Pixlr is my favorite photo editing software. It's free, or if you want more versatility there is a minimal charge for the year.
It is versatile, interesting, and they provide tutorials on how to use the elements and recipes to try yourself. There are also weekly challenges to motivate us to try new ways to enhance the photos. This week the challenge is to use the autocontrast feature. If you run a photo through autocontrast several times, it reduces the realism of the photo but it brings out the other aspects, such as making it look faux HDR, or graffiti/cartoonish, or bringing out the rough edges of granite or the veins in flowers. Here are my attempts. The first two I was satisfied with and sent them to the challenge.
In this one, I used fast splash. This feature allows the editor to select one color to 'splash' or remain in the photo, while making the others go to black and white. Then I used auto contrast three times to heighten the pine tree needles.
On this one I used autocontrast three times, and the silk effect to give the crinkle look.
I used splash again, this time to highlight the aqua of the graffiti and to make the distance between the train and the overhanging pine tree more stark.
There are lots of fun effects in Pixlr. I plan to re-arrange my photos on my laptop into folders and be more organized, so that when I play with them in photo editor Pixlr I won't have to spend so much time searching for particular photos I know I have and want to use to experiment in different features.
