What can photo editing do?
Image manipulation means changing a picture so that it looks better or carries an idea. Designers and photographers use costly professional software, but a free open-source photo program can do much of the same work, and it runs on different systems. What can editing do? Retouching: fix a flaw, change the colour of a jacket to make it clearer, or brighten a cloudy sky. Blending: combine two pictures into one, which is useful to show an idea that does not exist yet, such as a school garden before it is built. Special effects with filters: blur, distort, artistic and animation. A filter can make a picture look soft, twisted, painted, or full of movement. A good photo program is light, has many tools, lets you show only the ones you need, and saves pictures in several file types. You do not need a computer today: we use paper and drawing.
| Kind of edit | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| retouching | fixes and improves | brighten a cloudy sky |
| blending | joins two pictures | a garden that is not built yet |
| filters | change the whole look | blur, distort, artistic, animation |
| Filter | Look of the camel |
|---|---|
| blur | soft and unclear |
| distort | bent and twisted |
| artistic | looks painted |
| animation | looks as if it moves |
Edit cards. Write six situations on cards, for example ‘make the sky brighter’, ‘show a bridge that is not built yet’, ‘make a picture look very old’, ‘change a red jacket to blue’, ‘show a camel running fast’, ‘put a tree in an empty yard’. Sort them under Retouching, Blending and Filters. Which kind of edit would you use to make a picture of a rainy day look sunnier?