How-to

It is time to turn the clock back and rediscover the moments that once made you very happy. If you love sharing your photos on social media and Facebook in particular, maybe it is time to consider backing them up. Why would you want to back up your Facebook media files?

• In case of accidental deletion or loss of your pictures, you will not be able to restore them. However, backing them up to a PC, Mac, or external drive will keep them safe. 
• Another reason why backing up your images is having complete control over your own data is that Facebook can introduce any changes in how they store and use your information.
• If you decide to leave Facebook, you will not lose any digital content, plus you will not need to save photos one by one.
• Finally, if your Facebook account is hacked, a backup will ensure that your photos are not lost or not used against your will. 

This is why it is smart to backup Facebook photos. Fortunately, this can be easily done with the help of the Mylio Photos app. This software is a passport to relive all the precious memories you captured. Mylio helps to preserve, safely store, easily access, and share your digital photos. Saving photos to Mylio Photos Library will also leave more space on your PC, Mac, SD card, or external hard drive. 

Let’s explore how to back up Facebook with Mylio following these steps:

1. Open the Add Media dialog by clicking or tapping the plus icon in the top app bar.

2. Opt for Add media from an online service. The list of online services including Instagram, Facebook, Frame.io, or Flickr will pop up on the screen. Choose Facebook and log in to your account. 
3. Enable Mylio’s access to your Facebook account.
4. Choose one or several Facebook Albums you want to import and click Select.

5. Mylio will automatically create a Facebook folder. Once you select the Albums you want to import, select Facebook as the destination. If you wish to change the name of the destination folder, you can do it. 

6. If you want to add metadata such as copyright information, custom file names, custom folder organization and keywords, click Show Advanced Settings. 
7. The last step is confirming the import of the album(s) by clicking Copy now. Your Facebook photos will move into your Mylio Photos Library instantly. 

Note that Mylio Photos app does not synchronize with your Facebook account, so in case you add new images to Facebook, they will not appear in the Mylio Photos Library. Repeat this process every time you want to back up Facebook photos to Mylio. The app allows importing the photos that you downloaded. Others’ photos will not be imported. Another thing to consider is that you can’t import photos. It works for images only. 

How to Backup Facebook Account (data download)

In this part of the article, we will talk about how to back up Facebook account and why you should do it. There are several reasons why this is a wise idea. First of all, a backup ensures you can restore your account in case you accidentally delete it. Secondly, if your account gets hacked or compromised, backup will create a “safety net” for it. Thirdly, if you are someone who adds lots of media files to Facebook, backing up your account will ensure that you don’t lose precious memories.

So, how do you backup Facebook account?

1. Log in to your Facebook account on your desktop or mobile device.

2. Tap your account icon and opt for Settings & Privacy, then click Settings.

3. Scroll down the menu on the left side until you find Download your information. Click on it. 

4. You should get this notification appearing on your screen. Click Continue.

5. You will be redirected to the Accounts Center from where you can Request a download. 

6. Now tick your Facebook account and click Next.

7. Select the information you would like to back up. 

8. In the following window, you will be offered to tick the type of information you would like to download. Once ticked, click Next.

9. Select file options and click Submit Request.
10. Now you have four days to download your information. Use your password to access information. 

When backing up your Facebook account info, you can download your profile, friends, posts, images and other information.

Are you someone who takes dozens of photos every day? It is a real struggle to find the photos you need fast because there are so many of them on your Mac. Well, smart organizing photos on your Mac is essential for easy retrieval and management. In this article, we will talk about handy steps you can follow to organize your photos effectively and find them faster when you need them.

How to organize photos on Mac using a Photos app?

In this part of the article, we will talk about the features it offers and how you can benefit from them.

So, open the app and find “Library” in the menu on the left side. It contains all the media files imported into your Photos app. You can sort and view your media files in Years, Months, or Days format. It is important to sync your Mac’s Photos app with your iCloud account to see all the photos and videos you have taken. 

To import media files into the Library, do as follows:

1. Click File
2. Opt for Import
3. Choose the required files

Now, the necessary files should be successfully imported into the app’s Library.

Switch Your Photo Library

You may find that some of the pictures or videos you took are automatically stored not in the app’s Library but in a different library somewhere on your Mac laptop. To store all your media files in the app’s, complete these steps:

1. Open Finder 
2. Opt for Applications
3. Click Option
4. Choose a Photo Library. You might see the default library and any other libraries you have created or used before. Click on the library you want to switch to or select “Other Library” if the library you want is not listed.

