Get a Flickr account. 

• The first tool we'll look at is Flickr.  Flickr is an online photo storage, organizing, and sharing tool, and it offers a free editing program (PicNik) as well.  First, you'll need a Flickr account.  If you don't already have one, this is a very useful thing in itself, as you can store large numbers of photos online with it.  Start by going to
  www.flickr.com.

  Flickr is an online photo sharing and storage service.  Free accounts get unlimited space, but can only upload 100 megabytes per month.  There are other limitations on free accounts; see the Flickr FAQ for details. A Flickr PRO account costs $25 a year and gives you unlimited uploads, plus some other perks.  See the FAQ again.

   

• Flickr is a Yahoo application, so you'll be prompted to sign in to your Yahoo account.  If you have one, go ahead and sign in.  If not, click where it says "sign up," and follow the instructions to create an account.  Make a note of the username and password you choose, as these will be your username and password for Flickr as well.

• Once you've made an account, you'll be prompted to continue on to Flickr.

• You'll need to upload some photos.  I've provided a few photos for you to use in a set in a Flickr account. To start with, go to my account and click on the dorky picture of me.
  
     Top

Download a photo from Flickr.

• You have a couple of options in Flickr when you want to download a photo from someone's public account.  You can just right-click on the picture and save it to the desktop of your computer, as you would with any web picture. 

• You can also click on "all sizes" above the photo.  When you do that, you'll get a list of sizes across the top, as well as a link that says "download the large size".  Click on that link, and you should be able to download the picture that way. 

• Save it to the desktop so you can find it easily later.

• Do this for all of the pics in my account.
  Top

Upload a photo to Flickr.

• Now, go back to your Flickr account.  You can browse to www.flickr.com, or if you're still logged in, just click on "Home" at the top of a Flickr page.  Next, you're going use the "upload photos or video" link in your Flickr account to upload the picture to your own account -- see below.  (Don't worry, you can delete it later, and nobody need know you had a picture of me in it). 

• Click on "upload photos or video"

• Click on "choose photos or videos"

• Navigate to the place where you saved the photo -- the desktop, if you did what I said above. Click on the photo file name, and then click "open".

• Click on "add more" and find the next photo from the set, and click "open" to add it to the list.

• When you have all the photos on the upload list, click "Upload Photos and Videos" at the bottom of the upload page. 

• Click on "add a description" after the photos have loaded.

• Note: there are other uploading tools available.  You can download the Flickr Uploadr, which allows you to drag and drop photos from a directory, and to add titles and tags to a batch of photos all at once.  The link to uploading tools is available on your Flickr home page.
  Top

Add a title, description, or tag.

• After clicking "add a description" you'll see a screen with blanks where you can change the title of the photo, add a description, and add tags.  Tags are short descriptions that you can put on your photos to help you search for them; each photo can have multiple tags. Separate tags with spaces, and if a tag contains more than one word, enclose them in quotes. 

• When you finish adding information, click "save this batch".    This will take you to your Flickr Photostream page.
  Top

Use PicNik to edit photos

• (If you've navigated away from your photostream, you can get back there by going to your Flickr account at  www.flickr.com, then clicking on "Your Photostream".)

• From your Flickr Photostream page, click on a new photo (use the one of me) to open its photo page.   

• In the menu of icons across the top of the photo, click "edit photo".

• This will open the photo in the PicNik photo editor. 

• This photo has a number of problems.  Some, such as the subject, can't be fixed.  Let's look at some of the ones that can. 
  Top

Change exposure in PicNik

• First of all, the exposure isn't very good -- the photo is a bit dark.  Click on the "exposure" button.

• Notice up at the top of the screen that there are two sliders, for exposure and contrast.  Try playing with those a bit to see what they do.  You may be able to get the photo just the way you want it with them. 

• However, the auto-fix button makes it easier.  Click "reset" first, to get back to the original photo, then click "auto-fix".  That did a pretty good job of adjusting exposure and contrast, didn't it? 

• Click "Ok" to save the changes.  
  Top

Adjust color in PicNik

• Next, let's think about the color.  This was taken indoors, with the laptop built-in camera, and the colors aren't too good.  Click on "colors".

• There's an "auto colors" button.  Try clicking on it.  When I did this, it didn't help much, so I just clicked "reset". 

• Instead, try moving the "temperature" slider a bit to the right to warm up the colors a little.  I found that about 45 made for a more attractive color balance.  Note that dragging it to the left makes the colors cooler.  When you have it the way you want it, click "ok". 
  Top

Crop a photo in PicNik

• Next, let's crop the photo.  Click on "crop". 

• You get a grid over the picture.  When you have the cursor inside the grid, and see the four-way arrow, you can click and drag to move the crop window around. 

• If you move the cursor to an edge or corner, you'll see a directional arrow, and you can click and drag to change the size of the cropped area.  

• Go ahead and do this to choose an appropriate area for cropping, then click "ok". 
  Top

 Save an edited photo in PicNik

• At this point, let's save the photo.  Click "save".  

• You'll be prompted to put in a new title if you want, along with description and tags. 

