What's Next?

So, you've got your scans back. What's next after photo scanning?

Here's a simple suggestion which can transform your images. Learn how to crop your photos.

What's cropping? It's simply a process of removing anything in the frame that distracts from what the image is, or ought to be. Just as we used to trim photos with a pair of scissors today's photo editing software offers ways of removing parts of the original that really don't help.

How? Take a look around the Photo / Edit and you'll see a Crop command. In Apple's program Aperture you simply click on the crop icon then click where in the image you want the new frame border to start, then drag it across the image until you're happy with the result. Let go of the cursor and click Enter. Just takes a few seconds and you have a more dramatic picture.

Any rules? Well, it helps if you have an understanding of compositional guidelines but beyond that the only rule is there are no rules. Just don't be afraid to go in tight, remember the saying "if your photos aren't good enough, you're not close enough". We scan at 600 dpi so you'll have enough detail left in the image to get decent resolution after even a severe crop, so don't be afraid to go for it.