Note that the Photos app can only have one library open at a time. Each library is a separate collection of photos with its own settings, albums, and organization.

Group by People & Places

The Photos app on your Mac also allows you to sort media files by People and Places. To Group by People, follow these steps:

1. Launch the Photos app.
2. Proceed to the People Album.
3. Click on Albums and Select People.
4. The People album displays faces that the Photos app has recognized. Click on a face to see all the photos associated with that person. If a face is recognized but not named, click Add Name and type in the person’s name. The app may ask you to confirm or reject its suggestions for a person’s face.

For Grouping by Places, follow these recommendations:

1. Launch the Photos app.
2. Proceed to the Places Album.
3. The Places album displays a map with pins indicating where your photos were taken. You can also use the Map by zooming in and out of the map to explore different locations, or you can add location information manually. 

The People and Places feature in the Photos app is extremely helpful for photographers, especially if you like landscape and portrait photography.

Get Creative With Memories

You should certainly explore the Memories feature in the Photos app on your Mac, as it is capable of creating collections of photos and videos with music based on specific events, locations, and people. Find the Memories feature under the Library and see what you can do with it:

• The Memories feature displays automatically created collections like trips, events, or significant periods of time.
• You can edit Memories by clicking Show More and changing their titles, durations, music, etc. 
• Click the heart icon on your favorite Memory so it will appear on top of the tap in the future. 
• The Hide Memories feature allows you to make a particular Memory not visible, yet it will not be deleted. 
• The Create Memory feature allows the app’s users to customize their own Memory Movies using the photos, videos, and music they choose.
• You can easily Share a Memory via email or social media.

The Memory feature may not be useful for professional photographers, but it certainly will put a smile on your face, reminding you of beautiful moments. 

Manage Your Albums

If you want to organize and categorize your photos more effectively, the Managing albums feature unfolds more opportunities.

• Create an Album 

1. Launch the Photos app.
2. Select the photos you want to add to the new album.
3. Right-click on the selected photos and choose Add to the New Album.

• Adding Photos to an Existing Album

1. Launch the Photos app.
2. Select the photos you want to add to an existing album.
3. Right-click the selected photos and choose Add to then Existing Album Name].

• Deleting Photos from an Album

1. Launch the Photos app.
2. Click the “Albums” tab on the sidebar and select the album you want to edit.
3. Select the photos you want to remove from the album.
4. If you want to remove all media files from the particular album in one go, right-click and choose Remove from Album.

• Create Shared Albums

1. Launch the Photos app.
2. Click + next to Shared Albums to create a new one.  
3. Enter the name of a new Shared Album.
4. Add files.
5. Now you can Invite People from the list. 

• Reorder Photos in an Album

1. Launch the Photos app.
2. Click on the “Albums” tab and select the album you want to reorder.
3. Drag and drop photos to reorder them.

Creating and adding new albums, deleting those that you no longer need, or reordering photos in already existing albums will keep things smarter. 

Manage Your Photo Catalog in a New Folder

To easily access your media files, you can create a dedicated folder on your computer or laptop. You may find that a folder offers a better structure so that you can find the necessary files faster. Here are some of the features that might be handy.

• Create a new folder

1. Choose the desired location for your new folder, whether on your desktop or within your Pictures folder.
2. Name it. 

• Transfer photos to the new folder

1. Open the new folder.
2. Select the photos you want to include in it
3. Drag and drop the selected photos.

• Organize photos by date or event

1. Create subfolders by dates and occasions, like “2024” or “Christmas”.
2. Transfer corresponding photos to new subfolders using the advice above. 

You should back up your new folders to prevent data loss with the help of Google Drive or Cloud Storage. Software like Adobe Lightroom, Google Photos, or Apple Photos will securely save your files and allow you to use all the above-mentioned tools plus edition. However, you will need to buy extra space when you reach a limit.

