	Article Directory		Article Submission Service		Article Marketing Blog		Publishers		Member Log In

Article Directory :: Arts & Entertainment Articles

Learning the Basics of Digital Photo Editing

By Autumn Lockwood

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 26Jun2010
Word count: 649
Viewed: 400 time(s)

Get Free Content For Your Site

Photo editing has changed a lot since the days of printing photos in the darkroom. Actions that used to take hours of painstaking work can now be done or, more importantly, undone at the click of a mouse. So where do you get started in learning how to navigate the world of digital photo editing? Here is a quick guide on photo editors to help get you started.

Photo Editing Software

There is a long list of software on the market that is made exclusively for editing photos. They have an incredible range in terms of both price and quality. Ultimately, you have to decide how much editing you want to do with your pictures and how much you want to spend. For this article, we won't talk too much about different bits of software's pluses and minuses, but know that there are options. If you're looking for free editors, you should look at The Giimp or Paint.net or if you want to buy a professional program definitely check out Adobe Photoshop.

Functions of Photo Editing Software

Although photo editing software can be very complex and allow for endless creativity, here are a few basic things that you'll want to know right away.

Crop: When you crop an image it involves creating a new frame so you can remove the parts of the image you don't want. So, anything inside the frame will become your new cropped image while anything outside the frame will be deleted. Just remember that when you crop an image, it ultimately changes the final dimensions of your picture so make sure to crop with the same aspect ratio (or width to height) otherwise your printed picture won't come out.

Contrast: Contrast impacts how much the colors or tones stand out from one another. Add contrast and you'll see your darks get darker and your lights get lighter, remove contrast and eventually everything will cloud into a gray fog. Higher contrasts can make for interesting imagery, but will also make the grain of your photos stand out more.

Level of Brightness: Brightness refers to the level of lighting of the entire picture. If you've taken a picture that turned out too dark, turning up the brightness may help some of the details stand out. If you slowly increase the contrast and brightness together, you may be able to save an otherwise un-usable picture.

Photo Saturation: Saturation refers to how deep your colors are. In a color image, if you completely remove the saturation the image will turn to black and white. If you amp it up, your colors will quickly begin to look unnatural and super-bright.

The Hue: The hue changes the tone of your picture. If you change the hue, your picture will change from a green or blue tint to purple, red or any other possible color. Although it takes a little time to get used to, changing the hue can make a big improvement to images taken under fluorescent light.

Transforming Your Photo: Although each software does it differently, they all allow you to rotate, resize or flip your picture. Hopefully you won't have to make too many adjustments of this nature, but should an image turn out slightly crooked it's good to know you have alternatives.

Regardless of which photo editing software you use, you should be able to adjust all of the elements mentioned above so you can get your photos exactly how you want them. One way to add depth and bring out the picture's color is to decrease the saturation amount while increasing the contrast. Otherwise, do your best not to rely on editing and try to get all of the work done in the camera. If you're going to spend time editing a picture, make sure you start off with a good picture and make it better instead of trying to make a bad picture good.

Autumn Lockwood is a writer for Your Picture Frames. Shop online and see our selection of triple picture frames in a wide variety of styles and colors. Visit our website to see our hinged triple picture frames or call 1-800-780-0699.

EasyPublish™ this article - publishers click here