Photos that are scanned or come from a PhotoCD or digital camera can suffer from both aesthetic and processing defects. These defects can be due to problems of contrast, color casts, color saturation, tonal range, blur, scratches, and so on. Furthermore, most photos, no matter how carefully composed, typically need some enhancement to achieve their full potential. Ansel Adams, one of America's most renown photographers, spent as much time in the darkroom enhancing his negatives and prints as he did in composing and taking his shots. Adams' books on working with the negative and the print are classics in photography [7], [8].
Photo touchup and enhancement is part science and part art, and the GIMP is an excellent tool for these on both counts. This chapter describes the main ideas for aesthetically improving photos and explains how to use the GIMP to achieve terrific results. Following are the topics addressed in this chapter: