5 Free Online Photo Editing Tools : No Desktop Installation Required

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/free-photo-editing-online-pictures,review-1731.html

Table of contents

• 1. No Desktop Installation Required
• 2. FotoFlexer
• 3. Pixlr
• 4. Phixr

• 5. iPiccy
• 6. Lunapic

Free Tools to Edit Product Shots for Your Online Store

http://www.ecommerce-guide.com//article.php/3939786

 — eCommerce-Guide.com

By Vangie Beal

January 25, 2012

If you own an online store, it's a good practice to ensure you offer shoppers clear and professional-lookingproduct images. The images you use in your store will rouse consumer interest in your products. A plain or poor-quality digital photo of the item you sell is just not enough to inspire a purchase.  
Online store owners and eBay sellers working with a limited budget can skip the cost of purchasing commercial image editing software and use free Web-based or open source tools to perk up product shots.

5 Free Image Tools for Online Store Owners

There are a number of basic functions that you will want to use to fix up product shots, so even if the editor is free, save time by making sure the basic options are available. Look for crop, rotate and brushes. And be sure it includes a text editor in case you need to add a copyright tag or caption directly on to the image. Remember that using too many special image effects will make your product shot look fake, so stick with the tools that enhance the natural look of the product in your online store.
Here are five free image editors to get you started.

1. GIMP:  The GNU Image Manipulation Program

GIMP is one of the most well-known an open source image editors. It comes complete with layering, brushes, lighting and more features that let you add a cutting-edge look to your images.  Online store owners will want to work with some of the tools for rotation, cropping and text.
If you need help using GIMP, a simple Google search will yield a number of articles on how to effectively use some of the tools in the program. More advanced users can download additional scripts and brushes.

• Main features:  .gif animation capabilities, brushes, layering with blend modes, filtering and color effects, transformation tools, a text editor and photo creation capabilities.
• Cost: GIMP is open source software (so it's free) and available for Windows, Mac, Linux and UNIX systems.

2. Pixlr:  Web-Based Image Editing with Drop-Down Menus

Pixlr is a Web-based image editing program that can help online store owners make images and product shots look snazzy and appealing to your site viewers and customers.  The image editor features movable (and scalable) windows for editing, drop-down menus to use effects, filters, brushes and other image editing tools. Pixlr offers an easy-to-use text editor, so you can add slogans and catchy phrases to your images and Web advertisements.
Since Pixlr is a Web-based image editing tool, you don't have to download or install anything. You simply load it into your Web browser.

• Main features: easy drop-down menus, filters and effects, brushes, transformations, text editor and no downloading because it's Web-based. 
• Cost: Pixlr is free -- no credit cards, accounts, or trials. It's available on all operating systems with an up-to-date Web browser. It also works with Android and Apple iOS devices.

3. Splashup: Free Web Editing with Social Sharing

Splashup is another Web-based image editor that can be used in conjunction with popular photo sharing services like Facebook and Flickr. This social integration allows Web shop owners to access photos directly and not have to download them to a hard drive, edit, then upload them.
Splashup offers a number of features including layers with blending modes and numerous effects and filters to spice-up your product shots and other business images.

• Main Features: integrated photo sharing, layering with blend modes, filters and effects, text editor, edit photos directly off of a webcam, and it's Web-based.
• Cost: Splashup is completely free, and requires no credit cards or accounts; you just open the Web page and edit your photos. It works on any operating system with an up-to-date Web browser.

4. Picasa: Organize, Store and Edit Images

Picasa is a free program offered by Google that lets you host, organize and edit all images on your computer. It's pretty simple: after you install Picasa, it searches for all images on your hard drives. Once it has indexed them, it stores them in a library for easy access.  Features include basic image fixes, such as color and contrast, and you can crop, rotate and add text. There are several effects and filters you can use to turn plain images in to showcase quality.
Picasa is a basic program, but it's user-friendly and meets the needs of most online store owners who need to liven up a few product images.

