Simple Image Editing, Cropping Suggestions
Key Vocabulary to Remember
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Introduction
Image editing aims to achieve the best results from your initial captures. The most effective approach is to select what part of the picture best conveys your message. Cutting the less interesting parts from the picture may offer a more meaningful end result. In this way there is less of a requirement for image processing and editing to emphasize the subject.
There are also other ways in which an image can be adapted for publishing. Creating images that have the same aspect ratio, or proportion of width to height dimensions, ensures a consistent look that is well suited for websites and other similar processing tasks. Resizing a picture, ending with one that has less resolution, can be highly suitable to fit within the constraints of size imposed on various formats.
The final option for editing is to apply various effects such as adding transparency, colour and image processing algorithms that alter the initial image to fit various esthetic requirements. Editing is highly personalized, depends on talent and has complex goals, going beyond the scope of this document. There are very good tutorials and examples available on the internet that showcase very good techniques.
The operation you will most likely carry out, and almost on your first photographs, is cropping, or selecting which part of the original should be kept and put in emphasis. Whole pictures can happen and are appreciated. Most of the time, however, you can create better photos out of your original ones and it is great to experiment.
Cropping
The most simple and effective way to vastly improve the attraction of any picture is to have a very good framing of the picture. Even for very good captures, it is likely that there are elements which detract from the atmosphere that you want to convey. Sudden highlights, the presence of certain high detail objects or individuals close to the edge of the picture frame may detract from the focus you want to have. To counteract this limitation, cropping the edges of the picture is highly useful.
Cropping a picture may end up with different results. Each subsequent crop has to be analyzed side by side with the initial one, and compare cropped versions with each other in order to decide the most suitable photo. This goal can be achieved in free PC image editing software such as Gimp, Paint.Net, Krita. Certain publishing platforms such as Facebook and Instagram integrate on-the fly cropping in the image uploading interface, leading to great creative capabilities on all photos that do not require using the previous mentioned software. The ability to preview the image before publishing is highly valuable. As image sharing websites are already created to accommodate pictures from various sources, there are no concerns about inconsistent cropping between different pictures as the platforms has a good control on how it frames such pictures to maintain the intended look.
For websites, video editing, desktop publishing, cropping is best left as the final stage of composition, carried out in the main program and not on image editors. Keeping the unedited picture as long as possible improves the prospect of reaching high quality results. Any subsequent editing reduces the picture quality and permanently affects the outputs in ways that may not be easily overcome.
Cropping discards a part of the picture, reducing resolution and potentially affecting the image aspect ratio, if the edited area is unevenly distributed on the horizontal and vertical side. Most modern websites work well if the aspect ratio is maintained, but some require the same resolution, as they do not carry out this process. Resizing an already cropped picture leads to less quality than the original one.
What is the aspect ratio
The aspect ratio, as the name implies, is a proportional relation between the horizontal and vertical dimensions of an image. Depending on the source of your image, you may have widescreen, square or narrow images. Most cameras, including the ones on smartphones, create pictures that are typically widescreen, when used on the landscape orientation. If the orientation is, instead, placed at 90 degrees, you end up with portrait images, that are much taller and narrower as well.
Note that depending on the camera being used, the format that is preset on the camera and other conditions, you will end up with widescreen images. However, note that widescreen images are not necessarily having the exact same aspect ratio although they may look similar.
To express the aspect ratio of an image, you divide the width of the image to its height, measured in pixels or inches/centimeters, if you have actual physical creations. For a typical photography or video clip, the aspect ratio is typically 16:9 and it is derived by dividing a resolution of 1920 to 1080. Then, the resulting value of around 1.78, which is what dividing 16 to 9 would result in. Note that you can also simplify your 1920 to 1080 division and you would end up with the same integer values that cannot be further simplified, 16 and 9.
It is advisable to get used to thinking about your pictures also in terms of their aspect ratios, whether you actively use these estimations for editing or not. In this way you have a better perspective of what formats you work with and get used to different techniques of editing.
Common aspect ratios
Many years ago, since 1950s and until the early 2000s, the 4:3 aspect ratio of PC displays and TV screens was very popular. In the late 2000s, such formats were superseded by the so-called widescreen one, 16:9, used in the film or movie industry. As a result of this transition, just about any camera, professional or consumer, as well as most displays, generally create images that are suitable for this purpose.
Having a common aspect ratio simplifies content creation and editing but leads to issues when such formats must be exchanged, as there is no straightforward or easy way in which images can be changed from one aspect ratio to another. Such post-processing techniques require advanced image editors to reach adequate results. For video production, editing is even more difficult and time consuming than for individual photographs although, if you commonly edit many pictures, it can be tiring.
Using the aspect ratio required by your publishing platform is simple and effective but it limits how you work with your photographs. It is better to use various aspect ratios, as needed. However, if you do not have specific requirements, using the typical widescreen format of 16:9 is a good start.
Aspect ratio adjustments
Certain publishing formats, such as websites, may benefit from images that are particularly edited to suit a graphics theme. As most websites are created for the typical laptop screen, this means that a landscape or 16:9 format is targeted. Since initial photos can have any resolution and aspect ratio, simple editing may be required prior to publishing. Most editing software can superimpose a freely movable, white edged cropping area on the original image that can be moved freely, showing visual cues that help decide which crop is most suitable. After applying the process, a resulting image is created.
Transforming an image from one ratio to another is not straightforward and, actually, distorts the picture. Since you cannot do otherwise than stretch the image or compress it to reach the new format, results will be poor with simple approaches of just specifying a new resolution that fits your requirements and respects the aspect ratio you target. The best approach is to use semi-automated means of cropping the picture with an imaginary rectangle, selecting what should be preserved of the original photography. In this way, no distortions are created.
Nowadays, 16:9, or the widescreen format is the most popular one but keep in mind that anything else but a TV, most display, projectors, require a different aspect ratio. Sometimes your platform will adjust your image, at other times you have to process the image yourself. It is advisable to experiment with different aspect ratios.
More advanced effects
Complex effects may be applied to images and result in interesting effects but keep in mind that some effects can be effective enough when used reasonably. Generally aim for edits that affect an image the least but can create a very good effect. Flipping images horizontally or vertically, mirroring them, rotating them at right angles such as 90 degrees or 270 degrees, can result in images that are surprising to your audience. Rotating pictures at arbitrary angles may be less straightforward, as it requires additional cropping to end up with usable pictures. However, such operations may be useful when you want to straighten an image or show a different perspective on the subject.
Image flipping and rotation, with a potential subsequent cropping, is a good approach to end up with different photographs that present the perspective you want. It is always advisable to experiment with all sorts of effects and analyze the original to processed edits, by yourself or along others, for better feedback.