Organizer V - Photo tools & editing - New smugmug tutorial

Managing a lifetime of digital photos and videos can be a daunting task, but the SmugMug ORGANIZER makes it a breeze. PHOTO TOOLS The PHOTO TOOLS palette consists of a wide range of image manipulation options that can be specifically applied to any single photo on your SmugMug website. Several of these tools are available through alternate means as covered in other tutorials, but we've bundled together all of the tools designed for single photo editing here. ACCESSING PHOTO TOOLS The PHOTO TOOLS become available whenever you're viewing a single photo while LOGGED IN on your website. If you're in a gallery set to display either SmugMug Style... Or JOURNAL style... The photo tool's icon, the wrench, will be clearly displayed adjacent the photo. If you're in a gallery set to a Thumbnails... Collage landscape... Or collage portrait... photo tools become available when you select a photo and open it in the LIGHTBOX by double clicking on the thumb. This is also the case when viewing in the ORGANIZER, and we'll proceed from there. Open the desired image in the LIGHTBOX by double clicking the preview thumb. At the LOWER RIGHT you'll find the PHOTO TOOLS - click on the WRENCH to unfold the MENU. Then mouse Over the desired topic to reveal the available tools. EDIT: PHOTO DETAILS To add or edit the title, captions and or keywords for a single photo, select PHOTO DETAILS to open the tool. Edit as desired, and click SAVE to complete - your changes will be instantly applied to the photo. EDIT: APPLY COLOR EFFECT You can apply one of five super cool effects to your photos using the COLOR EFFECTS tool. Applying a color effect will overwrite the existing photo and permanently change the ORIGINAL file you uploaded to your SmugMug website. Once initiated, this cannot be undone. For peace of mind, it's good practice to make a duplicate of a photo before using this tool, and we'll show you how to do this later in the tutorial. The first thumb displays the original photo in it's current state for comparison to the five optional effects. Click to highlight the desired color effect, and select APPLY to initiate the process. The amount of time it takes us to process the changes can vary, but usually within a few minutes you'll see the newly edited photo in both the organizer and the gallery. EDIT: ROTATE To ROTATE a photo, or create a mirror image, select ROTATE... Choose 90 left... mirror... flip or 90 right... The preview window displays how the selection affects the image. All set? Click APPLY to save the change. EDIT: CROP Click CROP to open the tool. The default is CUSTOM, which lets you set your own crop parameters by moving the edge tool like so. Select a locked ratio such as 1x1 if you'd like to square the photo, and adjust size and placement to taste. The darkened areas outside the crop box indicate the parts of the photo cropping will permanently remove. If you're plan is to order prints after cropping, use a ratio that conforms to that of the intended print size or the image may require further cropping in the cart, and be sure to leave a cushion between your primary subjects and the edge of the photo to allow for bleed. Close crops can lead to clipped subjects and disappointing prints. When you've got the new version of your photo just so, click APPLY to initiate the cropping process. Give or take a few minutes, you'll see the newly cropped photo in both the organizer and the gallery. EDIT: CROP THUMBNAIL Thumb cropping is an awesome SmugMug feature. Unlike the photo crop tool, crop thumbnail doesn't change your original photo, rather, this tool allows you to set a prefered crop for the preview image displayed for a photo. This is fantastic for setting perfect gallery FEATURED IMAGES - as well as the displayed thumbnail in galleries set to SQUARE THUMBS and displaying in SmugMug view or THUMBNAILS. Determine the area of focus for the thumbnail, and click APPLY. The amount of time it takes us to process the changes can vary, but usually within a few minutes, you'll see the newly cropped photo in both the organizer and the gallery. EDIT: GEO LOCATION If your photos contain GPS location coordinates they can be pulled into SmugMug's mapping feature. When location info is connected to an image, we'll display the mapping icon adjacent to the photo - click the icon to open the map and you'll be able to see the locations where your photos were taken. Many of today's digital camera's and smartphone apps like SmugMug's own Camera Awesome, will embed location data automatically. If this isn't the case for your photos, you can add or edit location information manually through this handy tool. Select Edit Geo location - If you don't know the coordinates, no worries, we'll find them for you! Enter an address, city, or landmark, and click LOOK UP ADDRESS. SmugMug will search for the location's latitude and longitude coordinates - and when you're ready, click UPDATE... And we'll tie the information to the image... for viewing in the map tool. EDIT: PICMONKEY This neat service integration enables amazing, advanced editing capabilities connecting you directly with PicMonkey's online tools. Click to open and load a photo in the PicMonkey editor. When you first open the editor, PicMonkey will ask you to select an export size for your edited image - the larger the saved file, the slower the editing - choose which works best for you, you can always