11 Creative Photo Editing Tips That The Pros Use to Stand Out

Picture 1 of 11 Creative Photo Editing Tips That The Pros Use to Stand Out

So, here are 11 creative photo editing tips that you should consider.

1. Crop for Impact

One of the most effective photo editing tips that professionals follow is cropping.

This simple tip does not necessarily mean you should make your picture smaller. The key to cropping is to crop a photo to emphasize a particular part of it.

For example, if you've taken a wide shot but the main action is happening in one corner, cropping will make that corner the focus of your photo and result in a stronger image that stands out.

2. Simplify Your Composition

Professional photographers focus on simplicity.

Overly cluttered photos can confuse viewers, making them unsure of where to focus their attention. Therefore, remove distractions from your photo using tools such as a healing brush to make sure the focus remains on the subject.

3. Use Presets Thoughtfully

Presets are predefined settings in photo editing software. They're incredibly helpful but they do require sensible use.

Professionals never apply presets universally across all their images. Instead, they tailor each preset to suit individual photos. This ensures consistency but avoids over-edited outcomes.

4. Adjust Brightness and Contrast with Care

Achieving the right balance between brightness and contrast plays an essential role in creating dynamic images.

Brightness relates to the overall lightness or darkness of the image. Contrast, on the other hand, manages the difference between the dark and light areas.

Carefully adjusting these fundamentals can transform a flat photo into one that pops.

5. Enhance the Colors

Colors hold emotions. The warmer tones can create feelings of happiness and energy, while cooler tones bring calmness and peace.

So, to help your photos convey these emotions effectively, try boosting or reducing specific color saturation levels as per your choice.

However, avoid taking it to extreme levels as it might make your photos look unnatural.

6. Sharpen Your Images

Professionals use sharpening tools to make their photos stand out by adding crispness to them.

Sharpening emphasizes texture and details but the tool should be used sparingly. Over-sharpening an image may lead to distortions, known as halos, around high-contrast areas.

7. Edit in High Resolution

If you choose to edit in low resolution, you risk introducing digital noise into your images.

By sticking with high-resolution editing from the beginning to the end, you'll retain those fine details that really make a photo shine.

8. Master Background Removal

Understanding how to remove backgrounds from photos is a valuable skill to learn.

The process becomes simpler when you use a professional tool like Picsart's Change Background API. With it, you can make your background change with just a few clicks.

By removing the backdrop of an image, you can focus primarily on your subject.

This tool is particularly helpful for taking product photographs, where you might want to place your object against a plain or different backdrop to make it stand out more.

9. Experiment with Black and White

Color isn't always king. Sometimes, switching to black and white during the editing phase can make an ordinary photo look extraordinary.

It will allow you to play with tones, contrast, and light in a way that you can't always do with color.

Keep in mind that the best black-and-white photos have a wide range of grays and blacks, which give depth to your image.

10. Utilize Layers

Layers are a professional's best-kept secret in photo editing.

Think of layers as sheets of glass stacked on top of each other - you can alter them independently without affecting the others.

This gives you incredible flexibility when editing your images, whether it's adding text and special effects or adjusting color balance and saturation.

Be sure to utilize this feature for more advanced edits.

11. Learn Advanced Retouching

Retouching is an art. It's what makes good photos great.

The process requires patience, a critical eye, and a good level of knowledge.

Professionals spend a lot of time perfecting the skill of retouching. They edit blemishes, enhance lighting, smooth skin textures, and even add creative effects to their photos.

To begin with, try focusing on simple retouching tasks, such as red-eye removal or spot healing, before diving into more complex edits like frequency separation or dodging and burning techniques.

Lesley Montoya

Update 23 August 2023