictures that were edited months or years ago. I almost always use Apple Photos for this kind of editing.

Even if you don’t want to use a computer, you may still edit your photos from your smartphone—and in some cases, it actually makes more sense to do so. If you’re only posting on your Instagram Stories, you don’t necessarily need to go into huge detail with your editing. And if you do edit on your computer, you can continue making adjustments on your smartphone.