Photoshop Express Would Be My Favorite Photo Editing App if Not for These Two Features

Photoshop Express is one of my favorite photo-editing apps on mobile, but two features stop it from outranking Lightroom as my top choice. If these were changed, I’m almost certain that PS Express would become my go-to editing software.

1 Split Toning Instead of Color Grading

If you used Lightroom Classic on desktop before 2021, you’ll know about its split toning feature. Eventually, these were replaced with color grading—which was previously already in Premiere Pro. I love using color grading for my smartphone photos, and it’s an essential part of my desktop editing workflow as well.

Sadly, however, Photoshop Express still hasn’t received this feature. Don’t get me wrong, split toning is okay—but I’m largely saying this because I never got used to it. It’s harder to learn than color grading, in my opinion, and the feature is also more limited.

Because Photoshop Express only has split toning, I often find myself using multiple apps to edit my pictures. I would prefer to use just one, but we’ll have to wait and see if this feature gets introduced.

2 The HSL Layout

The hue, saturation, and luminance (HSL) sliders are fundamental in almost every photo-editing tool that I use. I love how I can adjust specific colors to change how my picture looks, and in some apps, I can mask different areas to only change these parts.

Photoshop Express also has HSL sliders, but I have one big problem… the layout is pretty bad.

When you go to the Color Mix panel in Photoshop Express, you’ll find each color in a block on the left-hand side. Meanwhile, the Hue, Saturation, and Luminance tabs are on the right. The slider is then below the photo but above these panels. Whether you use Photoshop Express Premium or the free version, this layout is the same.

I find this layout incredibly annoying. I’d rather just have what Lightroom has where you can see every color in a list and adjust them next to each other. For me, doing so is better for seeing how my edits affect the picture. It also helped reduce my learning curve.

It’s a bit frustrating that Photoshop Express has these two drawbacks, because I think it’s pretty much the perfect editing app otherwise. Nonetheless, it goes to show that every editing tool—no matter how good—still has some cons. Despite these drawbacks, I’m still happy to use Photoshop Express for its numerous other advantages.