I will be using Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 for this article, as I believe it still has many of the useful features that newer versions boast these days. You should still be able to follow this guide if you have an older or newer version of the software, as the principles are still the same. In this article I will be explaining how to quickly fix a photo in easy steps.
I am presuming you already know how to take your pictures from your camera and place them onto your computer. If you need help with this, your camera instructions will help you. This guide tells you what to do next.
Open Photoshop Elements and select Quickly Fix Photos from the options that appear while the program is loading. Now you should be presented with a blank screen in which to work in. At the top left of the screen, click where it says File, then click Open. This will bring up a box asking you to find your picture you wish to edit. If you know where the photo is, navigate to it, then click OK. Your photo should now be displayed in front of you. So now we need to adjust it, and if you look at the right side of the screen, there are a list of options for you to alter your photo.
The first box deals with red eye, when the photo of someone is spoilt by one person having devilish red eyes. This option fixes this. If you hit Auto in the Red Eye options box, as with all the options, the computer will try to do it for you, but not always with the best results. Try it first, but if you don’t get the desired results, hit Reset above your photo, as this will restore the picture to what it was originally. There is also a slide bar which you can adjust manually by clicking and holding the mouse button over the small grey ball on the bar in the options box, then moving left or right. If you are happy with the result, let go of the mouse button, then click the Green Tick on the top of the Red Eye options box. This will save your changes.
Next, if you wish, alter the Lighting Levels or Contrast by either clicking the Auto button, or sliding the slide bars manually. Remember, you can always cancel your changes by clicking the Red Circle next to the Green Tick at the top of the options box. If you are happy with your changes, click the Green Tick, this will save your changes. Alternatively, you can always click the Undo option in the Edit menu at the top left of the screen if you don’t like the changes you have made.
Adjust the colour levels and sharpness levels in the same way, and once you are happy with all your changes, and the photo is complete, you need to re-save your picture. Do this by going to the File menu at the top of the screen, then select Save As. Click the File Format button and select jpeg for best results, then type in the name of the photo and click OK, or Save. If you haven’t set up your picture organiser, a box will now appear asking you to do so. Don’t worry about this at this time. You can hit Yes and follow the instructions, or just hit No for now, you can do it later, and it doesn’t affect what you are doing now.
Congratulations, you should now have an improved photo. I always find it’s great to just play around with the settings, changing everything to see what happens. You always have the option of starting from scratch, and as long as you don’t save over your original picture, you will always be able to start again.
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