How to change photo texture on the iPhone 18 Pro, in Camera or Photos

The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max come with a new trick for people who like to adjust how their pictures look: you can change the texture of the image. The options are Smooth Skin, Glow and Film, and you can apply them when you take the shot or afterward in the Photos app.

The feature lives inside Photographic Styles, the menu where the iPhone keeps its look adjustments. Brazilian site MacMagazine published the walkthrough, and here is a summary.

What each option suggests

The source lists the three names but does not describe what each one does to the image. The names hint at the intent: Smooth Skin points to a gentler finish on portraits, Glow to a brighter look, and Film to an analog-photo feel. Since the exact behavior was not spelled out, the best approach is to try them and compare on your own screen.

There is also an option called Grainy that can be switched on alongside whichever texture you choose.

Changing it before the shot, in Camera

1. Open the Camera app.
2. Tap the options button, the six-dot icon in the lower right corner.
3. Choose Styles to see what is available.
4. Tap Customize, then Texture.
5. Pick one of the three options: Smooth Skin, Glow or Film.
6. If you like, turn on Grainy too.

From then on, your next photos come out with the texture you picked.

Changing it afterward, in Photos

If the picture is already taken, you can make the same adjustment in your gallery:

1. Open the Photos app and select the image.
2. Tap the adjustments button at the bottom.
3. Go to the Styles tab.
4. Tap Customize.
5. Switch to the Texture tab and set it the way you like.

Adjusting later has a practical upside: you do not have to decide on a look in a hurry while your subject moves in front of you. Shoot first, experiment calmly afterward.

Another Apple Intelligence edit in Photos

MacMagazine also covered a different Photos tool this week: Reframe, which lets you change the capture point, meaning the angle of the shot, after the photo was taken. It is available on iOS and iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, runs on Apple Intelligence and needs an internet connection, because the processing happens on Private Cloud Compute, Apple’s cloud infrastructure.

You open the photo, tap edit, go to the Tools tab and choose Reframe. Then you adjust the perspective with your finger and confirm.

Who gets it

The article names only the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max as having the improved texture controls, so owners of other models probably will not see these options in the menu. If you are torn between keeping the camera’s default look and customizing it, a good rule is to start with a subtle style and compare it with the original. That makes it easy to tell whether the change improves the picture or just makes it different.