Picasa Tutorials

Picasa Tip: 4 Clicks to Dramatically Improve your Photos

I got an email today from someone asking me about my camera because he likes the pictures in our blog so much.  I do get compliments on my photos often – thank you!  But, I answered him the way I answer all the others – “Yes, I have a good digital SLR camera (Canon Digital Rebel) but I believe what makes the difference is just a few seconds spent with each photo in Picasa!”

The picture of the split rail fence above was in my blog post from yesterday and it’s one of my current favorites.  It was taken in a city park in Winterset, Iowa.  The main attraction of this park is a covered bridge.  I like taking photos of things that aren’t the main attraction.  This is just an old fence and big tree trunk off in a corner of the park. 

I liked the picture right from the camera.  But I *really* liked it after 4 clicks in Picasa …

1. I’m Feeling Lucky – this is a one-click automatic color and contrast adjustment.  I click on this with every picture.  If I don’t like what it does, I just click on Undo.  I liked what it did on this photo.
2. Sharpen – this is on the effects tab.  Right now you have to hold down on Shift as you click it to see the results.  (See past tip on sharpen) 
3. Saturation – this is a button on the Effects tab, just one click and it applies an automatic amount of saturation – you can adjust the amount with the slider, then click Apply.  Saturation means more color.  Just like adding another coat of paint.  Saturation makes your picture richer and brighter.  Not always something you want, but you can Undo if you don’t like it.
4. Shadows – this is a feature on the Tuning tab.  I just moved the slider to the right a tiny bit.  It does exactly what it says … increases the shadows.  For this picture, I think it made it richer. 

So, that’s it.  I spent no more than 4 seconds on this photo to turn it from a nice picture to a really nice picture.  Click ‘upload’ and now it’s on the web to share.

Geeks on Tour Members can watch the related tutorial videos below.  Each video is from 3 to 8 minutes long.  If you’re not a member, now is the time!  For the month of June, a one year membership – normally $39 –  is only $29.  Join Now.

Using the Basic Edits
Retouching Photos
Sharpen and Batch Edit
Tuning
Intro to the 12 Effects
Improving Photos
Cropping and Print Sizes
Resizing Photos
Don’t Save – Understanding how Picasa handles your Edits

Related posts:

1. Sharpening Photos with Picasa
2. Picasa Tip: Blue Skies
3. Picasa Tip: Scanning Old Photos
4. Managing Digital Photos with Google’s Picasa
5. Picasa Tip: What happened to Sharpen?

Tags: blog, saturation, shadows, sharpen