change your selection later in Picmonkey's settings. Beyond BASIC editing, such as crops, rotates and sharpening, Pickmonkey provides pro-style tools you can use to remove blemishes and wrinkles, and even whiten teeth. Use the EFFECTS... and TEXTURES tools... to transform your photos. And have fun using themes - With Picmonkey you can even Zombify your photos! When your newly edited work of art is ready, click SAVE. You'll have the option to replace the current photo or create a new, adjusted photo file. Note that PicMonkey may resize your edited photo to a smaller than ORIGINAL size. If you wish to retain the resolution, be sure to choose the SAVE A COPY option to preserve your original filr. Give or take a few minutes, Picmonkey will save and export the new version of your photo directly back to your SmugMug gallery. Okay - that covers EDITING, let's move to ORGANIZING! ORGANIZE: MAKE A COPY True to our word, here's how you make an exact copy of a photo you've uploaded to SmugMug... Ready? Open PHOTO TOOLS, mouseover ORGANIZE - Click MAKE A COPY - and that's it. Boom. Done. - It couldn't be easier! Give or take a few minutes, we'll generate a perfect copy of the original photo and place it in the gallery. Where the copy lands in the image order depends on the SORT option you're using in that gallery - for example, if sort is set to FILENAME, you'll find the copy next to the original. If you're using a MANUAL sort by position, we'll place the dupe in the last position of the gallery. It's that easy. And now you can have your original and edit it too! ORGANIZE: HIDE Toggling a photo hidden removes it from your guests view, while allowing you to keep it in a gallery collection. HIDDEN PHOTOS cannot be seen by your guests, they are only visible to you as the logged in site owner. HIDDEN PHOTOS are denoted by a VIEW ICON with a slash through in the ORGANIZER and when you view a gallery so you know which are which. If you open a hidden photo in the LIGHTBOX, we'll display it without the HIDE ICON for your private viewing pleasure. To toggle a hidden photo back to public view in PHOTO TOOLS, mouseover ORGANIZE and choose SHOW PHOTO. ORGANIZE: REPLACE The REPLACE tool allows you to upload a different image file in place of the current photo. Use this feature to REPLACE a current photo without breaking the existing URL - the permanent web address for the photo - shared links and embedded images on other websites will be replaced with the new version of the photo. Perhaps you initially opted for smaller versions of the original photo for faster uploading, and now you'd like to replace a low resolution image with the high resolution original. Or you've touched up a photo on your computer and want to have the new version display in the gallery - here we have something as basic as teeth whitening. Or you may have done a complete makeover of the original image currently posted in the gallery. To switch out an image file, navigate to the photo you wish to update, click the tool icon, and under ORGANIZE, select REPLACE to open the TOOL. We'll display the current photo and it's filename. Now click CHOOSE FILE, and locate the new version of the photo on your computer. Once found, click here to lock in the new file - we'll display the REPLACEMENT filename... All set? Click REPLACE. We'll confirm that the photo is being replaced, navigate back to the gallery collection - give or take a few minutes, the new version of the photo will be available in the gallery, replacing the old... you may need to refresh the page to reload the new file. Just an FYI, the replace tool applies to photos only and is not available for video files. But you can use this tool to add or replace a splash image for a video on your SmugMug website. USE AS: PRO LEVEL TOOLS Pro account owners at the Portfolio and Business levels will also see a USE AS option in the tools palette. Upload your custom watermark file to a SmugMug gallery and select this tool to convert the image file into a watermark for application to photos on your website. While watermarks are applied to your online display images only and will not appear on prints, SmugMug Printmarks are an exclusive pro feature that works in the reverse! Printmarks are image files that will appear on prints. Use them for signature prints, high school and team logos, graduations and more . Convert the image file and create your Printmarks using this tool. DELETE The name says it all, if you wish to permanently delete a single photo or video from your website, this powerful little tool with do the job. Click delete and we'll prompt you to confirm your choice JUST in case you might have second thoughts - are you sure? Click DELETE once more, or if there's a doubt CANCEL the action. OUTRO Okay, and that's a wrap on this guide to the Photo Tools palette - You can re-watch, pause, and rewind if needed, and if you're watching on our SmugMug YouTube channel, you'll find a time index of the topics in the description area below. For written guides on the various options in the Photo Tools palette, and other features and tools accessible within the ORGANIZER, check out the associated help pages available at help.smugmug.com, as well as the other tutorial videos in this continuing series. And if you're EVER feeling 'lost,', or you'd just like to say hello, you can reach our world famous Support Heroe 24/7 via email and live chat. When logged in to your SmugMug website, just click GET HELP.