Editing a photo to enhance the details

I found a pretty nice photo editor that I use consistently. For a while I used Pixelmator and GIMP to prep my photo for Inkscape. But if you're like me and don't want to spend a lot of time messing around, searching through menus looking for the right filter and tweaking the photo over and over again, then you might want to try Pro Editor with Toolwiz Photos.

I was quite amazed at the amount of filters, tools and options. I thought about doing a tutorial for the apps I use but there are so many out there that are that are excellent for learning the ins and outs of the software. Instead, I'll try and share what I'm aiming for when I edit a photo.

Since every photo is different, each one will need different filters and effects. I took out the background with Background Eraser, another photo editor on my Android.

I started with the Enhance selection and chose Smart HDR. Within this tool there are thirteen filter to choose from. What I'm aiming for is a soft yet crisp image with defined features because I'm simplifying the photo down to four or five distinct layers.

Next go to the Photography selection and choose the Blur tool. Click Median and slide your finger across the photo to change the amount of blur. This photo didn't get a lot of blur but it's enough to take out a lot of the noise.

It's still not perfect yet. but it's getting there. Next it goes to the Filter tool. The filters are useful. There are different themes to choose from and some of the filters are repeated within different filter options. And you can find many of the most used filters in Fast Filter option.

I chose Brannan to bring out the details a little better while keeping the softness of the median blur.

Finally it goes into the Toning tool where you'll select Posterize. Again, the sliding tool adjusts how many layers it''ll have. I usually settle on seven or eight to start with but eventually it's reduced to four.

This photo shows the difference between posterizing the original photo vs the filtered photo. When I take it into Inkscape, you'll see why it matters.
I'll share that in the next post.