• Main Features: create a photo library to index your images, includes all basic editing tools, filters and effects and a text editor.
• Cost:  Picasa is completely free to download and use. It works on Windows, Mac and Linux systems.

5. Fotoflexer: A Web-Based Tool with a Simple Interface

Fotoflexer is another Web-based image editor that offers a decent number of features and a simple interface that makes editing images a painless task.  Fotoflexer integrates with images and photos on a number of popular social sites including Facebook, MySpace, Flickr and Photobucket. The Web tool offers most of the basic image editing tools such as crop, resize, rotate and text editing. Online store owners can also add image effects and filters to give product shots a unique look.

• Main Features: integrated photo sharing, all basic photo editing tools, text editor, effects and filters, and it's Web-based.
• Cost:  Fotoflexer is completely free, and works with any operating system with an up-to-date browser, since it is Web-based.

More Online Store Product Page Tips

Looking to get a better handle on improving your online store? Try these tips and guides for small business ecommerce sites:

• E-commerce Content: Writing Product Descriptions
• Product Shots that Pop: It's Not About the Pixels
• Prepping Product Shots for Web Shops
• Ecommerce Website Design Tips: The Product Page

Based in Nova Scotia, Canada, Vangie Beal has spent the last decade contributing featured articles and reviews to more than 20 technology-focused publications, including Webopedia and Ecommerce-Guide. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG

10 Creative and Easy Photography Projects

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/photography-projects-holiday-photos,review-1714.html

Table of contents

• 1. Experiment with photography during the holidays
• 2. Time-Lapsed Videos
• 3. Daily Self-Portrait
• 4. 365 Days
• 5. Better Phone Photos
• 6. Wireless Sharing

• 7. "Vintage" Pics
• 8. Geotagging
• 9. Re-Staging Memorable Shots
• 10. 3D cameras
• 11. Pretend You're Using Film

Creating realistic HDRs

http://www.pixiq.com/article/creating-realistic-hdrs

 | Pixiq

Multiple exposures is what can help in such situations: I usually take multiple exposures shifting 2Ev step for each, capturing the darkest areas (going + on Ev compensation) to a brightest ( + Ev compensation). Then the sequence of the image can be combined into a single file using special software like Photomatix or a "regular" Photoshop CS will do a job.

Few words about how I shoot HDR:

In most cases I shoot in manual mode, this allows me to do as many Ev bracketing shots as needed: 3, 5 or even 7. What I am getting is a ultra wide dynamic range of 14Ev or more.

An example of such 14Ev DR shot is below. Deep shadows and bright noon sun required such wide DR to get the image I like: 

14Ev, 7 RAW exposures HDR. Canon 14mm F2.8L lens

How To: HDR (High Dynamic Range) Photography

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-hdr-photography?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DigitalPhotographySchool+%28Digital+Photography+School%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

by Darren Rowse

HDR Photography has been around since the days of film, but has become extremely popular in recent years. High Dynamic Range, or HDR, is essentially a way of processing photos that allows for a wider and deeper range of colors. This type of processing makes an image appear much closer to what the human eye sees as opposed to what your camera's sensor allows. In example, the photograph above shows the natural rich colors of the building as well as the natural rich colors of the sky. Without HDR, the sky could either be well exposed and the building silhouetted, or the building well exposed and the sky blown out. Creating an HDR photo however will allows both elements to appear natural and rich in color.

One method of making an HDR photograph is to combine multiple images with different exposures together. This tutorial will explain how this photo was created and in using the same process, how you can create your own HDR photos.

Step 1. Bracketing Your Subject

Bracketing is done when several shots of the same subject are taken with varying exposures. This can be used for almost any occasion or type of photography and is a good way to ensure that you've gotten the shot you wanted when you sit down to edit. For example, you will set your camera on a tripod and take one shot at 1/200 another at 1/400 and another at 1/80. Now you have 3 different shots of the same image, but each shot will have a different exposure. Each setting and subject will vary obviously when it comes to bracketing, but many cameras have a built in bracketing feature that will do the work for you.

