Photo Editing
by Dave Clingman
 

Published in Guadalajara Reporter,
February 27, 2010

With digital photos comes the ability to edit them.  Anything you don't like in a photo can be edited or removed.

First, you'll need a program that can edit photos.  Macs come with iPhoto, which will do everything discussed here.  If iPhoto is too basic for you, you can try the free program Gimp (www.gimp.org).  If your computer runs Windows, you'll want to download the free program Picasa (www.picasa.com), which also will do everything discussed here.

The directions in this article are fairly generic.  Each program may have slightly different steps.  You can always click on "Help" and then do a "Search" in the Help file to find out how to do a specific task.

Before you begin editing any photo, copy the original.  That way if you mess up the photo, you still have the original to go back to.  Also, save frequently while you work.  I recommend every few minutes.  Click on "File" then "Save" at the top of the program.  If you mess up the photo, you can then close that messed up photo without saving those changes, and reopen the photo file from the last time you saved it ("File", then "Open", then select the photo).  If you make one or two mistakes, you can always "Undo" your last change or few changes by clicking on "Edit" at the top of the program, and then on "Undo".

To remove excess background or unwanted things on the sides of your picture, crop the photo.  Use a tool that usually looks like a square with broken lines, and then click and drag a square around the area that you want to keep.  Once you are satisfied with your new photo boundaries, copy ("Edit" then "Copy) and then paste the selection as New (usually "Edit then "Paste As New").

If you are going to post your photo online or send it by email, you can shrink your picture.  Click on "Image", then on "Resize".  You can resize either by actual picture size (for example, 5" by 7"), by pixel size (a good one for most computers is 800 x 600), or by percentage of the original size.

Brighten a too-dark photo, or darken a too-light photo, by clicking "Colors", then "Adjust Brightness".  If your picture's colors look bland, increase the contrast, which lightens the light areas and darkens the dark areas.  Click "Colors", then "Adjust Contrast".  Otherwise, you'll have to adjust specific colorations of the photos, which is quite complicated.  Red-eye is caused when a camera flash reflects off the back of a person's eyes.  Most photo editing programs correct red-eye with just a click or two.

These are just a few basics.  Photo editing programs can improve many imperfect photos, and no-one need know the changes!  Just remember to save your original picture.

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