Create New Projects

Mac’s Photos app is perfect for creative minds and your own projects. Head to the app, click Prejects, then My Projects, and see templates for Books, Calendars, Cards, and Wall Decor. At the bottom of the list, you should see Prints – the feature that actually allows you to print your project and order it to your address. These are the steps for creating a new project within the built-in Mac’s Photos app:

• Launch the app.
• Opt for + on the sidebar. 
• Choose Slideshow, then Photos.
• Name for Slideshow. 
• Select media files, then click Add.
• Choose the desired Themes, Music, and slideshow payback Duration. You can also change the Speed of your slideshow.

You can preview your project before saving it and ordering a print.

Sync Your Photos Through iCloud

If you want to access your media files and all your Apple devices, you need to sync. First, you need to set up an iCloud account and then store all your photos on it. This is how it can be done: 

1. Head to Photos.
2. Click Preferences.
3. Proceed to the iCloud tab.
4. Set up an iCloud account. 
5. Open Finder.
6. Choose Apple ID.
7. Select iCloud.
8. Mark Photos and iCloud Drive.

When using your iPhone, you have the option to optimize storage so the version of photos on your mobile device is smaller. The full-resolution photos will be stored in iCloud.

Note that it can take some time to sync. It depends on the number of media files you have. Also, you may not have enough storage in iCloud. Initially, all users get 5 GB of free storage, but if you need more, subscribe to a higher storage plan.

Best folder structure for photos

The best folder management for photos actually depends on your personal preferences, the number of files you have, and how you like to organize them. Here are a few ideas on how you can manage your media files effectively:

• Main photo folder – the folder with all your pictures.
• Year-based subfolders – organize your photos based on the year.
• Event-based subfolders – create subfolders for every event, like Christmas, New Year, Summer Vacation, Wedding, etc. 
• Topic subfolders – organize your images by topic, for example, macro, landscape, and portraits. 

These are just a few ideas of how you can structure your photos and access them without being confused and looking for particular files for hours. Find the structure that suits your workflow. 

One of the best ways to organize your and your family photos

Keeping memories alive is what every family does. If you are someone who loves to take photos of your family often and have a bunch of unorganized files, here are a few tips to help you store and find special moments easily:

• Create a main photo folder on your device or in the app and call it Family Photos.
• Create subfolders by year, each containing another subfolder with names of events. For example, a subfolder 2021 contains the following subfolders: Christmas, Anniversary, Graduation, etc.
• If you use a Photos app on your Mac, do not skip such features as People Tagging and Keyword Tagging. The first one will help you to find photos of your family members easily. The second will allow you to find all related pictures to, let’s say, “wedding,” “hiking,” “sea,” etc. 

Over the years, you can find that you have too many photos: some may be blurred, or you can find duplicates. Perform regular checkups and delete images that are no longer relevant. This will provide you with more storage and help you avoid buying more space.

Other popular apps for organizing media on Mac

There are quite a few impressive photos apps that provide advanced organizational features and editing capabilities if you do not want to use a built-in Mac app. It is only a matter of choosing the one that you like using. Every photos app offers features that basically do hard work for you:

• Has built-in organization tools.
• Utilizes albums to group photos by theme, event, or person.
• Uses the “Faces” feature to tag people in your photos.

See! You do not need to do a lot of manual work. Some of the good apps that we came across are Mylio Photos, Google Photos, and Adobe Lightroom, each having all the above-listed features.

Mylio: smooth app that you will love

If you want to organize your pictures on your Mac more efficiently, give Mylio a go. It is a free app that automatically imports files from your smartphone or tablet and allows you to share them with your friends, family or colleagues. Mylio provides a convenient library, making it easy for you to find and access media files. Importing media files is simple: from your hard drive, camera or USB memory card, scanner, phone or tablet. The surprises are not finished here. The app can connect to social media as well as photo sharing sites and import everything you have already shared. You can also post via the app. 

Quick tutorial on organizing photos on Mylio:

1. Install Mylio Photos on your Mac.

2. Add photos, video and other files to your Mylio library. CFnd an icon “+” in the top right corner, then choose “guide import”, now follow instructions on the screen to add media to your Mylio library.

3. Use dynamic search and quickfilters to find your favorite photos and videos faster. After transferring the necessary media files from your hardware or device to the library, click “all photos”. Here you can review files by year, rating, label, flag, by event, by album, etc. 

4. Mylio also allows you to edit photos to enhance their quality. Make edits to change color, exposure and details, crop photos to change composition and size.

Adobe Lightroom and its great features

We decided to use Adobe Lightroom to demonstrate how to start organizing your media files with ease. Please check this guide below.