For this photo there are only two key elements, the building and the sky. So the first shot that will be taken will be to get a proper exposure of the sky:

As was mentioned above, the sky is well exposed but the building is silhouetted. This was taken with a faster exposure to ensure the colors of the sky would be rich and deep as opposed to blown out.

Now the second shot will be taken to get a proper exposure of the building:

The building is well exposed in this shot, but again, the sky is blown out. This was taken at a slower shutter speed in order to reduce the silhouette effect the bright sky gives.

Now that we have our two images, we will combine them to get the best of both.

Step 2. Combing the Photos

Photoshop is a great tool to use in HDR photography because it is fairly easy to combine photos. So let's bring both images into Photoshop.

The photo with the correct exposure for the building (left) will be moved on top of the photo with the correct exposure for the sky (right).

Now that the photos are layered on top of each other we will combine the two. Our top layer has a well-exposed building and a blown out sky, so let's remove the sky of this image. In order to remove the sky we will first select the top layer, and then choose the magnetic lasso tool. With the magnetic lasso tool we will select the entire sky. This is where an ok HDR photo can turn into an awesome HDR photo. The more time you put into being exact and making sure that you don't miss any pieces, the better and more natural your photo will look.

Then we simply hit the delete key and viola! Our well exposed sky replaces the blown out sky.

The photo is then put into Lightroom and edited a bit more…

HDR photography can have some amazing results if done correctly. The key is to not go to the extreme and combine dozens of photos leaving every pixel of the photo well exposed. Leave room for natural shadows and use moderation when combining images.

Nicholas Moeggenberg is a photographer from Cincinnati, OH and runs the photography contest – May the Best Photo Win.

Read more: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-hdr-photography#ixzz1WLob1Oej

Panoramio Groups: Google's Location-Powered Photo Network

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/panoramio_groups_googles_location-powered_photo_ne.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+readwriteweb+%28ReadWriteWeb%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

Google's photo services regained prominence this year when Google Plus rolled in Picasa as the natural choice for hosting photos shared on the social network. But Panoramio, Google's less well-known photo service based on location data, is making moves as well.

Google has just announced Panoramio Groups for sharing photos with likeminded people. There's a directory for existing groups, and anybody can create a new one. Groups are a fundamental building block of a social network, and Panoramio has joined that club.

Panoramio is a photo-sharing network built around a different purpose than the rest. It's held together by meticulous tagging and location data, making it thoroughly searchable, and it revolves around the notions of places and exploration, rather than just the capturing of moments. It has the kinds of data that let Google implement it in Google Maps and Google Earth as a layer, and its users contribute to the photo mosaics in Street View.

We've covered Panoramio as competition for Photosynth, Microsoft's effort to stitch together photos into 3D places and build them into Bing Maps. Panoramio's role in Google Maps and Google Earth is one of providing personal color and context to a place. This is a rather different kind of photo sharing than the kind that organizes snapshots into galleries. Some new apps, such as Trover, take this same approach to photos as ways of exploring places. Panoramio's groups will bring an element of collaboration to the adventure.

A storm is brewing in the photo-sharing space. The flurry of mobile photo-sharing apps is one thing, but the very social networks where we host and display our images are in flux. Photographers are pronouncing the death of Flickr, Facebook is changing its long-held policy of opt-out photo tagging, and Google Plus has saved Picasa with its instant uploading and unlimited storage. Even Twitter is adding photo galleries, and while they're not Flickr-style, full-featured works of art, they're great for the kinds of informal moments that get tweeted.

These services are beginning to distinguish themselves from one another. A photo gallery with comments is a kind of Web experience we're all used to by now. In response, the major photo services are either adding distinguishing features or they're stagnating. Panoramio had its distinguishing feature first, though, and it's only now beginning to build a social layer on top of it.

