I just posted a note about Paint.NET, a free photo-editing application that I think is really great. It's similar to PhotoShop, but not really hard. Here's a really easy way to lighten an image in Paint.NET (written for a complete novice--please forgive me if some of this is elementary):
1. Click
Add New Layer in the Layers palette (bottom right corner of screen). This will create a new layer on top of the original, like this:
2. Click on the
Paint Bucket icon in the Tools palette. That's the icon highlighted with the blue square in the image above.
3. Click anywhere in the image. Only the new layer is filled with white, and your image seems to disappear.
4. Click
Layers >
Layer Properties in the top menu.
5. Slide the
Opacity bar until you're happy with the image, like this:
Now save your file:
File >
Save As , then select an image type--I recommend PNG. That's it!