6. Touchup and Enhancement
Photos that are scanned or come from a PhotoCD or digital camera can
suffer from both aesthetic and processing defects. These defects can
be due to problems of contrast, color casts, color saturation, tonal
range, blur, scratches, and so on. Furthermore, most photos, no
matter how carefully composed, typically need some enhancement to
achieve their full potential. Ansel Adams, one of
America's most renown photographers, spent as much time in the
darkroom enhancing his negatives and prints as he did in composing and
taking his shots. Adams' books on working with the negative and the
print are classics in photography [7], [8].
Photo touchup and enhancement is part science and part art, and the
GIMP is an excellent tool for these on both counts. This chapter
describes the main ideas for aesthetically improving photos and
explains how to use the GIMP to achieve terrific results. Following
are the topics addressed in this chapter:
- Improving tonal range.
- Removing color casts
- Repairing blemishes
- Sharpening
Each of these subjects is described in detail in the following
sections, and a case study is presented at the end of the chapter.
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