FAQ

Photo Editor supports custom fonts.

~ Android 9.0 (Pie)

1. Copy TTF fonts (*.ttf) to a directory (any directory you want)
   You can download free fonts from free font sites: Search "free ttf fonts".
2. Run Photo Editor
3. Text/Image > Add Text
4. Click Properties tab of the Text dialog
5. Click Font button : Font dialog will be displayed
6. Click Custom tab of the Font dialog
   Change directory to your font directory and select a font.

Android 10

1. Text/Image > Add Text
2. Click Properties tab of the Text dialog
3. Click Font button : Font dialog will be displayed
4. Click Custom tab of the Font dialog
5. Add new font files
   Click A+ button add new font files
   If you want to add multiple files, click and hold a file in the file picker.
6. You can also create one level of subdirectories for grouping font files:
   • Click the Directory+ button and enter the directory name to create
   • Add the font files to the created directory
7. Select a font in the list

For Android 10, you can use "Legacy Mode" instead:

• This option enables the old-style font list view (~ Android 9.0) on Android 10.
• Click Legacy Mode at the bottom of the Custom tab > Enable/Disable Legacy Mode

Photo Editor supports custom fonts.

1. Text/Image > Add Text
2. Click Properties tab of the Text dialog
3. Click Font button : Font dialog will be displayed
4. Click Custom tab of the Font dialog
5. Add new font files
   Click A+ button add new font files
   If you want to add multiple files, click and hold a file in the file picker.
6. You can also create one level of subdirectories for grouping font files:
   • Click the Directory+ button and enter the directory name to create
   • Add the font files to the created directory
7. Select a font in the list

The cause of this issue is badly formed TTF font files. Minor issues in font files may be ignored or tolerated by most systems rendering the font, however the tolerance level in the early builds of Lollipop was not so high and some fonts fail to render causing the system to fall back to using the default font.

• This issue was fixed with the release of Android 5.1
  Help! My custom font does not work on Android 5.0
• This issue has also been reported on some devices other than Android 5.0.x.

Solution: Convert TTF font file in https://www.font-converter.net/

1. Upload a TTF font file
2. Select target format to TTF
3. Download result file
4. Unzip the downloaded file and copy the TTF font file to your font folder

Screen Overlay is a special permission granted to Android Apps, with the help of which Apps can appear on the top of other App Screen. You need to temporarily disable Screen Overlay permission of some Android apps to get rid of this error on your device.

• How to fix "Screen overlay detected" error

Solution:

1. Open Settings
2. Scroll down to Apps
3. Tap on Three Dots
4. Click on Draw Over Other Apps
5. Again tap on Three Dots
6. Click on Show System Apps
7. Now Turn off Screen Overlay of all apps

This issue occurs on devices that do not support the Android Storage Access Framework.

Where: Tools > Animated Gif, Tools > Create PDF, Tools > Compress to ZIP

Solution: Turn off Use "Documents API"

1. Settings
2. Turn off Use "Documents API"

Caution:

• This is a common problem with some Xiaomi devices.
• Turn off this option ONLY IF your device does not support the Android Storage Access Framework. Otherwise, you may not be able to save to the SD card. Please use with caution.

Photo Editor tries to load the image at its maximum size. Depending on the device, Photo Editor may not be able to accurately calculate the maximum available memory, and an out-of-memory error may occur.

Solution: Lower the maximum resolution to less than the detected value.

1. Settings
2. Change Reduce Max Resolution to less than 100%

Caution: After changing this option, you must reload the image.

The native library was not loaded properly.

Solution:

• If you installed Photo Editor from the App Store, please try a clean install.
  • Uninstall Photo Editor
    You may need to backup config & preset : Menu > Backup
  • Install from App Store (Google Play, Amazon Appstore)
  
  
• If you installed Photo Editor from an APK file, please install Universal APK.
  • Uninstall Photo Editor
    You may need to backup config & preset : Menu > Backup
  • Install Universal APK

The device seems to run out of storage space.

Solution: please, make sure there is enough free space in Internal Storage or SD memory.

This error occurs when Android can not create a unique file name.
Do not use a fixed string as the filename for saving in the Gallery.

Please, check the Gallery file name setting:

1. Settings
2. Save > Gallery Folder
3. Reset OR Change the file name
   In order to have a different file name each time you save, you must use template variables in the file name.
   For example, IMG_{#date#}_{#time#}
4. APPLY

• If you can not save to SD card, you should turn on Use "Documents API" and turn off Legacy Folder Picker.
  1. Settings
  2. Turn on Use "Documents API"
  3. Turn off Legacy Folder Picker (For Lollipop and later)
  4. Save > Gallery Folder: Select a folder
  
  
• Otherwise, please check the Gallery Folder is writable. (Select a writable folder)
  1. Settings
  2. Save > Gallery Folder: Select a writable folder

Permission may be revoked for various reasons. (Removing SD card, formatting SD card, resetting permissions by system, etc...)
You can grant permission by selecting the folder again.

