Exploring the Landscape of Mobile Photo Editing

As smartphone cameras evolve, becoming more sophisticated with each new model, the demand for equally advanced editing tools has risen. Photographers, both amateur and professional, seek apps that offer not just basic editing tools but also advanced functionalities that were once the domain of desktop applications. These mobile apps are redefining what’s possible on a phone, offering features from intricate layer editing to AI-powered enhancements.

The Unsung Heroes of Mobile Photo Editing

While Lightroom Mobile remains a popular choice, other apps like Snapseed, VSCO, and Afterlight have carved their niches, providing unique tools and interfaces that appeal to different photography styles. Snapseed, for example, offers a comprehensive set of editing tools along with a user-friendly interface that appeals to beginners and professionals alike. VSCO combines editing capabilities with a community platform, allowing users to share their creations and draw inspiration from others. Afterlight stands out with its fusion of simple design and powerful editing tools, catering to those who seek both efficiency and depth in editing.

Diving Deeper: Advanced Features in Mobile Editing Apps

These apps offer features that go beyond basic adjustments, allowing for edits that can transform a photo’s narrative:

• Layer and Masking Tools: Some apps offer the ability to work with layers and masks, providing users with the precision and flexibility seen in desktop editing software.
• AI-Powered Enhancements: Leveraging artificial intelligence, certain apps can automatically enhance photos, detect scenes, and suggest edits, making sophisticated editing more accessible.
• Selective Editing: The ability to make selective adjustments in specific areas of a photo can drastically change its impact, a feature that many of these apps offer with precision.
• Film Emulation Presets: For those enamored with the analog look, some apps offer presets that mimic the appearance of film, adding a nostalgic charm to digital photos.
• Advanced Color Grading: Beyond basic color adjustments, these apps provide tools for advanced color grading, allowing users to create a specific mood or atmosphere in their photos.

Integrating Mobile Editing into Your Photography Workflow

Incorporating these apps into your photography workflow can significantly enhance your creative process. By understanding the strengths of each app, photographers can choose the one that best aligns with their creative vision and editing needs. Whether it’s fine-tuning details on Snapseed, applying VSCO’s filmic presets, or crafting the perfect image with Afterlight’s advanced tools, these apps offer a plethora of possibilities for creative expression.

Tips for Maximizing Your Mobile Editing Experience

• Experiment with Different Apps: Each app has its unique set of tools and interface. Experimenting with various apps can help you find the one that best suits your editing style.
• Leverage Tutorials and Resources: Many of these apps come with built-in tutorials and resources, helping users to unlock their full potential.
• Blend Multiple Apps: Sometimes, the perfect edit might require tools from more than one app. Don’t hesitate to use a combination of apps to achieve your desired result.
• Stay Updated: Mobile apps are frequently updated with new features and improvements. Keeping your apps updated ensures you have access to the latest editing tools.

Conclusion: The Future is Mobile

The future of photography is undeniably mobile. As smartphones continue to replace traditional cameras for many photographers, the demand for advanced mobile editing apps will only grow. These apps not only provide the tools necessary to create stunning, high-quality images but also offer the convenience of editing on the go. By harnessing the power of these apps, photographers can unlock new realms of creativity, transforming ordinary shots into extraordinary pieces of art, all from the palm of their hand. Embrace the revolution of mobile photo editing and witness your photography transform in ways you never imagined.

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Chapter 1: Immerse Yourself in the Thrill of Virtual Racing

From the moment I first laid my hands on the Logitech G25 Racing Wheel, I was transported into a world of heart-pounding excitement and adrenaline-fueled thrills. With its state-of-the-art force feedback technology, every twist, turn, and bump on the virtual track comes to life with astonishing realism, pulling you deeper into the heart of the action. Whether I’m navigating treacherous hairpin bends or hurtling down the straightaways at breakneck speeds, the G25 Racing Wheel ensures that every moment behind the wheel is an unforgettable experience filled with excitement and intensity.

Chapter 2: Precision Control for Maximum Performance

One of the standout features of the Logitech G25 Racing Wheel is its precision control, which puts me in complete command of my virtual vehicle. With its responsive steering and precise pedal input, I can execute precise maneuvers with ease, giving me the competitive edge I need to outmaneuver my opponents and secure victory. Whether I’m drifting around tight corners or slamming on the brakes to avoid a collision, the G25 Racing Wheel responds to my every command with pinpoint accuracy, allowing me to dominate the track with confidence and finesse.

Chapter 3: Versatility Across Gaming Platforms

Gone are the days of being tied to a single gaming platform—the Logitech G25 Racing Wheel offers versatility across a wide range of gaming platforms, including PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. This means that no matter which platform I choose to game on, I can always count on the G25 Racing Wheel to deliver a seamless and immersive racing experience. Whether I’m competing in online races with friends on my PlayStation or tearing up the track in solo races on my PC, the G25 Racing Wheel ensures that I can enjoy the thrill of virtual racing wherever and whenever I want.

