Simple fixes for your digital photos
If you’re anything like me, you’ve got so many digital pictures crammed onto your computer that it’s cause for celebration when you stumble upon the one you’re looking for. Although the sheer number of photos stored on my home computer is staggering, there are really only about 15 that I’d like to print out and frame. But the sad reality is that all 15 of them sport at least one major flaw that has to be fixed before I can show them off.
Although I love to take and share photographs, I’ve never felt the need to purchase or master complex photo editing software. Thankfully, there are easy-to-use photo editing programs that perform many of the basic fixes that my pics so desperately need. And if you’re running Microsoft Office 2010, many simple photo tools are available right from within the Office programs. Watch this video to see how the photo tools work in Office 2010.
First things first: Make a working copy
Before you start, make a working copy of your original image by saving it with a new file name so that you can distinguish it from the original. For example, if the image file name is "koala," save a working copy as "koalanew." If you edit only your working copy of the image, you can always start over with a fresh copy of the original if you don't like the results.
Choose a program to edit your photos
To begin editing, find the photo you want to work on. After you’ve found the photo, right-click it. In the menu, point to Open with, and then click the program you want to use to edit your photos. The programs available for you vary depending on the operating system and version of Office you are running. When you click Open with, you can probably choose from Microsoft Office Picture Manager (good for many basic editing tasks), Paint (a simple graphics painting program that comes with all versions of Windows), Windows Live Photo Gallery (a free download from Windows Live Essentials that enables you to download pictures from your camera and share them online), Windows Media Center (a media program that is included in many Windows operating systems, and allows you to watch movies, tv, view your photos and videos and listen to music), and Windows Photo Viewer (an easy to way view your photos). In this article, I focus on just a couple of the photo editing options in Office Picture Manager, Paint, and the picture tools available within many of the programs in Office 2010—specifically those in Word 2010, Excel 2010, and PowerPoint 2010.
Give it a whirl: Rotate pictures
The following picture needs to be flipped right-side up. All of the simple, photo editing programs described in this article can perform this straightforward task.
Rotate and flip with Office Picture Manager
In Picture Manager, open the picture.
On the Formatting toolbar, click Edit Pictures. The Edit Pictures task pane opens on the right
Under Edit using these tools, click Rotate and Flip.
Tip: You can use the green arrows or the Home icon at the top of the Edit pictures task pane to move between edit options.
In the Rotate and Flip task pane, select the direction or degree to rotate or flip the photo. To fix the rotation of the koala picture, click Flip vertical.
Then, click Save.
Rotate and flip with Paint
In Paint, open the picture.
On the Home toolbar, click Rotate.
Select a type of rotation or flip.
Rotate and flip with picture tools in Office 2010
Open a new document, spreadsheet, or presentation in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. Insert a picture.
On the Picture Tools tab, in the Arrange group, click the Rotate drop-down menu.
Select a type of rotation or flip.
Get the red out: Remove red eye
You can easily remove red eyes—a common flaw—from your digital snapshots using Picture Manager.
In Picture Manager, open the photo.
On the Formatting toolbar, click Edit Pictures, and then click Red Eye Removal. A bull’s-eye-like pointer appears on your picture.
Using your mouse, scroll to the spot you want to correct. Center the bull’s eye over the red portion click, and then, in the task pane on the right, click OK.
Continue doing this on the red eye portion of your picture until you are happy with the result.
Go black and white
If you’re not happy with the color in your photograph or you’d like to add some instant romance, you can always strip away the color using either Picture Manager or the picture tools in Office 2010.
Change the color of a picture while working in Picture Manager
To make a picture black and white, in the Edit picture task pane, click Color.
Under Hue and saturation settings, in the Saturation settings text box, type -100 or move the slider all the way to the left.
Change the color of a picture while working in Office 2010
Open a new document, spreadsheet, or presentation in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. Insert a picture.
On the Picture Tools tab, in the Adjust group, click the Color drop-down menu.
Select the new color, saturation, or tone that you prefer.
Compress the size of your pictures
Have you ever been unable to send or receive a photo in email because it was too large? Picture Manager and the picture tools available in Office 2010 offer quick ways to reduce your picture to a more manageable size.
Compress the size of your pictures in Picture Manager
In the Edit pictures task pane, click Compress Pictures.
In the Compress pictures settings dialog box, you can specify the compression. When you select Documents, Web pages, or Email messages, the compressed size is displayed under Estimated total size. Documents is the least compressed size, and Email messages is the most compressed. Be sure to choose the Email messages option when you prepare a photo to attach to an email, or you might send something undeliverable or impossible to view upon receipt.
When you’re ready to compress the photo, click OK.
Tip: Notice that the final size in pixels is shown under Description.
Compress the size of your pictures while working in Office 2010
Get fancy: Make shadows disappear
Have you ever taken a picture only to realize the picture is perfect except that your shadow is in the frame? Here's how to use Paint to remove a shadow from your picture:
Remove shadows in Paint
Open the picture in Paint.
On the Home toolbar, click Select, and then click Transparent selection.
Use your mouse to select a small or large portion of the picture that you can use to camouflage the shadow, and then, in the toolbar at the top, click Copy in the toolbar at the top. This takes the section you just copied and puts it on your clipboard.
In the toolbar, click Paste. A copy of selection you made appears in the upper-left corner of your picture.
Drag the portion of the picture that you selected onto the shadow to fill it in. (To drag, press and hold the left mouse button and move your mouse to the shadow.)
Continue to drag the selection to cover the shadow. If the shading becomes too regular when you use a single portion of your photo to cover the shadow, copy a different piece of the picture and paste it to make the cover-up less regular and more natural.
As always, be sure to save your image before you move on to the next fix or image.
Go forth and edit
With these tips and the programs already on your computer, you have the tools you need to make your not-quite-perfect pictures shine. With a little experience, you’re sure to find even more simple fixes to add to your repertoire.
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