Do you have a passion for taking pictures? Whether you want to become an artist known for working with photographs or simply want to showcase the best possible pictures of your products for a business, you need to know how to edit photos.
It can be hard to get started on the process but never fear. Our guide to photo editing for beginners will take you through each step. Ready your favorite picture and follow along, and you’ll get the hang of it soon enough.
First, Choose a Program
The first step in our photo editing for beginners program is to choose the app or program that you want to use. There are a wide variety of photo editing apps or software out there that you can work with, depending on what features you may need.
For instance, if you need a background remover to isolate the subject of an image, Adobe offers paid and free tools with that function. If you only need to adjust basic color grading and image cropping, the built-in software on your phone or in an app like Instagram can do the trick.
Which app you use to edit photos may depend largely on how much you want to pay.
Second, Crop the Image
Once you’ve selected the app you want to use, it’s time to crop the image. Most pictures we take have elements in them that we don’t want others to see. You don’t have to zoom in or make the image an odd size to resolve this issue.
All you need to do is crop the offending bits out and make sure that your intended focal point rests reasonably close to the center of the frame.
Third, Adjust the Brightness, Exposure, and Contrast
Once you have the subject of the image centered and the rest cropped out, it’s time to fiddle with your light and shadow values. This means adjusting the brightness, exposure, highlights, shadows, and contrast of an image until you get something that looks pleasing to the eye.
The higher an image’s contrast, the more sharp and distinct the edges in it will look. The lower the contrast, the more faded it will become.
Fourth, Adjust the Color Balance
Lastly, it’s time to adjust the color balance of the image. Our eyes do a great job of compensating for all kinds of light conditions. Cameras aren’t quite to that level yet, so this often means adjusting the color and white balance of an image.
Think of it this way: If you have an image that’s too blue, a lemon would look strange in it. You want the bright colors of the lemon to shine without making them too dominant.
Congratulations! You’ve Completed Photo Editing for Beginners
You’ve now completed the basics of our photo editing for beginners class. If you’d like to learn more tips to help you edit photos like a pro, then why not check out our blog?
We update each day with more handy, informative guides like this one!
