Install IrfanView

IrfanView is a freeware application developed by Irfan Skiljan which allows users to enhance digital pictures. The application is very fast and is compatible with Windows 95 and up. Before you can use the software, you first have to download and install it.

1.) Download the free IrfanView program available here. Make sure to save the file to a location on your hard drive that you will remember.

2.) Once the download is complete, launch the setup file that you just downloaded. Read through the simple instructions presented to complete the install. You can specify a custom installation directory and other options on the initial setup page (or you can keep the default values). NOTE: IrfanView attempts to install the eBay Toolbar and place eBay shortcuts into Internet Explorer by default. I would advise that you uncheck these options on the first installation page to avoid installing these additional programs (and possible Spyware).

3.) After completing the IrfanView installation, open the program up by double-clicking on the desktop icon or accessing it through the Start Menu. IrfanView is now open and ready for use.

[ Back To Top ]

Open A Picture

After IrfanView has been installed and launched, you are set to open up the picture that you wish to enhance.

1.) There are three (3) main ways to open up an image file using IrfanView. To open up the image that you wish to manipulate, perform any of the following operations:

2.) After performing one of the commands listed above, you will be presented with the 'Open Dialog Window'. From here, navigate to the directory that contains the image you wish to enhance. When you see the picture you want to use, click on it to select it. You will then see a preview of the image, and various details about it such as the resolution and size. Click on the 'Open' button to open the specified picture into IrfanView.

NOTE: Alternatively you can double-click the file-name to open it into IrfanView.

[ Back To Top ]

Resize The Picture

It is often a good idea to scale down a higher-resolution image if you plan on posting it on a Web site or auction listing. If posting to a Web site, it is advised that the image not exceed 760 pixels wide or else the user will have to scroll horizontally (annoying).

1.) After opening the picture, select IMAGE > RESIZE/RESAMPLE from the File Menu. Alternatively, you can press CTRL+R. The Resize/Resample Image Properties will appear.

Within the Resize/Resample Image Properties, you will be able to specify a new resolution for the image and which type of resampling method you wish to use (if any).

2.) For this example I will resize the picture to a resolution of 400 x 300 pixels (which is the exact size that eBay resizes the images to if you use their default image hosting service). If the 'Preserve Aspect Ratio' option is checked, then whenever you change the dimension of either the width or height, the other value will automatically change so that the picture will never appear distorted (recommended). IrfanView also offers a lot of shortcuts for resizing your pictures with a single-click.

3.) The next step is to select the resampling method that you wish to use. There are a variety of resampling algorithms available in IrfanView, each one varies slightly in the quality of the output and the time it takes to complete the process. For examples and information on many of the common resampling algorithms, please look here. Typically, to achieve the highest quality results you will want to use the Lanczos Filter (slowest) sampling method.

4.) After specifying all of the details that you wish to use, click on the OK button to immediately resize the picture.

[ Back To Top ]

Brightness & Contrast

Adjusting the brightness and contrast of a picture is one of the most common enhancements for bringing clarity into your pictures. Even a relatively dark and non-contrasting image can turn out great if the brightness and contrast are tweaked accordingly.

1.) Select IMAGE > ENHANCE COLORS from the File Menu. Alternatively, you can press SHIFT+G. The Enhance Colors Properties will appear.

Within the Enhance Color Properties, you will be able to change a variety of parameters for the selected image. This includes adjusting the brightness, contrast, color balance, gamma correction, and saturation.

NOTE: For your convenience, a real-time preview of the modified image is displayed under the 'New Image' frame within the Enhance Colors Properties. Each time you change the values of any color property, the New Image preview will update automatically.

2.) First, lets brighten the picture a bit. Click on the slider handle below the 'Brightness' caption and drag it to the right until it is at approximately 50. You can also manually enter a brightness value into the text field directly to the right of the slider bar.

3.) Now that we have brightened the picture, the contrast should also be increased slightly. Drag the slider handle beneath the 'Contrast' to approximately 35. As with the Brightness option, you can manually enter a contrast value into the text field directly to the right of the slider bar if you wish to do so.