Chapter 4: Comfort and Ergonomics for Extended Gaming Sessions

As someone who spends countless hours behind the wheel, comfort is of utmost importance to me, and the Logitech software delivers in spades. With its ergonomic design and comfortable grip, this racing wheel is engineered to keep me comfortable and focused during even the longest gaming sessions. Whether I’m racing for hours on end or participating in marathon gaming marathons with friends, the G25 Racing Wheel keeps hand fatigue at bay, allowing me to stay immersed in the action for longer periods of time.

Chapter 5: Customization Options for Personalized Gameplay

One of the things that sets the Logitech G25 Racing Wheel apart is its extensive customization options, which allow me to tailor my gaming experience to suit my personal preferences. From adjusting force feedback strength to fine-tuning pedal sensitivity, the G25 Racing Wheel gives me the flexibility to create a setup that feels just right for me. Whether I’m looking for a more realistic driving experience or a more arcade-style feel, the G25 Racing Wheel allows me to customize every aspect of my racing experience for maximum enjoyment.

Chapter 6: Durability and Reliability for Peace of Mind

Last but not least, the Logitech G25 Racing Wheel is built to withstand the rigors of even the most intense gaming sessions. With its durable construction and high-quality materials, this racing wheel is designed to provide reliable performance race after race. Whether I’m competing in high-stakes tournaments or embarking on epic gaming marathons, I can always trust the G25 Racing Wheel to deliver the performance and durability I need to come out on top.

Conclusion: Elevate Your Racing Experience with the Logitech G25 Racing Wheel

In conclusion, the Logitech G25 Racing Wheel is more than just a gaming peripheral—it’s a gateway to an exhilarating world of virtual racing that offers unparalleled immersion, precision control, versatility, comfort, customization, durability, and reliability. From the moment I first started using the G25 Racing Wheel, it transformed my gaming experience in ways I never thought possible, allowing me to fully immerse myself in the thrill of virtual racing like never before. Whether you’re a casual gamer or a hardcore racing enthusiast, the Logitech G25 Racing Wheel is a must-have addition to any gaming setup. So why wait? Strap in, rev your engines, and prepare to embark on the ultimate racing adventure with the Logitech G25 Racing Wheel by your side. It’s time to take your gaming experience to new heights and unleash your inner racer like never before!

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Overview

Active development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology led to the massive revolution in many aspects of modern life. Photo editing sphere is one of them. Thanks to AI, photo processing today can offer many advantages over traditional editing techniques, which makes it an increasingly popular option for dilettante, freelance and qualified photographers and photo editors. Further, we will explore the major advantages that AI-based photo processing can bring.

Automation

The smart algorithms can automatically process numerous images, save the time and effort of the photographers. Automated processing can be especially useful for the professionals who work on the projects with tight deadlines and enormous volumes of visual images.

Consistency

Artificial intelligence algorithms follow the same set of guidelines and restrictions every time they process an image. Therefore, they can deliver consistent results across various images. This is especially beneficial for highly professional photographers who want to ensure that all images from the photo session have the same look and feel.

Enhanced Image Quality

AI is an incredibly powerful tool, similar to the human consciousness. As a matter of fact, robust AI algorithms can process many images and specify the particular areas that require improvement. For instance, the systems can advise on the adjustments in brightness, contrast and saturation characteristics. Consequently, imagery becomes more visually attractive and similar to the original view.

Extra Visual Effects

Photographers can use AI-based photo editing tools to create a wide range of ingenious effects, from sophisticated color grading and texture overlays to the elimination of excessive elements from the image. All these visual effects assist photo specialists in creating specific look and feel in their images and bringing more virtuosity to their work.

Availability

AI-based photo editing instruments are easily accessible to the specialists of any level of proficiency. It is possible to choose the most appropriate tool for your particular needs. Lots of software apps are enriched with AI-powered characteristics and make it easier for photo specialists to utilize the advantages of AI technologies even if they do not possess any specialized tech expertise.

Cost-Efficiency

Artificial intelligence tools represent a cost-efficient alternative to employing a professional graphic designer or devoting a lot of time to retouching imagery. With AI-enhanced instruments, photo editors can obtain excellent results at more affordable cost. Often, it is more profitable for businesses to get AI-based technology and train their existing specialists on how to use it than hiring additional personnel who are already expert in it. As a result, it can open new horizons in asset allocation and monetary strategy of the firm, as it cuts the expenses on the staff without downgrading the quality of the end products.

Personalized Tools

Users can train the AI models so that they could know the preferences of each user and individualize the processing of images to the definite needs and desires. In fact, you can configure the models so that they would generate images in the style of Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer, or any other great artist who you would prefer.

