That said, many people at least have an idea of such common tools as brightness, hue, filters, etc. Along with that, there are more sophisticated approaches to boosting pictures which are used mainly by professional and advanced photographers.
Let’s discuss some easy ways to give your snapshots a more attractive look.
Cropping
When novices learn how to enhance an image in Adobe Photoshop, probably the first thing they do is cropping, just because this is the easiest tool for an unskilled user of this graphics editor. It helps remove edges and outer elements that may distract a viewer from what you are going to focus their attention on. With cropping, you can re-balance your composition to shift the emphasis towards another object on the picture.
To make sure this tool improves your photo rather than mutilates it, follow these simple guidelines:
- Avoid cropping too close to objects, i. e. leave some room along edges.
- Keep major composition principles, like the rule of thirds.
- The crop tool should be used primarily to remove unnecessary items and distractors from an image.
Saturation
This widely used tool helps you adjust the color intensity. While saturated colors look more vivid and catching, overdoing can deteriorate the impression, as there will be more grain and noise in the picture. One practicable advice is to enhance only colors which are too pale. An oversaturated picture may look unnatural. Also, the effect of artificial lighting can appear.
Black-and-White
Sometimes, a picture can benefit from being turned into a black-and-white version. This enhancement method, however, suits not every photo. For example, use it carefully with landscape or cityscape compositions, as they may look grimmer. On the other hand, this kind of conversion can boost almost any portrait. Adjust brightness of a black-and-white picture to achieve the necessary balance.
Brightness and Contrast
As a novice photographer, you can hardly achieve the right levels of brightness and contrast during shooting. No problem. The values can be easily adjusted at the editing stage. While brightness determines how light or dark the entire image will be, contrast determines the difference between dark and light areas. These two settings work perfectly together and sometimes allow enhancing even an apparently failed snapshot.
Frames and Text
Overlaying a frame, text, signs and symbols with name on your photo is a more uncommon way to enhance it. Use it when you feel like adding something which remained unsaid by the composition itself. Such items can either serve as a decoration or provide some extra information you believe essential for a viewer. As usually, overdoing is not good, so avoid overloading your picture.
Filters
Using color filters is another helpful approach to highlighting certain composition aspects. By consistently applying the same filter to multiple images on your social media page you can give your environment a perk that makes it standout. You may rest assured that this technique will attract more visitors, as people like uncommon things.
A photographer’s opportunities are not limited to the above tools only. Still, if you are just an amateur, master this basic set before to look for more sophisticated techniques. Prior to adjusting a value or cropping, try to determine what kind of improvement your picture actually needs. Then define the optimum way to achieve the goal, as making too many corrections in parallel can deteriorate viewer experience.
