Digital Photography: The Missing Manual

Chapter 9. Basic Photo Fixes

Part 1 of this book is filled with tips for taking better pictures, but let’s face it: You don’t always set up your shots with the patience and expertise of Ansel Adams. You stop the teenagers for a quick photo before the prom. You shoot quickly to catch a squirrel looting the birdfeeder. You hang out the car window and click a shot while going over that famous bridge. The result is you have some photos that are almost good, but just need some help. Here’s the good news: You can fix your less-than-perfect snapshots. (And unlike Ansel, you don’t have to lock yourself in a small, smelly dark room to do it.)

Best of all, you can get basic digital photo-repair tools at no cost. Kodak’s Easy-Share, and Google’s Picasa, the free programs you first met in Chapter 5, include easy to use tools for fixing the most common image problems. EasyShare lets you rotate and trim your photos, and also helps with color correction and the infamous red eye. Picasa has solutions for all the basic problems, plus gives you a little more control over the end result.

Tip

If you’re willing to pony up about $100 for a program with a lot more horsepower, especially when it comes to advanced photo fixes, then take a look at Photoshop Elements, covered in the next chapter.

Common Problems, Easy Fixes

To begin with, it helps to understand the problems photographers most often face and to be familiar with the tools you’ll want to have handy to make things look right. EasyShare and Picasa ...