I know my Chromebook has a built-in webcam, though it’s not very good, but can I also use it to take some selfies too? I assume there’s a camera app in Chrome OS?
While lots of Chromebooks seem to be stuck with pretty low resolution cameras, it is correct that you can still use the Chrome “Camera” app to take some selfies and see how it all comes out. I tried it on a pretty high-end Lenovo Chromebook and have to say I was a bit underwhelmed compared to the camera on my smartphone, but if it’s all ya got, it’s better than not having a tool.
You can definitely help it capture the best possible image by lighting your face well; don’t sit in front of a window and expect to be more than just a silhouette, needless to say. The brighter you are, the better the camera can capture the image, as you can verify experimentally if you’re curious. I’d also recommend raising the laptop so that the camera’s roughly the same height as your eyes: You get a more flattering photo if it’s not shooting up or down. Ready? Let’s figure this all out!
HOW TO FIND THE CAMERA APP IN CHROME OS
The first task is to find the Camera app. It’s probably not just sitting on your Shelf, so you’ll have to search for it. Click on the search circle on the left edge of the Shelf to bring up the search box:
Since I’ve searched for it before, it’s sitting in the recent searches shortcuts. Handy! If not, type in “camera” and you’ll be able to find the app. Launch it with a click.
As you can see, I have good lighting and a simple background. You can take a photo by just clicking or tapping on the white circle to the right, but notice along the bottom your choices are Video, Photo, Square, and Scan. You can experiment with the others (though I never seem to be able to scan a document with the Scan feature). For now, stick with the rectangular Photo option.
By default, the Camera app has a 3-second countdown timer, so when I click on the white circle I see a big 3, then 2, then, you guessed it, 1, before it actually captures the image:
There are more settings to know about, however.
CAMERA SETTINGS AND OPTIONS IN CHROME OS
The gear icon on the left side lets you get to all the main preferences. We’ll get back to that in a moment. The second icon, a sort of rectangle with a diagonal line through it, lets you enable horizontal mirroring. It’s weird to switch between the two because you’ll suddenly realize you have an asymmetric face:
Since my hair has a center part, it’s not quite so dramatic, but for some people this will elicit a “whoooah!” response!
The third icon on the left side lets you superimpose a very subtle grid – as I have done – to help with framing and ensuring the horizon is straight. Finally, the tiny stopwatch lets you enable or disable that 3-second countdown timer.
But what about that gear icon? Click on it.
The most important of these settings is unquestionably “Camera resolution“. Click or tap on it to check tha tyou have yours set to the best possible resolution for your webcam:
You can see that the best resolution my webcam can manage is 0.9 MP, which is definitely nothing to write home about when even a budget smartphone nowadays has 2MP or greater for selfies.
Click on the circular photo image on the lower right and it’ll open up in the Gallery app, ready for you to edit or share:
So how’d the selfie turn out? Here’s the final image:
Usable, but not very good resolution and there’s little crispness to the image. That’s the 0.9 MP problem. But yours might do a better job and now you know how to take a selfie with your Chromebook.
Pro Tip: I’ve been writing about operating systems for many years, including Chrome OS. You can find a lot more useful tutorials in my Chrome OS Help area here on the site too. Why not check it out while you’re visiting?