by David Peters
In order to edit pictures successfully, one must have the proper tools, just as when processing photos in a darkroom. In the latter, chemicals, exposure times, and certain materials can affect the outcome of a photograph. In today’s darkrooms, photo editing programs, one must know how to use the tools at hand to create the results wanted. Using photo editing programs makes editing much easier. It is far less expensive than working in a traditional darkroom and far less time-consuming if you wish it to be. However, you may also take your time editing to come out with the best results. Mistakes are not embedded in stone, for there’s always the “undo” button to rely on. Using your software, you can improve an image, or change it to something completely different.
When you upload your pictures from your digital camera to your computer, most of them will probably be a little blurry. Probably it won’t be enough to make you want to change it, but if it’s not, there’s always the UnSharp Mask that you can use to sharpen the image. Most cameras don’t apply any kind of sharpening filter to pictures they take, and so they won’t always look as crisp as you might want. Most likely if you have a basic editing program you will be able to sharpen your pictures successfully, and you can sharpen them as much or as little as you want. What’s the “right” size for a picture? Well, that depends on the photo. Most monitors display at 72 dpi (dots per inch). So, if you want the picture to be 5 inches wide (probably about the biggest you would want for an e-mail message), the picture would be 360 pixels wide (5 inches x 72 dpi = 360 pixels). Pixel is short for “Picture Element” and is the smallest unit of visual information used to build an image. If you have ever zoomed in on an image, Pixels are those little squares that you see. The more pixels in an image, the better the resolution.
When you want to auction off your last minute items, or you have set up an online auction shop, the most common place to do it is on eBay. Bidding online is one of the most commonly used forms of buying anything online. Pictures are often used to say a lot about a product, you want to make sure to get a picture. Here are few tricks of the trade: Take photos of different parts of your product and try different angles. Photographing your product from many angles helps add depth and avoid a flat online appearance. Pick one main overall shot of the item, but also use other detailed photos or different perspective shots. The more buyers can see, the more likely they will buy your product rather than your competitors. Once you’ve saved all your photos to your computer, you can optimize your pictures for online viewing. Make sure your images are saved as JPEG files and increase the compression so that your pages will download more quickly on a user’s computer. Also crop your photos so that it is composed only of your product, eliminating white space and making your product look better. Edit your photo. Adjust the light and contrast to improve on your original photo. Make your subject stand out by adjusting the contrast between the foreground and background colours. You can also make certain parts of your picture lighter or darker to improve the overall look. Once you’ve practiced photographing your products using these tips, visitors will have a better shopping experience and will be more likely to bid on your items.
Look sharp. Be sharp. But keep your hands off the “sharpening” menu. You’ll notice that I did not tell you to sharpen the image in the list of things to do above. Why? Because that’s how most pictures get ruined. Sharpening can’t be undone. Sharpening should be the very last thing you do to an image before you print it or place it in an on-screen album. Do NOT sharpen an image before saving it. If you decide you want to return to the picture later to edit it some more, you’ll be in a pickle. Do all your sharpening on temporary copies that you are planning to print or send to the Web. Don’t be judge and jury. If you’re not sure whether one of your images looks better or worse after editing, ask someone else to take a look. Show side-by-side versions, before and after your editing. Don’t start a family argument if your spouse (or, worse yet, your 9-year-old) says you have no talent. Be honest about what others see.
Why bother with old equipment that does not have full functionality? The optical performance of older professional quality lenses is still very good, and this is not always reflected in their price on the second-hand market. Maybe you have a favorite lens that has that special quality and you want to keep using it. The sensors of most DSLRs are smaller than the size of 35mm film, so digital cameras use only part of the view through the lens. This can help older lenses in their performance as lens faults are more prevalent at the edge of their view area. Using more of the center section avoids these problem areas, so the old lens may perform better on the digital than they ever did before. Recognizing the value of the screw-mount lenses even in the digital age, there are still new and second-hand adaptors available to mount these lenses on a variety of digital SLR cameras. While the lens may mount on the camera, the adaptors generally do not provide any mechanical or electrical connection between the lens and the digital camera body.
With a photo-editing program, you can “fix” or change images acquired from a scanner, digital camera, or the Internet and print them, import them into another document, post them on a Web page and use them for desktop backgrounds. To make the choice that’s right for you, check reviews in computer magazines and on the Internet to narrow your choices; look for a program that can directly import images from a scanner or digital camera; make sure the program can crop, resize, flip and rotate images; compare color adjustment capabilities of programs. You should be able to adjust contrast, brightness, sharpness, hues and color-saturation levels; change a color; and convert color to black-and-white or grayscale; and compare the ease of using the various programs available.
There are basic photo editing programs available that allow you to do basic adjustments and learn basic photo manipulation. Some of these programs can be found for free such as Gimp for Windows, Serif’s Photo Plus, Paint.NET, Image Forge, Pixia, Ultimate Paint, and several others. Which ever direction you take in choosing a photo editing program, be prepared to become totally hooked on working with digital photography. As you discover the many tricks and tweaks possible with photo editing, don’t be surprised to find yourself immersed for hours at a time tweaking and manipulating your photographs.