Photo Editing Tips and Tricks

PHOTOSHOP: RESIZING Generally, I would always resize a picture before uploading it online. I usually go with 600px on the longest side of the image. That way it's big enough to see (most) details, but it's small enough to be really used in any way without losing a trememdous amount of quality.
In Photoshop, go to "Image" > "Image Size..." > choose a new width and height. At the bottom of the window you will find "Resample Image" - from the dropdown menu choose "Bilinear".

*PHOTOSHOP: VINTAGE SOFTNESS On top of your background layer, add a new layer and fill it with a nice dark navy color (e.g. #060A3D). Set this layer to "Exclusion".

*PHOTOSHOP: QUICK CONTRAST Duplicate your background layer. Set the top layer to "Soft Light" or "Hard Light" - whichever looks better.

PHOTOSHOP: BLACK&WHITE CONVERSION At the bottom of the Layers window you will find a little button that looks like a yin-yang sign with a tiny little arrow next to it. Click that and select "Channel Mixer...". In the pop-up, tick the Monochrome box. Then change the Red slider to 0% and the Green slider to 100%. This will give you the best and most natural looking black&white look true to the original colors of the image.

PHOTOSHOP: SHARPENING Duplicate your background layer. Go to "Filter" > "Other" > "High Pass...". Choose a radius between around 4 and 10. Click OK. Then set this layer to either "Overlay" or "Soft Light".


Tips with a * should work for other programs as well.

More to come! Please share your own tips and tricks (no matter how simple or difficult) in a comment or note. I will add them and eventually post a giant huge article Please also mention the program you use.