Instruction manual

editing, try and limit changes to cropping, adjusting brightness and/or contrast (the

difference in brightness between light and dark areas), resizing, and annotation

(adding text and/or symbols).

There are several low-cost (< $100) photo editing programs, the best of which

are Adobe Photoshop Elements and Jasc Paint Shop Pro. Also, GIMP is a very

good free editing program (www.gimp.org). As mentioned before, some cameras

come with very capable (and free) browser/editing programs such as ArcSoft

PhotoStudio. Different programs have different strengths and weaknesses, and

you may find yourself using more than one program.

Professional-level editing programs such as Adobe Photoshop offer a wide

range of capabilities, but they are expensive and take quite a while to learn.

These extensive and advanced capabilities are not necessary for the basic

operations we perform during CAP imaging missions.

7.2.1 Editing Sequence

Editing a photo is best done in a particular sequence (each adjustment is

discussed in more detail later).

1. Crop

2. Adjust Contrast and Tone

3. Add Text or Symbols

4. Save in Desired Format

As you edit a photo, one feature serves as your best friend: the “Undo”

function found in the “Edit” menu. “Undo” reverses the last editing action you

performed on the photo and gives you the freedom to experiment at will. Even if

you’ve made ten changes, selecting ‘Undo’ ten times will restore the photo to its

original state (unless you’ve saved the photo along the way).

7.2.1.1 Crop

Before you crop, ensure that you are viewing the image at 100% (e.g.,

select “View Actual Pixels” or its equivalent).

Cropping is easy to do and it removes extraneous information from a

photo so you can emphasize the most important aspect of the image. It can

be accomplished two different ways, but both involve the same principle: “Get

close, then closer.”

Cropping not only changes the composition of your photo, it removes

tones from your image. If you crop out tones you’re not interested in (e.g.,

areas of overexposed highlights such as the sky) you will change the

appearance of the image’s histogram and ease the editing process.

Cropping is useful when you want to enhance or center the target in a

photo or to trim out unwanted detail, and to crop to standard print sizes. If the

camera was slightly crooked when the shutter button was pressed, you may

also be able to correct horizon lines that are off-kilter by rotating the photo

first, then cropping.