Sharing special moments on social media is important for professional and personal blogs alike. You might be capturing a beautiful sunset, a fun day with friends, or a cute selfie. But sometimes, our pictures don’t turn out exactly how we hoped. There’s no need to worry, though. Editing your photos can make a world of difference, and it’s easier than you think.
Below, you’ll find 7 tips that will help you edit scroll-stopping photos for your social media. Let’s take a look at them right now.
1. Retouch Portraits & Selfies
Natural beauty is the trend now. However, cleaning up the pictures won’t do any harm. For example, you can use this free portrait photo editor to remove skin imperfections, make your teeth whiter, or give the eyes a clearer look. Sometimes facial features look different in photos, especially in selfies. But you can easily fix them: plump the lips, change the face width, make the nose look smaller, etc. It also lets you apply digital makeup, tweak the skin tone, and enhance the overall quality of your shots.
2. Fix the Composition
You’ve probably taken a photo that looked great but just felt a bit “off.” Maybe your friend’s head got cut off, or there’s too much empty space around you. This is where composition comes in. Composition is all about how things are arranged in your photo.
One useful tip is to think about the “rule of thirds.” Picture your photo divided into nine equal squares, like a tic-tac-toe board. The idea is to place your subject along these lines or at their intersections. This can make your photo feel more balanced and interesting.
If there’s too much empty space, don’t hesitate to crop it out! Cropping is simply cutting away parts of the image that you don’t want. This helps focus on what really matters in the photo. Play around with different cropping options until you find the one that feels just right.
3. Adjust Exposure
Exposure refers to how light or dark your photo looks. Sometimes, we take a picture that turns out too bright or too dark. Adjusting exposure is a way to fix it!
Most editing apps have a slider for exposure. If your photo is too bright, slide it down a bit to darken the image. If it’s too dark, slide it up to let in more light. Many apps also offer a photo blur feature to soften backgrounds or highlight key subjects, along with photo filters to enhance colours and mood. It’s all about finding that perfect balance!
When adjusting exposure, keep an eye on the highlights and shadows. You want to see the details in both parts of the photo. If you make it too bright, you might lose some of those important details.
4. Correct Colors
You can adjust colors in two main ways: saturation and vibrance. Saturation makes all the colors in your photo more intense, which can sometimes go overboard. Vibrance, on the other hand, boosts the less vibrant colors without making the bright ones too much.
You should also colorize a black and white photo if you’re going to post an old family picture. By adding color to it, you’ll make the photo more eye-catching, but it will still have its vintage charm.
5. Set the Right Resolution
Resolution is important because it affects how clear your photo looks. A higher resolution means more detail, while a lower resolution can make your image appear blurry. When editing for social media, it’s essential to set the right resolution for the platform you’re using.
Most social media sites have recommendations for resolution. For instance, Instagram often works well with photos that are 1080 pixels wide. If you’re unsure, just check the help section of the platform for their guidelines.
6. Remove Distractions
Sometimes, our photos have little things in the background that we don’t want. These distractions can take attention away from the main subject. Luckily, many editing tools have features to help you remove these unwanted elements.
If there’s an object or a person in the background that you’d like to get rid of, you can use a cloning tool or healing brush. This allows you to select the area you want to remove and replace it with pixels from another part of the photo. It’s like a little magic trick!
Another way to reduce distractions is to blur the background. This technique is often used in portraits. By blurring the background, your subject stands out more. It gives your photo a professional touch without a lot of effort.
7. Save It in PNG or JPEG
After spending time editing your photo, the last step is to save it. The format you choose matters! JPEG is a popular choice for social media photos because it keeps the file size manageable while maintaining good quality. If you’re starting with a different format, you can easily convert PNG to JPG to make your images more web-friendly and compatible with most platforms.
On the flip side, PNG files are great for images with text or graphics because they support transparency. If you’ve added text to your photo, saving it as a PNG will ensure that the text stays sharp and clear.
Make sure to save your edited images in a spot where you can easily find them later. You might even want to create a special folder just for your social media photos. This way, you can quickly access them when you’re ready to share your beautiful creations.
Summary
There were 7 tips to prepare your pictures for social media. Now, select a few stunning photos from your gallery and perfect them to leave everyone in awe.