Photo Editor

Edit, draw, crop, resize, and enhance your images with the built-in Media Moana photo editor


The Photo Editor (/editor) is a full-featured image editing workspace built into Media Moana. You can crop, resize, adjust colors, apply filters, draw, add text and shapes — all without leaving the app. This guide walks through every tool and feature available in the editor.

Photo Editor workspace with canvas and tool panels


Getting started

When you open the editor you are presented with three ways to begin:

OptionWhat it does
New CanvasCreate a blank canvas with a chosen size and background color.
Open ImageUpload an image file from your device.
From LibraryPick an existing image from your Media Moana library.

Editor landing page with three start options

New canvas options

Clicking New Canvas opens a configuration dialog where you set:

  • Canvas Size — pick from presets (Square, Landscape, Portrait in small/medium/large, HD, 4K, Instagram sizes) or enter custom dimensions up to 4096 px.
  • Background Color — White, Dark Gray, Black, Transparent, or any custom color via a color picker and hex input.

New canvas dialog with size and background options


Editor layout

The editor is divided into three areas:

  1. Left panel — a vertical tab bar with nine editing tools plus the active tool's settings panel.
  2. Center canvas — the live preview of your image with zoom controls at the bottom.
  3. Right panel — the edit history showing thumbnails of every version.

The top toolbar provides three actions:

ButtonWhat it does
NewStart a new editing session (warns you if there are unsaved changes).
ResetRevert to the original image, discarding all edits.
SaveOpen the save dialog to export your work.

Editing tools

Area Tool

The Area Tool lets you select, cut, copy, and paste regions of your image.

  • Select — drag over the canvas to create a rectangular selection area.
  • Cut — remove the selected area and copy it to the clipboard.
  • Copy — copy the selected area to the clipboard without removing it.
  • Paste — place clipboard contents onto the canvas as a movable object.
  • Insert Image — add an image from your library as an overlay object.

Keyboard shortcuts work here: Cmd/Ctrl+X to cut, Cmd/Ctrl+C to copy, Cmd/Ctrl+V to paste.

Crop

Crop your image using freeform selection or locked aspect ratios.

Crop tool with aspect ratio presets

Available aspect ratio presets:

  • Freeform — drag to any proportion
  • 1:1 — square
  • 3:2 / 2:3 — classic photo
  • 4:3 / 3:4 — standard display
  • 16:9 / 9:16 — widescreen / vertical video
  • Original — match the image's native ratio

The panel shows the crop area's position (X, Y), size (W × H), and rotation angle. Click Apply Crop when you are happy with the selection.

Transform

Rotate and flip your image with one-click presets.

Transform tool with rotation and flip options

  • Rotate — 90° clockwise, 90° counter-clockwise, or 180°
  • Flip Horizontal — mirror the image left to right
  • Flip Vertical — mirror the image top to bottom

A summary of applied transforms is shown in the panel.

Resize

Scale your image to specific dimensions with intelligent fill strategies.

Resize tool with presets and scaling strategies

Size presets

PresetDimensionsUse case
Small512 × 512Social media
Medium1024 × 1024Web display
Large2048 × 2048High quality
HD1920 × 108016:9 widescreen
4K3840 × 2160Ultra HD
Square S400 × 400Instagram post
Square L1200 × 1200High-res square
Portrait1080 × 13504:5 ratio
Story1080 × 19209:16 vertical
CustomAnyEnter your own dimensions

Scaling strategies

When the target aspect ratio differs from the source, you choose how the image fits:

  • Resize to Fit Canvas — scale to match canvas dimensions
  • Scale to Fill (with crop) — zoom and crop to fill the frame
  • Scale to Fit (with pad) — keep the ratio and pad with transparency
  • Stretch — distort the image to fit exactly
  • Keep Original — preserve the original image size

You can also lock the aspect ratio and pick an anchor position for cropping.

Colors

Fine-tune the lighting and color of your image with real-time sliders.

Colors tool with light and color adjustment sliders

Light adjustments

  • Brightness
  • Exposure
  • Contrast
  • Highlights
  • Shadows

Color adjustments

  • Temperature (cool ↔ warm)
  • Saturation
  • Tint (green ↔ magenta)
  • Vibrance
  • Hue shift (−180° to +180°)

Advanced

  • Gamma correction (0.1 – 3.0)

All changes preview in real time on the canvas. Click Apply to commit or Reset to discard.