Speed

If you deal with AI, be ready to process huge volumes of visual data in a quicker and more efficient manner. The very nature of AI, closely connected to advanced machine learning technologies, is based on processing huge amounts of data. The downloaded information helps artificial intelligence models learn and develop their processing and generation potential. This being said, AI was designed to operate on the basis of large data volumes and provide results quickly. Consequently, it will help you save both time and money.

More Control

The powerful artificial intelligence algorithms can offer photographers greater control over the editing procedures of their images and enable them to try various styles and effects. You can adjust your color preferences, add some visual objects or eliminate them from the pictures.

Conclusion

AI-based photo editing tools significantly enhance the photo editing process. They offer many advantages to the photo editors, starting from automation to personalization and providing more control over the visual effects. As a result, users have an opportunity to create attractive images in a quicker and more efficient way.

The post What Are the Advantages of AI-based Photo Processing? appeared first on LightRoomSecrets.

Overview

AI-based photo processing is gaining momentum. It assists the specialists with the process of photo editing and helps improve quality, reduce noise, adjust color palette and lighting, and enhance the photos with advanced sophisticated effects to add more artistry to the final product. With the help of a well-established software development company in US, you can develop high-quality AI-based software.

The AI-based technology proved to be a powerful instrument that can boost the photographers’ efficiency and make their work more productive, saving both time and monetary resources of the companies. In this article, we will study the most important principles of AI-based photo processing performance, which make this tool prevail over the traditional ways of photo editing.

Principles of Work Performance

Let’s find out how the AI-based photo processing works. First of all, the system recognizes the output image. Then it feeds the image into a deep learning network, which has been previously trained with the help of a huge amount of data. The network is so intelligent that it can make its own decisions on how to improve the process on the basis of previous learning techniques.

For example, one of the most widespread method in the AI-oriented photo processing is so-called image visual enhancement. According to this method, the neural network can identify and remove noise, adjust the color balance, and sharpen edges in order to enrich the vibrancy of the visuals. Surprisingly, this can be done with little or no human assistance. AI-based neural networks are capable of amazing creativity and have great potential to incorporate the styles of great artists of the past into their work. They create masterpieces based on the huge amount of data previously downloaded into their system. As a result, images look more appealing and natural to the viewers.

One more interesting method is style transfer, which denotes transferring of the style of one image onto the others. This method is widely implemented in order to create artistry and rich visual effects to adjust visuals to various innovative styles. In fact, AI-based photo processing can transform the image into the oil painting, black and white or sepia image or style it according to the definite time period peculiarities or a school of art.

What is interesting, AI-based photo processing can effectively enhance photos of inferior quality. For example, if there are harsh weather conditions or dim lighting, the photos may be not perfect. With the help of AI-based photo editing, photo professionals can improve the quality of the image with the help of improving how bright and color-balanced the images are, remove the noise and unnecessary details.

Additionally, artificial intelligence could work with visuals in a far more advanced way. For instance, a smart network can eliminate or add particular objects to the photo, adjust the background and change age, mimics and gestures of the humans in the image.

Conclusion

AI-based photo processing has many advantages over traditional photo processing. As you could conclude after reading this enlightening article, it uses different methods to enhance the photo editing process and make it more joyous, effective and convenient. As AI-based tools are often considered to be a more cost-efficient option for photo editing than human specialists, this may be a great option for small-sized companies and startups, the owners of which could not afford to hire extra personnel with a specific skill set.

The AI-based systems can recognize the visual image, identify the excessive elements and noise and eliminate the objects that are not needed in the picture. Similarly, the artificial intelligence is capable of enhancing the images with the help of sophisticated tools. For instance, photo editors can add objects, enhance color palette, or adjust the picture to the specific art style or imitate the work of a famous artist.

This being said, AI-based photo processing is a great instrument that can improve images and introduce changes to make photos perfect. Thanks to the rich tool set, artificial intelligence photo processing is a precious tool for designers, artists, photographers, photo editors and all creative people who are eager to experiment with images.

The post How Does AI-based Photo Processing Work? appeared first on LightRoomSecrets.

Top 7 free photo editing apps for Android and iPhone in 2023

Let us look more closely at some of the best photo editing apps that we can use absolutely for free.

