We all know we can zoom in to a picture and crop the details we do not like about it. But you cannot really go the other way around and zoom out of a picture to add more area in the picture. Until now! Apple has added a new feature in the iPhone 11 series which allows you to capture images outside of the frame. When turned on, this feature will allow you to take a picture of a slightly bigger area as opposed to what you see through your viewfinder.
But why would one need to capture content outside of the frame?
Well, because there are times when you accidentally end up missing out on some details or you just plain simple suck at composition when it comes to taking a picture. The capture outside of the frame feature comes to the rescue here and captures a slightly wider area as compared to what you took in the picture and offers you a little more image to play around with. It basically means that the ultrawide sensor of the iPhone also works when you use the wide (main) sensor. So you get the basic snap that you have taken and also the option to add the bit of extra detail that the ultrawide sensor has captured in the background. Needless to say, this will not work if you are taking the shot from the ultrawide sensor itself.
Steps to capture outside the frame on iPhone
Sounds handy, right? It actually is and activating it is pretty simple too. Not too obvious but still simple. Just follow these steps!
Step 1: Open Settings on your iPhone 11/ 11 Pro
On your iPhone 11 series smartphone open the Settings and scroll down to find the Camera option.
Step 2: Tap on that tiny camera!
Select the camera option, which will take you to a screen dedicated to detailed camera settings.
On this screen, you will find the “Photos Capture Outside the Frame” and “Videos Capture Outside the Frame”.
Step 3: Tap them toggles
The two features are switched off by default. Tap on the toggle, let the green shine on those icons and activate this feature. Now your phone is ready to capture outside the frame.
While telling the camera to capture outside the frame might have been easy, accessing that extra area in your photos is a different ball game altogether.
First things first, even after you have activated the feature on your iPhone, it is quite possible that the phone might not always capture additional details outside the frame. When the camera does, you will find a small square icon with a star in the top right corner of the picture in the Gallery. This icon means your camera has captured extra content. Sometimes the camera will also use the content automatically to fix the composition of your photo and you will get a blue-colored Auto badge on the top of your photo.
If you want to alter or access this extra content captured you have to follow these steps:
Step 1: Open Gallery and find that square-star icon
You have to open the Gallery app on your iPhone and select the picture you want to edit. This picture should have a small square-star icon on the top right side of the picture. If it does not, then it means no extra area has been captured.
Step 2: Go in the edit zone and select the crop icon
Select the blue edit icon present on the top right side of the screen and hit the crop icon. Yes, we know the crop icon allows you to trim your photos but in this particular case, it does a little more.
Step 3: Zoom out to the max
After selecting the option, zoom out as much as you can and you will see the additional content that the phone has captured, generally on the side (in the case of the sample picture, you can now see how the person on the stool suddenly appears on the right of the picture, adding a whole new dimension to it). You can now choose to keep it in or leave it out according to your liking.
Note: the additional content captured outside of the frame will automatically get deleted in 30 days, if not used. So do not leave your “additional detail” edits for too late.