camera raw with photoshop for dummies (isbn - 0471774820)
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by Kevin L Moss
Camera Rawwith Photoshopreg
FOR
DUMmIESpermil
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01_774820 ffirsqxp 1306 613 PM Page iv
by Kevin L Moss
Camera Rawwith Photoshopreg
FOR
DUMmIESpermil
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Camera Raw with Photoshopreg For Dummiesreg
Published byWiley Publishing Inc111 River StreetHoboken NJ 07030-5774wwwwileycom
Copyright copy 2006 by Wiley Publishing Inc Indianapolis Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing Inc Indianapolis Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form orby any means electronic mechanical photocopying recording scanning or otherwise except as permit-ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without either the prior writtenpermission of the Publisher or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to theCopyright Clearance Center 222 Rosewood Drive Danvers MA 01923 (978) 750-8400 fax (978) 646-8600Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department Wiley PublishingInc 10475 Crosspoint Blvd Indianapolis IN 46256 (317) 572-3447 fax (317) 572-4355 or online athttpwwwwileycomgopermissions
Trademarks Wiley the Wiley Publishing logo For Dummies the Dummies Man logo A Reference for theRest of Us The Dummies Way Dummies Daily The Fun and Easy Way Dummiescom and related tradedress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley amp Sons Inc andor its affiliates in the UnitedStates and other countries and may not be used without written permission Photoshop is a registeredtrademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States andor other countries All other trademarksare the property of their respective owners Wiley Publishing Inc is not associated with any product orvendor mentioned in this book
LIMIT OF LIABILITYDISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REP-RESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THECONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES INCLUDING WITHOUTLIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATEDOR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINEDHEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDER-STANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL ACCOUNTING OR OTHERPROFESSIONAL SERVICES IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED THE SERVICES OF A COM-PETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHORSHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION ORWEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION ANDOR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHERINFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMA-TION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKEFURTHER READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVECHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ
For general information on our other products and services please contact our Customer CareDepartment within the US at 800-762-2974 outside the US at 317-572-3993 or fax 317-572-4002
For technical support please visit wwwwileycomtechsupport
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats Some content that appears in print maynot be available in electronic books
Library of Congress Control Number
ISBN-13 978-0-471-77482-2
ISBN-10 0-471-77482-0
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1KQSQSQWIN
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About the AuthorKevin Moss is a photographer author and expert in digital photography per-sonal computing and the World Wide Web An early adopter and long-timeuser of Photoshop Kevin has specialized in combining traditional photographywith the latest in computer and digital technologies Kevin is also the authorof Photoshop CS2 and Digital Photography For Dummies and 50 Fast DigitalCamera Techniques 2nd Edition
Kevin specializes in fine-art landscape abstract and portrait photographyFor more information about Kevinrsquos photographic work or to contact himregarding this book visit his Web site at wwwkevinmossphotographycom
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DedicationFor my wonderful wife Amy who has supported me all along in my new endeav-ors and our children Amanda Emily and David You have all supported methrough this project and helped me make it happen Thanks for taking suchgood care of me while I spent all those days and evenings writing taking napstaking photos and messing around with Photoshop I love you all
Authorrsquos AcknowledgmentsPutting a book together is a large effort and the author isnrsquot the only one whospends a lot of time and dedication moving it toward completion I have manypeople to thank for their hard work and dedication to this project I especiallywant to thank Laura Lewin from Studio B and Bob Woerner at Wiley for givingme this opportunity You are both a pleasure to work with and I especiallyappreciate your professionalism
I would like to personally acknowledge my Project Editor Nicole Sholly whogave me tremendous support on a daily basis to help me through all the intri-cacies of writing a technical manuscript plus helping me keep on scheduleand always being available at any time when I needed some help
I would like to acknowledge the copyediting work of Barry Childs-HeltonBarryrsquos eloquent suggestions for tweaks to my otherwise-plain language havehelped me take my writing to a new level Barry worked extremely hard makingsure words werenrsquot a tangled mess explanations were understandable andhumor was on--target I think Barry worked as hard on this book as I did andI am very grateful for the effort
Any technical book especially one written about complex softwarelike Photoshop needs a great technical editor My special thanks to RonRockwell mdash whom I rely on to advise me about technical issues offer greatalternatives and help keep my techniques correct Itrsquos professionals likeNicole Barry and Ron that make the editing process fun and productive
I would also like to acknowledge the rest of the team at Wiley who get thingsdone behind the scenes including Kevin Kirschner and Amanda FoxworthThank you all for your efforts to make sure my writing images and figuresare all formatted arranged correctly and understandable
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Publisherrsquos AcknowledgmentsWersquore proud of this book please send us your comments through our online registration formlocated at wwwdummiescomregister
