Photo Editing Tips to Take Your Photos from Drab to Fab

With all of the junk mail, overflow of catalogs and sales flyers, and those dreaded piles of bills – isn’t it nice to get a personalized card in the mail? It’s kind of a refreshing break to open a beautiful card, see your favorite smiling faces, and read their heartfelt messages, any time of year. But, one of the big reasons I hear people say that they don’t send cards is because it’s too much work, or they aren’t creative enough to create great holiday or event cards. So, I’m here to share a few of my favorite tips and tricks with you guys. These work perfectly for Christmas and New Year’s cards, but can work year-round too, for birthday invites, baby announcements, fun thank you cards, or other celebrations. Check ’em out, then leave your own fave tips in the comments too – I love hearing from you guys!

Obviously, the first step is to pick photos. You can go with one great family photo, feature just a new baby {or toddler, like I did this year} – or if you don’t have a good family photo this year, choose a card design that lets you upload several photos, and use individual pics of each family member. And remember that just a little bit of photo editing can make a drastic difference – and you don’t need expensive or complicated software. I use PicMonkey, and love how simple and intuitive it is.

See what a difference a few minutes of photo editing with PicMonkey can make? It’s a free site to use – and you don’t have to download anything. I use it so often that I pay for the yearly upgrade to use the pro version – you get some additional tools, filters, and fonts, and it’s definitely worth it. Here’s a quick run down of what I did to boost my photo:

• Brighten: I used the basic set of editing tools {the top icon on the left side}, and adjusted the lighting using the Exposure option. I just slid it over until the photo was brightened up a bit, easy peasy.
• Boost: Next I used the Colors option. I made the picture just a little bit warmer, and upped the saturation on the colors until it looked a little more festive.
• Touch-Up: Then I went to the third icon on the left side, that looks like a lipstick tube. I used the airbrush tool to even out the color on Abby’s cheeks, the mascara tool to just ever-so-slightly darken her lashes, added a super soft bit of color to her cheeks with the blush option, then rosy-ed up her lips with a touch of the lip tint.
• Crop & Zoom: Lastly, I just zoomed in on the photo a little bit, to make Abby more of the focus of the photo, and cropped it to the size I wanted.

That’s it! Super simple, right? Then, to make my card really pop, I went to one of my very favorite paper product sites to turn my photo into a beautiful holiday card. I adore the quality and designs at Tiny Prints!

How pretty are these, right? I love, love, LOVE the fun sparkling envelopes, they make the presentation of the photos so much more fun and festive. I chose a style called Glamorous Ambersand, in Walnut, and changed the style to be horizontal instead of vertical. Every card you order at Tiny Prints can be customized in SO many ways too. Example: this card style has 3 different color styles to choose from, 5 different trim options, 4 different shape formats for the card, and 3 background patterns to choose from. Since I’m including a family newsletter in each of our cards, I went with a pretty sparkly finish, since I don’t need to write a message on them. You also get to choose from 4 different finishes – I am totally loving this one, it’s called Pearl White Shimmer, and it just adds a beautiful sheen to each card.

A few more tips:

• Choosing fashions for photos: I got Abby’s adorable fuzzy coat and hat from zulily.com, which I can’t recommend enough for kids fashions. They always have really high quality designer brands, but at drastically discounted prices. And the selection is packed full of new and unique gear, so you’re sure to have really fun photos. {Here is a list with more fun ways to save big on family fashions.}
• Photo tips: I have a whole board on Pinterest devoted to Taking a Better Photo. It’s got tips from learning your DSLR settings, to creating awesome backgrounds, to finding the best point and shoot. Great ideas for everyone from beginner to pro!

The only bad thing about shopping on Tiny Prints is trying to choose a design – they’re all beautiful!! Check out Tiny Prints Latest Coupons & Deals today, and stock up on holiday cards, birthday invites, personalized thank you cards, and some fun “just because” cards to brighten up someone’s day!

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