8/4/2019 A Guide to Touching Up Your Digital Photos
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AGuidetoTouchingUpYourDigitalPhotos
OneproblemIfacedwhenstartingoutwithdigitalphotographywashowtotouchupmyrawdigitalimages.Perhapsanimagewasslightlydark,perhapsithadtoberotatedorcropped.Digitalphotosusuallyrequiresomeformofmanipulationbeforefinaloutput.Sohere'sashortguidewhichI'vecompiledtohelpyoutou
chupyourphotos.
Step1:StartUpYourImageEditor
Thefirststep,ofcourse,istofireupyourfavoriteimageeditingprogram.Forbeginners,it'sbesttogetaprogramlikeUleadPhotoImpact.It'sagreattoolthatallowsyoutoachieveprofessionalphotoeffectsusingsimple,easy-to-followsteps.Youmayalsowanttocheckoutmyscoopofthetop5beginnerphotoeditorsforWindows.Openthepictureyouwanttoeditwithintheprogramandsaveabackupcopy.Step2:RemoveRedEyeIfyou'retakingphotosofpeople,chancesareyoumayhavetakenaphotowithr
ed-eyeproblems.Thisiseasilyremovedwithimageeditingsoftware.InPaintShopPro,selecttheRed-EyeRemovaltoolinthemenuandvoila,theprogramdoesalltheworkforyou.InUleadPhotoImpact,there'sanequivalenttoolcalledRemoveRedEyeintheToolPanel.Step3:RotateandCropIfyou'vetakenaphotoinawrongorientation,it'seasilycorrectedwithlittlelossinqualitybyusingarotatetool.You'llalsowanttodosomecroppingofyourphototoremoveclutteredsurroundingsthatdrawattentionawayfromyoursubject.Forexample,Ifindcroppingveryusefulifmysubjectisoccupyingonlythemiddleportionofthephotograph.Cutawaythetwosidesofthepictureandyouhaveamuchmoreprofessionallook.Step4:PlaywithColorDon'tbeafraidtoexperimentwithcolors.Imageeditingprogramsputalotofp
owerinyourhands.Youcanmaketheleavespurple,changetheentirephototoblackandwhite,addasepiaeffect-almostanythingyouwant.Agoodphotoeditingprogramwillhaveautomaticcolorbalanceoptionstoadjustcolordefectsinyourpictures.Step5:BlurringEffectsSometimesIliketoaddablurringeffecttomyphotos.Whatyoucandohereistoselectareasofthephotowhichareunimportantandblurthemout.Thiswillbringmoreattentiontothemainsubjectofyourphoto.Forexample,ifIhadapictureofaflowerandIwantedtoplaydownthedetailsintheleavesinbackground,Imightaddablurringeffecttothebackground.Step6:SharpenUpSharpeningtheimageisthenextstepinthephototouchupprocess.Contraryto
popularbelief,youcan'tactuallysharpenanoutoffocusimage.WhatItypicallydowhensharpeninganimageistoselectivelysharpen.Thatis,Iselectapartoftheimage,maybeaperson'seyesandsharpenonlythatarea.Leaveunimportantareasunsharpened.Step7:ResizeDependingonyourneeds,youmaywanttoresizeyourphoto.Ifyou'reemailingapicturetoafriend,you'llwanttoresizethepicturedowntoamuchsmallersize.Ifyou'reprintingthephotoonagreetingcard,youcanscaledowntheimagetothesizeofa4x6print.Step8:SaveYourWorkOk,you'reprettymuchdone.Remembertosaveyourworkintheappropriateimageformat.UsethelargeTIFFimageformatifyouwanttoretainalldetailsforsubsequentimageediting.Ontheotherhand,youcanusetheJPEGimageformatif
youwanttojustsendthepictureviaemailoruploadthemtoyourwebsite.ConclusionAlrightythen!Nowyouknowthesecrettotouchingupandpreparingyourrawdig
