Image editing seems overly complicated, but it’s actually quite easy if you have good software. This week I’ll offer 10 image-editing tips for both Windows and Macs. I’m listing them in order of importance.
First, give yourself a break and get software that knows how to work right. My favorite image editor for Windows is Photo Brush, from www.mediachance.com. It costs only $38. My choice among inexpensive image editors for Mac OS X (the current Macintosh operating system) is GraphicConverter, from www.lemkesoft.de. It’s only $30. Both programs are as good as software that costs hundreds of dollars more.

1. Screen test. Check your computer monitor and adjust it if you’re not getting a good picture. Most Windows PCs are set up wrong. For a complete guide to adjusting the display, go to http://twcny.rr.com/technofile and type "adjust" (without quotes) in the search field.

2. Edit your images in a sensible order. First, save a copy. Keep that copy safe by moving it to a separate folder. Next, crop the image. Crop the picture, then adjust the levels, also called "curves." Your software might do this automatically. Next, adjust the color and what we loosely call the "tint." Then get rid of noises and blemishes (in the picture, silly, not in your nephew’s skin). Finally, save the image … TWICE. Put the copy in a different folder, out of the way.

3. Look sharp. Be sharp. But keep your hands off the "sharpening" menu. You’ll notice that I did not tell you to sharpen the image in the list of things to do above. Why? Because that’s how most pictures get ruined. Sharpening can’t be undone. Sharpening should be the very last thing you do to an image before you print it or place it in an on-screen album. Do NOT sharpen an image before saving it. If you decide you want to return to the picture later to edit it some more, you’ll be in a pickle. Do all your sharpening on temporary copies that you are planning to print or send to the Web.

4. Don’t be judge and jury. If you’re not sure whether one of your images looks better or worse after editing, ask someone else to take a look. Show side-by-side versions, before and after your editing. Don’t start a family argument if your spouse (or, worse yet, your 9-year-old) says you have no talent. Be honest about what others see.

5. Peg of my heart, maybe; but JPEG in my image editor, no. JPEG (also called JPG, and pronounced "jay-peg" no matter how it’s spelled) is the nearly universal file format for Web photos. It’s fine for that, but it’s lousy for your own digital pictures. Images saved as JPEGs can’t be edited and then saved as JPEGs again without losing parts of the picture.

6. Big surprise: Don’t resize. Image editors make things too easy sometimes. They let you resize any photo larger or smaller. Leave that function alone. Unless you are very careful about how you make your images larger or smaller, you’re sure to make them worse. Change the dots-per-inch (DPI) resolution setting all you want, if your software has such a thing, but don’t increase or reduce the actual number of pixels. (If this seems like jabberwocky, don’t worry; it IS jabberwocky. Just keep your hands off the resize menu.)

7. Take sides. If you are going to print your images as, say, 4-inch by 6-inch frameable prints, crop them to the correct ratio before you save the versions you are going to print. Suppose you have a picture that’s 400 pixels on one side and 600 pixels on the other. That’s the correct ratio and you’re all set. But if it’s 500 pixels on one side and 700 on the other — a 5:7 ratio instead of a 4:6 ratio — you’ll have to do some cropping if you want the printed picture to fit perfectly into the 4-inch by 6-inch space. Run your calculator (all computers have one) and do some of that 5th Grade math you’ve almost forgotten.

8. Rescue mission. A photo that’s really bad should be trashed if it’s of nobody in particular, but if it’s the only shot you have of Missy’s graduation you’d better try to rescue it. Try blurring the photo slightly, fading down a bit on the color and sharpening it about twice as much as you’d normally think necessary. If the picture is truly bad, you can always say later, "But you should have seen what it looked like before I rescued it!"

9. Pixel parity. Never judge a digital photo without looking at the actual pixels. Image editors often squeeze the image down to the size of your screen (or, even worse, down to the size of a window on your screen). No matter how good the software is, it can’t remove a lot of pixels and still show you the same image. Your image editor should have a menu choice for "Actual Size," "Actual Pixels" or "1:1." Slide your chair back a few feet if you need to get a longer view when you’re looking at the actual pixels. And be sure to view your images full-screen; all good editors let you do that.

10. Remember your audience. If your photos are destined for Web pages, don’t worry about minor flaws; get the dark-and-light balance right and make sure your pictures are mostly close-ups. If your photos are going to be printed at 8-inches by 10-inches or larger, take the time to smooth out the flaws. Make brutal crops, too. No one will know later that you took out the telephone pole alongside Billy’s head. Distractions are just as annoying in photographs as they are in real life.