How to: low-cost basic image editing
In this day and age, there are many reasons to edit images. It’s not always about the controversial Photoshopping that is associated with body image issues. Filtering can bring the colours to life. A brighter picture can feel good. Other techniques can bring a lively abstract effect.
When wanting to alter a photograph or other image, there’s the decision of which software to use. There’s the obvious Adobe. However, other brands offer some basic tools.
Keep in mind, there are strengths and weaknesses to these programs.
Pixlr
Pixlr.com is a free online photo editor that runs on a browser. It is apparently compatible with PSD, PXD, JPEG, PNG, WebP and SVG. There is a mobile web editor that edit within a browser. I wonder if it could work with Ecosia as well as Safari. I’m not sure. There is a Pixlr mobile app. I mostly prefer the browser site that works on my Macbook. Pixlr BG can automatically remove a background. That function would be useful if you want to quickly advertise a product online or include an image of yourself on a web site without the original background. I particularly like how Pixlr can connect with Dropbox. It’s pretty good.
Canva
In my opinion, Canva is better for other purposes such as layouts. However, it deserves a mention because it offers some simple filtering to an entire photograph or other image. The usual ‘adjust’ section has a variety of options such as brightness, contrast, saturation, tint, blur and so on. Face Retouch is now available as a beta version. It can apply automatic retouching, smooth skin, whitening of teeth or fixing red eyes. I would filter a picture with Canva if I was in a hurry and really just needed to change the light or colour. I personally like more customisation when retouching a face. But I suppose other people may like automated changes.
Fotor
The Fotor image editor appears to be from Microsoft. It lists “popular features” such as cropping and resizing, removing backgrounds, enhancing, removing blemishes, removing wrinkles and extra effects. There are photo editor apps for iOS and Android, along with programs that can be downloaded onto Windows or Mac computers. I had a look at the online editor. I was actually impressed by the amount of features. It wasn’t exactly like Photoshop as there was a “beauty” section along with the usual filtering. It offered a free trial of three days before having to pay for subscriptions that range from US3.33 per month to US$89.99 per year.
Snapseed
I have the iPhone mobile app for Snapseed. It ticks a good few boxes with tuning/filtering, structure, lighting curves, white balance, cropping, rotating, perspective, a selective function and more. There’s a brush that can dodge/burn or change the exposure, temperature and saturation. The healing tool goes smaller when zooming in. There’s a HDR scape, “glamour glow,” tonal contrast, “drama” filters, vignette, grainy film, retro-style filters, grunge filter, black and white and noir looks. The “face spotlight” tries to find faces in the picture for the filter. The head post looks for a “single, prominent face.” There’s a lens blur and vignette. I don’t quite understand the “double exposure” tool. There are also options to add text and frames. That’s a long list of editing tools from Snapseed. It is usually one of my favourites on the phone.
Image: Unsplash.
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