1. YouCam Perfect. This app is a wonderful free photo editing app both for Android and iPhone users. This free app allows you to edit photos and make collages, among many other creative features. You can easily remove unwanted objects, remove and change backgrounds, apply aesthetic effects and filters, edit face shapes etc.
2. Snapseed. This application is flawless if you don’t need any extra features, like collages or stickers etc. Snapseed is a great option for iPhone and Android users. Snapseed uses a unique interface in which you swipe your finger left or right to make an adjustment, or up and down to choose which adjustment you’re making. Editing tools include Healing Brush, Structure, HDR, and Perspective. This free photo editor app allows you to create your own presets and supports RAW files.
3. Adobe Photoshop Express. The Express is a simplified version of the company’s main Photoshop application. Photoshop Express is usually used more for collages, blemish removal, text overlays, masks, and compositing than for photo correction and enhancement. This fantastic application also supports raw camera files. The most recent update added skin smoothing, content-aware healing, face-aware liquifying, and a caricature filter to join the app’s plentiful selection of effect filters.
4. Foodie. We’re all doing it, right? Everyone has taken photos of their food at some point. Foodie helps you take your food photos to an entirely new level.
   You have access to more than 30 filters for you to use. You should try this app if you like taking pictures of food.
5. Canva. This is why we greatly enjoy this app. Canva is not only great for photos, but also for creating posters and other visuals across your website and marketing collateral. Using filters, vignettes, and more, your photos can look professional in minutes, as can everything you post on social media and your website.
6. GoDaddy Studio. This app has a bit of everything, but its outstanding option is to add text. The app allows you to add multiple text overlays to your images, which you can then style individually. It has a great catalogue of fonts, as well as a simple interface for quick editing.
7. VSCO is currently one of the most popular photo editing apps for smartphones. This photo editor is primarily known for its presets that closely replicate film photography. Besides that, it also has a feature called Recipe that allows you to create custom presets. Apart from presets, VSCO has editing tools that let you change exposure settings, crop images, and adjust the grain in your pictures.

Conclusion

For those who need to do some photo editing, there are plenty of amazing options which are available absolutely for free. Whether you want a portrait photo, or to create an outstanding presentation for your project, the tools are there to help you. You can use these apps to create astonishing visual content for your social media account or to get more followers for your business account by giving it a visual aesthetic. Using such an app like Canva gives you the tools to create unique highlights for Instagram or create a unique avatar for different accounts: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or for gaming profiles, such as PlayStation platforms or online gambling websites with online slots and poker.

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Of course a usual photo without studio light and processing looks a little bit raw. But how do bloggers manage to fill them with colorfulness and make such an amazing retouching as for the cover of a glossy magazine? No, they don’t take dozens of courses in photography and photo correction. They have a set of apps they work with day in and day out to create the perfect image.

In this article, you’ll find a selection of photo editing apps for your smartphone. They are all free, but offer a comprehensive range of features, filters and capabilities. All of the following apps can be downloaded on both Android and iPhone.

Snapseed

Snapseed is a free professional photo editor from Google. It combines simplicity with a variety of features for photo editing. Among these features you will find not only standard tools like cropping or straightening, but much more! The editor will allow you to apply text, make stickers, create stunning collages and much more.

One of the most significant tools is “spot-correction” – allows you to remove unnecessary objects in a photo, and smooth out surfaces. It’s the equivalent of a paintbrush in Photoshop. Girls often use this tool to make their skin look perfect and flawless.

VSCO

VSCO is another powerful tool that users can use to edit photos. In essence, it’s not just a photo editor, but an entire social network with editing tools and the ability to communicate with other users.

The main option of this app is filters. Some of which are available for free. Users can get even more filters by taking out a paid subscription, but by trying out a test period first. In case the premium seems irrelevant to you, you can cancel the subscription at the end of the trial period.

Why recommend VSCO?

• Over 200 presets to enhance your photo’s uniqueness. There are even vintage filters from Kodak, Agfa and Ilford.
• Users benefit from enhanced editing tools.
• The app even includes the ability to edit videos, create a moving collage and more.
• Images can be edited and collages can be made using exclusive tools like HSL and Borders.

If you wish, you can post the photo to the VSCO community feed and collect feedback on your work. If you’re an active Instagram user, the application allows you to share the picture directly to the desired social network. Without any additional manipulation with downloading. You can also send your collage or video from the app to WhatsApp or by regular SMS.

Prisma Photo Editor

Have you seen the avatars on social media with the page owner’s image in the style of a 2D drawing? Have you ever wondered how they are made? It’s unlikely that everyone has commissioned cartoon images from some artist. If you fancy doing something similar again, Prisma Photo Editor is the answer. 

The application combines neural networks and artificial intelligence, which is why the pictures are done so well. 

Prisma will allow you to create masterpieces, as if they had just been taken from the easels of Picasso and Dali, absolutely free of charge. The creation of pictures is easy, even very entertaining. You can choose from over 500 filters for your creativity. And if you like, you can show the whole Prisma community your masterpieces. Or simply save them on your smartphone or add them to another social network.

Adobe Photoshop Express

It’s hard to imagine anyone who has never heard of Adobe Photoshop. The tool is used by photographers, graphic designers, web designers and many other artists. The new version of Adobe Photoshop Express is a free, fast and easy-to-use tool that lets you put your creativity to use.

The mobile version of the application offers a wide range of features that are easy to use on a smartphone. To access the functionality, the app will ask you to create an account or log in to an existing one. You can use an existing account from the desktop version of Ps, or sign in with a social network account. Immediately after logging in with your in-app account you can start editing the image.

