Create, share, enjoy: It’s Mac|Life’s tagline, but it might as well be iLife ’08’s, too. Apple’s suite can do a lot for its low $79 price, weaving together audio, video, and photos into fun projects like a personal website or blog, hardcover photo albums, home movies complete with original music, and more. We reviewed the apps in iLife ’08 in our November issue, but this month we’re sharing our best tips and project ideas, to help you get the most from iLife’s new features. We hope they will inspire you to fire up your Mac - and your imagination.

 

iPHOTO '08 - IMPORT, EDIT, PUBLISH, DONE

 

iPhoto’s improved editing tools have come a long way, so why not fix up those snapshots before you put them online?

iPhoto ’08 (4 out of 5 stars) is all about simplicity - Apple’s image app imports automatically, makes it easy to organize your photos with its new Events feature, and lets you share albums or events as Web Galleries with the click of a button. It’s true that its editing capabilities will never match a more robust editor like Photoshop, but they’re much improved in this new version. If you want to do a few quick fixes on your photos before you put them online, here’s how iPhoto ’08 can help you fix blemishes with the Retouch tool, zap color cast, and tweak the levels with the new Adjust panel.

 

Brighten Dull Photos with the Adjust Panel

It’s easy to use iPhoto’s one-click editing tools, but you shouldn’t shy away from the histogram. Located in the new Adjust panel, the histogram shows you the light and dark levels in your photo, and once you know how to read and adjust it, you can fine-tune your image better than any quick-fix button, bringing dull images back to life.

 

Before and After: Adjusting the levels in a photo can add richness to a flat image - our results were like night and day.

 

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1. Dark Matter. Launch iPhoto and double-click the photo you want to enhance. Click the Edit tool, then click the Adjust button along the bottom of the screen to bring up the Adjust panel. The graph on the top is the histogram, which displays the light and dark levels in your photo. The left slider lets you set the dark level. To darken the shadows in the image, drag the left slider toward the center of the histogram, just to the first bump from the left side of the graph, as shown below. The bumps in the graph show how much of the image is found at that particular level - the higher the bump, the more detail is available at that level.

 

Your image will get darker as you move the left slider towards the center, but don’t panic just yet! This is simply the first step.

 

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2. Good Light. Now you need to adjust the light level in the photo. To do this, drag the right slider toward the center of the histogram, just to the first bump from the right side of the graph, as shown. Your image will get noticeably lighter.

 

Brighter and better, but not quite there yet.

 

More...

 

 

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3. The New Range. By setting new dark and light levels in steps 1 and 2, you have created a new tonal range for the image. Now you will need to adjust the midtones, or the area between the dark and light points. To do this, drag the center slider of the histogram in either direction until you achieve the balanced look you want.

 

In this image, moving the center slider toward the left adds just enough brightness.

 

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4. Instant Review

So your image looks much better now, but to really see the difference, hold down Shift to see the original version. Don’t like the results? Just go back and adjust the dark levels, then the light ones, and then the midtones again until you get the look you want. To start all over, click the Reset button at the bottom of the panel and go back to step 1. When you’re satisfied with the edits, click Done. Bonus: You can use the same adjustment settings on other photos by clicking Copy on the bottom of the Adjust panel. Then select another photo to edit, open the Adjust panel, and click Paste.

 

Shift takes you back momentarily, but to really start over, click Reset.

 

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Reduce or Intensify Colors

The Adjust panel now features three more controls that let you easily correct the colors in a photo. Here’s a quick overview of what each of them does.

 

Saturation. This slider adjusts the color intensity. Move the slider bar to the left to mute the colors or to the right to make them really stand out.

 

Temperature. This control adjusts the coolness or warmth of the colors in a photo. Slide the bar to the left for cooler, bluer tones or to the right for warmer, golden tones.

 

Tint. This adjusts the overall color cast in a photo, and is a handy way to correct colors that are not true to life. Move the slider bar to the left for more red tones and to the right for more green tones.

 

Move the Saturation slider to the left to mute the colors for a more vintage, washed-out look.

 

Is it getting hot in here? Make colors pop by moving the Temperature slider to the right and fiddling with the Tint slider to tweak the color cast.

 

More...

 

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Banish Blemishes with the Retouch Tool

It’s hard to control everything when you’re shooting, but don’t let that keep your photos from achieving perfection - just fix the flaws back at your Mac. If a spec of dust on your camera’s lens shows up in the picture, or your subject matter has an imperfection you’d like to zap, try your hand with iPhoto’s Retouch tool.

 

Before (left) and After (right): A scratch on a leaf and other realities of nature are easily removed with the Retouch tool.

 

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1. Up Close and Personal

Launch iPhoto and double-click the photo you wish to correct. Click the Edit tool. Zoom in on the photo by dragging the slider on the bottom right of the screen, as shown, until you can easily see the blemish. By working on the blemish up close, you’ll be able to remove it with fine-tuned precision.

 

Is that mark on the leaf a scratch or a fleck of dust? Doesn't matter - it will be gone soon.

 

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2. The Right Size. Click the Retouch button to bring up the Brush tool. Adjust the size of the brush by moving the slider to the left or the right. For the best results, make sure the brush is about the same width as the blemish. If it’s too big, you might remove more than you intended, and if it’s too small, you may not fix the entire problem area.

 

The Size slider lets you adjust accordingly for the perfect brush size.

 

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3. Abracadabra - Blemish Be Gone. Place the brush over the blemish and click or drag to remove it. For best results, you may need to drag the brush over the area several times. To see your handiwork, zoom out. If you still need to work on it, zoom back in and try the brush again. When you’re satisfied with the changes, click Done.

 

Scratch? What scratch? One or two clicks with the Retouch tool, and it's history.

 

Read the next part of Better Your iLife here.