• To replace the old photo, you have to upgrade to Flickr Pro for $25 a year, but you don't need to if you're just going to save this as a new photo. 

• So just click Save. 
  Top

Rotate a photo in PicNik

• Go back to your photostream and open the photo of some very tilted bicyclists. When you're taking pictures while riding a bike, it's hard to hold the camera straight.

• Use "all sizes" to get a large version, save it to the desktop, and upload it to your Flickr account.

• Now, open it in your Flickr account and get ready to edit.

• Click on the Edit tab and choose "rotate".

• You could just use the slider, or one of the buttons to turn it clockwise or counterclockwise, but there's an easier way to fix this photo.

• Click and hold on one side of the photo at the horizon line -- say, the top edge of the grass on the left.  Hold the button down and move to the other side of the photo, making a line that should be horizontal.  When you're satisfied with the line, let the mouse button up.  The photo will rotate to make your line horizontal, and it should be straight now.  Nice, huh?

• You can also play with the colors, exposure, etc. again.

• Click "reset" to undo and try again if you're not happy with it.
  Top

Use "Create" tools in PicNik

• Now let's try some of the fancier tools available.  Go to your photo stream, pick a photo, and click "edit photo" again.

• Now click on the "Create" tab above the picture. 

• You'll see several tabs now, including "effects", "text", "shapes", etc.  Some of these are only available in the "premium" edition, which you have to pay for.  Others are free. 
  Top

Add text to a photo in PicNik

• Click on the text button, then click in the box (where it says "type here and click Add to place text"). 

• Type in something appropriate and click Add.  You'll see a box with the text appear on the picture. 

• You can change the text color by dragging the circle around in the Font Color box. 

• You can change the font by selecting a different one in the "Basic Fonts" list. 

• You can use the "fade" slider to make the text partially transparent. 

• And you can move and resize the text box much as you did with the crop box before. 

• The circle that sticks up above the box allows you to rotate the text, too.  Give it a try. 
  Top

 Add a shape to a photo in PicNik

• Now try the "shapes" button.  It opens a drop-down menu of a variety of shapes.  Some are premium, but a lot of them are free. 

• Try putting in a speech bubble.   Once you've made one, try putting it around the text you wrote. 

• You'll see there's a problem -- the bubble is on top of the text. 

• Just right-click on the speech bubble and choose "send to back", and it'll be underneath the text instead. 
  Top

Effects in PicNik

• Click on the "effects" tab. 

• Many of the effects listed are only available with a paid subscription.  Some are free, though.

• Try the black and white, sepia, and boost buttons.

• The "doodle" option, down near the bottom of the list, is free and could be useful. 
  Top

Photoshop Express

• To start with, you'll have to join Photoshop Express.  Go to https://www.photoshop.com/express/landing.html.

• Click on the "join now" button and follow the instructions. 

• Note that toward the end of this process, there's a box to check that says you agree to the terms -- you have to check that one.  You can uncheck the box that says they can send you emails, though. 
  Top

Pull in photos from Flickr to Photoshop Express

• Once you've joined and logged in, you can  upload photos from your computer.  You can also pull in photos from your Flickr account. 

• Click "upload photos".  You'll get a browse window to look for files on your computer, but close that for now. 

• Click "Login" next to Flickr in left side menu. 

• A Flickr window will open so that you can give permission for PhotoShop Express to have access to your Flickr account. 

• Once you've let PhotoShop in, your Flickr photos will load on the Photoshop page. 
  Top

Edit photos in Photoshop Express

• Double-click on one of your Flickr photos to open it for editing (or click on the photo, click "photo options", and choose "edit photo").  

• The editing options are much like the ones you get with PicNik. The interface is different, and maybe easier to use.  The new beta "Decorate" tab gives you some features similar to the "create" features in PicNik.
  Top

Adjust exposure in Photoshop Express

• Click on "exposure" (It's under "basics", if that menu isn't already open).

• Across the top of the screen you'll see a row of thumbnails showing different exposure levels. 

• Click on one of the thumbnails to see it in the full size image.  

• Once you've got the exposure you want, just leave it that way in the full size image.  We'll save later.
  Top

Adjust color (white balance), touch up, and change lighting in Photoshop Express

• To adjust color, click on "white balance" in the tuning menu.  Again, it gives you a row of thumbnails to choose from. 

• There's a "full auto" selection next to the last on the right, but again, I didn't find it that good for this photo.

• The "touchup" tool removes blemishes.  Just click on the spot you want to remove, and drag to get a circle the right size.  You could try editing out some of Robin's freckles in Cabell's graduation picture.
  

• The "fill light" and "highlight" tools change the lighting.  Try using them to get Hannnah out of the shadows in her beach picture.
   
  Top

Effects in Photoshop Express

• There are some effects in PhotoShop Express --  Try the "sketch" option, for instance. 

• I haven't quite figured out what good "pop color" is, although it produces some interesting effects. 

• You can really mess things up with the "distort" effect.
  Top

Saving an edited photo in Photoshop Express

• When you have the photo the way you want it, click "save", and the edited version be saved back to Flickr as a new image.
  Top
   

What about Picasa?