Digital Image Editing

Enhancement

Image enhancement is typically performed in the following sequence. Each step involves a tool or transformation. The sequence is, of course, not rigid.

Geometrical Adjustment. Adjust the geometry: crop, rotate, correct perspective distortion, and make any other geometrical adjustments.
Spot Removal. Remove scratches and dust specks using the Clone or Speck Removal tools.
Tonal Adjustment. Adjust the overall brightness and contrast followed by gamma correction for midtone adjustment. A huge arsenal of transformations is available for this purpose.
Color Adjustment. Adjust color tint, and color saturation of the image as a whole then if necessary, create masks and adjust portions of the image.
Local Adjustment. Adjust portions of the image to bring them into balance with the image as a whole. This typically involves the use of masks and may be facilitated by sophisticated techniques such as contrast masking.
Sharpening. Sharpen the image with Unsharp Masking. If necessary, use a mask to avoid oversharpening smooth areas like skies.

Image Editors

Entry-level

Roxio PhotoSuite competes with Microsoft Picture It! in the entry-level market but has a broader range of features and is easier to use. A popular feature of the Platinum Edition is the PhotoTapestry function that lets users build a mosaic with tiles drawn from a collection of images.

Mid-range

Adobe Photoshop Elements has several features of the leading professional image editor, Photoshop, but lacks a curve manipulation tool for precise grayscale editing and color correction. Elements has a batch image processing utility that can be used to convert file types and sizes, e.g. TIF to JPG.