Step 6: Cosmetic Improvements
After all repairs have been made, you may discover other flaws that need retouching. This can include removing distracting elements, revealing obscured objects, smoothing skin tone, reducing red eye, removing wrinkles and blemishes, perhaps even replacing entire objects.•Improve Your Image
•Removing Red Eye from Digital Photos
•Photoshop Retouching Techniques
•Paint Shop Pro Retouching Techniques
•Corel Photo-Paint Photo Fixes
•Ulead PhotoImpact Photo Fixes
Step 7: Save Your Working File
Now is a good time to do a final save of your corrected, restored, and retouched photo. If you will be using the image in another project you can come back to this file at a later time. The following steps are specific to the requirements of final output and will be saved under a new file name in step 10.Step 8: Resize or Resample
Chances are, your image won't be the ideal size for your final output. You'll need to use your software's resize or resample command to adjust the size and resolution. If it's going to be printed, you'll need to set the resolution somewhere between 150-300 ppi and enter the desired print dimensions. If your image is intended for the Web or multimedia, you should use a resolution of 72 ppi and enter the desired pixel dimensions.•Image Size & Resolution
•How do I change the print size of a digital photo?
•How do I reduce the size of photos for online use?
Step 9: Unsharp Mask
Many times, as you adjust the size of an image it will need to be resampled. Resampling always results in some softness or blurriness. In addition, rotating and retouching can soften the image. Therefore, you always want to apply Unsharp Mask as the last step before saving for final output. This filter is standard in most image editors and produces better results than the simpler Sharpen command. When sharpening, be sure to view your image at 100% magnification or actual pixels. Other magnifications will not give you an accurate preview.•Sharpening Photos & Using Unsharp Mask
•Photoshop Sharpening Tools
Step 10: Save a Copy for Final Output
At this point you are ready to save a copy of your file in the format required for final output. For photos you'll be posting on the Web or sending by email, you will probably want to use JPEG format. For photos being used in a printed project, TIFF is commonly used. If storage space is a concern, you can use a high-quality JPEG for a much smaller file size than TIFF. For images intended for multimedia or other types of screen display, you may need GIF or PNG, although TIFF and JPEG may also be used.•Graphics File Formats
•Which Graphics File Format Is Best To Use When?
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