Retouching and Enhancing

Depending on how you receive your photographs from your photographer, they may need some retouching. We’ll cover some basic and some advanced software options. Our tutorial section currently offers some videos demonstrating basic editing. Stay tuned as we add more tutorials to our resource library and our blog!

Please note, many digital cameras come with software for photo editing. We’ve decided to focus here on software available to a wide variety of IDPN members. For more information about how to use your camera specific software, please contact the manufacturer directly.

Basic

What do we consider a basic photo edit or basic photo retouching?

Cropping: Changing the frame of the image so that what is shown is less than what is in the original image.

Straightening: Making the horizon line perpendicular to the frame of the image- essentially getting rid of any slight tilt.

Color Correction: Changing the temperature (yellow vs. blue) and tint (red vs. green) of an image so that the color in the photo is as close to the actual color of what was present as possible.

Exposure Correction: Lightening or darkening a photo to compensate for any exposure issues. Note- the camera does not see as we see. It cannot, for example, see the bride standing in front of a large picture window and everything that’s outside that picture window. A camera can generally either expose for one or the other.

Sharpening: Bringing clarity to the details of a photograph. Note- this will not fix an out of focus image.

Blemish Removal: Using a brush to sample a clear part of skin in order to cover a zit or scar. Most basic software does this sampling for you.

Red-Eye Reduction: A tool that takes the red flashes out of the subject’s eyes and replaces it with a non-zombified, normal pupil color.

Black and White or Sepia: These effects either remove the color entirely or replace it with a warm, brown tone.

Other Effects: Most basic software comes with other effects as well, like applying vignettes, glow effects, color boosting or fading, etc…

Here are some software options that allow you to do all of these basic edits. For more information about how to use each individual product, scroll through our Tutorial videos section.

Adobe Photoshop Express:
Pros-  Free basic level (additional storage and services are subscription-based)
Picture previews make editing easy
Basic edit sliders provide natural looking edits
Easy to save edits as a copy, so the original is untouched
Integrates with smartphone apps, other Adobe software, Facebook, Flikr, Photobucket, and Picasa
Cons- Must upload originals and download edits for use elsewhere. This can be done in large batches.

iPhoto:
Pros- Easy to use
Edits are non-destructive- you can always go back to your original photo
“Adjustments” panel allows for many basic editing options
Comes standard on most Apple computers
Cons- For Mac users only
Photo effects are somewhat heavy-handed

Picasa:
Pros- Free
Easy to use
Basic effects can be done subtly
Integrates with Picnik for more effects
Cons- Fewer adjustment sliders make color and exposure correction more difficult.
Does not like large files

Picnik:
Pros- Free options (some paid options)
Easy to use
Many editing options, some we bet you’ll never use
Cons- Fewer adjustment sliders makes color and exposure correction more difficult.
Does not like large files
Must upload originals and download edits one at a time

PicMonkey:
Pros- Free to Use (and from the creators of Picnik)
Many editing options, some we bet you’ll never use
Cons- Fewer adjustment sliders makes color and exposure correction more difficult.