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following
Acquisitions Editorial and Media Development
Project Editor Nicole Sholly
Senior Acquisitions Editor Bob Woerner
Senior Copy Editor Barry Childs-Helton
Technical Editor Ron Rockwell
Editorial Manager Kevin Kirschner
Media Development Manager Laura VanWinkle
Media Development Supervisor Richard Graves
Editorial Assistant Amanda Foxworth
Cartoons Rich Tennant (wwwthe5thwavecom)
Composition Services
Project Coordinator Maridee Ennis
Layout and Graphics Lauren Goddard Denny Hager Melanee Prendergast Heather Ryan Erin Zeltner
Proofreaders Leeann Harney Tricia LiebigDwight Ramsey
Indexer Steve Rath
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies
Richard Swadley Vice President and Executive Group Publisher
Andy Cummings Vice President and Publisher
Mary Bednarek Executive Acquisitions Director
Mary C Corder Editorial Director
Publishing for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele Vice President and Publisher
Joyce Pepple Acquisitions Director
Composition Services
Gerry Fahey Vice President of Production Services
Debbie Stailey Director of Composition Services
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Table of ContentsIntroduction1
About This Book1Foolish Assumptions 2How This Book Is Organized3
Part I Getting Your Feet Wet4Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge4Part III Working with Raw Images4Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows4Part V The Part of Tens5
Icons Used in This Book5Where to Go from Here5
Part I Getting Your Feet Wet7
Chapter 1 Getting to Know Bridge Camera Raw and Photoshop 9Shooting in the Raw 10
Why raw 10Not all raw files are the same11
Transferring Image Files To Your Computer12Working with Images in Bridge14
Starting Bridge 14Browsing folders and opening images15
Using Camera Raw 17Becoming familiar with Camera Raw 19Adjusting images in Camera Raw 19
Hello Photoshop CS2 22Whatrsquos new 22Getting around Photoshop CS2 25Making adjustments 26
Chapter 2 Enlightened by Raw 31Whatrsquos Raw32Raw versus Other Formats 34Advantages and Disadvantages to Raw36
Taking advantage of raw format 37A few potential drawbacks39
Introducing the Digital Negative (DNG) 40
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viiiChapter 3 Applying Color Management 43
Coloring Your World 44Making Photoshop Color Settings46
Exploring (color and working) space 46Applying Photoshop color settings 47Assigning color profiles 50
Getting Calibrated 52Calibrating with Adobe Gamma52Calibrating with a colorimeter60
Proofing 61
Chapter 4 Using Workflows to Process Images 63Image Management as a Workflow64
Organizing images 64Backing up images67Managing images with Bridge68Managing images with a workflow 69
Raw Conversion as a Workflow 71Correcting Images in Photoshop as a Workflow 74Editing Images as a Workflow 77Reviewing Workflows79
Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge81
Chapter 5 Getting Around Across Under and Over Adobe Bridge 83
Introducing Bridge 84Getting Acquainted with Bridge 86
Getting the lay of the land87Would you like to see a menu 89Using Bridge panels 94
Customizing Bridge96Changing workspaces and views96Changing Bridge preferences98
Chapter 6 Managing Images 103Managing Images with Bridge103
Navigating and creating image folders 104Creating folders 105Organizing images in folders107
Camera Raw with Photoshop For Dummies
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ixAdding Information to Imagesrsquo Metadata108Applying Labels and Ratings 110
Applying color labels 110Applying ratings to images112Sorting and searching photos112
Loading Photos to Camera Raw and Photoshop 113
Part III Working with Raw Images 115
Chapter 7 Understanding Exposure and Color 117Getting to Know Color and Tonality 117
Color is everything118Understanding tone 120
Evaluating Color and Tonality 122Doing the evaluation 123The breakfast-by-the-lake example 124
Chapter 8 Getting Acquainted with Camera Raw 127Looking at Camera Raw127Working with the Toolbar controls 128Reading the Histogram and RGB Values130Image Settings130Camera Raw menu 131Camera Raw Workflow Settings134Camera Raw Controls 134Control Buttons 136
Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images 137Using a Step-by-Step Raw Process 138Evaluating Images 141Adjusting the Image with the Adjust Tab143
Adjusting white balance 144Correcting indecent exposure 146Using the histogram150Lurking in the shadows 151Adjusting brightness153Increasing and decreasing contrast 154Adding color with the Saturation control 154
Its All in the Details 156Sharpening things up 157Getting smooth with Luminance Smoothing 157Reducing color noise 159
Table of Contents
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xWorking with the Lens Tab 159
Those chromatic aberrations 160Reducing vignetting 161
Love Them Curves 163Caught Calibrating Again164
Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows167
Chapter 10 Adjusting Color and Tone in Photoshop 169Overall Adjustments as a Workflow170
Implementing color management first171Developing an Overall Corrections workflow173
Just Layering Around175Getting around the Layers palette 176Creating adjustment and fill layers 178
Making Overall Adjustments 180Evaluating images using Variations180Adjusting levels 181How rsquobout them curves184Adding color with the HueSaturation adjustment layer 186
Chapter 11 Editing Images 189Using an Image-Editing Workflow189Getting to Know Your Tools193
Using the Marquee tool 194The Lasso tool 195Snip-snipping with the Crop tool195Editing with the Healing Brush196Cloning around with the Clone Stamp tool 196Removing pixels with the Eraser tool196Sharpen or blur with the Blur tool 197Drawing shapes with the Pen tool197Making selections with the Magic Wand tool 198Painting with the Brush tool 198Dodging and burning using Dodge and Burn tools 199Writing text with the Type tools200Shaping things up with the Shape tools 201Zooming in and out 202Using tool presets202
Making Selections 204Making selections with the Magic Wand tool 205Lasso this208Selection options209
Camera Raw with Photoshop For Dummies
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xiEditing Techniques 210
Getting the red (eye) out 210Removing spots 212Dodging and burning to make your images pop 215
Using Layer Masks 217
Chapter 12 Preparing Photos for Output 221Using an Output Workflow 222A Little Color-Management Reminder 223Sizing Images 225
