1. The World of Photo Editing
The world of photography is growing every day. People get into photography for many reasons.
A picture can say so much. It can tell a story. Capturing the perfect picture, whether it is a
landscape, a person or an object can make a statement without any words. That’s the power
behind the world of photography.
However, sometimes what you thought would be the perfect shot actually turns out with some
imperfections. It can be someone’s eyes turning out red, it can be a person in the background that
you didn’t see or it can even turn out darker then you expected. This is where photo editing can
actually save your photo. When taking a digital picture you can edit the properties of that picture
in so many ways using editing software.
Editing software allows you to make corrections to the photo such as:
 Fixing red eyes – too often people in a photo will appear to have red, slowing eyes due
to the light and angle of the shot. Many editing programs have a feature to remove the red
eye and return the eye color to a normal state.
 Brightening a dark photo – in certain indoor settings or lighting, a picture can come out
darker than expected. This feature allows you to edit the photo and brighten it so that the
subject can be seen easily. You’d be amazed at how you can enhance a dark photo and
actually save the image.
 Adjusting the pictures contrast and clarity – some pictures may seem a little fuzzy or
not as clear as they should be. By adjusting the pictures contrast, you can enhance the
clarity of the picture.
 Straightening a picture – sometimes when you’re in a hurry a picture can be taken at an
angle. This feature allows you to rotate the image so that it is straight and more
appealing.
 Cropping a photo – When you crop a photo you are zooming in on one area and
removing everything else. So if you had a photo and there was a person in the
background to the left that you didn’t see at the time the photo was taken, you can crop
the photo and zoom in on what you want to see and remove the rest. Cropping allows you
to take one area of the photo and zoom on it and make it the main focus.
In addition with photo editing you can manipulate the picture to enhance the picture. So you can
add a decorative background to your photo or you can place your baby on top of a flower. These
are just a few ways that you can use photo editing to enhance your photos and truly make them
one of a kind.

2. You can edit digital and traditional photos. When you edit a traditional photo it is called “photo
retouching”. When it comes to traditional photos things like airbrushing are used to enhance the
photo.
With digital photos you have several different online and desktop photo editing programs that
you can use to edit your work. Some programs are free; while others are paid programs. For the
beginner, starting out with one of the free programs will allow you to practice the art of photo
editing without having to spend any money.
Some of the free programs include:
 Picasa – this is a Google based application that allows you to store and edit photos online
and on your desktop. It offers simple editing features which makes this an easy program
for most beginners.
 Photoscape – this is a desktop editor which offers you the ability to customize your
photo with decorative backgrounds and images as well as traditional editing options.
 Picnik – this online photo editing program offers many of the traditional editing features
for free. You also can gain access to more features through their paid program however
the free option is a great way to play around with photo editing.
Paid photo editing programs can range in price from $80 to well over $300 depending on the
program. Some of the popular programs used include:
 Corel Paint Shop Pro
 Adobe PhotoShop
 Serif Photo Plus
Each program offers its own unique features but has many options to allow the user to really
enhance and edit their photos. Paid programs offer more feature then your standard free options
and can allow the user to really learn how to manipulate photo properties. The world of photo
editing is not as difficult as one may think. All it takes it patience and practice. Over time, you’ll
become a master at editing all your photos.