Are You Proud of Your Facebook Photos?
by admin on May.05, 2010, under Facebook Photos, General, Photo Editing, Title Photos, crop photos, photo color, resize photos
Most Facebook photos are dull and lifeless?
Recently, I have become a more active Facebook participant and posting photos and viewing photos My Friends post. And, while I take the time to edit my photos before uploading, most people do not. As a result, the vast majority of photos posted on Facebook pages are dull and lifeless and many are a bit fuzzy. So, why is that? There are probably many answers to that question ranging from the fact that most people are conditioned to simply accept the quality of the digital photos from their camera to not knowing how to improve them. Maybe they think it is just too complicated to edit digital photos or they simply can’t wait to share their latest photo with their Facebook friends. The purpose of this post is to show you how to make your Facebook photos better.
Making Better Facebook Photos is Easy—and Fast.
Facebook Photos You Can Be Proud to Post-Original/Improved
There are basically three (3) steps to making your photos better: crop the photo, fix the color, and resize the photo for Facebook. And, if you want to make the photo a little more interesting you can add a title, but more on that in a future post. If you are have and know how to use a photo editor like Photoshop Elements you certainly can use it to perform the basic tasks, however, I use CorrectPhoto Editor because it is so easy and fast. Here are the basic steps using CorrectPhoto. And, at $40.00 it is inexpensive. Unfortunately, if you are a Mac user you will have to use Photoshop or Elements since CorrectPhoto is a Windows only editor.
Crop the Photo
Crop the photo with CorrectPhoto Editor
After opening the photo you want to edit from the built in Explorer you click on the “Crop Tool” on the tool bar and select the cropping format from the pull down menu. For Facebook publishing I suggest the 3×4 Landscape or Portrait formats since that is the same format of your digital camera and is the most common format for Facebook. Adjust the cropping window to highlight the portion of the image you really want to show. You can see from the example that I cropped tight enough to eliminate Craig from the left side of the photo.
Correct the Color with OneClick Color
CorrectPhoto with iCorrect OneClick Color Technology-Automatic Color Correction
CorrectPhoto is the only photo editor with PictoColor’s unique OneClick Color Correction Technology that is an automatic color correction that really works. Just click on an area of the photo that is “neutral” (white, gray, or black) and the photo will come alive. If you want to “tweak” it a little more as I usually do click on the color icon to activate the advance settings. I usually boost the saturation a bit to make the colors a little more vivid which really makes my photos stand out on my Facebook wall. For you Photoshop or Elements users who get frustrated with the color correction tools you can get iCorrect OneClick Plug-in with the same technology that will plug into Photoshop.
Resize the photo before uploading to Facebook.
- Resize your photos with CorrectPhoto before uploading to Facebook
Now the final step is to resize the photo to the optimum 640 x 480 pixels for landscape (480×640 for portrait) formats for Facebook. If you upload a larger size image (e.g. 2592×1944) Facebook will resize the image for you, however, you probably won’t like the result. The resizing algorithm used in CorrectPhoto is superior to the one Facebook uses so you photos will look much sharper if you resize before you upload. Simply click on the Resize icon and type 640 into the box and click OK and you are ready to upload the photo to Facebook.
Less than a Minute.
So, how long did it take to perform the three steps? Admittedly, I use CorrectPhoto a lot, but it only took about 30 seconds for me to crop, color correct, and resize the photo for Facebook from the time I opened the photo. Maybe it will take you a minute or two, but your Facebook photos will look better than your friends except, of course, if you are my Facbook friend.
Add a title?
I will tell you about an easy way to add titles to your photos in a future post.
Add a title to your photo is easy with ImageTitler
Wayne www.correctphoto.com, www.imagetitler.com, www.pictocolor.com
Photo Opportunities-Burnsville’s Old Faithful on Facebook
by admin on Apr.21, 2010, under Facebook Photos, crop photos
Never Pass Up a Photo OP
You never know when a photo op will pop up. This morning when I opened the front door to retrieve the newspaper I saw a water shooting geyser in the middle of the street. Now that doesn’t happen every day. When I yelled up to my wife to look out the window she replied, “Have you taken a picture?” Why didn’t I think of that? So I did.
Burnsville's Old Faithful-Photo Edited with CorrectPhoto and ImageTitler
Posting Photos on Facebook
Since I have a number Burnsville Facebook Friends I decided to post the photo on my page.