Resolution of sorts 226Understanding interpolation 227Resizing using the Crop tool 229Resize using Image Size 231
Sharpen Up232Printing the Final Stop 236
Choosing papers236Letting Photoshop do the printing237Letting your printer do the printing 242
Understanding Image Permanence 246
Part V The Part of Tens 249
Chapter 13 Ten Ways to Improve Your Photos and Show Off Your Work 251
Creating Black and White from Color 251Quickie BampW from color252Using the Channel Mixer to convert to BampW253Desaturating color using HueSaturation255
Selective Color256Creating a Cool Blurring Effect 258Creating Abstracts with Extreme Cropping 261Stitching Panoramas263
Shooting panoramas 264Using Photomerge 265
Creating a Thin Black Line 268Creating a Photo Web site 269Creating a Fine Art Poster 273Creating Slideshows275Mount and Frame Your Photos278
Table of Contents
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xiiChapter 14 Ten Great Photoshop Filters 279
A-Morphing We Will Go279Getting Artsy with the Chalk amp Charcoal Filter 281Creating the Look of a Drawing with the Graphic Pen 282Adding Artistic Effects with the Glass Filter284Caught Reticulating285Painting with Brush Stroke Filters 287Adding Texture to Photos 288Bring Out the Artist in You with the Watercolor Filter289Adding Cool Glowing Edges290Using the Lighting Effects Filter 291
Index295
Camera Raw with Photoshop For Dummies
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Introduction
Digital photography has come a long way in the last few years When digi-tal cameras broke the 3-megapixel barrier I strongly considered jumping
in and retiring my film gear By the time 5-megapixel digital cameras hit thestreet I was hooked Then just a few years ago the raw file format startedbeing offered and Adobe Camera Raw was born To me this was digitalheaven mdash to have full control over how digital images are processed fromcamera all the way to print
If yoursquore shooting raw now yoursquove probably figured out the advantages ofworking in that format Being able to correct image exposure and white bal-ance is enough to sell me but you can also make overall adjustments in colorand tone without the danger of destroying valuable image data mdash and thatrsquosthe biggest gift the format gives us Camera Raw ties the process together let-ting photographers bypass using third-party software so we can process rawfiles within the same software we use to edit our photos
This book gives you a detailed explanation of the entire end-to-end process mdashfrom capturing raw images with your digital camera to organizing your files inBridge converting your images in Adobe Camera Raw and then processingthem in Photoshop I explain each individual procedure as a workflow mdash a setof useful habits to develop in sequence Okay sure the term has been a buzz-word in photography trade rags over the past few years but truly this conceptis the path toward more consistent processes for getting your images fromcamera to print mdash resulting in more consistent quality Your photography willimprove just by following the steps provided in this book as you develop yourworkflows
About This BookIrsquove spent the past few years perfecting my processes with Photoshop mdashwhich can be a very intimidating software program The last few versionsoffered even more capability to master mdash the File Browser the new Bridge pro-gram and Camera Raw now in its third or fourth version This book gives methe opportunity to share that knowledge with photographers who shoot in rawformat and want to get up to speed with these new Photoshop capabilities
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2 Camera Raw with Photoshop For Dummies
Irsquove selected the content of this book based on whatrsquos most important to usas photographers The chapters are also organized in a manner in which weuse parts of Photoshop according to order or in an overall workflow Some ofthese topics include
The importance of and implementing color management
The importance of and implementing workflows
Using Bridge and managing digital images
Understanding color
Using Camera Raw
Making overall color and tonal corrections in Photoshop
Making edits in Photoshop
Mastering the skills in these areas of Photoshop and digital photography willhelp you organize and streamline your digital photography processesmaking digital photography even more fun and gratifying
Foolish AssumptionsThis book is intended as a Camera Raw and Photoshop CS2 reference forthose digital photographers who want to develop efficient workflows for pro-cessing raw images organizing files and making corrections and edits inPhotoshop If you have an advanced digital camera or digital SLR that can cap-ture images in raw format a computer (with a lot of memory and storagespace) Photoshop CS2 and even a photo-quality printer you probably haveall you need to get started
Here is a list of things I assume you already have (or will be adding to yourcollection shortly)
Digital SLR or advanced compact digital camera For digital photogra-phers who want to shoot in raw format having a digital camera that canproduce raw files is a pretty good idea Most of the newer (and moreadvanced) compact digital cameras mdash and to my knowledge all recent-model digital SLRs mdash offer the raw format If your digital camera is abrand-spanking-new model (if so congratulations) it may take Adobe afew months to come out with an update to Camera Raw that includesyour new model One thing is certain Yoursquore going to need some big-honkinrsquo memory cards for your digital camera Raw files can get prettybig mdash from 5 megabytes each on up mdash depending on how many mega-pixels your digital camera can handle So Irsquod also suggest a dedicated
03_774820 introqxp 1306 633 PM Page 2
card reader to transfer those big files to your computer Transferringfiles to your computer by attaching a USB cable from your camera canbe a slow and tedious process getting a card reader is a great invest-ment and they donrsquot cost much (especially when you consider that yourtime is valuable)
Computer To work with Photoshop you need a computer with enoughmemory and a decent monitor Photoshop CS2 requires that your com-puter have at least 384 megabytes of memory (And remember As a ruleminimum requirements barely get the job done try to exceed thosespecs whenever possible) If you are shooting and processing raw filesIrsquod recommend at least 1 gigabyte of memory for your computer Digitalphoto files especially raw gobble up disk space (Irsquod recommend at least100 gigabytes for starters) Yoursquoll be surprised at how fast disk spacegets used up
