Edit Live Photos, portraits and videos

Know what kind of file you have

An ordinary photo, a Live Photo, a portrait with depth and a video do not contain the same information. Photos shows the tools each item supports, so a missing option does not always mean a fault. To see them by type, tap Collections, scroll down and tap Media Types.

For an important edit, check where the original is and whether you want to work on a duplicate. Copies sent through messaging may have lost movement, depth or quality.

Adjust a Live Photo

A Live Photo is a photo that also keeps a moment of movement and sound; when you open it, it shows the Live button in the top-left corner. If the main image caught someone with their eyes closed, you can choose another moment from that same shot.

1. Open a Live Photo and touch and hold it to see it move.
2. Tap the Edit button, then the Live Photo button.
3. Move the white frame on the frame viewer, below the photo, to the instant you prefer and tap Make Key Photo.
4. To shorten the shot, drag either end of the frame viewer; to remove the sound, tap the Mute button at the top of the screen.
5. Tap Done and play the photo to check.

To try an effect, open the Live Photo, tap Live in the top-left corner and choose Loop, Bounce or Long Exposure. A Live Photo's Long Exposure combines motion; it is not equivalent to every night-capture mode.

Review a portrait

1. Open a photo taken in Portrait mode and tap the Edit button.
2. Tap Portrait: depth, focus point and lighting are adjusted from there.
3. Drag the Depth Control slider at the bottom of the screen to increase or decrease the background blur.
4. To change the focus point, tap another subject in the photo (iPhone 13 or later).
5. Tap Done and look at hair and edges to spot unnatural cutouts.

Not every photo becomes an editable portrait. A Portrait mode photo shows Portrait in the top-left corner when you open it; if the file did not save depth or arrived as a flattened copy, the tools may be missing.

Trim a video and save a frame

1. Open a video and tap the Edit button.
2. Drag either end of the frame viewer below the video to adjust the start and the end.
3. Tap Done.
4. Choose Save Video as New Clip to keep both versions; Save Video keeps only the trimmed video.
5. Play the full result to check picture, sound and duration.

In iOS 27 you can also take a photo out of a video: play it, pause at the instant you want, tap the More button and tap Save Video Frame as Photo.