Solution: click SELECT button and select the folder again.

Permission may be revoked for various reasons. (Removing SD card, formatting SD card, resetting permissions by system, etc...)
You can grant permission by reselecting the output directory.

Solution: click Output directory button and select the directory again.

If an image is opened from a third-party app, the image can be overwritten only if the app supports it. (only if write permission is given or the file path is provided)
Many third-party apps do not support overwriting.

Please, try one of the methods below to overwrite the image:

• Photo Editor's Built-In Gallery
  Photo Editor > Built-In Gallery > Select an image
• Photo Editor's Gallery menu
  Photo Editor > Gallery > Internal Storage > Select an image
  Depending on the device, this may not be supported.
• Try other app that supports write access

• If you opened the image from a third-party app ...
  
  Overwrite is only possible if the source app supports it. (only if write permission is given or the file path is provided)
  Many third-party apps do not support overwriting.
  
  Please, try one of the methods below to overwrite the image:
  
  • Photo Editor's Gallery menu
    Photo Editor > Gallery > Internal Storage > Select an image
  • Photo Editor's Built-In Gallery
    Photo Editor > Built-In Gallery > Select an image
  • Try other app that supports write access
  
  
• If you opened the image from Gallery > Images ...
  
  Android 10+ does not allow app to overwrite image opened from Gallery > Images
  If you want to overwrite the image, please try following:
  • Gallery > Internal Storage > Select the folder that contains your images > Select an image

Overwrite is only possible if the source app supports it. (only if write permission is given or the file path is provided)
Many third-party apps do not support overwriting.

Please, try one of the methods below to overwrite the image:

• Photo Editor's Gallery menu
  Photo Editor > Gallery > Internal Storage > Select an image
  Photo Editor > Gallery > Images > Select an image
• Try other app that supports write access

• Save to Gallery
  
  This error occurs when Android can not create a unique file name.
  Do not use a fixed string as the filename for saving in the Gallery.
  Please, check the Gallery file name setting:
  1. Settings
  2. Save > Gallery Folder
  3. Reset OR Change the file name
     In order to have a different file name each time you save, you must use template variables in the file name.
     For example, IMG_{#date#}_{#time#}
  4. APPLY
  
  
• Save As
  
  This error occurs when Android can not create a unique file name.
  Please try again using other file names.
  
  
• Batch, Tools
  
  This error occurs when Android can not create a unique file name.
  In order to have a different file name each time, you may need to add more template variables in the output file name.
  For example, {#date#}, {#time#}, {#number1#}, ...
  
  
• If the device manufacturer is HUAWEI ...
  
  This issue only occurs on some Huawei devices. (Android 10)
  Photo Editor uses the standard API defined by Android. It's not a bug we can fix.
  
  Some users said that it was solved by enabling one option in the developer options.
  However, it seems that this often doesn't work.
  Anyway, try turning on "Force allow apps on external storage" in developer options.
  
  • Can't write to SD Card (EMUI 10)
  • Update to Android 10 - No writing on external SD
  • P30 (EMUI 10.0.0.190 ) - Write permission to Memory Card suddenly disabled for 3rd party apps !
  • DocumentFile.createFile() failed on some Android 10 devices
  
  If all of the above doesn't work, try using Save As (Storage)
  
  

Since Android 10, Photo Editor uses the Storage Access Framework (SAF) API to store files.
SAF does not provide an API to overwrite existing files, and the file name existence check API is slow.

• Allow SAF ACTION_CREATE_DOCUMENT intent to overwrite existing file (API 19+)
• Why is DocumentFile so slow, and what should I use instead?

Depending on the document provider, it may not be possible to properly check the existence of the file.
If you get an error with Save As, you can use Save As (Storage) instead.

• Save As (Storage) > Select an existing file to overwrite

On some devices, "java.lang.SecurityException: com.android.externalstorage has no access to content://media/..." error may occur due to permission settings of the ExternalStorage system app.

More Information:

• Android SecurityException accesing content
• SecurityException using storage access framework in some devices like Samsung

Solution:

1. Android Settings
2. Apps > Special app access > All files access (OR search for All files access and tap it)
3. Tap the 3-dot menu in the top-right corner and tap Show System
4. In the list, locate and tap External Storage
5. Enable the Allow access to manage all files permission

On some devices, "java.lang.IllegalStateException: java.io.IOException: Failed to redact ..." error may occur due to corruption of the image's metadata.
This is an error that occurs in the Android system due to image metadata corruption.