Colorimeter Color management is a super-important part of your over-all workflow If yoursquore not using color-management tools I strongly sug-gest you look into purchasing a colorimeter and a software package thatwill allow you to calibrate your monitor If you can ensure that what yousee on your computer is what prints on your printer yoursquore better offcalibration makes it possible
Photoshop CS2 Photoshop CS2 is the central part of your digital dark-room Just as Windows or Mac OS functions as your computerrsquos operatingsystem Photoshop CS2 is your digital-photography operating systemNew features in CS2 include Adobe Bridge for image management mdash andCamera Raw is included
If yoursquore still using Photoshop CS donrsquot fret For the most part the work-flows in this book apply to you as well the version of Camera Raw isvery similar and the File Browser concept of managing files is the same
Photo-quality printer Irsquom assuming yoursquore using Photoshop to processfiles for printing but lots of folks use it for publishing in different mediaas well Still itrsquos nice to have one of those superior new photo printersour manufactures have blessed us with These days for under $100 youcan find a printer that will more than meet your needs If yoursquore makingphotos primarily for use on the Web having a printer on hand helps ifyou want an actual photo you can hold frame or keep in your wallet
How This Book Is OrganizedThis book is divided into parts that address general areas such as organizingphotos converting raw files or working with Photoshop I even include somefun chapters in The Part of Tens Feel free to skip around and if you have thetime read the book from beginning to end
3Introduction
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4 Camera Raw with Photoshop For Dummies
Part I Getting Your Feet WetOkay not all of us plunge right into digital photography (underwater or other-wise) So Part I offers an overview for the Photoshop and Camera Raw con-cepts covered in the rest of the book Itrsquos a quick-start for shooting in rawformat and getting your images into your computer Chapter 1 briefly intro-duces shooting raw using Bridge and then using Camera Raw and Photoshopto process your images Chapter 2 goes into more detail about the benefits ofraw format and takes a look at Adobersquos new DNG file format Chapter 3 speaksto a topic near and dear to my heart mdash color management Chapter 4 explainsthe workflows covered throughout the book and why they can improve youroverall photography and your Photoshop skills
Part II Image-Management Workflowwith Adobe BridgeAdobe Bridge is what ties together all the Photoshop processes your habitsof image management and the tweaks you make in Camera Raw andPhotoshop Image management in essence is keeping your digital files orga-nized and backed up for safekeeping After all before you can use rsquoem youhave to be able to find rsquoem and they have to be where you put rsquoem SoChapter 5 shows you how to get around Bridge and take advantage of its file-management functions Chapter 6 shows you how to add information to digi-tal images to organize and reference them even better for future usage
Part III Working with Raw ImagesCamera Raw is the program yoursquoll use to process all your raw images andPart III shows you how to do just that in a smooth raw-imagendashprocessingworkflow Chapter 7 starts you out with understanding color the basis of pro-cessing raw images Chapter 8 gives you a tour of Camera Raw while Chapter9 shows you how to use all the tools and controls Camera Raw has to offer
Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing WorkflowsAll aspects of processing images in this book are presented in separate work-flows that make up your overall image-processing activities This part explainsthe workflows needed to process images in Photoshop after yoursquove convertedthem in Camera Raw Chapter 10 shows you workflows for correcting colorand tone in Photoshop Chapter 11 explains image editing as a workflow mdashyou know removing red eye blemishes and miscellaneous unwanted partsof your image (use your imagination) Chapter 12 is dedicated toward prepar-ing images for output by correctly sizing them applying color profiles androuting them through an efficient printing workflow
03_774820 introqxp 1306 633 PM Page 4
Part V The Part of TensAlways the favorite part of any For Dummies book The Part of Tens providesyou with a few chapters that add to your growing technical knowledge (andmight enhance your reputation as a guru) Chapter 13 provides you with 10cool things to do with your photos mdash such as creating abstracts creating aphoto Web site and stitching panoramas Chapter 14 shows you 10 coolPhotoshop filters to use when you want to add special effects to your imagesYou know The fun stuff (Always my favorite subjects to show)
Icons Used in This BookWhatrsquos a For Dummies book without icons pointing you in the right directionThis section shows and describes the five icons I use in this book
This icon alerts you to some of the great new features available in CS2 Ifyoursquore still using CS you get a peek at the features that are waiting for youwhen you upgrade
Use the text next to this icon as a guide for doing something better with yourimages Often I add tips to the step-by-step instructions to give you some goodideas on the spot as you work with Bridge Camera Raw and Photoshop
This icon is used to alert you to a topic thatrsquos important for you not to forgetCommit these to memory
What you find next to this icon often helps explain technical topics in clearerterms The information provided may not be critical but the odd nice-to-knowtechnical facts will make you look real smart in front of your friends
When you see one of these donrsquot run the sky is not falling (Not yet anyway)Itrsquos simply a way to stay out of the way of potential trouble when hassles andglitches are lurking around the corner
Where to Go from HereThis book isnrsquot intended to be read from beginning to end like a mystery itrsquosa reference Drop into it whenever you need a hand getting some pesky tech-nique to work right This book is organized to reflect the overall order in whichyoursquod normally be working with digital images feel free to look up any topic inthe index and go right to that chapter to find out what you want to know
5Introduction