You can then remove objects, add a new object, a sticker or overlay another image. Of course the functionality doesn’t stop there, there are also built-in filters, templates for collages and different fonts for adding text to the picture. You can save the image in different sizes and extensions. You can then share the image on your social networks or even use it for business.

Foodie

If you’re an active Instagram user, you’ll find Foodie very familiar. Its editor is as similar as possible to Instagram’s built-in editor. This tool will be useful for flick makers, as there are more than 30 filters available for food shots. For maximum results, we recommend checking out the ‘smart guide’ feature for capturing food and other compositions from above. This app will help you create juicy food shots.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC

Adobe Lightroom CC is another equally worthy modification of the Photoshop editor for mobile devices. In the app you can crop photos, change the aspect ratio, and do processing using filters and various effects. In addition, you can work with curves directly in the application, make professional colour correction and make point changes in the photo.

An important feature of this application is the possibility of working with RAW files, which are of a high quality and are usually used by professional photographers.

There are also additional features in the app. But you can get access to them by subscribing to Adobe Creative Cloud. The following features are available to the user: Restoration Brush, Selective Photo Correction, Geometry, Cloud Storage and Adobe Sensei.

Bottom Line

To find the best free photo editing app for you and your brand, you need to first define your goals and then test some photo editing apps to find the right one for you.

For best results, it is better to use one or two photo editors – it is better to become advanced in one app than to have mediocre skills in many.

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To process bitmap graphics on a professional level is the destiny of expensive, powerful software. However, nowadays not only professionals and amateur photographers are involved in digital image processing, but also a wide range of users who are far from this “labor” segment.

What does the average user need? Everyone wants a simple, easy-to-learn program that works stably and lets you perform all the necessary operations.

GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. The free-licensed graphic editor has a funny logo with a little devil in it, which isn’t a coincidence because its name contains the anagram “imp”. GIMP works in all popular operating systems: Linux, Windows and Mac OS X. GIMP is included in almost all popular Linux distributions, so it does not require a separate installation. If the program does not appear in the start menu of a desktop environment (KDE, GNOME, etc.), it simply needs to be installed from the distribution disks using the standard means (for example, in SuSE YaST2 is responsible for software installation). Installing the editor in Windows requires the GTK+ library. You can download the library (3.7MB) and the editor (7.8MB) from the GIMP for Windows page. The library and editor have international modules and do not require additional russification to be downloaded. GIMP has rather modest system requirements in comparison with other graphics editors, successfully running even on old computers with 128MB RAM. The minimum requirements for the processor make the older generation hit a distant memory: Pentium MMX. But even allowing for the fact that the real system requirements of the software are always much higher than the officially stated minimum, GIMP will feel confident on all workstations built in the current millennium.

Interface

The first start-up of GIMP is fairly quick, but the opening of its main window may be confusing to new users.

The editor’s interface seems unusual, to say the least. Instead of the usual program window with an extensive main menu and toolbar, we have a tiny concentration of buttons. But as soon as you open an image, the situation becomes more or less clear – the documents open in independent windows with the main menu already present. The start window acts as a kind of quick access panel, where all the most frequently used functions are collected. The other tools can be called in several ways. The first, the most guessed method, is to navigate through the main menu of the document working window. The second is by using the right mouse button. Instead of the usual invocation of the properties of the current object, you will be offered a complete list of editor functions, duplicated by the main menu. If you click the left mouse button near the top edge of the opened menu, it will turn into an independent window, which can also be used as a toolbar for a shortcut.

And finally, the third way is the hotkeys. Call the program settings from the main window and go to the “Interface” tab. Turn on the “Use shortcuts” and “Save shortcuts on exit” options. This allows you to assign shortcuts directly while the editor is running. The most frequently used functions can be invoked with hotkeys initially. But if your priorities are different from what the developers intended, why not add your own shortcuts to the list? You can also reassign existing hotkeys. In order to assign/reassign a shortcut, you need to get to the desired menu item, but do not select it. Stop the mouse cursor on it and press any key combination. A pointer appears to the right of the item name stating that the shortcut is now assigned to the current tool.

The open dialogs and save files are in the standard GTK+ tradition, which is familiar to Linux users, but may seem inconvenient to Windows users.

Image processing: from RAW to the final result

A graphics editor is most often a tool for image processing, to improve the quality of images. Let’s take a look at GIMP as a tool for a wide range of image processing tasks. The most common way to start is to convert a RAW image to JPEG or TIFF. During the conversion process you can adjust the images by adjusting the exposure, white balance, and other parameters. The GIMP distribution does not have a built in RAW conversion tool, so a special extension must be loaded. For example, UFRaw. If you are working in Windows, you can immediately download the ufraw-0.7-setup.exe package to install. For Linux users, there is a set of packages compiled for different distributions. If your distribution is not on the list, download the source code of the extension and compile it yourself with the standard commands:
./configure
make
make install
The default build does not include support for EXIF display, but you can manually enable it by specifying the additional switch –with-libexif

After the extension is installed, a raw image appears in the list of available file types when we open the files. Now we can open the RAW of almost any modern camera.