4.) After specifying the new brightness and contrast values, you can either click the Apply button to update the original image with the new properties while remaining in the Enhance Colors window (you can then cancel the changes to revert back to the original values), or you can click OK to apply the changes and exit back out to the main IrfanView window.

[ Back To Top ]

Sharpen The Picture

Sometimes the edges within a picture are glazed over or out-of-focus. This can be caused by a slow shutter speed, or accidentally moving the camera slightly while taking the picture. Using IrfanView, you can bring clarity into the picture by making the details sharper..

1.) Select IMAGE > SHARPEN from the File Menu. Alternatively, you can press SHIFT + C. The image will automatically be sharpened by one level.

2.) To further increase the image sharpness, repeat step #1 as many times as needed. In this example, I pressed SHIFT + C three (3) times to bring clarity into the picture.

[ Back To Top ]

Blur The Picture

After sharpening the picture, more details are apparent but at the same time, some of the edges seem a little too sharp. This problem can be overcome by applying a Blur effect to the image.

1.) Select IMAGE > EFFECTS > BLUR from the File Menu. The image will automatically be blurred by one level.

2.) To further blur the image, repeat step #1 as many times as needed. In this example, I only blurred the picture once to slightly soften the edges.

[ Back To Top ]

Adjust The Colors

The overall color (tint) of the example picture is a bit depressing. Lets adjust it to make the clock appear as though it were taken in a more well-lit environment.

1.) Select IMAGE > ENHANCE COLORS from the File Menu. Alternatively, you can press SHIFT+G. The Enhance Colors Properties will appear.

2.) Lets increase the Color Balance sliders to the following values:

R: 5

G: 15

B: 15

3.) Now, set the Gamma Correction value to 1.05.

4.) After specifying the new Color Balance and Gamma Correction values, you can either click the Apply button to update the original image with the new properties while remaining in the Enhance Colors window (you can then cancel the changes to revert back to the original values), or you can click OK to apply the changes and exit back out to the main IrfanView window.

Add A Watermark

Now that we've taken the time to enhance this image in so many ways, it would be a shame to have another person steal the picture and claim it as their own. IrfanView allows you to create simple watermarks by placing a string of personalized text over the picture at any given location. For advanced watermarking techniques using various other graphic editing utilities, please refer to my Watermarking tutorial.

1.) Left-click and drag a box-selection around the area in the picture where wish to insert text.

2.) Select EDIT > INSERT TEXT INTO SELECTION. Alternatively, you can press CTRL + T. The Add Overlay Text To Image Properties will appear.

3.) you may now enter the text that you wish to appear on the top of your image. Make sure that the 'Text is Transparent' option is checked. You can also customize the font appearance by clicking on the 'Choose Font' button.

4.) After specifying the text phrase you wish to use, and customizing the font to meet your needs, click OK to apply the text phrase to the top of the image.

NOTE: If the text is not in the location you wanted it to be or the font style does not look good, press CTRL + Z to undo the operation, and then repeat steps 1-3 above.

Save The Picture

The last step in completing the photo-editing process is to save the final product. The steps below outline the process of saving the picture so that it is compressed and suitable for online auctions and activities.

1.) Select FILE > SAVE AS from the File Menu. Alternatively, you can press S. The Save Picture As Dialog Window will appear.

2.) In the drop-down box to the right of the caption, 'Save as type', select JPG - JPEG Files. Another small property window will appear that will allow you to further customize the file format and saving options. For the most part, the options can remain as they are by default.

3.) Since this picture will be used online, adjust the compression from 80 to 65. This will ensure that the file still loads quickly while at the same time, the quality will remain quite good.

4.) Navigate to the folder where you wish to save the file, and then enter a descriptive File name.

5.) After specifying the compression settings that you wish to use, click OK to save the image to the folder and file name that you specified.

Conclusion

That wraps up this guide. Although I tried to cover the steps required to perform the most common image enhancement functions using IrfanView, there are many features I did not get into. For additional tutorials and information relating to IrfanView, please click here.