How to take a photo in the negative on a Xiaomi phone: from standard tools to secret chips

The negative effect turns the colors in a photo into the opposite: black turns white, blue turns yellow, and green turns purple, a technique often used for art shots, medical tests (such as X-rays), or just for experimenting with an image. Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi, and POCO smartphones can create negatives directly on their phone — and that doesn’t always require third-party apps.

In this article, you will find 5 proven ways, including built-in MIUI features, Google Photo Editor and specialized utilities. We will also discuss how to save the original picture, why negative can turn out dirty, and what to do if after processing the photo “broken.” All instructions are relevant for MIUI 12-15 and models from Xiaomi Mi 9 to Xiaomi 14 Ultra.

⚠️ Attention: Negative is an irreversible transformation (unless you save the original!) All changes apply to a copy of a file only if you use the right tools. In the app side section, we will specify which ones spoil the source and which ones do not.

Another nuance: on some Xiaomi models (such as the POCO F3 or Redmi Note 11), the built-in photo editor may be missing or work differently. If your phone does not support the methods described below, go straight to the method with Google Photos - it is universal.

Method 1: Standard Photo Editor in MIUI

The fastest method is to use the built-in editor of the Xiaomi Gallery. It is available on all smartphones with a MIUI shell (except for some budget models of the Redmi A).

Open the Gallery app (flower icon), select the photo you want and tap the Edit button (pencil icon at the bottom of the screen). In the tool menu, find the Effects tab (or Filters on older versions of MIUI).

• 🔍 Direct filter "Negative": some firmwares call it "Inversion" or "Denial." Just select it, the photo is immediately converted.
• 🎨 Manual setting: if there is no filter, go to Correction» → «Color" and manually move the slider "Shine" 180°, And saturation is at 100, which mimics the negative.

After applying the effect, click Save as a Copy (important!) to avoid losing the original. If you don't have one, your version of MIUI saves the changes over the source, in which case, before editing, duplicate the photo manually (press the icon → Copy).

1. Open the Gallery → select a photo

2. Click "Edit" → "Effects" tab

3. Find the Negative filter or manually adjust the Shade/Saturation

4. Save as a copy (do not rewrite the original!)-->

Method 2: Google Photos (works on all Xiaomi)

Google Photos is the default app on most Xiaomi smartphones, and if it’s not available, download it from the Play Market (free, no ads), which is even suitable for older models like the Redmi 4X or Mi A1.

Instructions:

1. Open the photo in Google Photos (stamp the picture).
2. Click on "Edit" (the icon with sliders).
3. Go to the tab "Corretion» → «Colour».
4. Find the Temperature option and move the slider to the left (-100).
5. Then adjust the "Hue" to +180 and "Contrast" to +50.
6. Click on "Save a copy."

⚠️ Attention: Google Photos doesn't have a direct negative filter, but the combination of temperature and hue has a similar effect. If the colors are too dim, increase saturation to +30.

The advantage of this method is cloud backup, and all edited photos are automatically synced to your Google account (if the feature is enabled).

The built-in gallery Xiaomi|Google Photo|Snapseed|Lightroom|Other-->

Method 3: Snapseed (professional negative)

Snapseed (from Google) is one of the best free photo processing solutions on Xiaomi, which supports layers, masks and fine-tuning colors to create a good negative.

Step-by-step:

1. Download Snapseed from the Play Market and open a photo in it.
2. Slip "Tools" → "Curves."
3. Select the RGB channel (top of the screen) and put two dots on the curve: one in the lower left corner, the other in the upper right. Then drag them cross-cross (left to the upper right corner, right to the lower left).
4. Click "Tick", then "Export" → "Save a copy".

💡 Useful tip: In Snapseed, you can create a negative preset to apply to other photos in one click» → «Save" and give a name to the preset (e.g., "My Negative»).

Method 4: Adobe Lightroom (for perfect results)

If you want the most accurate negative (for medical shots or art projects, for example), use Adobe Lightroom.The app is free, but some features require a subscription (for our task, it is not necessary).

How to do negative things in Lightroom:

1. Import photos to the app (click + → Photos).
2. Open the Light panel and move the Exposition slider to -1.5.
3. Go to the Color» → «Mix colors. For each channel (Red, Green, Blue), invert the values: 🔴 Red: The shade: 0°, Saturation: +100, Brightness: -100 🟢 Green: The shade: 120°, Saturation: +100, Brightness: -100 🔵 Blue: Shade: 240°, Saturation: +100, Brightness: -100

"Done."

"Share."

"Save to the Gallery"

⚠️ Attention: Lightroom negatives are more “clean” than other editors, but the process takes longer. If you need to process a lot of photos, create a preset (similar to Snapseed) or use batch processing (available in the paid version).

💡

In Lightroom, you can cancel negatives in one click: just reset all settings in the Light and Color panel by zero.

Method 5: Specialized applications for negative

If you need to process negative photos regularly (for example, for work or hobbies), install one of the specialized applications. We tested 5 popular utilities and selected the top 3:

• 📱 Negative Me: a minimalist app with one screen — you pick a photo, and it immediately turns into a negative. Pros: no ads, saves the original. Cons: no additional settings.
• 🎨 Photo Lab Picture Editor: In addition to the negative, there are hundreds of effects. Pros: you can combine filters. Cons: advertising, paid features.
• 🔧 Invert Colors: an advanced color inversion utility with contrast setting. Pros: supports formats RAW. Cons: a complex interface.

💡 Tip: Check reviews before installing – some apps (like Negative Photo Effect) save photos in low resolution or add watermarks.

If you often work with negatives, we recommend Negative Me – it is the lightest (2 MB) and does not require registration.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even Xiaomi experienced users sometimes have problems creating negatives, and here are 3 common mistakes and solutions:

1. The negative is gray or dull, and the reason is the low contrast of the original. Solution: before you invert, increase the contrast in the editor by 20 to 30 percent.
2. Colors are distorted (e.g., skin turned green) Cause: automatic filters in the Gallery or Google Photos. Solution: use Snapseed or Lightroom to manually adjust.
3. The photo broke after saving, and the reason is that some applications (like PICSART) are clamping the image. Solution: export in PNG instead of JPEG.

⚠️ Note: If the photo is pixelated after processing, check the resolution of the original. On Xiaomi smartphones, the default images are saved to 12 MP, but some editors (for example, InstaSize) reduce it to 2 MP. To avoid quality loss, use Snapseed or Lightroom – they retain the original resolution.

💡

Always check the save format! JPEG compresses the image, which can worsen the negative.PNG retains quality but takes up more space.

Bonus: How to make a negative for medical pictures

If you need to invert an X-ray, ultrasound, or MRI (for example, for a doctor), standard editors may not be suitable – medical images are often saved in a DICOM format that is not supported by MIUI.

Here are 2 proven ways:

1. DICOM Viewer app: Download it from Play Market (free). Open the picture and find the Inversion option (usually under the Tools menu). Export it to JPEG or PNG.

Online services:

Upload the image to the Online Image Editor, select "Invert Colors" and download the result. Importantly, only use trusted HTTPS services to keep your data privacy intact!

⚠️ Note: Medical images often contain personal information (name, date of birth).Be sure to delete metadata before uploading to online services (use the app). EXIF Eraser from Play Market).

FAQ: Frequent questions about negatives on Xiaomi