The extension supports the display of two histograms: RAW (internal) and Live (real). With the Exposure control you can change the overall level of image illumination (automatic mode is present). Adjustment of the image is made with the help of tools located in four tabs.

• WB. Adjusts the white balance. There is an auto mode.
• Base. Adjustment of exposure with the help of curves.
• Color. Adjusts brightness and contrast, and sets color profiles.
• Color. Adjust color saturation.

When all manipulations are complete, you can open the image in the editor. If you take pictures in JPEG, you will need to perform all of the above operations in the editor itself.

The exposure and color balance adjustments are made with the help of “Curves”.

By controlling the three channels simultaneously (Brightness), we adjust the exposure, and by transferring the control to the individual channels, we can control the white balance. In addition, the color balance can be adjusted with the tool of the same name.

You can separately adjust the balance in three segments of the dynamic range: shadows, midtones and highlights.

Noise is reduced with the “Selective Gaussian Blur” filter. In the filter settings you should specify the blurring radius, as well as the maximum difference between neighboring pixels that the filter will pay attention to.

You sharpen your images using the “Blur Mask” filter. You specify the radius of sharpening, the degree to which the filter is applied, and the minimum threshold for applying it.

The red-eye removal procedure in GIMP is a very time-consuming process. Using the “Elliptical Area Selection”, select the red eye. Then open the Channels dialog box and leave only the red channel visible. Go to “Curves” and lower the channel intensity graph. Turn on the other channels again and observe the result.

You can also download a special extension for redeye removal – redeye. Windows users only need to download the ZIP-archive which is a packed exe-file. Linux users should download the source code of the extension and install it with the command:
gimptool-2.0 –install redeye.c

After installing the extension, a new Misc group appears in the filters, with Red Eye Remover and Auto Red Eye Remover items. Next, you simply select the rectangular area around the pupil and apply the filter.

When processing images, it is quite often necessary to resort to layers. Let’s consider the operation of layers on the example of soft focus effect emulation. The Layer List window is called with the Ctrl+L key combination. Create a new layer as a copy of the current one. On the new layer, apply the “Gaussian Blur” filter with a radius of 15 pixels. After that, set the transparency of the layer to around 30-50%. The image looks as if a special filter or lens was used to take the picture.

Photographers are not snipers. Very often the model being shot is not in the center of the frame, and there is unnecessary detail in the composition. In addition, non-SLR cameras have sensors with a 4:3 aspect ratio, while printing requires a 3:2 aspect ratio. In such cases it is customary to crop the image, that is, to cut off the edges. GIMP allows you to crop an image with the mouse, moving and scaling the edges of a frame. You can also set the coordinates of the frame boundaries manually in the toolbox, and, importantly, specify the aspect ratio of the image.

When all the transformations are done, you can safely save the file to your hard drive.Free: “cheese” or real benefit?

Of course this article was only a small part of what GIMP can do. GIMP can be used for painting, taking screenshots, making nice logos, stylizing photos, and much more. What is important is not the absolute number of features, but the quality of the editor and its usability. Of course, GIMP is inferior to Adobe Photoshop in terms of professional use. But if we look at the purely amateur level, for free we get a high quality, stable product with a lot of possibilities.

Instead of an afterword

The latest stable version of GIMP at the time of writing is 2.2.10. At the same time, a new version of the editor is being developed. Not so long ago NewsForge published an article about what to expect in the new 2.4 version of the editor.

The post Gimp appeared first on LightRoomSecrets.

Paint.NET requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 to be installed on your system. The graphics editor can switch between eight interface languages. Paint.NET makes a quick first start and takes about 33 MB of RAM without the loaded photos.

The graphical editor interface is a combination of the classic toolbar and a series of floating windows, which also carry certain product functions or display some service information. The active panel is not transparent. All other independent windows are medium-transparent, allowing you to see the entire document, despite the forced overlap.

Any operation on the document is displayed in the History window. You can freely move through the history list, thereby rolling back an arbitrary number of steps. Moreover, there are fast rewind buttons on the panel that allow you to jump to the first and the last elements of the list with one command.

Paint.NET supports working with layers. You can create a blank layer as well as a copy of the current document. You can also import an external file as a separate layer. Its properties are quite simple. You can change the transparency of the layer, the data blending method, and give it an arbitrary name. While working on the document, you can temporarily enable or disable individual layers.