More Information:

• Android ContentResolver.openFileDescriptor() throw java.lang.IllegalStateException: java.io.IOException: Failed to redact

Solution: Use System File Picker

• Android 11
  Photo Editor > Gallery > Internal Storage > Select an image
  Photo Editor > Gallery > Images > Select an image
• Android 12, 12L, 13
  Photo Editor > Gallery > Images > Select an image
• Android 14+
  Photo Editor > Gallery > Internal Storage > Select an image
  Photo Editor > Gallery > Images > Select an image

Depending on the image source, GPS information may be redacted for security reasons.
If GPS information is important, please check the resulting image, and if there are any problems, try loading the image using a different method.

Known cases are as follows:

• Image shared with a Media Provider URI (content://media/...), but the relevant permissions are not granted
• Image loaded from Media (Photo picker)

Solution:

• Use System File Picker
  Photo Editor > Gallery > Images > Select an image

Depending on the image source, GPS information may be redacted for security reasons.
If GPS information is important, please check the resulting image, and if there are any problems, try loading the image using a different method.

Known cases are as follows:

• Image shared with a Media Provider URI (content://media/...), but the relevant permissions are not granted
• Image loaded from Media (Photo picker)

Solution:

• Use System File Picker
  Photo Editor > Gallery > Images > Select an image

Sharing using file:// URIs has been restricted since Android 7. As Android version goes up, direct file access is restricted, making it difficult to support file:// URIs.

Photo Editor no longer supports file:// URIs for the following Android versions:

• Media files (images and videos): Android 13 and higher
• Non-media files (PDF, ...): Android 11 and higher

Solution

• Use another app that provides photos
• Contact the developer of the app providing the photo (report this issue so they can fix it)

For apps targeting Android 7.0, the Android framework enforces the StrictMode API policy that prohibits exposing file:// URIs outside your app. If an intent containing a file URI leaves your app, the app fails with a FileUriExposedException exception. - From Android 7.0 Behavior Changes

Rename may not be supported according to where files loaded from.
In this case, "java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException: Rename not supported" error will occur.

• If you open files from other app
  
  Rename does not supported in Android 10.
  You should load files from the Gallery menu.
  
  
• If you open files from the Gallery menu
  
  Android 10 does not allow rename (or writing) in “Images” and “Downloads” in the File Picker. (Read only media files)
  Please, select files from “Internal storage”.
  Select “Internal storage” in the File Picker > Select a folder > Select files.

You can create presets for some filters.

For example:

1. Run Photo Editor
2. Effect > Blur
3. Adjust parameters
4. Click the Preset button (star icon)
5. Click + button
6. Enter the preset name > Click ADD

You can use this preset later in the Effect > Blur OR in Batch > Effect > Blur.

We don't know why this issue only occurs on some devices upgraded to Android 11.
(This issue may be related to the upgrade process.)
A factory reset will fix this problem, but will delete all data. :-(

There are several articles about this problem, which may help you solve this problem:

• Error " App Not Installed"
• I cannot download certain app (Among us) off of the play store following the android 11 update.

If you can use adb, please try following:

1. adb shell pm uninstall com.iudesk.android.photo.editor
2. Install Photo Editor

You must turn off Developer options > Apps > Don't keep activities in order to function correctly.

Solution: What is "Don't Keep Activities" in Android Developer Options?

1. Click the zoom button (zoom percentage text. eg, "50%" ...) on top bar
2. Then you can see the background options (bottom line) in the dialog
3. Background option buttons
   • Border: it will show boundary of image
   • Checkerboard: it will show checkerboard for transparent area
   • Grid: it will show grids
   • Settings: change etc background options
4. Background color buttons: you can select the background color

Depending on the settings, the final result image may not be of good quality.

Please check below to get the best quality:

1. Create the image as large as possible
   The image size is often too small for the contents.
2. Use quality values greater than 90 (default = 95)
3. Select chroma subsampling with 4:4:4 (default = 4:4:4)
4. Do you use undo many times?
   If you use undo many times and the image is large, please change the following settings.
   Settings > Undo > Lossless
5. The JPEG format is a lossy format, so even if you use a 100% quality value, some detail in the image will be lost.
   So, if you edit the image multiple times, the quality will deteriorate. This is a disadvantage of JPEG.
   If you edit the image multiple times, consider using a lossless image format like PNG instead.
6. You must use the 100% zoom level to see the final result.
   Zooms above 100% always appear blurry or pixelated.

We offer a purchase option to remove ads only in the Google Play Store version.
This option only removes ads and has no additional features.

Please try one of the following:

• In-app purchase
  Settings > Purchase Items > No Advertisement > Purchase
• Google Play Pass
  Settings > Purchase Items > Google Play Pass

First check the following:

1. Did you install Photo Editor from Google Play?
   If you installed from Amazon Appstore or Samsung Galaxy Store, Google Play billing information will not apply, so please uninstall Photo Editor and install it again from Google Play.
2. Make sure your account is properly set up in the Google Play
   If multiple accounts are registered in the Google Play, select the purchased account.
   In some cases, you may need to uninstall and reinstall Photo Editor.