But, before I posted the photo on my Facebook page I cropped, color corrected, and resized the photo in CorrectPhoto and then added the text in ImageTitler. I could have done what most people do and post the original photo, but I think you will agree the above photo has more impact.
Original photo before editing and adding a title
And, it was easy and it only took a couple of minutes to edit and title the photos. Recently, I have been looking at a lot of photos on Facebook and the vast majority of the photos friends post would be a lot better if they would take a few minutes to make them better. In a few days I will post a Facebook photo tutorial that will take you through the simple step by step approach to creating Facebook photos you will be proud to post.
Summary
The two purposes of this post are:
1. Remind you to keep your camera handy and take the once in a life time shot, even if it will be of little interest to anyone but you. In my lifetime I doubt I will see another geyser in the front of our house.
2. If you have a Facebook page I suggest you take a few minutes ensure that the photos you upload are ones you can be proud of.
Wayne www.correctphoto.com, www.imagetitler.com
Monitor Calibration-When was the last time you did it?
by admin on Mar.15, 2010, under Digital Camera Basics, photo color
Calibrate your monitor on Monday.
This morning as I log onto my computer a reminder popped up suggesting that I calibrate my monitor. I have gotten a little lax in calibrating my monitor every Monday morning since the monitor on my new laptop seems to hold calibration longer than my old one. But, that is no excuse for not calibrating on a regular schedule. I have written about the importance and benefit of color calibrating computer monitors in previous posts but since the last time I mentioned it was in June 2009 I thought it was time to mention it again. And, of course, I did calibrate my monitor this morning.
I use a Pantone huey that I have had for a couple of years and within a minute or so my monitor was calibrated. And, WOW, did it make a difference!
How can you tell if your monitor color is off? Here is a image of a GretagMacbeth Color Checker chart. The graduated grey color blocks on the bottom will help you determine if your monitor needs to be calibrated. If they are really grey(and white and black) and not a little blue or magenta or cyan then you are probably okay. If not, you need to calibrate. My guess is that even if you think it is grey, it is not. So, I suggest you invest in a monitor calibrator.
GretagMacbeth ColorChecker Chart
For us amateurs I would suggest either a Pantone huey or a Datacolor Sypder3express. The are available for about $90.00 and well worth the investment. Both companies have more expensive calibration devices, but unless you are a pro I would not spend the extra bucks.
If you are editing photos and trying to Make The Color Right, you really need to have a calibrated monitor unless, of course, if you are color blind like my friends, Dick and Ron. They can save the money because it wouldn’t really make a difference. However, there are ways for color blind people to Make the Color Right and I will cover that in a separate post one of these days.
Turn Snapshots Into GreatShots?-The Video
by admin on Mar.03, 2010, under Photo Editing, crop photos
Why not turn your average snapshots into great photos? All it takes is a little photo editing. Here is a video promoting PictoColor’s CorrectPhoto Editor that includes some excellent examples of what cropping and color correction can do to make your mediocre photos outstanding.
You can find out more about photo editing and how easy it is at www.correctphoto.com.
Wayne, www.correctphoto.com
Creative Snow Photos. Make a Sepia Tone Image.
by admin on Feb.14, 2010, under Photo Techniques, photo color
Did you get snowed in recently? There certainly were a lot of people around the USA that were treated to record snow falls these past couple of weeks. In the Twin Cities area we were blessed with another 10-12 inches over the last week and the piles are getting pretty high with no melting in site. If you are like me you can’t resist taking “snow photos”. And, you will probably want to send a few shots to your friends in the warmer parts of the country to show them what they are missing.
Yesterday morning we were treated to one of those beautiful winter spectacles called Hoar Frost. (Frozen dew that forms a white coating on a surface. It is also called white frost.). I took the above shot out of my car window (I did stop the car) on my way to the store. After cropping (16×9 TV format) and color correcting the photo I clicked on the sepia tone button in CorrectPhoto to create the above image.
Here is the color version for comparison. You can decide which version you prefer.
Snow photo was cropped and color corrected using CorrectPhoto Editor.
For the most part, snow photos are pretty dull color wise. So, turning a few of your favorite shots into a sepia tone images might just make them a bit more interesting. And, it is easy to do.
It seems that much of the US has been blessed with snow and bad weather over the past few weeks. Maybe taking a few photos and applying some creative touches to them will ease the problems the weather has created.
