The upcoming iOS 16 makes it easy to copy edits you make to one image and apply them to anywhere between one and many. And it’s easy and quick. Let’s have a look!

Editing photos

In the Photos app, you’ve been able to edit photos, adjusting brightness, contrast, vignettes, sharpening and more for years now. However, now, you can copy those edits and apply them to one, two, a dozen, a hundred photos (or videos) or more. 

This is particularly valuable if you just want to sharpen, add a little brightness and contrast to other photos or make other global adjustments. You don’t need to repeat the adjustments manually for each photo or video. Best of all, it’s easy.

How to copy and paste an edit to a single image or video

  • Edit your photo or video as usual.
  • Tap the new ellipsis (…) icon.
  • Select Copy Edits.
  • Select another photo or video.
  • Tap the ellipsis icon.
  • Select Paste Edits.
  • Lean back and smile because you’ve saved a lot of time.

How to copy and paste an edit to many images or videos

It gets better, though. How would you like to do this by selecting many photos and applying the edits? Well, you can! Here’s how!

  • Edit your photo or video as usual.
  • Hit the Back Arrow to return to viewing photos in album view.
  • Tap the Select Button.
  • Tap whatever photos or videos you wish to receive the same edits.
  • Tap the ellipsis icon.
  • Select Paste Edits.
  • Whoop with joy because you’ve just saved a ton of time and staved off carpal-tunnel syndrome!

Which edits can you copy and paste?

You may copy and paste most of the general adjustments. This includes exposure, brilliance, highlights, shadows, saturation, brightness, sharpness, detail, and so forth.

In other words, the global adjustments that apply to every photo or video. Crops, markups and Live Photos key frames cannot be transferred.

iOS 16

iOS brings a number of new features for photographers. Other features such as the copy and paste subject function, which separates the subject for the background and allows you to cut and paste backgrounds, are more exciting and flashy. Still, though, this is extremely convenient and well-conceived. And it saves a ton of time. And who doesn’t want to do that?