Showing and hiding individual tool windows can be done quickly by using the Fx hotkeys. You can see their complete list in the Window menu. You can enable the display of a grid guide as well as sidebars like in word processors. As you scale the application’s working window, the scale of the open document changes. In addition to its smooth change, you can bring the size of the image to the boundaries of the current window, as well as include the real scale of the document.

The editor allows you to work with several images simultaneously. You can’t minimize or resize the working window of the current document in any way. All of them are displayed as thumbnails at the right edge of the toolbar. If the size of the application’s working window doesn’t allow you to place all the elements, a new button appears that calls the list of open images. All documents are shown together with their thumbnails. The same menu is called when you try to call the last opened images. The Open Recent list also contains thumbnails.

Paint.NET can retrieve photos from the camera as well as retrieve data from the scanner. In the first case, only JPEG is supported, as well as TIFF with 8 or 16 bits per channel. If you shoot in RAW, in any case you need a preliminary conversion in a special converter.

When you select a tool, the status bar displays a hint on how to use it. For example, while selecting rectangular regions, you are told that if you hold down the Shift key, the selection will be square, and the Ctrl key turns on adding new regions.

While we are on the subject of selections, one unpleasant feature of Paint.NET cannot be overlooked. You can not clearly specify the aspect ratio. On the official site of the project, in the FAQ section asks a similar question. The answer is quite strange. You are advised to include rulers on the edges of the frame, assign centimeters or inches as units of change, and navigate by eye in your choice of area. This is an unfortunate answer. You’ll have a tough time getting your photos ready for printing on paper or uploading to your cell phone.

Cropping is based on the selection made, not a completely independent tool.

The selection can also be done with a magic wand. You specify the maximum color change value and click on a given fragment of the photo. This selects the entire adjacent homogeneous area. You can also use the smart lasso tool. By holding down the left mouse button you draw a curve, which automatically sticks to the borders of a sharp color change. As you do so, you can see in real time how part of the image is painted blue – the selection indicator. As soon as you release the mouse button, the first and last points of the curve will join. The selection is complete.

While changing the linear dimensions of the photo you are prompted either to enter absolute values of the final image or to specify a percentage. You can turn on the mode of saving the proportions of the frame. The editor has several scaling algorithms. It is most reasonable to use the maximum quality mode, because the speed of processing the material is not high in any case. You can also change the canvas size. The original image is snapped to either side of the frame and can also be centered in the future document.

You can use the Clone Stamp texture tool to remove scratches from a photo. Holding down the Ctrl key, you extract the original texture and then draw on the damaged area with it. The algorithm does not work very accurately, which makes it impossible to use the stamp for delicate purposes, such as removing moles on the skin.

Basic photo correction is available from the Adjustment menu. The first thing to note right away is the automatic mode, which is also called with the Ctrl+Alt+L shortcut. In addition, you can quickly convert the photo to black and white, as well as tint it in sepia color.

All of the color and exposure control tools do not have their own preview windows for the result. As you change settings, your adjustments are displayed inside the open document. As mentioned earlier, the Paint.NET dialog boxes are half-transparent; they don’t obscure the photo. As a result, the interface of many of the image correction tools is noticeably simplified, combined with a clear preview.

You can control exposure using levels and curves. In both cases, you are allowed to control individual channels. For example, you can make red in shadows more saturated and remove its influence in highlights.

The text labels are created in the current layer. When you call the Text tool, you can always return to the old captions. It is possible to smooth the text. It is convenient to choose the color of the letters with the help of the palette, which is a part of the Colors window. The graphical editor has a large library of textures with which the letters can be shaded.

Working with text is not very convenient. There is no tool for its selection at all. All text correction operations must be performed on each character individually. The simplest operation is to create a shadow around the text. Its implementation in Paint.NET is a complicated sequence of operations. You create the text in a new layer. Then you repeat it in another layer. After that, in the previous layer, you set the gray color, as it is a shadow. Using the shift selection tool, you move the inscription so that it is just below and away from the original letters. The result is a pretty good shadow. But it takes a lot of effort to create it.

Paint.NET allows you to fill areas not only with one color, but also with gradients. You can use a transition between two colors as well as a smooth change of transparency. When you specify a starting point for a fill, you hold down the left mouse button and move the pointer to set the degree and direction of the gradient. The program offers several gradient options.

Paint.NET includes quite a number of effects applied to images. Removing red pupils in flash photography is done in several steps. First, you need to select the fragment of the photo with the eye. Then, by invoking a special tool, you specify the color tolerance level and the degree of red channel discoloration.

You can apply a single sharpening option and a range of image blurring tools. In addition to the popular Gaussian blur, you can simulate defocus, motion blur, and radial blur. If you turn the zoom ring while shooting with a varifocal lens, you get a blurring effect as you get closer to the edge of the frame. You repeat it using a similar Paint.NET function. A variety of blurs, combined with contrast reduction, are very useful for creating backgrounds for disc covers, postcards, and other similar purposes.

