Photo Editing With Graphic Software
Photo editing with graphic software sounds unfamiliar for many users, maybe because they assume, that such programs have a very extensive range of functions, answering the demands of a professional graphics designer rather than that of an interested layman. But as soon as the logic behind the graphic software is understood, the scope of design possibilities maybe at first be surprising, and ensures even more enjoyment thereafter. To make this clear, a few examples will now be explained using MAGIX Photo & Graphic Designer photo editing software to show how easy it is to achieve impressive results by simple means.
MAGIX Photo & Graphic Designer Graphic Software
A graphic software such as Photo & Graphic Designer is usually included in photo editing programs using multiple toolbars. The toolbar on the left side is the most important, for it determines which step will take place next. Here you will find an entire tool palette, from a simple cursor in the top corner (selection tool) to the photo tool (marked by a red cross) at the bottom left, which will be mentioned again later. To use these, you will first need a photo. After it has been archived on the PC, a photo may be uploaded directly from the program or placed into the program via drag-and-drop. The portrait, which serves as an example here, has been imported into the software in horizontal format. It may now be turned by hand into the desired position, for which you must left click once on the image with your mouse. Since the portrait has to be turned 90 degrees, there is another perfectly suitable function which may be used. Rotate left and rotate right are tools, appearing in the top toolbar after the photo tool is selected in the right toolbar.
It soon becomes clear that as soon as an editing tool is selected in the left vertical bar, (for example photo editing), the options change in the top bar of the graphic software. With Photo editing, the top horizontal bar will even be additionally divided into Improve photos and Trim. Under Improve photos, you will find many optimization functions, which aid in quick photo optimization: Brightness, contrast and saturation may be quickly fixed. The Compare button is also useful: Using it, you can quickly compare the original to the optimized photo. Photo tone correction, or white balance, is also a very useful function which serves to sensitize the light intensity at the shooting location. In the new window, the light conditions on the photograph are pictured. In order to naturally increase brightness in a photo, select the white pipette in this window at the right. With the left mouse key held down, place the mouse on a bright spot on the photo: within seconds, the photo will become brighter in a natural way. The benefits of working with white balance are seen especially well when working with photos made using mobile phone cameras. These photos are often too dark because these devices often don't have a flash.
Examining the effects of photo correction, it may be seen that the entire photo is made brighter; so which options are provided by a graphic software for making only parts of images brighter? The right half of the red haired woman's face is dark. Making a side of the face lighter is not as simple as what we have shown before – but it is also not very difficult to do in a graphic software. First, the Freehand and brush tool is selected in the vertical toolbar, found in the second position below the Selection tool. Using this tool, a structure/form is now drawn over the photo. You must take care to draw generously around the area to be made brighter, to make sure that it will later be optimally integrated into the image using the Margin sharpness.
The actual photo now has to be integrated into the structure positioned on the photo, and the defined area is to be made brighter: First, the photo will be selected with handles (these are found at the bottom right corner, below the color palette, where it will be stated which object is selected), and then a copy of the original photo is created using Edit and Clone in the task bar. After this is finished, the clone will lie over the hand-drawn structure, for which reason it has to be placed behind the photo with the structure using Order and Send to back. Now, the structure drawn over the left face half will be visible again. It must now be linked to the original. After the structure is selected using the handles and a left mouse click, the photo itself is selected with a right mouse click while holding down the Shift button. At the bottom left corner, you will notice the words "2 objects", which means that two objects are selected. Now, click on Photo tool, select the Trim mode and then click on the Trim button. If you click on the right side of the face with the handles, the rest of the image is not selected. Now, you may simply click on the Photo tool, go to Improve photos, and then adjust brightness and contrast. Now, instead of the entire image becoming brighter, only the predefined part will be lightened. Of course, the transition between the optimized image section and the original is too noticeable. For this reason, it is important, as mentioned earlier, that the shape drawn by hand is a little bigger than needed. The next step is done with the Feather Tool to alter the Margin sharpness. This way, the optimized part of the photo will now seamlessly transition into the rest of the image.
Without being aware of it, the user has now edited and optimized his image using vectors in a graphic software. Sounds like complex math, but it is all very simple, as you have just seen. Once you have understood this technology, it may be used for various goals in the graphic software. Such as the case with the Crop function. To demonstrate the Crop function, we will use an image of the MAGIX Xtreme Photo & Graphic Designer package. The case: there is a white background behind the package. The problem: we need only the package, not the white background. The solution: Image editing with vector graphics in the graphic software. As with partial brightening of the right side of the face, first we have to select the part of the photo, with which we will work. This time, instead of using the Freehand and brush tool, we will use the Pencil tool, which produces straight lines in contrast to the Freehand tool. A straight line is drawn between each outer border of the image until the user has returned to the point of origin and has produced a new structure over the photo. Now, select the photo with the left mouse key and the handles, create a clone, and send to back using Order, connecting the structure and clone using Shift; then, activate the Photo tool and Crop, and the motif is cut out and freed of the white background.
Image editing with a graphic software with use of vectors is a way for any user to to make various impressive improvements without much experience, but with a little effort.
