How to Fix Pictures on Picasa

It is quite ordinary to find areas in digital photos that need retouching. For example, red eye frequently occurs in indoor pictures. Even when you have the perfect photo, you may still wish to crop it to a standard size for printing and framing. Google's Picasa software comes with a selection of tools designed to help nonexpert users perform quick fixes for these and more. Don't forget to make backups of your photos before you edit them.

Instructions

General Fixes

1. Launch Picasa. On the left pane, click one of the three collections that you want to search. Photos are organized in groups of folders, albums and people.

2. Click a folder, album or tag to display its contents on the right. When you see the photo you want to fix in Picasa, double-click the photo or click it once and press "Ctrl" and "3" to open the Picasa editor.

3. Look on the toolbar on the left. You see three tabs named "Basic Fixes," "Tuning" and "Effects." Click the tab you want to use. By default, Picasa displays "Basic Fixes."

4. Click any of the items on "Basic Fixes" for common retouching jobs, such as red eye removal and cropping. You may need to click and drag with the mouse button or drag a slider, and then apply the changes.

5. Click "Tuning" to adjust the brightness and color balance of the photo. Click and drag the slider to the left or right to increase or decrease the color temperature, highlights and shadows of the image.

6. Click "Effects" and select a filter to apply. You can choose sepia, black and white, gradient, soft focus and other common filters. Click and drag the slider to adjust before you click "Apply." Or click "Cancel" if you do not like it.

Cropping

1. Click "Crop" on the "Basic Fixes" tab.

2. Choose a cropping ratio from the drop-down list. You can select either a standard size, such as "8 x 10," "4 x 6" or "5 x 7," or "Manual" to set your own dimensions later. When you select a size, choose a suggested crop below it by clicking the suggestion's thumbnail.

3. Click and drag the cropping box if you want to adjust it. You can drag it by its sides, corners or anywhere inside the cropping box. If you chose a standard size, such as 5-by-7, the box retains its original proportions even when you resize it.

4. Click "Preview" to see how the crop would look. Click "Apply" if you like it, or click "Cancel."

Fixing Red Eye

1. Click "Red Eye" on the "Basic Fixes" tab. Picasa usually detects the eyes in the photo and fixes the red eyes.

2. Click and drag over an eye in the photo that Picasa may have missed.

3. Click "Apply" to save the changes, or click "Cancel" to discard the changes.

Retouching

1. Click "Retouch" in "Basic Fixes."

2. Drag the Brush Size slider to increase or decrease the retouch brush size. Use a big brush for larger areas and a small brush for tiny blemishes.

3. Click and carefully pass the mouse over the blemished areas.

4. Click "Apply."

References

• Picasa: Getting Started Guide -- Organize Your Photos

Resources

• Picasa: Getting Started Guide -- Welcome