03_774820 introqxp 1306 633 PM Page 5
6 Camera Raw with Photoshop For Dummies
To make things even easier processes are broken down into step-by-stepworkflows (gotta love that word) with a bunch of actual Photoshop screen-shots and photos to provide visual cues If you want to skip right to the parton using Bridge (Part II) go ahead Want to see how to process images inCamera Raw (Part III) You can skip to that step too Irsquove also offereddetailed workflows for making overall corrections edits and preparingimages for output in Photoshop (Part IV) Consider this book an end-to-endguide for using Photoshop and Camera Raw to transform your raw imagesinto exactly what you want to see
03_774820 introqxp 1306 633 PM Page 6
Part IGetting Your
Feet Wet
04_774820 pt1qxp 1306 616 PM Page 7
In this part
Digital photography has offered old-school filmphotographers more tools and capabilities
than you can shake a stick at You have some greatdigital cameras powerful computers that are afford-able and some rockinrsquo software like Photoshop CS2that you can use to tweak retouch and even morphyour photos One rule remains true whether youshoot film or digital Better photographs startwith the photographer True software utilities andtechniques help make a normal blah photo a littlebetter but images well exposed composed andfocused make much better prints
After yoursquove taken some great photos therersquosmore fun to be had Well some folks have fun orga-nizing and downloading images converting the rawones and making further corrections and edits inPhotoshop Okay itrsquos an acquired taste mdash a bitmore complex than driving a roll of film down to thecorner drugstore for processing But think of thecontrol you now have over how your images turnout Thatrsquos where some real creativity with digitalphotography begins mdash in the ldquodigital darkroomrdquo mdashand thatrsquos what this book is all about The chaptersin this part help get you started working with thetools and established processes of the digitaldarkroom Bridge Camera Raw Photoshop andthe workflows that give you consistently impres-sive results
04_774820 pt1qxp 1306 616 PM Page 8
1Getting to Know Bridge
Camera Raw and Photoshop In This Chapter Shooting raw images
Getting images to your computer
Viewing organizing and opening images in Bridge
Processing images in Camera Raw
Adjusting images in Photoshop CS2
Remember the days (just a few years ago) when digital photography con-sisted of having fun shooting photos transferring them to your com-
puter and enhancing them using Photoshop The choices weresimple shoot in JPEG or TIFF format JPEG format is prettygood but TIFF was supposed to be better (even though theresulting image files were huge) Before long we figuredout that JPEG quality was pretty close to TIFF qualityfor the most part shooting images in TIFF reallydidnrsquot offer much advantage
Discerning digital photographers have always wanteda file format that works like a digital equivalent of atraditional negative mdash giving the photographer totalcontrol over processing the image data captured by adigital camera (Sure you could skip the tweaking andleave it all up to the camerarsquos internal processing soft-ware mdash but why settle for blah results) In the past fewyears new digital camera models have delivered just that mdashthe raw image format The software that gives you control ofthose raw images is called (logically enough) Camera Raw
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10 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Shooting in the RawWell no you donrsquot have to walk around wearing only your camera when youtake photographs Irsquom referring to shooting photos in the raw format withyour digital camera Todayrsquos digital SLR and advanced compact cameras(also called prosumer because their features are in-between ldquoprordquo and ldquocon-sumerrdquo) can capture images in raw format leaving the enhancements up tothe digital photographer That unprocessed image file mdash a digital negative mdashprovides more artistic control An example is the image shown in Figure 1-1
Figure 1-1 Raw format gives photographers more creative control in processing images
Why rawAs a photographer I shoot in raw format because it gives me better creativecontrol over the image data captured by my digital camera Raw format givesme an image file created exactly as the digital camerarsquos sensor captured it Ican adjust white balance tint brightnesscontrast and huesaturationexactly the way I want I donrsquot have to settle for what my digital camerarsquosfirmware (built-in internal software) does to the image
As an added bonus shooting images in raw format gives me a huge advan-tage over JPEG I can correct nearly any incorrect exposure or off-kilter whitebalance I may have made while shooting Donrsquot get me wrong getting the cor-rect exposure and white balance is still just good photographic practice andwell worth the effort mdash you have less tweaking to do later mdash but sometimeswhen yoursquore out in the field taking photos and (say) that bright green UFOlands right over there you may have to shoot first and ask questions later
Also getting an accurate reading of the exposure is tricky if yoursquore simplysquinting at the images yoursquove just taken (and their tiny histograms) on yourdigital camerarsquos LCD screen mdash especially if yoursquore shooting outdoors on a
Unprocessed raw image Processed in Camera Raw andPhotoshop CS2
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 10
bright sunny day When you download those images to your computer andview them in Photoshop you may discover that your image is either under-or overexposed (It happens) Raw format lets you use the capabilities ofPhotoshop to compensate for under- or overexposed photos without degrad-ing the quality of the image Itrsquos a nice backup if you ever need it
Not all raw files are the sameContrary to popular belief not all raw images are the same after all not allimages mdash and not all cameras mdash are the same The actual image data col-lected by a digital camerarsquos image sensor can vary noticeably from one manu-facturer to another the electronics are different from model to model Forthat reason camera manufacturers offer their own proprietary software toprocess the raw images produced by their cameras