1. Install the Adobe Lightroom app by downloading it from the Adobe website or the Mac App Store.
2. Open Lightroom and create a new catalog or use an existing one. Then click on the “Import” button to bring your photos into the catalog. Now select the photos you want to import, choose the destination folder, and configure import settings.
3. You can create collections based on events, themes, etc. Drag and drop photos into collections for easy access.
4. If you wish, add keywords for better searchability. If you have an extensive photo library, this feature will save you much time. 
5. Use the rating and flagging features to identify your best photos or those that need further attention.
6. Lightroom photo app has powerful editing tools. Explore the “Develop” module to adjust exposure, colors, and more. Notice that changes made in the Lightroom app are non-destructive, which means your original photos remain unchanged.
7. Now, you can sync your Lightroom catalog across multiple devices. You will need a subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud to do so. 
8. The app also has an export feature, so you can share them on social media when you are happy with your edits.

If you decide to use Photos App for organizing images on your Mac, do not forget to regularly back up your catalog to prevent data loss.

FAQ:

To create visually appealing images that highlight the property’s strengths, photographers are advised to use professional equipment, including a camera, tripod, and wide-angle lens, as well as specific camera settings to provide clear and attractive images. A photographer must understand what features in the house may potentially attract buyers, such as a fireplace, panoramic windows, or spacious kitchen, and be able to highlight such selling points via photography. Consider this article as your guide to taking captivating photos of properties.

What Is Real Estate Photography?

Property photography is the practice of capturing high-quality images of real estate for marketing and promotional purposes. Through real estate photography, agencies can provide potential buyers with features, designs, and overall appeal of apartments, houses, villas, and other types of real estate. Quality pictures play a massive role in creating a first impression and attracting clients. 

What Equipment Is Required For Quality Real Estate Photos?

As a realtor photography, you want to use the right equipment. Do you need a professional camera? Ideally, yes. However, a smartphone camera can also work if you know how to use its features to deliver high-quality images. 

In this part of the tutorial, we will discuss the advantages of using DSLR, mirrorless or compact cameras, action cameras, and advanced smartphone cameras. Read and choose the best option for your real estate photography, considering all the pros and cons. 

DSLR, Mirrorless, or Compact Camera

Since house photography requires still images, you do not need to purchase the most expensive equipment. A beginner DSLR camera can actually be a good choice, offering all the necessary features for capturing high-quality images of properties. Each type—DSLR, mirrorless, and compact camera comes with its own set of pros for the purpose of real estate photography. Let’s look into them in detail. 

Advantages of using a DSLR camera:

• Larger sensors for better image quality.
• Interchangeable lenses for versatility.
• Manual control over settings for precise adjustments.
• Better low-light performance.

Advantages of using a mirrorless camera:

• More portable and easier to handle compared with DSLR cameras.
• Real-time preview of the exposure and depth of field.
• Advanced autofocus systems.
• In-body image stabilization that results in sharper photos.

Advantages of using a compact camera:

• Lightweight and portable choice. 
• Automatic mode excludes the need for extensive manual adjustments.
• Versatile zoom ranges.
• Built-in flash.

Action Camera (e.g., GoPro)

Even though action cameras like GoPro were originally developed for extreme sports and various activities and events, you can still use them to capture photos of apartments, houses, and other properties. Newer GoPro camera models provide improved features, including enhanced stabilization and better image quality, which will help you take proper real estate photos. 

Advantages of using an action camera:

• Compact and lightweight.
• Wide-angle lenses assist in capturing small spaces.
• Versatile mounting options for creative shots.
• Some camera models come with 4K video capabilities. 

The only consideration you may have with shooting real estate photos with an action camera is lower image quality compared with DSLR and mirrorless cameras. The pictures taken in low light do not come out great when using GoPro. However, it should not be an issue anyway since quality real.estate photography should be done in natural light. 

Smartphone camera

Advantages of using a smartphone camera for property photography: 

• Always at your hands.
• Advanced cameras with multiple lenses for versatility.
• Built-in HDR and computational photography features.
• Each access to photo editing apps.

However, only some smartphones will allow you to take top-notch photos. Recommended models for quality home images are Samsung s24 Ultra, iPhone 15 Pro, or OnePlus 12. These smartphone cameras have telephoto lenses, wide-angle lenses, and enhanced low-light features that take crisp and detailed images at night or in the dark.

