The easiest way to open an image file is to double-click on it. This will usually open the photo in your default photo viewer, such as Windows Photos or Apple Photos. However, you may be working with proprietary image formats (such as PSD, RAW, TIFF, etc.) that require a dedicated image editor like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom for opening and editing.
If opening an image in the default photo viewer does not provide the flexibility you’re looking for, using an image editor can be helpful. Many popular image editors, such as Adobe Photoshop and GIMP, are available for free. Once you install an image editor, you can open your image file. In some cases, you may need to convert your image file into a format that is compatible with the image editor beforehand.
When you open a file in an image editor, you should be able to view the various layers of the image and edit them. If the image was created with multiple layers, you can rearrange those layers by selecting them in the Layers palette and dragging them around. You can also use the menu commands to adjust the size, crop, rotate, and transform the image. Additionally, you may be able to adjust the brightness, contrast, and other aspects of the image.
Once you finish editing the image, you can save the image in the same format or another format. The file formats that an image editor supports can vary depending on the specific program you are using. For example, if you are using Photoshop, you can save your file in many different formats, from JPG to PDF.
It is important to remember that when you save the image file in a different format, the image quality may be affected; for example, when saving a JPEG image, some of the information in the original file is discarded and the image becomes smaller in filesize. Therefore, it is best practice to save the image in its original format or in a high-quality lossless format such as TIFF or PNG whenever possible.
Finally, after you have saved the edited image, you can share it with others. Many image editing programs allow you to export the edited image in popular formats such as JPG or PDF. You can then upload this to the web, send it via email, or print it out.