Digital photography is becoming the norm, but even with the best technology, source photos aren’t always perfect. In fact, anyone with a smartphone has likely experienced a red eye or unfortunate angle at least once.
Editing your photos can be fun, but the changes you make can quickly go from creative post-production to distorting the image beyond recognition.
Fortunately, there’s a middle ground that gives you the freedom to play with your images while still maintaining quality and realism. If you’re wondering how editing photos can be fun, keep reading to learn the photo editing tips you have to try.
1. Cropping and Resizing Images
When cropping an image, always try to keep the main subject in the center of the frame and make sure you don’t crop out people or objects that are important to the story. This will help keep the focus on the subject.
When resizing an image, always keep the aspect ratio the same. This means that the width and height of the image will be in proportion to each other. Finally, be careful not to crop or resize an image too much, as this can result in a loss of quality.
2. Adjusting Lighting and Contrast
It’s important to make sure the photo is well-lit. This means there should be no dark areas or shadows. Then, the photo should have good contrast for the lightest and darkest areas of the photo which should be distinct from each other.
When adjusting the brightness of a photo, it’s important to do so evenly. This will prevent the photo from looking washed out or overly dark.
Lastly, when increasing or decreasing the contrast of a photo, be sure to do so gradually. This will allow you to better see the effect of your changes and avoid making the photo look unnatural.
3. White Balance and Color Correction
White balance is used to correct the overall color cast of a photo. Most digital cameras have an automatic white balance setting, but it’s not always accurate. If your photo has a strong color cast, you can use white balance to correct it.
Color correction is used to fix specific color problems in a photo. For example, when using a gaming logo maker, you can use color correction to fix a photo that’s too blue or too yellow. You can also use color correction to bring out specific colors in a photo.
4. Saving and Exporting
Before you save or export your edited photo, there are a few things you need to remember. Save your edited photo as a copy so you don’t accidentally overwrite the original photo file.
Then, when you export your photo, make sure to choose the right file format for the intended purpose. For example, JPEG is a good choice for photos that will be posted online, while TIFF is a better choice for photos that will be printed. And finally, make sure to choose a reasonable file size when saving or exporting your photo so it doesn’t take up too much space on your hard drive or take too long to upload or download.
Essential Photo Editing Tips to Follow
If you’re looking to improve your photo editing basics skills, remember these tips! Practice basic editing techniques like cropping, straightening, and applying filters. Then, move on to more advanced techniques like cutting out subjects, correcting colors, and adding text or graphics. With practice, you’ll be able to edit photos like a pro!
We hope our photo editing tips were helpful to you. Be sure to check out our blog for more posts about editing your work.