Real Estate Drone Photography

Drone or aerial photography has become a popular type of art widely used for offering “live” visualization of properties. It is used for completed projects and ongoing ones to present different stages of construction.

The main advantage of drones is that they can take pictures from angles that traditional photography does not reach. Utilizing aerial photography, you can showcase the whole property, including parking space, pools, and playgrounds, emphasizing its size and architecture, like roof design, facades, and exterior details. With the help of a drone, you can show landscaping and neighborhood areas, which is especially important for people buying a home. 

And if you want to take your photography to the sky, you need special equipment. The top three drones for aerial photography that come at a fair price and offer all the necessary features are:

1. DJI Mini 4 Pro – a great drone with camera switches for optical portrait mode, 4K 60fps shooting capability, all-round collision sensors, up to 20km (over 12 miles) of theoretical range, top-notch reception in sensible operational distances, and 34 minutes battery life. 
2. HoverAir X1 – a lightweight drone with a convenient folding design that will automatically follow you and take raw photos, yet it can fly for only 11 minutes. 
3. Potensic Atom – is one of the best drones for budget 2024 that features a stable 4K camera, excellent wind resistance, subject tracking, sharp video, and a battery life of 32 minutes. 

When buying a drone for a real estate photoshoot, consider camera quality, stabilization system, flight time, design in terms of size, and app compatibility to share your content easily. 

What Software Should You Install to Deliver the Best Real Estate Photo?

Let us navigate you through three solid software that will allow you to improve the quality and appeal of property images to boost buyers’ interest. This software will do most of the work for you, leaving you more time to take photos than edit them. 

1. Canva

Canva is a beginner-friendly photo app that will significantly suit the editing of real estate images. To get started, create an account and use simple drag-and-drop UI and pre-designed templates to create a professional-looking appeal. Some editing features that Canva offers are color adjusting, filters, cropping, and enhancing the quality of shots. Canva Pro account will enable even more features like graphics, logos, and textures to make your realty photography look professional. Note that Canva supports JPEG files only. 

2. Adobe Photoshop

The famous photo editing app will also work well on property photos. The software offers various design tools, such as advanced editing, retouching, and manipulation. Even though Adobe Photoshop does not increase the resolution of photos, it has techniques for upscaling images without losing the quality. The good thing is that the software accepts JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and RAW formats, giving photographers the flexibility to work on various files. The only thing to consider is the software is quite advanced and needs time and effort to understand its layout. 

3. PicMonkey

The software comes with many creative filters that will allow you to highlight the pros of a property and enhance the overall quality of images. Apart from powerful editing tools, the software allows you to add text and graphic overlays to real estate photos, making them more custom-oriented. The convenient transfer option enables uploading and moving photos from your PC, laptop, or tablet to PicMonkey for editing. To work with high image size, a pro version is required. 

To choose the best software, consider the accepted file formats, editing options, and variety of templates. These features make it easy for a photographer to hand over unique and attractive images of real estate.

How to Work With Lighting?

To deliver clear residential photography, you want to have all the right lighting equipment. Some real estate photographers use external flashes to enhance lighting conditions. The good option is Godox V1, which offers suitable features, including soft natural light, stable color temperature, and a range of color filters. Softboxes can also be handy for creating diffused lights and evenly illuminating rooms.

How to Take Real Estate Photos Using Interior/Exterior Light?

Before taking photos of a property, visit it and define its strong points. Plan the shooting schedule considering the position of the sun. For exterior pictures, the golden hours are the best time to take photos of a property, thanks to the warm and soft light. However, for interior images, choose daylight. 

When you choose to use natural light, you just need to work with your camera. Therefore, the shooting time is minimal. Still, you need to consider using post-processing with the help of the software we provided above. Flash photography gives you more control over lighting conditions and allows you to highlight the selling points of the property. 

Make use of ambient light by positioning yourself near windows and avoiding harsh contrasts. Consider closing blinds or curtains to manage excessive contrast between indoor and outdoor lighting.

Set your camera to manual mode to fully control the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. This will allow you to achieve the desired exposure and minimize noise. But do not neglect editing software to fine-tune your images to perfection. 

