- Red-Eye Removal
- Spot Fixes
- Remove or Reposition Objects
- Extend and Clean Up Edges
- Compositing
- Final Thoughts
- Links to Apps
Like this article? We recommend
Like this article? We recommend
Like this article? We recommend
Extend and Clean Up Edges
One of the most common photo edits is to recompose an image by cropping its borders. It lets you effectively zoom in on subjects if they were far away from the camera, or reposition them for better composition. Sometimes, though, you don't want to crop the edges in, but rather expand the edges out. For example, when you straighten a photo, the visible area is reduced to ensure that there are no blank areas (Figure 9).
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Figure 9 Straightening in iPhoto demonstrates how the image is cropped.
Handy Photo includes a Magic Crop tool that intelligently fills in those areas so you don't end up zoomed in on your subjects. (Granted, it would have been better to get the shot straight in the first place, but when you're lying on a bed of rocks trying to get two little kids to smile, a level horizon doesn't always happen.)
- Open the image in Handy Photo.
- Tap the Tools menu in the top-right corner of the screen and choose the Magic Crop tool.
- Drag your finger left or right beneath the image to straighten it. When you pause, the app calculates how to fill in the blank areas (Figure 10).
- Click the Apply button (the checkmark) at the bottom of the screen.
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Figure 10 As you straighten in Handy Photo, the empty areas are intelligently filled in.
(Adva Soft also sells a separate app, AntiCrop ($0.99), that does the same thing as the Magic Crop tool in Handy Photo.)
The tool can also be used to extend the edges of a photo, such as when you might want a different aspect ratio, orientation (like switching from landscape to portrait), or if you've created a panorama with uneven edges. As you would guess, some photos are more suited to this treatment than others. Patterns and uncomplicated backgrounds work well; groups of people or portraits (unless you want someone with extra eyes or ears) are not good candidates.