More on digital photographs: editing and printing.

Photoshop now includes (since the last two versions) support for raw files, which, unfortunately, is not the case for all cameras. This refinement is the privilege of relatively top of the range devices; however, as the very first ones appeared around 2003 - 2004, there is undoubtedly a few bargains to be grabbed on e-bay.

If your camera does not support the raw format, you'll still have lots of possibilities to get your shots to look better and more appealing, and even downright stunning. But before doing anything else, if you intend to print them yourself, your first task should be to properly adjust and calibrate your printer. Once done, you can then fire up your image editing software and go to the image menu and select the type of editing you think is needed. You'll find there is a wide variety of options there. It is advisable to begin with adjusting levels, i.e. setting the white and the black point, which will allow for deeper blacks and brighter whites. Using an adjustment layer can be a good idea, since it makes it possible to obtain the desired result by successive trial and error, with no harm done to the original image. The hue and saturation controls will let make subtle color adjustments, until the hue and intensity are just what you want.