Front cover image

To get the image for the front cover of my magazine I took various different photos using different lighting to create an image that portrayed the feeling that I was hoping to achieve. I chose to use an image where the subjects chin is slightly tilted upwards which connotes that they are powerful and in control. 

Original image
This is the image that I am going to be using for the front cover of my magazine. This image is already suitable to be used on the front cover of a magazine however I can edit the image to make it even better. I will be editing this image and changing different things to make it more suitable as a front cover image. 

Resolution change
The resolution of an image effects the quality of it when printing. The images resolution should be 300DPI (dots per inch) so that it is good quality when printed. Changing the resolution will not make any difference to the way the image looks on a computer but will make a lot of difference when printing.

The first thing I did to this image was change the resolution. The original resolution of the image was 72DPI (dots per inch) which is very bad quality so I changed it to 300DPI so that it would make the image good quality.

Brightness/Contrast adjustments
The brightness adjustment helps highlight certain parts of the image by making it brighter which helps certain things stand out. It can also make shadows more prominent by decreasing the brightness which will mean that things may not stand out as much. The contrast adjustment changes the overall tonal value in the image.

I  decided to increase the brightness slightly so that my subjects features would stand out more, this also decreased the amount of shadow slightly which helped the subject stand out. I also increased the contrast a tiny bit which brought back some shadow without making it too prominent.

Unsharp mask
The unsharp mask is used to sharpen an image, it can be used to help emphasise the texture and detail of an image. 

I used the unsharp mask so that my image would have a more crisp look and so that the texture of the image was more noticeable. It also created a lighter effect on the background of the image.

Clone stamp

The clone stamp is used to get rid of things such as blemishes or any marks on the subject in an image.

I used a different photo that I found on the internet to use the clone stamp on as my model did not have any blemishes that I could have used the tool on.

Dodge and burn tool
The dodge and burn tools are used to lighten and darken certain parts of an image. The dodge tool lightens and the burn tool darkens. This tool should be used carefully as the slightest bit can be too much and can ruin the image. 

I used the dodge tool on the background around the edges of the image to make it look smoother. I then used the burn tool very lightly on the subject to darken her skin slightly which helped her stand out more.

Curves

The curves tool affects the tone and contrast of an image. You can adjust the red, green and blue curves which will all give different effects to the image. It has to be a very subtle change as adjusting the curves can just make the image look either red, green or blue.

I adjusted the red and green curves to make an S, I had to change them multiple times so that I got the right effect on the image. I then adjusted the blue curve and also made that an S, however it was the other way round. I think that this created a nice subtle effect, especially on the background. It also lightened the subjects facial features slightly which made them stand out more.

Desaturate
The desaturation tool washes out the colour of an image and converts it to grayscale values. It leaves the image in the same colour mode which means that the effects from the curve tool stay the same and the brightness is not affected however the image is instead grayscale.

I used the desaturate tool as I wanted to see what the image would look like with the colour washed out. I like this effect and think it is good that the brightness of the image doesn't change as the images values have stayed the same but have been converted to grayscale.

Add noise
The noise tool lets you add a noise layer to the photograph and gives a grain type look and can make it look more 'vintage'. Too much noise can ruin a photograph as it will look as though the image has spots of discolouration. 

I added a layer of noise to my image to test how it would look and I think it looks good and gives a good effect. I think that the noise layer gives an authentic, vintage effect to the image which looks good.

Layers
The layer tool adds layers onto the image, you can see through the transparent areas of a layer to a layer below. This can help bring out certain parts of the image.

I added a layer to the image but I don't think that it gave a great effect because the image is grayscale which meant that it couldn't make much of a difference. The only thing that happened was the subjects skin getting lighter which I think made it too light.

Magazine front cover
The first thing I did to edit the image for the front cover of my magazine was change the resolution to 300DPI. I used the rulers to insert margin guides in the image which will help when adding text to the image. I adjusted the brightness and contrast and then used the dodge tool to lighten up the models face. I used the burn tool around the edges of the image and then used the curves tool to extenuate certain colours in the image. 

This is my front cover after I edited the photo and added in all of the text.