Took a cool picture, but the quality leaves much to be desired? Then you have opened the right article. In this post, we are going to discuss 7 simple and fast ways to enhance picture quality and make your photos look better. Let’s get down to the photo editing tips right now.
1. Change the Composition
The first thing you should do is correct the composition of your image. It is important to cut out the distracting part and emphasize the most attractive part of the photograph. When changing the composition, consider how you’re going to display the pictures – on a phone, on social media, etc. This will help you set the right aspect ratio for your images.
What’s more, your photo might look less appealing because of the tilted horizon. This is crucial in all genres of photography but especially important in landscape and urban images, so remember to fix the horizon if needed – built-in grids in photo editors will help you change it with precision.
2. Sharpen the Picture
Photos often turn out blurry and unclear due to incorrect focusing. You can get rid of the blurry effect by sharpening the picture – it is a basic feature that almost any photo editor offers. Some programs also allow you to fix it locally by selecting the areas you want to make sharper. The following are some of the settings we recommend you adjust to make your photo look more clear: Contrast, Clarity, Sharpness, Radius, and Threshold.
3. Color Correct the Image
Another common problem is capturing shots without adjusting the camera settings. No wonder why they turn out to be bluish, overexposed, or too dark. You can’t travel back in time to change it, but you can easily fix colors in post-production. There are no color correction rules you need to follow, so play around with the sliders or curves until you like the result. You can also apply similar changes to multiple pictures to stylize them in a single way.
4. Erase Unwanted Objects
Is there a person in the photo you’re not in touch with anymore? Or a stranger is passing by and ruining your picture? Don’t blame yourself for capturing them in your shots – almost any picture may have some extra objects that spoil the overall look. This is very common for photos taken in an urban space with lots of buildings, cars, electric towers, etc. all around. The good news is that you can delete all of these crowds and objects with ease. The most popular tools for removing such objects are the Clone Stamp, Patch, and the Healing Brush.
5. Replace the Background
If the background of a picture is way too dull or, on the contrary, not serious enough, you can swap it as well. There are lots of ready-to-use background images available on the Internet, but it’s also a good idea to use a solid color, depending on how you’re going to use the photo. Just make sure to minimize distractions and avoid patterns if you want the main object of the picture to stay focused.
6. Fix the Lens Distortion
Optical distortions happen all the time, and even photos taken on professional cameras can have them. You can avoid this problem by choosing the right lens – then you’ll be able to create the desired effect, such as wide-angle, fish eye, etc. But if you already took a photo and you notice that something is wrong with the perspective, you can change it in a photo editor using a special lens distortion correction tool.
7. Apply a Filter
Some professional photographers might object to this tip, but in fact, the presets they often use are pretty much the same as filters. So don’t feel ashamed about applying a good-looking filter. If something works well for your picture, do it without hesitation. Besides, applying filters is the quickest way to edit a photo, so if you’re pressed for time, they will help you out. Just be sure you don’t overdo it.
Final Thoughts
With these seven photo editing hacks, you can easily level up your shots. Need a little help? Read this step-by-step guide on how to enhance photos. It will help you put everything we discussed into practice right away. Now that you know what you need to do to enhance the quality of your pictures, you can launch a photo editing program and get it done today.
