correctmyphotos

July Issue of PictoColor’s PictoScript Newsletter is now available.

Great Color Made Simple-iCorrect EditLab Pro Photoshop Plug-in

I haven’t mentioned PictoColor’s PictoScript Newsletter in this blog before–really don’t know why. We usually publish one, sometimes two, newsletters a month and typically highlight one of our products and provide other information we think might be of benefit to our readers. The title of the July issue is Great Color Made Simple and highlights iCorrect EditLab Pro Photoshop Plug-in. We consider EditLab Pro our “flag ship” product in the iCorrect plug-in series. It is amazing how easy and fast it is to achieve great color with this color correction and editing program. Learn how to quickly color correct you photos and create special effects.

Create special effects with iCorrect EditLab Pro

PictoColor just released iCorrect EditLab Pro 6.0 32/64 bit version for both Win and Mac. It is fully compatible with Photoshop CS5. They also have an introductor offer on the purchase of the new version. Go to www.pictocolor.com/editlabpro.htm for information.

Wayne www.correctphoto.com , www.pictocolor.com

iCorrect OneClick Photoshop Plug-in Video Tutorial (A Photoshop Tip)
If you are like most digital photographers you spend a lot of time and frustration color correcting your photos in Photoshop. iCorrect OneClick Photoshop Plug-in fixes the color of most photos with OneClick. Here is a video tutorial showing you how easy it is to Make the Color Right.

For more information on PictoColor’s iCorrect OneClick go to www.pictocolor.com/oneclick.htm. You can download a free demo version so you can see for yourself how easy and fast iCorrect OneClick really is.

Wayne www.pictocolor.com

But, Fix the Color Before You Send It.
Dave B., a friend of mine, was in Washington DC this summer and took a stunning photo of lightning striking a building near the US Capital with his iPhone camera. It is a great photo and an example of being at the right place at the right time. And, it is a picture worth sharing with friends. When it appeared in my email inbox I couldn’t resist seeing what OneClick Color technology would do to improve it. Here is the before and after comparison using OneClick to remove the magenta color cast increasing the brightness in the shadows.

Picture on Right was color corrected with iCorrect OneClick iPhone App

Fix the color of iPhone photos before sending with iCorrect OneClick iPhone App
If Dave had iCorrect OneClick iPhone App on his iPhone he could have fixed the color before he sent the picture to his friends. And, it would have only taken a few extra seconds.

Freshair Software developed iCorrect OneClick iPhone App using PictoColor’s OneClick Color Technology. For more information go to http://www.freshairsoftware.com/iPhoneApplications/iCorrect/index.html

Creating a Sepia tone photo with OneClick
iCorrect OneClick technology is also available in iCorrect OneClick Plug-in for Photoshop and Elements and in CorrectPhoto Editor. One of the features of OneClick is the ability to create stunning Black and White and Sepia tone photos with one click of the mouse. Here is a sepia rendition of the lightning photo.  The first thought that popped into my mind when I saw the photo was that maybe God was sending a message to Washington. But, what was he saying?  I added the title using ImageTitler.

Create Sepia tone photo with OneClick-Add Title with ImageTitler

Most Photos can be improved with OneClick.
The point of this post is to reiterate the fact that most photos can and should be improved before sending them to your friends or uploading to Facebook. And, it is easy to do if you have an iPhone with iCorrect OneClick App or Photoshop Elements with iCorrect OneClick plug-in or CorrectPhoto with OneClick technology. I often go one step further and add a title or caption to the photo.

Wayne www.correctphoto.com, www.imagetitler.com, www.oneclickcolor.com

CorrectPhoto is a Windows photo editor. What does a Mac user do to get good color?
The other day I got a call from Burt, a CorrectPhoto user, who was perplexed that his favorite photo editor was not available for the Mac. His family had talked him into switching from a Windows computer to a new Mac and when he realized CorrectPhoto would not run on a Mac he called to ask if we planned a Mac version. He was disappointed when I told him no because he like the simplicity of CorrectPhoto, in particular the OneClick color correction which made his photos really look good. Fortunately, his family gave him a copy of Photoshop Elements and, although he expressed concern about the complexity of Elements, he was happy to learn about iCorrect OneClick Plug-in which adds the same simple and accurate color correction technology that is in CorrectPhoto to Elements. I assured him that since all he really did to his photos was cropping and color correction that Elements wasn’t that intimidating.  After adding iCorrect OneClick to Elements there are the few simple steps to follow to turn an average photo into a great shot.

Here is a photo I took the day after a devastating apartment complex fire near our home in Burnsville (fortunately, no one was hurt). Even though it was a sunny morning the photo is really dull with a gray color cast and the portion of the security fence detracts from the photo.  Here are the few simple steps to follow to create the photo on the right.

Before and After photo editing with Photoshop Elements and iCorrect OneClick Color

Elements Cropping Tool

After you open Elements and select the picture to edit click on the cropping tool on the left task bar. Another menu bar will appear at below the main menu at the top of the Elements window where you can select the aspect ratio (photo ratio, 3×5, 4×6, etc.) of the cropping window. In this example I selected Use Photo Ratio (this is the same 3×4 ratio of the chip in most cameras). Expand the crop window over the desired area and either click on the little green arrow (lower right under the crop window) or hit Enter to save the cropped area.

Photoshop Elements Cropping Tool

Fix the color with iCorrect OneClick Plug-in

Assuming you have purchased and installed iCorrect OneClick in the Elements Filters Folder simply click on Filter on the main top menu bar and select iCorrect OneClick from the pull down window.

Select iCorrect OneClick plug-in from Elements Filter menu

The OneClick window will open. Find an area in the photo that is neutral (white, gray, or black—not beige) and click on it. OneClick automatically removes any color cast, corrects the tonal range, adjusts the overall brightness, and makes any photo more vivid and life-like.

PictoColor iCorrect OneClick Color Correction-Click on Neutral for auto color correction

OneClick Enhancements.

For most photos the OneClick is all that is required. However, if the photo would benefit from a little more tweaking click on the Enhancements button and the enhancements window will open where additional adjustments to brightness, contrast and saturation can be made.

iCorrect OneClick Enhancements may be used for tweaking color

Summary

Edited photo-Photoshop Elements and iCorrect OneClick Color Plug-in

I talked to Burt after he installed iCorrect OneClick into Elements and walked him through the above procedure and he was delighted that it was really easy to crop photos in Elements and that the OneClick plug-in was just like the OneClick Color correction in CorrectPhoto.  He is really proud to share his photos with friends and when they comment on how good his camera is he acknowledges that it is OneClick Color and not the camera that Makes the Color Right.  So, if you have Elements don’t be intimidated by all the tools and features. Just add iCorrect OneClick plug-in and use the cropping tool to crop and OneClick to fix the color and you too will be proud to share you photos with others.

Wayne www.correctphoto.com. www.pictocolor.com/oneclick.htm www.oneclickcolor.com

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.

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