Like My New Facebook Profile Picture?
You put your pictures on the internet for all the world to see. You look great in them. Or you look hilarious in them. Or they show you with someone you really dig. They’re really cool pictures. But did you know those pictures could look better? The digital photos you share on facebook and everywhere else can be transformed from fun snapshots to the kinds of pictures your mom wants framed and in the living room.
And here’s the best part, it’s easy and it’s free.
That’s right. You don’t have to shell out for Photoshop to edit your digital photos. Programs like Picasa, iPhoto and Picnic let you fix a lot of common photo problems and even get a little creative with your digital artwork. If you want a little more control GIMP is the free way to go. It’s often compared to Photoshop, and while it’s not the same thing it does offer the more advanced features that make Photoshop such a fun tool.
I’m not saying these tricks will replace a professional photographer when you need one. Because they absolutely won’t. But friends could be asking you what kind of camera you’re using, and where they can buy one, b/c they want pictures like that. Make em jealous. Here’s 4 ways to do it.
1) Adjust the White Balance
Correct White Balance is the magical mix that makes the colors in you pictures look like colors in real life. It makes white look really white in stead of blueish or yellowish… that’s why it’s called White Balance. You know your white balance is wrong when your picture looks too blue, yellow, green, or pink.
- You can fix this really quickly in programs like Picasa, iPhoto, and Picnik, by using the temperature and tint controls. Just nudge the sliders until the colors look like real life.
- You can fix white balance if you’re using GIMP too. First try the one click fix: Go to Colors > Auto > White Balance. This should automatically correct your colors.
- If you’re not happy with the one click fix try going to Colors > Color Balance and play with the controls until the color looks like real life.
- For more details on white balance, look here.
This one little adjustment will do wonders for your photo. You could stop here. But I’m giving you more tips, so, um, don’t.
2) Get Some Exposure
As in, make a too dark picture brighter, and a too light picture darker.
- In a program like Picassa, iPhoto, or Picnik, just play with the Exposure Slider, the Brightness/Contrast Slider , and Shadows and Highlights Sliders. They all make parts of your picture darker or lighter, they just do it different ways.
- If you’re in GIMP using Colors > Brightness/Contrast is the most straight forward fix. Just adjust the sliders. You can also use Curves and Levels but they are a bit more advanced.
Don’t expect a miracle though. If parts of your photo are really dark, like black, no amount of adjusting is going to bring it back. Same for parts that are so light they are white.
3) Tackle Red Eye
Red eye can happen when you use a flash.
But with just a few clicks iPhoto removed the Red.
Red eye happens. Sometimes it’s funny. Like when your sweet baby sister looks like a daemon. Most of the time though, you want it gone.
- In Picassa, iPhoto, Picnik, or something like it, there will be a Red Eye Tool. Use the tool to click on the red eye and it will magically disappear.
- GIMP comes with a Red Eye fixer too. Go to Filters > Enhance > Red Eye Removal. Play with the slider.
4) Get Rid of Blemishes
While I kind of like the more natural look for fruit...
...you can easily remove blemishes like i did in iPhoto.
Yeah. I mean zits.
- In Picasa, iPhoto, Picnik and the like just grab the Healing Tool and click over the blemish. Ta da! It’s like it was never there.
- Same thing for GIMP. The Healing Tool looks like a Band-Aid in GIMP.
You won’t be able to fix large patches of acne or bumpy textured skin with this trick. In my next post, 5 More Tricks to Make Your Profile Picture Better, I’ll give you an advanced trick to help smooth bumpy skin. Stay Tuned!
Other free photo editors to look for:
