Enter Photo Blemish Remover. The free software for Windows can be used to remove smaller issues, like blemishes, stains or acne. It works similar to the clone stamp tool of image editing software, with the difference that it does it magic without requiring you to take a sample first.

When you first start the program you will notice the basic interface. You can drag and drop an image that you want to edit into the program interface or use the load button to do so. Controls at the top allow you to zoom in and out of the selected image, rotae the image, scale the photo to 100% or to the window size.

You will notice that the image cursor changes to a circle whenever you move it on the actual photo. This is the actual size of the area that you can manipulate with a left-click. You can change the size of that area with the slider at the top menu bar. It is usually better to pick a small size first.

The undo and redo option offers to undo manipulation steps that you are not satisfied with. You can then save the edited image over the original one, or save an extra copy in another location on your hard drive.

Photo Blemish Remover works surprisingly well, even though the results cannot be compared to professional image manipulations. It is ideal for computer users who want a quick easy way of editing smaller parts of photos that they are not happy about.

Windows users can download Photo Blemish Remover from the developer website over at Photo Toolbox. The program displays a small – but changing – text ad in the interface.

Professionals use image editors to remove those objects from their photos. They do it that well that it is often not determinable if the photo has been edited or not. Most hobbyists on the other hand lack the required skills to remove objects using – often expensive – photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop.

An online service like Web In Paint may be exactly what they need to remove objects from their photos.

The service requires the latest Adobe Flash plugin. But that’s the only requirement, it can be used without registration. The page shows some ads on the sides and top, and a one-time popup is displayed advertising the desktop version.

A photo is loaded into the web application via the Load Image button. The service supports large photos, some test 2 Megabyte images were accepted without problems.

Zoom in and out controls are available, ideal for displaying large photos on the screen without scrolling. A left click on the photo adds marker to the image. This area will later be removed by the application and replaced with what the algorithm believes is the best fit for that location.

This works pretty well for small objects on large photos. If you zoom in you notice the manipulation though. A second path usually optimizes the result further.

Web In Paint lacks an undo. You have to start over if you accidentally left-click on the photo. The online service otherwise offers a straightforward way of removing objects from photos. It is easy to use and the results are solid most of the time.

FotoMix is a surprisingly lightweight and advanced photo manipulation software for the Windows operating system, that can do that, and more.

The program basically allows the user to mix background and foreground pictures to form new photos. Each picture that gets added to the program can be manipulated in several ways, with options to add effects for instance or text.

Here is how FotoMix works in detail. It all starts with a new project, and a blank screen. It is then possible to select a background, either from an available photo, an artifical background or make the background transparent. Artificial backgrounds are textures basically that can be loaded in the program.

Each selection displays its own set of manipulation options. Photos for instance can be resized, cropped, rotated, deformed or enhanced with effects.

photo manipulation

Effects vary and include blurring the image, or making it look like an oil painting, rock, old paper photo or negative. Several sliders are provided to fine tune the results further.

The foreground image is the second image for the photo mix. Only photos can be selected as the foreground photo. A similar set of image manipulation and enhancement options are provided.

photo

Basically all available options in the background menu are also available in the foreground screen combined. From image manipulations like resizing or erasing to color tolerance, deformations, image tuning and effects.

Composition brings the photos together. In the beginning, only the foreground image is shown on the screen. Why? Because its transparency is set to 0. Sliders on the left edge can be used to change the transparency level and other parameters, like edge and circle fades, moving the foreground image around, and adding text to the image.

fotomix

Touch up is the fourth and last editing tab of the program. Brushes are available here to manipulate the composition further. A total of five brushes are available, including a clone and blend brush, useful to fine tune the resulting image.

Finally, newly created images can be saved in various formats including jpg, png and gif.

FotoMix is a handy application for users who want to mix multiple images. The program is completely free but ad driven, and compatible with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Smilla Enlarger is a portable software program for the Windows operating system that can be used to enlarge photos. The results depend on the resolution and quality of the source photo and the resolution increase entered by the user. They do look pretty good on average though making Smillar Enlarger one of the few valid one-click solutions to enlarge photos.

The program basically works the following way. The user loads a photo into the software program. The photo will be displayed automatically on the left side of the interface. A suggested new resolution will be automatically selected and a zoomed in area of the source photo will be displayed on the right side. The target resolution of the enlarged photo can be changed by moving the zoom slider or by entering a value for the width and height manually.

It is possible to change the area that is being used for the preview to ensure that the most important areas of the photo display fine in the new resolution.

The controls at the bottom can be used to fine tune the enlarged photo further to increase the overall quality. The following five controls are available as sliders in the program: Sharpness, Flatness, PreSharpen, Dithering, DeNoise.

A click on the calculate button will start the photo conversion. The enlarged photo will be saved in the source directory by default. Smilla Enlarger (via Essential Freebies) is a great software program for users who want to enlarge some of their photos or images.

JPEG Snoop is a tiny portable software program that can analyze the ins and outs of any digital image that the user loads into it. Supported are various image formats including jpg, pdf, crw, dng, cr2, new, orf, pef, thm and even mov and avi.

The software program will display many information about the image in a text editor like interface. The interesting part for users who want to identify if an image has been manipulated is at the end. The program will compare the compression characteristics of the image and assign an assessment class to it in the end.

Four assessment classes are defined:

• Class 1 – Image is processed/edited
• Class 2 – Image has high probability of being processed/edited
• Class 3 – Image has high probability of being original — NOTE: Please see description below!
• Class 4 – Uncertain if processed or original

We mentioned earlier that JPEG Snoop is able to process video formats as well. It can analyze a single frame of a video that is loaded into the software. The program might be interesting for users who regularly need to analyze the ins and outs of images.