Filters

Apply one-click preset filters to instantly change the mood of your image.

Filters tool with categorized filter presets

Filters are organized into categories:

  • Artistic — Vintage, Dramatic, Black & White, Film Noir
  • Color — Cool, Warm, Vibrant, Sunset
  • Portrait — Soft
  • Modern — Matte
  • Cinematic — Cinematic
  • Social — Ludwig, Clarendon

Select a filter to preview it instantly. Click Apply Filter to commit the effect or Reset to remove it.

Text

Add text overlays to your image with full styling control.

Text tool with font and style options

  • Font — choose from available font families
  • Size — set the font size
  • Weight — bold or normal
  • Style — italic toggle
  • Underline — underline toggle
  • Alignment — left, center, or right
  • Line height and character spacing
  • Text color and background color
  • Border — add a colored border around the text box with adjustable width and padding

Click on the canvas to place text, then use the panel to style it.

Shapes

Add geometric shapes and lines to your image.

Shapes tool with shape categories

Shape categories include:

  • Lines — straight lines
  • Arrows — directional arrows
  • Shapes — circles, rectangles, triangles, and more
  • Special — additional decorative shapes

Each shape can be customized with fill color, stroke color, and stroke width. Shapes are placed as movable objects on the canvas that you can resize and reposition.

Draw

Freehand draw directly on your image with various brush types and styles.

Draw tool with brush types and settings

Brush types

  • Pencil — fine, precise strokes
  • Marker — bold, flat strokes
  • Pen — smooth ink-like strokes
  • Highlighter — semi-transparent highlighting
  • Chalk — textured, rough strokes
  • Spray — spray-paint effect

Brush settings

  • Color — pick any color
  • Brush Size — 1 px to 50 px
  • Opacity — 0% to 100%

Brush styles

  • Smooth, Rough, Dotted, Dashed

Switching to the Draw tab automatically enables drawing mode on the canvas. Click Apply Drawing to flatten your strokes onto the image, or Reset to clear all drawing.


Zoom controls

The bottom of the canvas area provides zoom controls:

  • Zoom In / Zoom Out — adjust the zoom level incrementally
  • Zoom to 100% — view the image at its actual pixel size
  • Reset Zoom — fit the image to the available canvas area

The current image dimensions and zoom percentage are displayed alongside the controls (e.g. "1200 × 800 (74%)").


Edit history

The right panel shows your Edit History — a visual timeline of every version of your image. Each entry displays a thumbnail and the image dimensions at that point.

  • Click any version to jump back to that state.
  • Delete a version to remove it from the history.
  • Click Select original to revert to the very first version.

The history is stored in memory for the duration of your editing session.


Saving your work

When you click Save (or try to start a new edit with unsaved changes), a save dialog appears. You first select an output format — PNG, JPEG, WebP, and more — with format-specific quality options.

Then choose a save action:

ActionWhat it does
Save & CloseSave the edited image as a new file in your library.
Replace OriginalOverwrite the original image (only available when editing an existing library image).
Discard & CloseAbandon all changes and close the editor.

Auto-apply on tab switch

When you switch from one tool tab to another, the editor automatically applies any pending changes from the current tool. This means you do not need to manually click "Apply" before moving on — your adjustments are preserved as you work across tools.


Keyboard shortcuts

KeyAction
Cmd/Ctrl + XCut selected area
Cmd/Ctrl + CCopy selected area
Cmd/Ctrl + VPaste from clipboard

Tips

  • Start from the library for the fastest workflow. Open any image's detail view and click Edit to jump straight into the editor with that image loaded.
  • Use the history panel to experiment freely. Try different filters or color adjustments, then jump back to any earlier version if you change your mind.
  • Resize presets save time. If you regularly export for specific platforms (Instagram, HD video, etc.), the built-in presets give you the right dimensions in one click.
  • Combine tools for layered edits. For example, adjust colors first, apply a filter, add text, then resize for export — the auto-apply feature keeps your workflow smooth.
  • Draw + Area Tool together. Draw annotations, then use the Area Tool to cut and reposition elements on the canvas.

Last updated: July 7, 2026