Knowing how to zoom in and out when taking pictures or videos to send on Snapchat can seriously elevate your Snapchat game, and generally just make the whole process easier to get to grips with. Especially when it comes to taking video, the process is not readily apparent.
Follow our simple step-by-step guides to learn how to zoom in and out whilst taking pictures and videos on Snapchat. For any additional information (like learning how to zoom in the editing screen), or if you have any other unanswered queries, please direct your attention to our FAQs at the end of this article.
Table of Contents
How to zoom in and out on a photo in Snapchat
- Open up the Snapchat app on your mobile device and sign in if necessary
- Make sure you’re on the camera screen of Snapchat, ready to take a picture or record a video
- To zoom your camera in, place two fingers together on the screen over the point in the image which you wish to zoom into, and then slide your fingers apart until you reach your desired level of magnification.
- To zoom your camera back out, place two fingers apart on the screen, and slide them together until you reach your new desired level of magnification.
- To take the picture, do so as usual by tapping the capture/record button in the bottom-centre of the screen.
How to zoom in and out on a video in Snapchat (Method #1)
- Open up the Snapchat app on your mobile device and sign in if necessary
- Make sure you’re on the camera screen of Snapchat, ready to take a picture or record a video
- When you’re ready, begin recording the video by pressing and holding the capture/record button in the bottom center of the screen
- Now, to zoom in whilst recording, simply slide the same finger you’re holding the record button down with, up toward the top of the screen
- To zoom back out whilst recording, slide that same finger back toward the bottom of the screen
- To finish recording, simply do as you usually would, and remove your finger from the screen at any time
How to zoom in and out on a video in Snapchat (Method #2)
- Open up the Snapchat app on your mobile device and sign in if necessary
- Make sure you’re on the camera screen of Snapchat, ready to take a picture or record a video
- When you’re ready, begin recording the video by pressing and holding the capture/record button in the bottom center of the screen
- Now you need to ‘lock’ the recording, by sliding your finger from the record/capture button to the left. When done successfully, you’ll see a small padlock icon appear
- Now that the recording is locked, you can zoom in and out via the usual method (as described in the first tutorial in this article)
- To zoom in, place two fingers together on the part of the recording image you wish to magnify, and move them apart
- To zoom out, place two fingers apart on the recording image, and move them together
- To zoom in, place two fingers together on the part of the recording image you wish to magnify, and move them apart
- To finish recording, just tap/slide that lock icon and remove your finger from the screen.
And there you have it! It’s really as simple as that to master zooming in and out on Snapchat. If you have any other queries or are looking for any further information, please direct your attention to the FAQs below.
Frequently asked questions
Why would I want to zoom in and out on Snapchat?
Snapchat is one of today’s most popular messaging and content-sharing platforms, with a twist. Everything you send on Snapchat is only available to the recipient for a short time before it’s deleted permanently.
On Snapchat, you can take, edit, and share pictures and videos with your contacts. When doing so, it can be super helpful to know how to zoom in and out.
With a picture, for example, you’ll want to master zooming so that you can capture the exact image you want to, no matter how close to or far away from it you are. In other words, you’ll want to know how to zoom in and out just as you would when using a regular camera, or the regular camera app on your smartphone.
With a video, on the other hand, zooming in and out becomes a much more tactile, animated aspect of the process. You can actively zoom in and out whilst taking your video, which can allow you to highlight specific points in the video, emphasize the subject of the video at specific intervals, or (as is most popular) be used for comedic effect – a quick zoom in-zoom out can add a real ‘pop’ to the story being told.
Earlier in this article, we described the process of ‘locking’ the recording of a video when on Snapchat. This allows you to then zoom as you normally would on any smartphone, whilst still videoing, rather than having to get used to a different method.
However, if you’re worrying as to how you’d end that recording when using this method, you need not. It’s as simple as just hitting/sliding the lock icon and then removing your finger from the screen, as usual. Go ahead, give it a go! We always recommend testing out our tutorials first, just to get to grips with it. After this, you’ll be a master zoomer on Snapchat.
I tried zooming in and out when editing/drawing on my picture, but it only changed the pen size. What should I do?
If you’ve taken a photo on Snapchat and began drawing on it (as a way to elevate and highlight certain features, or just for comedic effect), then you may well have wondered whether it was possible to zoom further in on the image, so as to be more accurate in your drawing.
If you tried to zoom in and out on the picture in the editing screen via the usual method – placing two fingers on the screen and then moving them together and apart – you’ll have found that all this does is increase or decrease the pen size you’re working with. Frustrating right?
Well, all hope is not lost, and there is still something you can do.
If you’re on Android, then head to Settings > Accessibility > Visibility Enhancements > Magnification > Toggle ‘Triple tap screen to magnify’ to ON. Now, when on the Snapchat editing screen, you can quickly triple-tap the screen to zoom right in on the tapped area. Triple-tap again to zoom back out. To navigate when zoomed in like this, just swipe with two or more fingers to scroll.
If you’re on iOS, the process is similar. Navigate through Settings > Accessibility > Zoom > Toggle ‘Zoom’ to ON. Now, when on the Snapchat editing screen, you can quickly double-tap three fingers anywhere on the screen to zoom in on that area. Double-tap three fingers again to move out. To navigate when zoomed in like this, just swipe with three fingers to scroll.
