Can a film negative app also edit regular positive photos on iPhone?
Last updated 2 June 2026
Yes. EditMe is built around scanning film negatives, but it has a source toggle ("Negative invertieren" / invert negatives) that you can switch off, either during onboarding or later in Settings. With it off, the app skips the inversion step and treats your picture as a finished positive, so the same exposure, contrast, colour grading, and grain tools work directly on an ordinary iPhone photo. The tone curve and local corrections are part of the optional EditMe Pro subscription. Inversion is on by default because the app's main job is film, so you turn it off once and the editor behaves like a normal photo editor.
How the source toggle works
EditMe runs your image through a processing pipeline. When the source toggle is on, the first stages of that pipeline invert the negative, compensate for the film mask, and neutralise the colour cast before any of the look tools run. When you switch the toggle off, those inversion stages are skipped entirely and the pipeline starts directly on your image as it already looks.
That means the tools further down the chain are exactly the same in both modes. Whether you are finishing a scanned negative or polishing a phone snapshot, you reach for the same controls:
- Exposure and contrast for overall brightness and punch.
- Shadows and highlights for recovering detail at each end.
- Colour grading across lift, gamma, and gain.
- The eight-band HSL tool for targeted colour adjustment.
- Grain and frame to finish the look.
The only difference between the two modes is whether the inversion step at the top runs. Everything after it is shared. Deeper tools such as the tone curve and local corrections sit in the optional EditMe Pro tier and behave the same whichever source mode you use.
Turning it on or off
You meet the toggle the first time you open the app. The onboarding asks which kind of images you edit, with a short note that you can switch inversion off if your pictures are already positives, for example iPhone photos. If you skip past it or change your mind, the same toggle lives in Settings under the editing section.
The toggle is a default for new images, not a global lock. It decides how the next picture you open is set up, and the setting is applied when you first edit an image. Inside the editor you can still flip the behaviour per image, so a mixed library of scans and phone photos is fine. Images you have already edited keep whatever setting they were saved with, so changing the default does not disturb past work.
Like the rest of the app, all of this runs on your device. There is no cloud step, no account, and your images are processed locally.
How it compares
| Factor | EditMe (inversion off) | A general photo editor |
|---|---|---|
| Inversion step | Skipped, so the photo is treated as a finished positive | No inversion stage to begin with |
| Tone and colour tools | Same exposure, contrast, shadows, highlights, grading, and HSL as the film path | Standard adjustment set |
| Tone curve | Available in EditMe Pro, per-channel shaping included | Often a single combined curve |
| Film grain and frame | Built in, shared with the negative workflow | Usually a separate filter or not offered |
| Where it runs | On your device, no account, no cloud | Varies, some sync or require an account |
| Switching modes | One toggle in onboarding or Settings, changeable per image | Not applicable |
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to turn inversion off every time?
No. The toggle is a default for new images, so once you set it the way you want, new photos open that way. You only revisit it if you start working with a different kind of source, and you can also change the behaviour per image inside the editor.
Where do I find the toggle?
In two places. It appears during onboarding when the app asks which images you edit, and it also lives in Settings in the editing section, labelled as inverting negatives. Switching it off makes the editor treat your picture as a positive.
Will my existing edits change if I switch the default?
No. The setting only affects how new images are first set up. Images you have already edited keep the inversion choice they were saved with, so changing the default does not alter past work.
Are the editing tools really the same for photos and negatives?
Yes. Turning off inversion only skips the inversion stages at the top of the pipeline. Exposure, contrast, shadows, highlights, colour grading, the HSL tool, grain, and frame are the same tools in both modes. The tone curve and local corrections sit in the optional EditMe Pro tier and behave the same whichever source mode you use.
Does editing positive photos need the cloud or an account?
No. EditMe processes images locally on your device. There is no cloud sync and no account, whether you are converting a negative or editing a positive photo.
Is EditMe free to use this way?
EditMe is free to download, and inverting negatives plus the base editor (exposure, contrast, shadows/highlights, HSL, colour grading, grain, and frame) never cost anything. Deeper editor tools such as the tone curve and local corrections, the full film-look collection, and the darkroom companion are part of an optional EditMe Pro subscription; the free core editor handles a positive photo the same way it handles a negative.