Although cameras on smartphones make taking photos a lot easier than before, now you’re expected to also add a filter, make it smaller, cut out somebody or something from a frame, brighten it up, and make other changes to it.

We’re here to guide you on how to edit photos like a professional through the basics of changing, or editing, your photos so you don’t get lost in all the editing lingo and know what everybody is talking about!

What is the importance of photo editing for photographers?

Photo editing is the stage of selecting a series of photographs that will be used as part of a photo project. This essential tip makes it possible to isolate pictures which will tell a story. For a professional photographer, it is a difficult task to decide which images to put aside for the meantime, and which ones to save for a specific project. It might be heart-wrenching, but image editing is necessary to develop the photographer's artistic sense.

Here are the essential tips to learn the basics of photo editing!

Crop.

Cropping and pictures are lifelong best friends, probably because cropping is the quickest way to remove distracting visual elements and improve the composition.

Cropping your photo creates a focal point and dramatic effect. It brings the subject into more focus and keeps visual distractions at bay. It also makes the contents bleed out of the frame, which adds a great deal of visual interest to the overall composition that makes people think about what they are looking at.

Always remember that you can crop your images in many different programs, but it’s still better to use one that allows you to process your pictures efficiently after you have cropped them.

Straighten.

Today, most phones and cameras have a grid overlay. This feature is excellent and will help you balance your shots to make things straight.

One of the best ways to have a straight horizon is to make sure that the background is aligned. Straighten is a tool found in most photo development/editing applications.

The use is effortless, make sure that the assisting correction grid is aligned with the horizon, and voila. But be careful, by straightening your photo, you will have to crop the image to make empty areas disappear.

Exposure.

Exposure is a critical factor that determines just how much light touches your camera's image sensor. It is at the heart of the photographic process. It not only ascertains how light and dark the various tones in your image are, it also defines the "look" of your pictures.

Three adjustable elements control the exposure - ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed. When these three elements are combined, they render a given exposure value for a given setting.

With changes in any of the three elements will cause a specific and measurable impact and how the image ultimately looks.

Saturation.

With how intense your colors are, saturation is the perfect tool for that. Go bright and vivid or even subtle by adjusting the saturation.

Sharpen.

To make little details more apparent and add a line definition, do a little sharpening with your photo. Sharpen improves the contrast of your image. It makes your subjects pop. When it comes to sharpening programs/filters, it only does one thing.

It makes edges seem more defined by darkening the darker pixels and brightening the brighter pixels. This method produces a crisp edge between light and dark portions of the image, giving it more contrast.

Texturize.

A photographic image is successful when it grabs the attention of the viewers. Pictures can do this in plenty of ways. You should use eye-catching colors for this purpose. Leading curves can also be used.

But there is another method that is often overlooked. That method is the use of texture.  It is an essential aspect of photography. It can give your photos more of a three-dimensional look, and change the way the subject is perceived.

There you have it. We hope that these tips can help you edit like a pro. It’s great to have a fun and creative hobby like taking and editing photos. Even better is having the time for it, so hire a professional cleaning service like us so you don’t have to worry about it and have all the time you need for yourself!