Free Photo Editing Software

Digital imaging today is sophisticated and affordable for the home user. There are so many free photo editing software available in the market that now it's so easy to make dramatic adjustments to your photographs that every picture you take can be as perfect as you want it to be. Let's take a look at some of the basic editing techniques and the free photo editing programs that can make the magic happen.

Correcting and enhancing digital photos: what you can fix with photo editing software. With a such kind of programs you can effortlessly touch up and repair the most common photo problems. Here's a rundown of some basic techniques that can deliver whopping results.

But, before we begin, remember this important tip: It's always good to save your image before you apply any effects. That way, if you don't like the results, you can go back to a previous version.

1. Red-eye express
Gone are the days when you had to toss away an otherwise nice photo because your subject looked like a space alien. With photo editing software, you can effortlessly recolor a person's eyes. (Of course, you'll have to experiment a little to get the shade you want.)

2. Scratch those scratches
Scratches are common photo-spoiling problems. Luckily, they're easy to repair with free editing software. This is so simple to do that you'll want to pull out all those old boxes of photos, scan them into your PC, and restore them to their former glory.

3. Crop to it
If a stray telephone wire or parked car somehow managed to wiggle into your frame, you can just crop it out with a photo editing program. Cropping is a great way to zero in on your subject and add dramatic appeal.

4. Color your world
You can take color changes as far as you want. In fact, you can convert a color image to black and white and then recolor the photograph with your own choices. Haven't you always thought that leaves should be magenta?

5. Lighten up
You can't completely rebuild the lighting in a photograph without making it look fake. But you can significantly lighten or darken certain areas of your photo with electronic "dodging" and "burning" tools. You can correct glares or remove distracting dark areas in the background.

6. Blurring for clarity
This technique is fun and a funky alternative to cropping. Eliminate distracting clutter by feathering or motion-blurring the area around your subject. For example, do you have a photo of your puppy, but other dogs in the picture aren't as cute as yours? Just blur those other pups out of focus. It's a great way to add interest and guide the viewer's eye toward your subject.

7. Sharpen up
Devices such as scanners and digital cameras cause some loss in the resolution of an original image, and sharpening filters in the editing software can correct this. They alter the pixels at the edges of objects by lightening the lighter pixels and darkening the darker pixels to create the illusion of contrast.