Photo Help

[Filbert]

Hello all. I was wondering if anyone had any idea how I can do the following...
I want to make a collage of photos and I was wondering if anyone knew of a good free programme that I can use.
Also a couple of the photos I really want to use were taken with a very old camera (the photos now scanned on my computer) and they are slightly over exposed and a little bit blurry. Is there also a programme I can use to improve them? Thanks in advance

[Zacs-Master]

There is a programme called Gimp which could do all of the above except improve the blurryness very much although there is a 'sharpen' tool I believe.

[Zacs-Master]

BTW, it's free!

[Buenchico]

GIMP is an outstanding program but (because it aims to provide everything that a full-time professional image-manipulator might require) it's got a very steep learning curve and it's easy to be baffled by it. (I'm experienced with a 'professional' version of Photoshop but, while I love GIMP, I quite often have to go through some head-scratching to work out the best way to use it).

Serif PhotoPlus might be easier to use:
http://www.serif.com/free-photo-editing-software/?MC=FSSPHOTOPLUS

Almost all image-processing programs will have a 'Sharpen' option, that can help a little (but at the cost of introducing 'grain' into the picture). Some might also have further options, such as 'Sharpen Edges', which seeks to avoid such grain being added other than around the edges of objects. However the results are never really outstanding.

To deal with over-exposure, all relevant programs offer 'brightness' and 'contrast' controls but (where available) you can usually get better results by tweaking the 'gamma' setting and adjusting the shape of the graph within 'curves'.

Lastly, with regard to creating a collage, it can sometimes be easiest to forget about using photo-manipulation programs (having already used them to 'tweak' your images anyway) and instead use a desktop publishing program to position and resize your images. This would meet your needs easily:
http://www.serif.com/desktop-publishing-software/?mc=FSSPAGEPLUS

[Slapshot]

Got GIMP on my laptop but haven't delved yet...... I'm pretty ok with Photoshop so stick with it .... though sometimes other things grab you... ;0)

[Filbert]

Thanks all, I'll look into, though I'm not very good when it comes to computer stuff. Cut and paste is my limit

[northking]

For making collages try to use Photo Pos Pro http://www.photopos.com/Photo-Pos-Pro-Free-Photo-Editor.asp it is a free one.
And for the blurry ones try to use GIMP http://www.gimp.org/ that is a free alternative to Photoshop