If you purchase (for example) aNikon digital camera such as themodel shown in Figure 1-2 and thatmodel offers the ability to captureraw images you can process thoseraw files with a proprietary pro-gram either Nikon Picture Projector Nikon Capture (advanced raw-conversion software available at anadditional cost) If you also own aCanon digital camera that producesraw images however you wonrsquot beable to use Nikonrsquos software toprocess them For those images youhave to use Canonrsquos proprietary soft-ware Digital Photo Professional mdashbut you canrsquot process Nikon imagesusing Canonrsquos software And if (like the pros) you also have other cameras by other makers you get the idea So did Adobe Thatrsquos why Camera Rawexists
I detail the advantages and disadvantages (yes there are some) of shootingraw images in Chapter 2
Though different camera manufactures have their own versions of ldquotherdquo rawformat Photoshop CS2 provides a standard platform you can use to processjust about any raw image regardless of all that proprietary fuss As an addedbonus Camera Raw can handle the whole process of adjusting and editingyour raw images (called workflow) with no need to add other software pro-grams (Imagine that mdash something about photography has actually becomesimpler) Adobe provides a list of the digital cameras with which Camera Rawis compatible at httpadobecom (For more about workflow conceptsspin through Part IV)
11Chapter 1 Getting to Know Bridge Camera Raw and Photoshop
Figure 1-2 Newer advanced digital camerascan capture images in raw format
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 11
12 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Transferring Image Files to Your ComputerIf yoursquore already well versed in transferring images to your computer feel freeto skip to the next section (I wonrsquot even be offended Honest) If yoursquore stillwrestling with transferring images from your camera to your computer youcan use any of several methods but these two are the most common
Connecting your digital camera directly to your computer When youfirst get your digital camera home from the camera store you have tounpack all those manuals CDs and cables that come in the box TheCDs include a software utilityused to transfer images to yourcomputer one of the cables isfor plugging your digital camerainto your computer so you cantransfer the images (Refer toyour camerarsquos ownerrsquos manualto figure out which connectionon the camera to plug the cableinto The other end of the cableconnects to your computerrsquosFireWire or USB port)
Using a card reader The fastestway to download images toyour computer is to use a cardreader Card readers (such asthe one shown in Figure 1-3) are devices that plug into your computerrsquosUSB port or (with some models) the faster FireWire port providing anefficient way to transfer images mdash often from various cards with differ-ent formats such as Compact Flash SD (secure digital) or memory stick
Using a card reader to download images to your computer also offers addedsecurity With a direct connection therersquos often the worry that your digitalcamerarsquos battery might go dead while the image transfer is going on A cardreader can be especially reassuring if you have a large batch of images totransfer and want it to happen correctly the first time
To download images to your computer follow these steps
1 Determine where you want the downloaded images to go on yourcomputer
If yoursquore a Windows user the easiest place to put your downloadedimages is in the My Pictures folder (opened by choosing My ComputerMy Pictures) You can also create a new folder to hold your images(More information on image management and creating image folders canbe found in Chapter 4) On a Mac running OS X the Pictures folder is aconvenient location for downloading your images to
Figure 1-3 Card readers are the fastest safestway to download images to your computer
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 12
2 Plug your digital camera into the computer using the supplied USB orFireWire cable
Before you connect make sure your digital camera is turned off If youare using a card reader make sure itrsquos plugged into an available USB orFireWire port on you computer
3 Turn on your digital camera orinsert a card into your cardreader
Turning on your digital camerawill automatically start thedownloading process on yourcomputer If yoursquore using a cardreader inserting a memory cardinto the card reader starts thedownloading process automati-cally Your computer recognizesthe digital camera or cardreader as an external deviceand displays the window shownin Figure 1-4
4 Copy images to your computer
Choose to open your folderusing Windows Explorer asshown in Figure 1-4 As yourcomputer recognizes your digital camera or card reader as an externaldevice (or drive) choose to open Windows Explorer to view your imagesCopy all the images shown to a folder of your choice on your hard drive
To better organize image folders on your computer create a new folder todownload each memory card to Give each folder a name such as ldquoGrandCanyon photosrdquo to describe whatrsquos inside Itrsquos a lot better than copying all ofyour images to the same folder every time (trust me on this one) and it helpsyou organize and find your original images later
Never move images directly from your memory card to a folder If you use theMove command the images will be removed from the memory card as they arecopied to the folder you chose to copy to If the copying process is interruptedduring copying you can potentially lose images Additionally itrsquos better toformat your memory cards in your camera to remove old images rather thanerase them with your computer By using your digital camera to format yourcards yoursquoll ensure you are using the correct formatting algorithm your digitalcamera uses
To help ensure regret-free image transfer make it a habit to format yourmemory cards only after yoursquove downloaded the images to your computer mdashand have made a backup to CD or DVD (I cover backing up images in Chapter 4)
13Chapter 1 Getting to Know Bridge Camera Raw and Photoshop
Figure 1-4 After your computer automaticallyrecognizes your digital camera you canchoose how to download your images
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 13
14 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Working with Images in BridgeWhen yoursquove successfully transferred that batch of raw images to a folderwhere they just wait for a good tweaking theyrsquore in Adobe territory Herersquoswhere some handy new Photoshop CS2 and Camera Raw capabilities comeinto play mdash in particular Bridge
