Are you ever disappointed with the quality of the pictures coming out of your digital camera? Maybe they're a little too dark or have a strange color tinge to them. Maybe your camera's flash left demonic-looking red-eyes on your loved ones. The reality is that most photos can use a little help to reach their full potential. Using any of the better photo editing software available, these changes can be quick and easy. This article explains some of the most common fixes you'll want for your digital photos.

Photo Editing Software

We live in a glorious age for photography. In the past, when photography was limited to film, there was very little you could do with a picture once your camera exposed the shot. Yes, there were some neat tricks that could be done in a darkroom, but most casual shooters didn't have the time or the inclination to mess with developing their own pictures. The majority of us just lived with whatever came out of our cameras.

Today, that model has completely changed thanks to digital cameras and a plethora of high quality, easy-to-use photo editing software programs. These tools give you tremendous creative control and are an essential part of the photographic process. If you want the highest-quality pictures, you should think of photography as a two part process. Taking the picture is step one. Post-processing the picture in a photo editor is step two.

So what are the best photo editing programs available today? At the high end, Adobe's Photoshop software is the gold standard, used by professional photographers and advanced amateurs alike. It is extremely powerful, but it's also hugely expensive, quite complicated to learn, and is probably overkill for many common photo enhancements. As an alternative for casual photographers, Adobe does make a stripped down version, called Photoshop Elements. Elements is less expensive, easier for casual users to learn, and can handle most basic photo fixes.

Another option for photo editors may be on the software that came with your camera. The majority of digital cameras ship with some kind of basic photo editing software. These programs are often a little clunkier than the commercial editing programs like Photoshop, but most of them get the job done. Your computer may also have come with basic photo editors installed, like Windows Vista Photo Gallery.

These are all perfectly viable options for photo editors. I would, however, like to draw your attention to one particular editor: Google's "Picasa" software. Picasa is a very well-built photo editor that Google offers free to anyone who wants it. If you're interested, here's the link to download Picasa. The tips I'm offering in this article will be applicable regardless of which editing software you choose to use. I will, however, be offering some Picasa-specific instructions with each tip, because I personally like Picasa. And did I mention that it's FREE?

Getting Started

So once you've selected some photo editing software, you're ready to start fixing those pictures. Before we get into specific fixes, I'd like to toss out a couple quick tips to save you from disaster and heartache. First, DO copy your picture files to your hard drive. DO NOT edit files directly on a memory card or, heaven forbid, directly on your camera. Second, DO keep copies of your original files before you edit them. You can do this by making a copy before you begin editing or by using your editor's "Save As" function to save your changed picture as a new file. Having these originals stored safely will give you the freedom to experiment and play in the editor, knowing you can always just start over with the original picture if you don't like the changes.

Also, one note of clarification before we get to it. When I offer Picasa-specific how-to advice in this article, I'll often refer to the "Picasa Editing Window". Picasa has two primary windows. The first window is the browser window that contains thumbnail-size images of all the pictures in your library. The browser window opens by default when you start Picasa. To actually edit a picture, you need to double-click on one of the pictures in the browser window to open up the editing window. All the fixes I'll be discussing take place in that second window, the editor.

With those tips in mind, let's cover the 6 most common photo fixes you'll need.

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