So you've made the leap to digital photography and it really does seem as easy as everyone says. Until, that is, you download the snaps from your digital camera.
With hindsight, perhaps auntie Rita won't appreciate the fact you have inadvertently focused on her unsightly mole, making it look twice as large as usual. And will over-serious cousin Edwin appreciate the bunny ears someone has given him by sticking their fingers up behind his head? Unlikely.
Something has to be done and fast. But where to start? Most of us have photo-editing software that came bundled with the PC or the digital camera we bought, but often we end up overwhelmed by the array of tools and, uncertain of where to begin, we simply choose to file it under 'too hard'. Cue the embarrassing family album no one ever gets to view.
In the interests of family harmony, we decided to offer a refresher course in the most basic of image-editing tools and, because there are so many packages available, we're not going to focus on any particular one.
Instead, we will break down tools by the kinds of task they are suited to. This means we'll look at three main groups of tools: those that control, those that select, and those that add effects to digital photographs.
To make it simple for even the most novice user, we'll include the icon that usually represents the tool under discussion in the tool palette - so look for something similar in the program that you have. Before long, you'll be able to diffuse family tensions and make the most of your digital camera.
Take control
The first thing to say is that there's no need to be concerned about ruining precious pictures. If you're new to image editing, open your chosen photo and use the application's Save As option to create a copy.
This is usually found under the File menu at the top of the window. Now you can experiment and learn on the copy. If you make a mistake and don't want to start all over again, hold down the Ctrl key and press Z - this will reverse the last action made in the application.
Control tools enable us to negotiate our way around, into and out of the image. The Hand tool (also known as the Pan tool) is the simplest and is named such for obvious reasons; it looks like a hand and allows us to move - or pan - our way around the image.
It is of most use when the image being viewed is larger than the program window, such as when taking a close look at a part of an image using the zoom tool. To pan around, click on the hand tool and hold down the left mouse button while dragging the mouse across the image.
To take a closer look we need to use the zoom tool. Shaped like a magnifying glass, the zoom tool allows us to magnify a portion of an image or zoom out of it. Click on the Magnifying glass tool in some applications and the cursor will change to a magnifying glass with either a plus sign, for zooming in, or a minus sign for zooming out.
Often on tool palettes you will find that some icons reveal more than one tool (which perform similarly themed tasks), and these are usually marked with a small arrow to indicate a drop-down menu. Click and hold to reveal the other tools.
At its simplest, the zoom tool works by magnifying the area you left-click on, although many enable you to hold down the mouse key and drag around a specific area. Often right-clicking will zoom out of the image by a set increment.
Images will appear distorted when you zoom in, because the actual pixels (the tiny dots that make up digital images) will be displayed. That doesn't mean the printed image will appear like that. To see a representation of the image as it will be printed, look for the zoom percentage - this is usually displayed in the Title Bar of the document. At 100 per cent the image appears normal.
So you've made the leap to digital photography and it really does seem as easy as everyone says. Until, that is, you download the snaps from your digital camera.
With hindsight, perhaps auntie Rita won't appreciate the fact you have inadvertently focused on her unsightly mole, making it look twice as large as usual. And will over-serious cousin Edwin appreciate the bunny ears someone has given him by sticking their fingers up behind his head? Unlikely.
Something has to be done and fast. But where to start? Most of us have photo-editing software that came bundled with the PC or the digital camera we bought, but often we end up overwhelmed by the array of tools and, uncertain of where to begin, we simply choose to file it under 'too hard'. Cue the embarrassing family album no one ever gets to view.
In the interests of family harmony, we decided to offer a refresher course in the most basic of image-editing tools and, because there are so many packages available, we're not going to focus on any particular one.
Instead, we will break down tools by the kinds of task they are suited to. This means we'll look at three main groups of tools: those that control, those that select, and those that add effects to digital photographs.
To make it simple for even the most novice user, we'll include the icon that usually represents the tool under discussion in the tool palette - so look for something similar in the program that you have. Before long, you'll be able to diffuse family tensions and make the most of your digital camera.
Take control
The first thing to say is that there's no need to be concerned about ruining precious pictures. If you're new to image editing, open your chosen photo and use the application's Save As option to create a copy.
This is usually found under the File menu at the top of the window. Now you can experiment and learn on the copy. If you make a mistake and don't want to start all over again, hold down the Ctrl key and press Z - this will reverse the last action made in the application.
Control tools enable us to negotiate our way around, into and out of the image. The Hand tool (also known as the Pan tool) is the simplest and is named such for obvious reasons; it looks like a hand and allows us to move - or pan - our way around the image.
It is of most use when the image being viewed is larger than the program window, such as when taking a close look at a part of an image using the zoom tool. To pan around, click on the hand tool and hold down the left mouse button while dragging the mouse across the image.
To take a closer look we need to use the zoom tool. Shaped like a magnifying glass, the zoom tool allows us to magnify a portion of an image or zoom out of it. Click on the Magnifying glass tool in some applications and the cursor will change to a magnifying glass with either a plus sign, for zooming in, or a minus sign for zooming out.
Often on tool palettes you will find that some icons reveal more than one tool (which perform similarly themed tasks), and these are usually marked with a small arrow to indicate a drop-down menu. Click and hold to reveal the other tools.
At its simplest, the zoom tool works by magnifying the area you left-click on, although many enable you to hold down the mouse key and drag around a specific area. Often right-clicking will zoom out of the image by a set increment.
Images will appear distorted when you zoom in, because the actual pixels (the tiny dots that make up digital images) will be displayed. That doesn't mean the printed image will appear like that. To see a representation of the image as it will be printed, look for the zoom percentage - this is usually displayed in the Title Bar of the document. At 100 per cent the image appears normal.