Composition In Real Estate Photography

Composition plays an important role in creating attractive real estate photography as it helps to show properties most aesthetically. Aim for balanced compositions to create harmony and visual stability. Ideally, elements should be evenly distributed on either side of the frame.

Use walls and floors to guide the viewer’s eye through the image and draw attention to key points of the property. Try the rule of thirds and position focal elements along the three lines. This tip will help you deliver a more visually appealing composition.

Add depth and perspective to your photography of houses by including foreground, middle ground, and background elements. Use furniture, plants, or architectural details to create an immersive experience.

A great composition is always reached by combining experimenting and rules. Shoot property from different points, angles, and heights until you achieve the most appealing images. 

How to Get Correct Exposure in Real Estate Photography? 

Achieving correct exposure in estate photography includes applying two main techniques:

• HDR blending: capture multiple exposures of the same scene at different brightness levels and blend them using editing software. Professional photographers take 3 to 5 exposures per photo, covering a range of exposure values from underexposed to overexposed. A standard sequence includes exposures at -1.5, 0, and +1.5 EV (Exposure Value) for 3 images or -2, -1, 0, +1, and +2 EV for 5 images. Combining these exposures assists in creating a final image with optimal exposure. This technique will work excellently for achieving a natural look. 

• Flash photography: use artificial lighting sources, like external flashes, to illuminate specific points of a property. Take multiple shots using flash, adjust the position and intensity of the lights to highlight the interior spaces. Directing the flash towards the windows will help to achieve a clean and professional appearance.

Experiment with both techniques and see what pictures get more attention. Note that flash photography requires equipment. Therefore, you will have to spend more money. 

10 Extra Tips For Real Estate Photography

We added a few more tips to help you plan your budget and work on the skills you are missing. 

1. Create a list with your prices and images you are willing to take for a certain type of property. 
2. Choose golden hours to take soft, warm photos.
3. Keep the light off when shooting inside the property. Instead, use daylight for natural photos. 
4. Use a tripod for stability and shooting in low light.
5. Choose a perspective to present the property’s selling point. 
6. Shoot with a 16-35mm zoom lens.
7. Take pictures at chest height.
8. Work together with a talented stager. 
9. Make sure the property is clean.
10. Polish your images using various post-processing software. 

Now you know how to photograph real estate. It is just a matter of time and practice to start delivering visually pleasant pictures. 

Tips on Real Estate Photography Pricing

After reading how much effort goes into creating this type of photo, you must wonder how a real estate photographer defines a rate. Well, to set your price, you need to:

• Understand the home values in your area by researching the types of properties and the demand for professional photography services.
• Consider your equipment costs, transportation, and marketing expenses. Do not forget to include the time you spend editing and refining images. 
• Define what types of photography services you will offer clients. This may include interior and/or exterior shots, aerial photography, and virtual tours. Each service should have a different rate since it requires different equipment, skills, and time to deliver the result.  
• Analyze competitors’ pricing based on their location, experience, and services. 

Following these tips, you will be able to start your own real estate photography business and offer reasonable prices that reflect your experience and skills. 

Where Can I Be Hired as a Real Estate Photographer?

To start your business and advertise yourself as a professional, consider popular freelance services like Fiverr, Upwork, The Creative Loft, and Flexjobs. These platforms offer beginners and professional photographers multiple job opportunities posted by clients daily. After registration, you will be able to bid on projects, submit proposals, showcase your portfolio, discuss job details, and collaborate with clients on real estate photography projects.

Create an account and search for job offers at Indeed, Glassdoor, and Linkedin. All three websites are free job boards that list vacancies with detailed descriptions and approximate salaries. Here, you will be able to search for full-time and part-time vacancies as well as freelance projects. Filters like desired salary, job title, company name, and location will help you find more specific vacancies and apply instantly. 

If you seek job opportunities in real estate photography, register on at least 2 or 3 platforms to increase your chances and compare which websites cater to your requirements more. Not only can you search for vacancies, but meet other professionals and expand your network.

Each day we find something new that deserves our attention and a photograph. As a result, we have thousands of photographs stored in files and folders across devices and cloud-based platforms. But not all of them have the qualities that make a photo shareable. However, most of them have potential. All they need are little enhancements and adjustments to become the perfect social media post or photo print. 

As not all of us are experts in photo editing or have the time and energy to become one, here are the photo editing essentials that anyone can use to enhance a photo.