New to Photoshop CS2 is Adobe Bridge Bridge is an upgrade to the FileBrowser we came to love in previous versions of Photoshop mdash but itrsquos betterBridge is now a standalone application that can be launched independent ofthe Creative Suite programs or from within Photoshop CS2 Illustrator CS2GoLive CS2 and InDesign CS2 Bridge provides better integration betweenthe Creative Suite programs but if you use only Photoshop CS2 it worksgreat as your standalone or integrated program to organize browse orlocate photos Bridge also serves as the launching point to process rawimages in Camera Raw
Starting BridgeBridge can be started independent of Photoshop CS2 Itrsquos set up as any otherprogram in Windows or on the Mac The other way to start Bridge is throughPhotoshop CS2
1 Start Photoshop CS2 by either double-clicking the icon on your desk-top or by choosing StartPhotoshop CS2
You can also press Alt+Ctrl+O (Option+Ocirc+O on a Mac)
2 From Photoshop choose FileBrowse or just click the Go to Bridgebutton
The Go to Bridge button is located on the right side of the PhotoshopCS2 Option bar shown in Figure 1-5 On a Mac double-click the Bridgeicon (located in the ApplicationsAdobe Bridge folder)
Figure 1-5 To start Bridge simply click the Go To Bridge button located on the CS2 Option bar
Go to BridgeOption bar
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 14
Browsing folders and opening imagesOkay file management is always an issue when yoursquore dealing with applica-tions that generate scads of files and copies-of-files (as Photoshop does)Chapters 5 and 6 plunge into the details of file management and reveal thewonders using all the major features of Adobe Bridge For the moment Ishow you how to do a quick browse through the folders mdash and when you findan image you want how to open it in Camera Raw and Photoshop CS2 Soherersquos Square One Figure 1-6 shows how the Bridge window looks right afteryou open Bridge
Figure 1-6 Bridge provides everything you need to view open and organize all of your photos
Menu bar
Metadata
Option bar
Folders tab Look In menu
Thumbnails Selected image Close Bridge
Resize thumbnails Content area
15Chapter 1 Getting to Know Bridge Camera Raw and Photoshop
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16 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
To browse image folders located on your computer with Bridge
1 Click the Folders tab
Clicking the Folders tab showsyou your computerrsquos drives andfolders (as shown in Figure 1-7)enabling you to navigate yourcomputerrsquos folders to locate thefolder you want to view mdash say afolder you recently downloadednew images to
2 Choose the image folder youwish to view
Figure 1-8 shows a series of folders I created to hold myimages Click a folder to view its contents in the BridgeContent area
Creating your image folders anddownloading images to thesame area on your computermakes it easier for you to locateimages in Bridge
3 Select an image
Single-clicking an image in theBridge Content area shows youan imagersquos metadata (informa-tion such as the camera settingsyou used when you shot thephoto) in the Metadata tabalong with a thumbnail of theimage in the Preview area
When yoursquove selected a photoslide the Resize Thumbnailsslider all the way to the right toenlarge the thumbnail to get abetter view of the image Yoursquollbe able to see more detail of the image to better judge whether or notthe image is sharp enough or focused correctly Images can look greatwhen they are viewed as smaller thumbnails but when you view them atlarger sizes you can better judge whether the images are good enough
Figure 1-7 The Bridge Folders tab
Figure 1-8 Clicking through folders allow youto locate your image files
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 16
to use Figure 1-9 shows a photoof little duckies (Actually theseare baby swans but I like duck-ies Humor me)
Those (ahem) duckies lookedgood in the thumbnail butenlarging the thumbnail viewgives me a closer look Is thephoto focused properly and isits overall detail sharp
By the way the reason I knowtheyrsquore swans is because themother swan was only a few feetaway and she would actuallygrowl at me if I got too close toher babies Lucky I was toting a70-300mm lens for my Nikon D70 that day so I could shoot the photofrom a swan-safe distance
4 Open the image
After yoursquove browsed images in Bridge and have chosen an image to editdouble-click the thumbnail If the image is a raw file it opens automati-cally in Camera Raw If the image is in another format (such as JPEG TIFFor PSD) it opens automatically in Photoshop You can also right-click(Control+click a Mac) and choose Open from the menu to open the image
Using Camera RawAdobe first introduced Camera Raw with Photoshop version 7 and has consis-tently improved this tool with the next versions CS and CS2 Improvementssuch as clipping warnings (when Camera Raw indicates part of an image whereover-underexposure occurs thus eliminating otherwise good image informa-tion) curves and the addition of auto-adjustments have made Camera Raw apowerful tool to process your raw images Camera Rawrsquos seamless integrationwith Adobe Bridge and Photoshop makes it the tool of choice for many pho-tographers who shoot raw and use Photoshop No surprise there
For me Camera Raw is a powerful enough tool that I ignore the raw-image-conversion software from the manufacturers of the digital cameras I use(Sure I keep the discs mdash thatrsquos just a good practice mdash but I donrsquot use them) I like the idea of using one program that allows me to use raw files from differ-ent manufacturersrsquo cameras and to work directly with Bridge and PhotoshopCS2 so my choice is simple I use Camera Raw
17Chapter 1 Getting to Know Bridge Camera Raw and Photoshop
Figure 1-9 Enlarge the thumbnails to betterview and judge the quality of your images inBridge
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 17
18 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
I recently had the opportunity to photograph many historic sites and spec-tacular gardens in England and Wales Figure 1-10 shows one of those photosopened in the Camera Raw window mdash a scene photographed in a difficultlighting situation bright late-morning sun Adjusting some exposure andcolor for this image in Camera Raw enables me to make overall color adjust-ments without degrading the information contained in the image
Figure 1-10 The Camera Raw window