60 Google+ Photographers to Inspire You

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/60-google-photographers-to-inspire-you?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DigitalPhotographySchool+%28Digital+Photography+School%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

by Jim Goldstein

One thing that photographers can always benefit from is inspiration, and what better way to find inspiration than to see what other photographers are doing. In the not so distant past I used to find inspiration looking in the photography section of local bookstores or magazine racks, but now the work of tens of thousands of photographers are with in reach to see with a simple mouse click.

Google+ has proven to be an incredible fountain of inspiration as photographers from around the world have been making good use of the service. Google+ not only makes finding photographers easy through recommendations of others,  it makes for a great photography viewing experience. Compiled in this list are professional and amateurs photographers alike, many of which were brought to my attention by the thriving community of photographers on Google+.

Here are 50 photographers to inspire you and if you'd like connect with me on Google+ here (editors note: connect with dPS founder, Darren Rowse here). Enjoy!

1. Seung Kye Lee (fine art nature)
2. Léon Leijdekkers (fine art B&W)
3. Guy Tal (fine art landscape)
4. John Paul Caponigro (fine art)
5. Tony Rath (underwater)
6. Ryan Doco Connors (portraiture)
7. William Burrard-Lucas (wildlife)
8. Olivier Du Tré (fine art nature)
9. Aaron Feinberg (fine art)
10. Ed Leveckis (fine art & portraiture)
11. Philippe Sainte-Laudy (fine art & nature)
12. David Sanger (travel)
13. Ron Niebrugge (wildlife & travel)
14. Michael McAreavy (landscape)
15. Craig Ferguson (travel & environment)
16. Gary Crabbe (travel)
17. QT Luong (nature & travel)
18. Jim Patterson (underwater & nature)
19. Jessy Eykendorp (nature)
20. G Dan Mitchell (landscape & nature)
21. Mike Cavaroc (nature & wildlife)
22. Dan Heller (travel)
23. Patrick Di Fruscia (fine art landscape)
24. Trey Ratcliff (travel & hdr)
25. Patrick Smith
26. Brian Matiash (urban & street)
27. Manuel Guerzoni (street)
28. Neil McShane (Fine Art B&W)
29. Jay Patel (landscape)
30. Varina Patel (landscape)
31. Peter West Carey (travel)
32. Matt Suess (fine art & hdr)
33. Marsel van Oosten (wildlife)
34. Ben Locke (fine art)
35. Rebecca Jackrel (wildlife)
36. Michael Kern (wildlife)
37. Inge Fernau (nature)
38. Dixon Hamby (iphoneography)
39. Richard Wong (travel & landscape)
40. Matt Weber (street)
41. Agustin Rafael Reyes (travel)
42. Helen Sotiriadis (various)
43. Pierre Beteille (photo art)
44. Ryan Brenizer (wedding)
45. Sarah R. Bloom (fine art)
46. Daniel Sroka (fine art)
47. Greg Schmigel (street)
48. Star Rush (iphoneography)
49. Chun Tong Chung (street)
50. Mike Moats (macro)
51. Ben Fullerton (adventure)
52. David La Spina (travel)
53. Vincent Favre (nature)
54. Mihailo Radi?evi? (street)
55. J A Mortram (environment & social documentary)
56. David English (street)
57. Laura C. Williams (wildlife)
58. Victor Lacken (HDR)
59. Patricia Gil Mayoral (landscape B&W)
60. Kalle Björklid (music)

Bonus: For more great photography insights to other great talent follow…

1. Miki Johnson
2. Andy Adams

Lastly you can fine me Jim Goldstein on Google+ as well as Darren Rowse of course.

This is but the tip of the iceberg there were numerous other photographers worthy of note, but they've not yet added many photos to their albums. Stay tuned there will no doubt be more photographers to recommend as Google+ opens to more people in the coming weeks.

Read more: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/60-google-photographers-to-inspire-you#ixzz1TzINyv9A