iPhoto for iOS promises to revolutionize the way photographers manage and edit their photo libraries, particularly for iPad users who have a larger display canvas to work with. Confused about how to get started with iPhoto’s multitouch tools? We’ll help you make sense of them.
Before we jump into editing did you know multitouch can be used to select the images you want to work on in the first place? Maybe you’d like to take a closer look at four contiguous shots at once, by tapping and holding a finger on the first image, then tapping on the fourth one. After you remove both fingers, iPhoto will now display the four images on your canvas, where you can get a better look at them and then swipe down with one finger to remove unwanted shots.
Need to select non-contiguous thumbnails instead? Tap the first photo, then tap and hold for a moment on each of the other thumbnails, or simply tap and drag the desired thumbnails onto the canvas to add them even more quickly.
iPhoto for iOS makes short work of cropping or straightening photos. Select a photo, tap the Crop tool and drag the border to change the frame size (be sure to tap the constrain option to retain the photo’s aspect ratio, if desired). Once you’re happy with the cropping, simply pinch with two fingers to zoom or adjust the photo inside the cropped frame or drag it with one finger to reposition accordingly.
Likewise, if you need to straighten an image that doesn’t have a recognizable horizon while in the Crop tool, use two fingers to rotate the image. If your digits aren’t quite accurate enough, you can use one finger to drag the dial at the bottom of the screen. Last but not least, you can also tap on the dial and simply tilt your iPad, taking advantage of the built-in gyroscope.
White balance can be tricky indoors if you’re snapping photos with mixed color temperatures. To alleviate these problems, tap on the Color icon, then select WB. Choose the custom white balance based on skin tone icon from the popup (second from the right) and use your finger to drag the loupe over any area of exposed skin until the overall color temperature suits you. Tap on the loupe a second time to commit the change.
Likewise, use the custom white balance icon (last one at right) and choose part of a photo that should be white or neutral gray when skin tone adjustments don’t work.
iPhoto also makes it a snap to adjust exposure and contrast. Tap the Exposure icon (the one that resembles a camera shutter) while in Edit mode and drag the slider at the bottom of the screen. From left to right, the handles will adjust dark areas, lower contrast, brightness, higher contrast or adjust bright areas.
If you prefer a more user-friendly method, simply tap anywhere in your image with one finger, then slide horizontally side-to-side for contrast or vertically up and down for exposure. Where you tap makes a difference: Brighter areas will adjust the highlights, while darker areas will adjust shadows.
One of the coolest features introduced with iPhoto for iOS is the ability to use your fingers to adjust color saturation, including options to adjust the three most common: Blue skies, greenery and skin tones. To access them, tap the Color icon (the one that looks like small ink palette); now you can use a finger to slide the Saturation, Blue Skies, Greenery or Skin Tones options for more (right) or less (left).
However, it’s far more fun to simply tap an area of the image -- if iPhoto recognizes it as blue sky, greenery or skin tone, you can now move your finger left or right to adjust that particular setting, or up and down to adjust overall saturation. If you want to make adjustments without affecting your subjects, tap the Settings gear and turn on Preserve Skin Tones prior to making changes.
If you import flash photos taken with a point-and-shoot digital camera, you’ll want to remove any red eye from your subjects before sharing them. Tap the Brush tool icon, select the Red Eye brush and use two fingers to zoom into your image. Now you can tap each afflicted pupil and wipe out that mean old red eye.
Want to get a closer look at part of your image? Use two fingers to tap and hold for a moment, which pops up a magnifying loupe. By default it will be at 1x (100 percent) view, but grab the edge with two fingers and rotate it to increase the magnifying strength up to 3x, then move it around with a single digit as needed. Make it go away by tapping anywhere outside of the loupe.
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gregdawson
March 15, 2012 at 10:21am
As always, nice post. I for one cannot wait to upgrade to the new iPad... and mainly for its photo capabilities!
