Editing Photos from your Digital Camera

Like many of us, you probably own a digital camera and have been wondering how to download the pictures to your computer, and use them for things like email, newsletters, or even posting on the web. Some of you daring souls would even like to edit them! This edition will show you how to download your photos, and do some basic editing to them (reduce file size, rotate images, remove red eye, crop an area of the photos, and adjust brightness, contrast, and colors). S let's get started~!

DOWNLOADING PHOTOS TO YOUR COMPUTER

All cameras should come with a cable that has a USB port end and an end that goes into one of the ports on your camera.

• Connect the cable to the camera, and then put the USB port into a port on your computer/laptop.
• Turn on your camera. Normally, you should hear your computer make a sound "da-dup", which signifies the computer is acknowledging something is hooked to the computer, and its looking for the software to use the device (camera).

- Watch the Task Bar at the bottom of your monitor (lower left).... you'll likely
see a little popup appear describing what is happening. Once everything is set up
it should say "(the device) is connected"

• Another window will pop up which is the "AutoPlay" menu (see image). This is where you select the method to download the photos.

• Select the item called "Import Photos using Windows"
• The computer will then begin importing the photos (a window will pop up when it is doing this), and it will ask you to "enter a tag". This is optional, but is a nice feature, which allows you to find different photos later if you don't remember where you put them on your computer.
  
• Click on the "Import" button, and your photos will be loaded to your computer
• Next, a new window will open. This is the "Windows Photo Gallery". It will show all the photos you just downloaded, as well as all the other photos you may have downloaded before. Here is a sample image of this window

EDITING PHOTOS
Ever had photos you took come out too dark, too light, people with "red eyes", or with items in them you don't want in the photo? Well, now you can edit your photos to fix them. In this issue, you'll see how to do the following:

• Reduce Photo File Size
  
• Rotate Image
• Remove Red Eye
• Crop
• Adjust Exposure
• Adjust Color

Reducing Photo File Size - As digital cameras get higher quality capabilities, the photos file sizes continue to increase. A digital camera with a 8-10megapixels will produce a photo file of 3-4MB. This can result in problems emailing, as some email services have a limitation on how big an attachment can be in an email. To avoid this, you can reduce the photos file size by reducing the photo quality. Don't worry, it won't affect the photo like you think... It will still look great unless you want to create an 8x10 or larger photo copy. For viewing on the web, or your computer, reducing the photo quality is rarely noticeable.

So how do you do it?
Using Windows Photo Gallery:

• Click on "EMAIL" at the top
• In the window that opens, slect one of the size options (Smaller, small, medium, large, & original). You will see the file size listed next to it.
  
• Once you select the size, the computer will open the email system (and a new email message) you have specified in your "Internet Options" (Control Panel in Windows)
• Then send the email as you normally would do.

Using Microsoft Office Picture Manager (part of MS Office Software):

• Open the image you want to resize using MICROSOFT OFFICE PICTURE MANAGER
• Click on the "FILE" command at the top of the window, and select "EXPORT".

• In the window that opens on the right (see image), under the area that is listed as "export with this file format", click on "jpeg options".

• Click on the "Select a custom compression setting", and enter a "compression amount" in the box. I use 30, which is 70% compression. You can use any value, but the smaller the number, the smaller the file size.
  
• Click on "return to export" at the bottom of the box on the right.
• I normally add an "R" at the end of the file name that is listed in the "Export with this file name" box so you can keep the original, and save this as a separate photo file
• Click on the "OK" button to finish the compression.

You now have a file of the selected image which is 30% the size of the original.

Rotating Image - This usually is necessary when you turn your camera to a vertical position when taking a picture. While this won't matter if you just send your photos in to photo shop to make prints, if you want to use it online, in a newsletter, etc, you'll need to rotate it to make it appear correct. We'll use the following photo as an example:

Using the image above as an example, click on either one of the "circle" arrows to rotate the photo. In this case we want to rotate the photo "counter-clockwise" so we click on the LEFT "circle arrow". The photos will now be upright. Hit "save" to keep photo this way.

Remove Red Eye - Red Eye results from the light of the flash is reflecting from the retina, which is covered with tiny blood vessels. The more open the pupils are, the more red eye effect you get in your photos. Red eye is more pronounced in people with light eye color. It is also more pronounced in people with blond or light-red hair and in children.

So how do you fix it? Using this example:

• Using the Windows Photo Gallery, click on the word "FIX" at the top of the window, and then click on "FIX RED EYE" option on the right.
  
• Following the description that pops up, position your mouse near the eye, hold down the Left mouse button and drag across the eye, creating a rectangle that surrounds the eye. When you release the mouse button, the red eye will disappear.
• If some red eye remains, repeat the process.

Crop Image - Cropping images is convenient when you have photos that have areas on the image which you don't want in the picture. The example below shows the concept of cropping. The tool will allow you to draw a box around the area of the image you want to keep (light colored rectangle in photo below), and once you hit the "crop" button the area of the photo outside the rectangle goes away.


To crop a photo do the following:

• Using the Windows Photo Gallery, click on the word "FIX" at the top of the window, and then click on "CROP PICTURE" option on the right.
• Note that a rectangle appears around in the middle of the photo. This is the "CUSTOM" mode under the "PROPORTION" option on the right side of the window. This will allow you to change the rectangle position or size to your desired height and width.
  

- To adjust the rectangle size, position your cursor on one of the white squares at the
mid-point of the lines or in the corners, and holding your LH mouse button down,
drag the line/corner to where you want it. When you have the position you want
click on the "APPLY" button.
- To move the rectangle, position your mouse inside the rectangle, and while holding
down the LH mouse button, drag the rectangle to where you want it.

• You can select a standard photos sizes by clicking on the word "CUSTOM", and selecting the photo size you want. When you do this, the rectangle shape will change to that photo size. Move the rectangle around to position it as you want the photo to appear.
  
• When you have the position you want click on the "APPLY" button.

Adjusting Exposure -This is great for increasing/decreasing contrast or brightness of the image. You can try different levels to see what helps make the photo look better.

To adjust the exposure on a photo do the following:

• Using the Windows Photo Gallery, click on the word "FIX" at the top of the window, and then click on "ADJUST EXPOSURE" option on the right.
• You will see two slider bars (BRIGHTNESS & CONTRAST) on the right.
• Position your cursor over one or the other. Holding down the LH mouse button, drag the marker to the left or right until you find the CONTRAST or BRIGHTNESS you want.
  
• Once you are done, click on the "x" in the upper RH corner of the window (just above where you adjusted the exposure)

Adjusting Color -This allows you to adjust the "COLOR TEMPERATURE, TINT, and/or COLOR SATURATION of the image. You can try different levels to see what helps make the photo look better.

To adjust the color on a photo do the following:

• Using the Windows Photo Gallery, click on the word "FIX" at the top of the window, and then click on "ADJUST COLOR" option on the right.
• You will see three slider bars (COLOR TEMPERATURE, TINT, and/or COLOR SATURATION) on the right.
• Position your cursor over one or the other. Holding down the LH mouse button, drag the marker to the left or right until you find the COLOR TEMPERATURE, TINT, and/or COLOR SATURATION you want.
  
• Once you are done, click on the "x" in the upper RH corner of the window (just above where you adjusted the exposure)

There you go... some basic tips on downloading and editing your digital camera photos.... I should note that even if you are still using film cameras, you can still edit photos on your computer if you take your film to the developer and ask them to put the images on a CD. Then, all you do is load your CD into your computer, and copy the images from the cd to your computer hard drive. Then you can use all the techniques listed above to edit these photos too!

Enjoy! - Rick