All the image deformation tools are not configurable by specifying specific areas, points. You just select a function, set some parameters, and then apply the effect either to the whole image or to a pre-selected area.

Paint.NET lets you create cloud textures, imitate oil painting, add grain to a photo, create an engraving effect on metal and much more. The effect settings are quite primitive. There is no preview of the result of all the functions. The program tries to apply an effect to the entire image at once, which drastically reduces the speed of the tools.

The image editor does not contain any batch processing tools. For such purposes, it is better to use either an image manager or another, more powerful image editor. In the Tool menu you can find an interesting tool called Choose Defaults which allows you to specify default settings for all the tools in the image editor.

Paint.NET is a successful product from Microsoft. Despite the fact that it’s hard to think of any serious use for this graphics editor, it’s a good choice for beginner photographers discovering the possibilities of editing photos on the computer. Until the systematization of data is far away, a full-fledged image manager is not needed. In a powerful image editor is also not yet necessary, because its price, most likely, will seriously hurt your pocket, and the real returns can be achieved only in the distant future. For starters, it is a good idea to learn some simple free graphics editor to understand the beauty of computer-based photo editing. What are the options? GIMP? This editor has a lot of features, but it is far from being simple and has an unusual interface that can cause serious problems in mastering. The main advantage of Paint.NET and the positive difference from its competitor is exactly its accessibility. The graphics editor does not do anything unnecessary, providing the user with only the bare minimum, qualitatively packaged in a convenient, easy to master interface.

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That doesn’t mean it’s hard to use. Its clean, icon-based interface means you’re never overwhelmed by too many options at once.

Some tools are still in beta testing, but Pixlr X is still relatively new, and future updates will undoubtedly bring significant improvements.

User experience

To use Pixlr X, simply select an image on your desktop or enter a URL and you’re ready to begin. The interface is based on a toolbar of icons on the left. Most of them speak for themselves, but if there’s something you can’t recognize, hovering over each one will show a detailed description of its purpose.

Most online photo editors offer tools for cropping and resizing images, but Pixlr X also includes a set of cutting tools — shape, lasso, drag and drop and magic — that let you move or delete a selected part of an image or move it to another layer. This allows you to create complex compositions from multiple images.

If you’ve ever used an online photo editor, you’ll be familiar with the slider system for fine-tuning contrast, brightness and saturation, but Pixlr X goes far beyond the basic settings, allowing you to adjust vibration, glare and shadows ( the latter of which have the same effect as adjusting levels in Photoshop).

There’s also a wide selection of filters grouped into categories, including Colors, Retro and Instage (an Instagram-style selection) and a set of pop art effects. Each is customizable with its own slider for a more subtle or dramatic effect.

Some other tools (like the healing brush, which Pixlr admits is “slow and works like this”) are still in beta testing, but will be improved in future updates.

You’ll also notice a layers panel on the right. You can create images, text or drawing layers and then edit, rearrange and delete them individually.

Pixlr X’s painting tools (which can only be used on a paint layer) are, at first glance, quite simple. They seem to offer only three brush styles and a limited color palette to choose from.

However, click the “Advanced” button and you’ll be presented with a number of options for creating your own custom brushes with pitch, angle, aspect, and “spikes” parameters. It would be useful to have some presets to simulate the effects of different media (e.g. pencils, paints and pastels), but this may come with a later update.

Overall, Pixlr X is very impressive and worth exploring if you’re looking for a free photo editor – even if you didn’t have a web app.

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The Photopea online editor is optimized to work comfortably on any device (computer, laptop, tablet or phone) and does not require an Internet connection during editing (offline mode).

There is an unofficial Electron client for the Photopea online service, which works similarly to the Browser version. After downloading, the client can work in the offline mode, without an active connection to the Internet, once the caching is finished (the cache is in the ~/.config/Photopea directory).

The interface of the service and the client is made similar to the interface of Adobe Photoshop (commercial raster graphics editor), the available functionality allows you to solve simple (image cropping, resizing, etc.) and complex tasks (creating web pages, illustrations, photo editing, etc.).

Photopea thanks to the “Quick Start Menu” quickly create a new project (blank or by template), open a saved one (local or online), you can simultaneously open several projects, in tabs.

The main tools are in a small panel on the left side of the Photopea workspace, with everything you may need to edit images. The editor offers a large number of visual effects that can be applied to individual images or to the whole project.

Photopea supports layer editing (you can edit layers without changing the actual content) and the use of filters, offers a large number of fonts (both the most popular and exotic), has a large collection of brushes and provides the ability to import your own.

Photopea offers a large set of tools for working with vector graphics, it supports work (import and export) with most popular graphic formats (vector and raster), mouse and/or keyboard shortcuts can be used for controlling.

Photopea is free (FREE), but there are paid services that don’t affect the main editor’s functionality, but only extend the secondary functions (e.g., no ads).

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