If all of the above conditions are met and you are still seeing ads, try one of the following:
(This is a problem that may occur if the purchase information is not updated immediately)

• Restart App
  Menu > Restart App
• Reboot device
• Clear app data (You may need to backup config & preset : Menu > Backup Config & Backup Preset)
  Android Settings > Apps > Photo Editor > Clear data
• Uninstall & Reinstall Photo Editor (You may need to backup config & preset : Menu > Backup Config & Backup Preset)

If the above methods do not solve the problem, please send an email to the developer.

• Menu > Report Bug > Check "Attach log file" > Report Bug > Send email

Starting with version 9.4 (installed from the Amazon Appstore), the previously purchased "No Advertisement" feature is no longer supported.

In-app purchases for "No Advertisement" have already been discontinued since version 3.5. (The "Purchase" button has been hidden since version 1.9.2)

• If your Google Play account is not set up properly
  Set up your account on Google Play
  Google Play Help
• Google Play version may be out of date
  Please update Google Play to the latest version.
  How to update the Play Store & apps on Android

A "Script error" may occur if the WebView version is outdated.

Please update the System WebView to the latest version:

1. Android Settings
2. Apps
3. Android System WebView
4. App details in store
5. Update

However, if you cannot use this function, please try the following:

1. Click the "Open" button in the map dialog
2. Copy the coordinates from the Android Map app
3. Click the "Paste" button next to the GPS field in the Metadata Editor

1. Desktop mode
   The web page is displayed as if viewed on a desktop.
   Desktop mode may not work depending on the webpage.
2. Dark theme
   A light-on-dark color scheme – also called dark mode, dark theme, night mode, black mode, or lights-out (mode) – is a color scheme that uses light-colored text, icons, and graphical user interface elements on a dark background. It is often discussed in terms of computer user interface design and web design. Many modern websites and operating systems offer the user an optional light-on-dark display mode. - From Wikipedia
   
   Dark theme may not work if the conditions below are not met:
   • Android 13+ OR System WebView 105+
   • Webpage must support dark color-scheme

In color management, an ICC profile is a set of data that characterizes a color input or output device, or a color space, according to standards promulgated by the International Color Consortium (ICC). - From Wikipedia

Photo Editor edits and saves images in the sRGB color space.

You can embed an sRGB ICC profile when saving an image:

1. None : No ICC profile
2. ICC sRGB2014 (v2) : 3024 bytes - IEC 61966-2-1 Default RGB Colour Space - sRGB
3. Skia sRGB (v4) : 536 bytes - sRGB profile generated by Skia (Android Graphics Engine)
4. TinyRGB c2 (v2) : 524 bytes - Facebook's sRGB-compatible ICC profile

Chroma subsampling is the practice of encoding images by implementing less resolution for chroma information than for luma information, taking advantage of the human visual system's lower acuity for color differences than for luminance. - From Wikipedia

WebP is a raster graphics file format developed by Google intended as a replacement for JPEG, PNG, and GIF file formats. It supports both lossy and lossless compression, as well as animation and alpha transparency. - From Wikipedia

• WebP Compression Techniques
• WebP Lossy format
  Quality of 0 means compress for the smallest size. 100 means compress for max visual quality.
• WebP Lossless format
  Quality refers to how much effort to put into compression. A value of 0 means to compress quickly, resulting in a relatively large file size. 100 means to spend more time compressing, resulting in a smaller file.

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is an XML-based vector image format for defining two-dimensional graphics, having support for interactivity and animation. The SVG specification is an open standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium since 1999. - From Wikipedia

• SVG Rasterizer converts "SVG" images to bitmap images (JPEG, PNG, etc.)
• SVG samples: https://www.google.com/search?q=svg+samples

Blend modes (or Mixing modes) in digital image editing and computer graphics are used to determine how two layers are blended into each other. - From Wikipedia

• SkBlendMode Overview
• MDN blend-mode

About MODULATE blend mode

• Modulate was added in Android 10 and is only supported by some features.
• It works the same as the MULTIPLY blend mode before Android 10.
• However, on Android 13 and higher, you may get different results depending on how you use it.

• Fit: Fits the entire image into the specified size. Scales the image proportionally. Does not crop the image.
  
  
• Fill: Fills the entire specified size with the image. Scales the image proportionally. Crops the image as needed.
  
  
• Stretch: Fills the entire specified size with the image. Stretches the image disproportionally as needed. Does not crop the image.
  
  

A time zone is a region of the globe that observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial, and social purposes. - From Wikipedia