How do you edit pictures?

How to edit pictures on the computer?

• I want to learn how to edit pictures. People always have cool black and white pictures, or certain things in pictures color, and the rest black and white. I was wondering how you do that.Is there a website that I could do that on? I want to try my hardest not to have to download anything, or buy anything.

• Answer:

  It is actually called Selective (or partial) desaturation (by the way, it is NOT colourizing or colouring as some people call it - that is a totally different technique used on b&w images). For Photoshop, Elements and Gimp: 1. Duplicate your background layer. 2. Desaturate that layer (i.e. make it b&w). 3. Apply a layer mask to the layer. 4. Use the black brush to paint on the layer mask (make sure that is where you are, not on the image itself). That will bring the colour back to those areas. If you make a mistake, change the brush to white and go over it. Using a masking technique is best because you can keep adjusting it and fixing mistakes, which can't be done easily with other methods such as the eraser. 5. When you're happy, flatten and save. If you don't have any image editors, you can do it for free on www.pixlr.com , as well several others. Pixlr.com's editor section works in a rather similar way to Photoshop etc, they just have different colours for the layer masks and use the eraser tool with it - takes a bit of getting used to when you normally use Photoshop. However, if you're new to it, it won't matter to you. Make sure to still work on a layer copy not on the only (background) layer. Here is how to do it on Photobucket ( no need for me to type it out - see how useful help files can be?) http://pic.pbsrc.com/help/PhotobucketHelp.htm Don't bother looking for a camera that takes "colour splash" photos - that function only works some of the time, and it means you don't get to keep your original in its full glory. If you happen to take a truly fantastic photo whilst on that setting, you'd be kicking yourself that you only have a copy with weird colouring instead of a proper one. P.S. This is a VERY common question. A quick search on Yahoo Answers would have brought up countless responses. Look/scroll up right now - see the white box right next to "Search for questions:" - that's the search box. Also, be aware that this is a terribly overdone technique, usually done in a very tacky way. However, I do understand that to YOU it is new and exciting, and you need to get that phase out of your system. Enjoy :-)