Master Your VIDEO& PHOTO EDITING

The 20 BEST EXPERT TIPS you’ve never learned – until now!

From fine adjustments to wholesale changes, most of our photos and videos could do with sprucing up. Actually carrying out these edits isn’t always easy. Even basic image- and video-editing tools are littered with confusing menus and controls, and if you don’t know what you’re doing the end result can look worse than the original.

In this feature, we uncover the tricks of the trade to show you how you can enhance your photos and videos using free software. And unlike online tutorials, we won’t bamboozle you with jargon along the way.

We’ve carefully selected tips to fix the 20 most common, but infuriating problems, such as adjusting wonky horizons, resolving poorly exposed images and sorting out video that doesn’t sync with its soundtrack. You can even change an overcast image into the brightest of summer days.

For our photo-editing tips, we’ll start with Paint.net ( www.snipca.com/35115), an easy-to-use editor that’s great for basic tweaks. And for our more advanced photo tips, we’ll switch to the open-source GIMP ( www.snipca.com/35116 - click ‘Download GIMP 2.10.20 directly’ button).

For video editing, we’ll start with Shotcut ( www.snipca.com/35117 - ‘64-bit Windows installer’ link beneath Fosshub in the table), which is also open source and perfect for simpler video fixes. For the more advanced video edits, we’ll use Davinci Resolve ( www.snipca.com/35100 - click Download, then the Download Now button below Davinci Resolve 16). When downloading Resolve, you’ll need to be patient because the installation file is a whopping 1.3GB and you need to fill out a registration form (the details aren’t checked and the download starts as soon as you complete it). It’s a pain, but you are getting a powerful editing tool used by professionals.