Best 3 Simple Photo Editing Fixes

With so much negative press, Photoshop is seen as a bit of a bad guy in the photographic world. The headlines talk about how magazine editors have used it to airbrush blemishes and take inches off their cover girl’s waist. Used correctly though, Photoshop and other photo editing software can take a barely acceptable passport photo to something the authorities will have no trouble accepting.

If you’re taking your passport photo at home, and then sending it on to Paspic, here are some things you can do to your photo to make it more acceptable.

1. Shadows

Beware of shadows that can obscure your face’s features. Shadows were used enthusiastically by passport fakers to disguise the fact that the passport was forged, which is why the authorities are so displeased by them. Aesthetically unflattering, a shadow is a sure-fire way to get your passport photo rejected. If you’re able to adjust the contrast and brightness of your image using your photo editing software, you may be able to make them disappear. Don’t go overboard though. It might be easier just to take your photo in a different location and try again.

2. Blur

Unlike our passport photo booths, digital cameras are designed to focus in all sorts of different places, and unless you’re very good at manipulating your camera’s autofocus, or are competent with manual focus photography, you may find that the camera has focused on something else, meaning that your face, or even part of it, has come out looking blurry. This is a quick fix with your photo editing software though, as long as you can find the Sharpen function. As before, don’t go over the top with it, as it can make your image quite grainy.

3. Overexposure

It sounds a bit controversial, but in fact, all it means is that there’s too much light in your photo. Back in the old days when cameras took rolls of film, too much light entering the lens could damage the film’s surface, ruining the photo. In the digital photography age, the cause is the same, but the result is a washed-out, bleached look to your photo. If it’s not too badly washed out in appearance, you may be able to fix it using the brightness and contrast settings, or you could re-take the photo in a location that is not in direct sunlight.

If you’re in any doubt whatsoever, leave it to the experts at PasPic.com. Our computer screens all incoming photos, and if necessary, refers them to a human being for a second manual check, so you’ll receive our expert verdict before submitting them on to the authorities with your application.