How To Edit Your Photos For Maximum Effect - An Introduction

It's Easy To Edit Your Photos

To edit your photos, you need a photo editing software program. There are quite a few around. If you're on a PC computer, you can make some minor changes in the Windows Photo Editor, but you are limited in how much you can do.

It's best to use a more sophisticated program like Adobe Photoshop Album 2, which you can find at Amazon.com for under $20. Ask at your local camera shop for suggestions on the best software to use to edit your photos at your skill level. You'll want to look for ones that have automatic features like straightening the image, red-eye removal, contrast adjustment, color levels adjustment, and others.

What To Look For When You Edit Your Photos

You'll need a critical eye to identify what you need to do to edit your photos. The automatic features mentioned above were created because these are the most common problems people face.

It's important to back up your images first before you begin. That way, you'll always have the originals to go back to if you make a mistake while you edit.

Crooked Photos

The more you can correct when you take your photos, the better. But sometimes, we don't realize there's a problem until we get home. Fortunately, in most cases those errors can be corrected, like photos taken on a slant.

This usually occurs when the photographer is standing on a hill or a small grade. It's especially evident when there's a straight horizon. It can also happen if the photographer isn't standing straight or isn't holding the camera horizontal.

Red Eye

Red eye is a common problem. Fortunately, you can correct it when you edit your photos.

Red eye occurs when the camera flash bounces off the inside of the eye. You can avoid this simply by having the person look slightly away from the camera. Another option is get a flash unit that you can remove from the camera. This will enable you to hold it to one side so it doesn't hit the eyes.

Many photo editing software programs have a red eye correction tool. It's typically easy to use these to get rid of red eye.

Dark Photos

Photos taken on dull days often result in dark photos. This makes the images flat, lacking life.

There's a fine line between dark photos and okay photos that can be hard to determine. By lightening them at varying degrees when you edit your photos, you can see which setting is best. In most cases, however, the automatic contrast and brightness features on the photo editing software will get it right for you.

Light Photos

Unfortunately, if a photo is too light it might be impossible to correct. This generally happens when there was too much light hitting your subject. Some more sophisticated programs, like Adobe Lightroom, let you fix this problem for many photos.

Watch for these important areas when you edit your photos and you can turn an otherwise dull, lifeless and crooked photo into a work of art.