Can Photos Really Be Enhanced?

The short answer is yes. Most photographs can become better through post-processing. That’s because even the simplest and most basic photo editor can improve a photo’s framing, contrast, exposure, and colors. Check out the following five methods to enhance a photo and build an editing routine by tackling them one after the other.

Method 1: Correct the Composition

Composition refers to all visual elements in the frame and the relationship between them. The subject should be the focal point of the photo. However, the photographer should also consider the quality of the background, secondary subjects, lines, shapes, and colors, and arbitrary elements that happened to get in the frame.

With the help of a photo editor, you can crop a photo and cut out elements at the edge of the frame, cleaning the composition. You can also straighten a tilted horizon or building, change the aspect ratio of the image, and even change the photo’s orientation (cutting a vertical-oriented image from a landscape-oriented one or vice versa).

Resize an image in Mylio

Correcting the composition should be the first step of your editing workflow because it deals with the geometry and structure of the photograph. At this stage, you may want to adjust the composition to match the rules of composition (e.g., the rule of thirds, the golden rule, the rule of space, etc.), make the most of leading lines, zoom in to fill the frame with your subject, and clean the frame of unwanted elements. You may also want to do any rotations or flips you consider necessary.

Filling the frame with the subject

Method 2: Fix Exposure and White Balance

The second step in enhancing your photo is to fix exposure, meaning how bright or dark your photo is. Exposure mistakes are among the most frequent mistakes because most photographers use the Auto Exposure mode. The camera decides on exposure settings based on an algorithm and a metering mode. As a result, especially for scenery with considerable differences between bright and dark areas, the camera may misinterpret the available amount of light and create either too bright (aka overexposed) or dark (aka underexposed) photographs.

The good news is fixing exposure is one of the easiest things to do in a photo editor. Most programs have auto adjustments that take care of exposure. If you go for manual adjustments, most programs offer sliders to make your photo either brighter or darker.

Adjusting exposure

White balance refers to how white are the white areas in your photos. Due to a misinterpretation of available light’s color temperature, cameras may record pure white snow as bluish or a bright white wedding dress as creamy or yellowish. To fix that, you need to modify the white balance. Like with exposure, photo editors provide automatic white balance adjustments or easy-to-use sliders that adjust the color temperature of your photo. 

Adjusting white balance in Mylio

Method 3: Adjust Contrast, Clarity, and Sharpness

Contrast refers to the difference between bright and dark areas. Clarity refers to the quality of details. And sharpness refers to the quality of edges between surfaces. 

Contrast, clarity, and sharpness make your photos look professional. And you don’t have to make much of an adjustment. Fine-tuning here and there produces the best result. Ensure your photos look natural, especially when you photograph people or nature. You don’t want the viewer to know the picture was edited.

Photo editors provide individual sliders for these adjustments, allowing you to make tiny changes. They also show you the result in real-time so you can make an informed decision. When you aren’t sure whether you need to adjust contrast, clarity, or sharpness, start with adjusting contrast. If you still aren’t satisfied with the result, move on to clarity. Leave sharpness adjustments last because they have the most chance of creating artificial-looking photographs.

Adjusting sharpness in Apple Photos

Method 4: Color Corrections

Color corrections are the most fun and creative adjustments. You can start by adjusting the photo’s colors to make them look realistic. However, you can use color adjustments to increase color saturation and make the picture more vivid; to change tones and create an atmosphere; or to remove all colors and produce a black-and-white photograph. It depends on the photograph and your intentions.

For example, you may want to increase the vibrancy and saturation in a photo taken at sunset to recreate the stunning colors of the golden hour. Or you may want to convert the same photograph to a grayscale image to enhance the architectural features and give it a cinematic look.

Color adjustments in Mylio

Photo editors’ features that control colors are Color Balance, Levels, Curves, Tone Mapping, Black and White Conversion, HSL adjustments, and others. Like with exposure and white balance, many editors also have automatic color adjustments that enhance color saturation and vibrancy.

Increasing green vibrancy with GIMP’s Curves tool

Method 5: Retouches and Effects

Enhancing a photo starts with basic adjustments, such as fixing geometry and framing, correcting exposure, improving the contrast and clarity, and fixing color issues. And you follow the same workflow regardless of the photo’s subject. But it always ends with tiny customized retouches and artistic effects.

