Good photography is about capturing a memory. Many will believe otherwise, that good photography is about framing a particular scene, moment, or person exactly as they appeared, but when observing their results these same people may end up believing that their skills with a camera are severely lacking.
They may tell themselves that they’re simply not good enough photographers, yet while there is a need to understand the intricacies of capturing a good image – such as framing, composition, and an understanding of aperture, ISO, and shutter speed – the truth is that a good percentage of photography is actually in smart post-process editing.
The Basic Edits You Need to Do
As a result of this it’s basically expected that at least a little bit of energy should be put into tweaking those photos. This typically means adjusting the contrast and brightness levels a little, just to edge the colors and lighting towards something more like the original moment. Contrast, for example, increases the range between blacks and whites to make those – and strong colors – stand out more. Adjusting the RGB levels will achieve a similar purpose, too.
And don’t forget the cropping and rotation tools, which can be integral to perfecting an otherwise fantastic photo. In fact, programs like Xara Photo & Graphic Designer even have tools that can automatically adjust the perspective for you.
When Only Basic Editing Is Needed
While these basic adjustments aren’t necessary when sharing your photos to Facebook or Twitter, there’s no reason to not make a couple of tweaks before sharing images online since doing so will make them look better than before. The same is true for Instagram, but as this app includes its own basic editing functionality it’s not such a necessity.
One last thing to consider is that many photographers have their own particular style; some prefer high saturation or contrast images, some like softer, more muted colors while others like to really draw out the blacks to give everything a strong detail. Keep making these edits and playing around with software and you could come across your own style, too.
All image editing suites will include these editing tools, whether that’s professional software like Xara Photo & Graphic Designer or a browser-based suite such as Fotor. Both feature the option to make automatic adjustments for you, but if the results aren’t what you were hoping for then such programs also allow for manual tweaks too.
More Complex Editing
There may be times when you want to get a little more complicated, however, such as when you’re creating a photo book. If photography is going to have more of a permanent place in someone’s life beyond a new social media post, then it’s important to make sure these images are the best they can be.
This might mean applying certain effects to enhance their aesthetic. Or perhaps you want to draw a focus onto the subject by blurring the background, create a darkened vignette or turn an image black and white. It might also mean utilizing retouching tools to remove unseemly objects from an image, a passing bird or an unseemly trashcan for example. Or maybe you want to fix red-eye, hide wrinkles, or cover up scars and blemishes.
In any of these cases the tools required are a little more tricky and not available in all software – though Fotor does offer a number of handy beautification tools for just this purpose. Regardless of the program used, once you’ve got the experience your photos can be flawless and perfect for sharing as a gift.
Best Photo Editing Software of 2024
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More FAQs
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