Improving Your Photos with Photoscape

 

Hey Friends!

I hope you are having a great week.  Smile

I wanted to quickly share with you the  FREE photo editing program I use when preparing my photos for a post.

It’s called Photoscape.

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My friend, Rhoda, told me about it a few months ago, and I have loved using it.

I want to give you an idea of what it can do.

Here is the original picture (straight out of my camera) that I took of my kitchen renovation reveal…

kitchen 004

Here it is, after I edited it in Photoscape

kitchen 004

 

Isn’t that amazing?

I cropped the photo a little bit and brightened the picture.

I also covered up the hole in the ceiling above the window.  Since we haven’t chosen a light fixture for above the sink, I didn’t want that hole showing up in my “reveal” pictures.  Although I don’t many people would have noticed it anyway.

Yesterday, I took some pictures of the new wicker chalkboard in my kitchen.  The pictures looked pretty bright in my viewer when I took the pictures, but when I uploaded them on my computer, they were a lot darker than I wanted.

Here is the original picture I took:                           Here is the after:

chalkboard 003

chalkboard 003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a huge difference, but definitely better.  I uploaded the original into Photoscape, cropped it, up’d the brightness, and sharpened it a bit.

I’m still playing around with this program and learning what all it can do.  But so far, I love how it transforms my pictures.

Remember the picture I took of Cy and I at my cousin’s wedding? Look at the difference between the original and edited one.

ornament 007

ornament 007

 

 

 

 

 

I cropped and brightened the picture, and I also used a feature called “bloom” on this photo.  I ended up using this picture in our Christmas cards this year, and I do not know if I would have had I not had Photoscape.

So if you have never tried a FREE photo editing program, maybe you should check out Photoscape.  (And NO, I am not getting paid for this post.)

Now, I am not professional photographer, and my pictures do not even compare to some of the amazing pictures on other home blogs, but they definitely look better than they did a couple of years ago.

So, I’m making some progress.  Winking smile

And I’m learning more about how to take good pictures to begin with.  I actually bought a tripod to help me with my still shots.  I never use a flash, and I usually shoot in Manual Mode.  That’s HUGE for me!

Although you do not have to be a professional photographer to have a blog, good pictures of your projects do help you to get featured more on other blogs.  Good picture taking and editing can help to show how truly amazing your projects are.

 

Picture-40

I am very excited about the Photo Workshops we are having at Haven this summer too.  We are planning some amazing hands-on Photo Workshops, led by some amazing photographers, so we can all learn how to use our cameras better.

Have you bought your ticket yet?  There are only about 75 tickets left, so you better hurry!

Click here to purchase…image

 

And if you have already bought your ticket to HAVEN and have a blog, we would love for you to link up on our Attendee Page.  Just click on the button to link up and get to know other Haven Mavens!

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Also, we are having our very first Haven Twitter Party tonight (Feb. 9th) at 8:00 pm EST.  We will be using the #haven2012 hashtag.  If you are going or trying to decide whether or not to attend, this will be a great twitter party for you!

Hope to see you there!

22 Comments

  1. I need this, when you click photoscape, which one do you download, it has three different download buttons?,,,thanks

  2. I’ve been using this lately too! I love it! The bloom feature is really cool, and the back-lighting. I actually think I like better how my pictures look using this than when I was using picnik! So happy I found it!

  3. Thank you for this!! I’ve been using Picnik to edit all of my photos and was so sad to find out it was going away because it’s such a great FREE resource. Thanks for pointing me in the direction of a new one. I just want to tell you I love your blog and have really connected since the first time I read it about a year ago. I too had an amazingly inspirational mother who was taken to soon, so your story and your blog have really touched my heart and hit close to home! Thanks!

  4. A friend recently told me about Photoscape! I’m getting a new laptop in a few weeks, so I’m waiting to download it on there before I start using it for my blog. Glad to hear of someone else who is loving it!

  5. Thanks for the tips. I popped over but like Stefanie, I didn’t know which one of the three to download. eek.

    Awaiting instruction. btw…You are such a sweet and pretty lady. Love reading your blog.

  6. Thank you so much for sharing…picture quality is something I struggle with on my blog. I’ve tried picnik for a few months, but they are ending in April. I will definitely have to try this out!
    Sally
    loveofhomes.blogspot.com

  7. I so enjoyed your guest post over on Homemaker on a Dime!! Thanks for all your helpful information. Doesn’t photo editing make all the difference in those photos we like to put on our blogs! I just subscribed to your blog so I don’t miss anything. :-)

  8. Thanks for sharing about this Traci! I have just used the program that came with my camera, but its scope is very limited. I’ll be checking out this software soon! Anything to avoid paying the $$$$ for the almighty Photoshop! P.S. I think you’re doing a great job with your photos :-)

  9. I’ll be using this now that Picnik is going away. I’m so glad you shared this info. Thanks a million!

  10. You are the third blogger I’ve seen talk about Photoscape….I installed it, and promptly got overwhelmed! :) Hahaha! I SOOO want to go to Haven, but I just don’t see it happening financially. :( Boo! Maybe another time!

  11. Great post! I saw Kate share something about Photoscape today, so it must be a good program if so many people are using it now. I will miss Picnik, but it’s time to find a replacement. ;) Thanks for sharing!

  12. Appreciate you introducing me to photoscape! Down loaded it, already tried it out.
    Very easy to use. Many features too.
    Thank you for inviting me into your home and letting me follow you around
    all you are doing.

  13. I have wondered about the lighting in your kitchen as it doesn’t look like you have any lights! Is that because you edited the light openings out of the pictures?

  14. Very cool! Thanks for sharing! Wondered what I was going to do without Picnik! I love your wicker chalkboard and the verse on it. That one is special to me. When I was in 5th grade, I was attacked by an Alaskan Husky. He chewed up my arms pretty badly. While getting them sewn back up, my dad was in the ER with me, and we sang “Count Your Blessings” while I laid there getting my 50 stitches. Thanks for bringing back a sweet memory. :)

    1. Oh, and I really enjoy your blog. I’ve blogged for a while now, but one of my resolutions for this year is to take it more seriously and to give it the attention it deserves.

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