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Digital Photo Processing

Adjust Sliders, Try All Options in New Photo Editing Software / Plugins

SUMMARY: Experiment with your digital photo editing software and plugins. Move sliders to the max and enable advanced options.

A great way to learn how to use digital photo editing software and plugins is through experimentation. When modifying your digital photos with such software, you're bound to come across slider controls, whether you are modifying brightness, contrast, color balance, color saturation, etc. Sliders are also popular with filters. These controls let you fine-tune adjustments so that you can either change your photos a little or a lot.

When using sliders to adjust image features, especially if the sliders are linked to an auto-preview feature so you can see the results of your changes before actually applying them, consider going 'all out' and moving the sliders all the way to one side. Instead of merely modifying your photos with a 5% increase of contrast, 5% color shift from red to blue, etc., view dramatic changes to your photos. This may make it easier to see the effects of the color or filter, and then you can move the slider back to get the results you really want.


Testing out the Boltbait Lomography Effect by moving the exposure slider all the way to the right



Some filters and plug-ins contain "expert" features or "Show More Options" buttons. Always enable these features and experiment to see what can be done with the tools. As long as you're working on a backup copy of a photo, you can always revert your changes, but unless you experiment with all photo editing and plug-in features, you won't know the true capabilities of the software.

Let me reiterate - make sure when experimenting that you save backup copies of your original images first!

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The MalekTips website was created in 1998 by Andrew Malek of Envision Programming. The page's goal is to freely disperse computer-related tips, hints, and informative articles. Tips are organized to be easy to find, and are presented clearly, in easy-to-understand language. MalekTips also provides information and links to public-domain, open source, freeware, shareware, and commercial software available for download. < more >