Adding a bokeh effect

For example, portraits require attention to people’s skin tones, eye color, and hair. They need to flatter your subject. If you took the photograph in a bad lighting or used the flash, your model may end up with red eyes, accentuated skin problems, flyaway hair, or an ill-looking skin tone. You ought to address all these before sharing your photo.

You can deal with these issues individually or using presets. To continue with the portrait example, most photo editors have dedicated features for fixing red eyes, smoothing skin imperfections, and removing flying hair. But you can also use general-purpose tools and adjust the photo locally. However,  if you have many pictures from the same photo setup, you may want to use presets.

Presets are readymade sets of adjustments that provide a particular look and fix certain types of problems. They help you save time and enhance your photos effortlessly. Furthermore, they provide consistency across your photo library and support you in creating a personal style. 

Mylio preset gallery

Free Software to Enhance Your Photos

Now that you know all the amazing adjustments you can make with the help of a photo editor, which photo editor should you use? We focus on free, easy-to-use, easy-to-access software and give you options for every device and system configuration.

Multi-Device Software

If you want software that works equally well on your laptop, tablet, and smartphone, take a look at Mylio. It is a free program designed for photo management and is available for Windows, macOS, iOS/iPadOS, and Android. 

Although Mylio is popular for its cross-device image organizing capabilities, it also includes photo editing features. So you can gather all your photographs from physical devices, cloud-based platforms, and social media accounts and give them a facelift. Mylio features tools for fixing geometry and framing, correcting exposure, brightness, contrast, and clarity, adjusting colors, and applying presets. You can use it to diminish the red-eye effect, reduce noise, add a vignette, or convert your photo to black and white. Mylio also includes batch processing, which means you can apply the same set of adjustments to an entire folder or selection of photos and speed up the editing process.

In addition, if you plan on becoming a professional photographer and moving on to more advanced photo editors, such as Adobe Lightroom, you will be able to access an external editor directly from Mylio. Thus, you’ll have everything in one place, well-organized and taken care of. And you won’t need to learn a new program.

Pros: They are multi-device software for photo management, editing, and other functionalities.

Cons: They require installation and maintenance.

Built-in Software

Built-in software refers to software already installed on your device. And almost all systems come with a pre-installed program or app for viewing and editing photos.

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macOS and iOS/iPadOS systems come with a pre-installed app called Photos:

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Linux systems come with a pre-installed program called GIMP.

Besides the fact that they are free, these programs offer the basic tools to enhance your photos. They also feature graphic design tools, such as drawing tools, and synchronize with your device and other apps. For example, built-in software for mobile devices makes photo sharing very easy. They also connect with other apps, such as iCloud and Google Drive. Built-in software for desktop devices is more complex, supports multiple file formats, and works smoothly with your system’s file management tool. 

Pros: They don’t require installation and match perfectly with your system.

Cons: They aren’t the best photo editors you can find and offer a limited range of presets.

Online Software

Online software refers to browser-based programs. They don’t run on your device but an online platform that stores all your photos, workflow history, and settings. You can upload your images or allow the editor to access your cloud-based storage platforms, such as Google Drive and Dropbox.

Pixlr, Fotor, Canva, Photopea, and BeFunky are among the most popular free online photo editors.

Online photo editors are designed to be quick and efficient. You have access to your account from any device and can edit on the go. At the same time, they target a large and diverse audience, so don’t expect to find dedicated retouches, such as skin enhancement and wrinkle reduction. If you do find them, they may not be free (e.g., most of BeFunky’s portrait retouching features).

Besides basic photo enhancement tools, online photo editors offer libraries of effects and presets, frames, collage templates, graphic elements, writing and drawing tools, and many cool things to beautify your photos. They are user-friendly and have a short learning curve. All you need to do is drag sliders while noticing the effect of your action on the photo.

Pros: They provide access to your editing history from any device and offer many cool effects and styling options.

Cons: Online photo editors don’t always offer all their features for free, and one may be concerned about granting access to your photos to an online entity.

BeFunky smoothing tool

Conclusion

You can enhance your photos with minimum effort by following a simple routine. The key is balance. Don’t edit your photos to the point where everyone can tell they were edited. Keep them natural-looking and realistic. Fix the errors you can fix and be creative and consistent. Most of all, learn from your mistakes and become a better photographer.

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