You may choose the best image editing software, but if you are not conversant with what all it can do, it will remain a useless piece of software for you. Here are some basic image editing tips for aspiring professional photographers that will stand them in good stead in the post-production phase.
Things to remember
- Learn the ropes quickly: Understanding your editing tools will make it all the more easier for you to edit your images quickly and flawlessly. You will have to have your editing tools on your fingertips. Only then will you be able to give the look you want to your pictures. You can use an image editing software like Luminar as well. Go through Luminar Review here.
- Save your work for later tweaks: It is quite natural not to get your image editing right the first time. As a rule, you should save your editing projects in the ‘Save as Project’ feature. This allows saving your work in an editable format, allowing you to go right back and tweak it to perfection.
- Never over edit: Those new to image editing get so enamored by it that they end up over editing their images. Over editing gives an unnatural look to your pictures. So, to ensure they look natural, shoot your photos in natural light. Remain as steady and focused as you can, while shooting and ensure that the background is clean and clutter-free. Try out different angles and choose the one that appeals most for editing.
#1 Basics
- Cleaning: Dust spots appear in photos if you have photographed them against a light background or are converting it to black and white. They also appear if your sensor is dirty or has dust specks. Using the clone tool or the patch tool will help clean out these dust spots from the image.
- Crop: Cropping is the best way to get rid of unwanted and distracting elements in an image. It also helps in getting a close up of the main element of your photo by cropping the not-so-aesthetically pleasing elements. This tool helps in sizing the image to specific dimensions, scale your pic and make it look right. However, use this tool to fine-tune your image rather than altering it altogether.
- Straighten: At times when you are clicking your camera may not be parallel to the ground, resulting in slightly skewed photos. For this, you will need to adjust the horizon by means of an option called Rotate. However, if you are the artsy kind and want tilted images, try out all angles to get your best shot!
- Exposure: If the exposure is not right and the pic seems under- or over-exposed, there are options to set this right too. Use Brightness to adjust the overall exposure of the image. If you want to make the bright tones brighter or darker, use Highlights. Use Shadows to brighten or darken the dark tones. To finely adjust the difference between the light and dark tones, use Contrast.
- Sharpen: If your camera snaps pictures that are less sharp, the Sharpen option will come in handy. It is concerned with line definition and helps to make little details more visible. Use the Strength and Clarity sliders to sharpen your image and zoom in close to about 100 percent, to see the results. Over-sharpening can make the pic look grainy. Sharpening should be done at the very end, after completing all the editing.
#2 Touch-up
Touch-up is a tool often used by glossy magazines to enhance the celebrity pics it carries. It makes the subject look great. That is why you find the glossy magazine subjects without a blemish and with skin tones to die for! However, nobody admits to touch up! Never overdo the touch up bit, since it may make your subject look unreal. These tools should only be used for subtle, natural editing.
It is important to select the right Brush size and Fade sliders to give the image a natural look.
#3 Getting creative
You don’t need to be subtle with these tools, if you really want to display your creative side. You can alter photos most blatantly to showcase your creativity. This you can achieve by giving artistic photo effects to your image and also adding text. You have the option to frame it or put a graphic on top of your image to give it a new look.
Conclusion
Photo editing can be fun, provided you are conversant with the photo editing tools. So, master the tools and follow these tips to enhance your images and make them stand out from the rest.
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