One advantage of making overall adjustments (also referred to as tonal adjust-ments) in Camera Raw is that doing so keeps the overall quality of the imageintact Whenever you adjust the exposure brightness contrast hue and saturationin Photoshop you actually destroy information in the image file The more adjust-ments you make to the image the more information you potentially destroydegrading the overall quality of the image Making as many of these overalladjustments as you can in Camera Raw will guarantee that you retain the datathat makes up the image file Consider it a route to a higher-quality end product
Option bar
Image Open in Photoshop
Overall adjustments
View Shadow Clipping
View Highlights Clipping Temperature control
Tint control White Balance
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 18
Becoming familiar with Camera RawThe Camera Raw window is laid out simply Commands arenrsquot buried in aseries of menus and the Adjustment tabs are visible (refer to Figure 1-10)when you first open an image in Camera Raw Commonly used tools are easilyavailable to you on the Camera Raw Option bar and the Image window issimple to operate (with zoom controls laid out at the bottom of the image)The Camera Raw window is made up of these sections
Option bar The Option bar provides tools to help you move aroundselect a white point of the image (to correct white balance) cropstraighten and rotate an image The Option bar also includes checkboxes you can use to toggle the image preview on and off mdash an easy wayto switch between the original (unadjusted) image and the image as itappears while yoursquore making adjustments
Image window The area where you can view zoom crop straightenand rotate your image using the tools in the Option bar
Workflow options The area at the bottom of the Camera Raw windowwhere you can modify the color space size and resolution of an image(Chapter 8 provides more detail on workflow options)
Histogram The histogram is the graph displayed in the upper-right partof the Camera Raw menu a graphical view of how much red green andblue make up the image and how each color is distributed
Adjustment tabs The area to the right of the Camera Raw window containstabs where Adjust Detail Lens Curve and Calibrate controls are located
Adjusting images in Camera RawCamera Raw is a powerful enough tool that itrsquos a good idea to get a handle onsome of its new features before you go on a tweaking rampage Herersquos thequick tour mdash followed by a small rampage
One of the new convenient features of Photoshop CS2 is the addition of autoadjustments in Camera Raw When you open a raw image in Camera Rawauto adjustments for Exposure Shadows Brightness and Contrast are auto-matically made For some images auto settings for these adjustments may besufficient however I encourage you to look at each one and move the slidersto the left or right to see whether you can get a better result
The steps to make overall adjustments in Camera Raw include these
1 Adjust White Balance and Tint
White balance can be adjusted using either the White Balance selectionbox or the Temperature control Both will adjust the white balance of theimage if needed Changing the settings in the White Balance selection box will adjust both the Temperature and Tint to match the Camera Raw
19Chapter 1 Getting to Know Bridge Camera Raw and Photoshop
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 19
20 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
pre-determined color conditions for that particular setting As an exam-ple the Daylight white balance setting changes the (virtual) Temperatureto 5500K and the Tint to a setting of +10 For finer tuning of the white bal-ance you can adjust the Temperature and Tint separately by using theadjustment sliders for both of those adjustments
This adjustment is best used on photos that used the wrong white bal-ance setting when they were shot mdash say a photo shot in bright sunlightwhile the digital camerarsquos white balance was set to Florescent (Yikes)The wrong white balance setting results in odd color shifts as in thephoto shown in Figure 1-11 For this photo I actually like the result I gotas shot where the Cloudy and Florescent settings show incorrect colorfor the photo But strictly realistic it isnrsquot
Figure 1-11 Adjusting the white balance
2 Adjust Exposure
The Exposure control is a digital camera userrsquos best friend Irsquom not one toabdicate the fact that all of your photos have to be properly exposed whenyou click that camera shutter (Hey we all know that doesnrsquot happen in thereal world At least nowhere near often enough) The biggest challenge forphotographers is capturing images that are correctly exposed and sharpYou canrsquot really correct unfocused images but the Exposure adjustmentallows you to correct an image thatrsquos under- or overexposed As with otheradjustments in Camera Raw increasing or decreasing the exposure toobtain the results you want doesnrsquot degrade the quality of the image file
Click the Auto check box to let Camera Raw automatically adjust yourexposure Camera Raw will choose the optimum setting to the point atwhich the image isnrsquot under- or overexposed just shy of the point atwhich the shadows and highlights start to lose definition (called clipping)
As shot Cloudy Fluorescent
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 20
Changing any of the control settings in Camera Raw can cause clippingClipping occurs when too much of an adjustment mdash such as adding toomuch brightness or contrast mdash renders parts of an image unusable bycreating areas that are (for example) too light or too dark Areas that aretoo bright and contain no detail are called blown out
You can monitor if your changesare causing clipping by clickingthe Shadows and Highlightscheck boxes located on theCamera Raw palette Clickingthese boxes will show you areasof the image that are too light ortoo dark Shadow areas that areclipped appear in blue highlightareas that experience clippingshow up in red as Figure 1-12shows in an enlarged portion ofthe image
3 Adjust Shadows
Camera Raw lets you adjustshadow areas (the verydark parts) of your image byincreasing or decreasing thebrightness in these areaswhile not affecting the highlightareas Try the Auto setting forShadows first or you can move the slider to the left or right to get theeffect you want Make sure you keep the Shadows check box checked tolimit and monitor clipping If clipping occurs while yoursquore making aShadows adjustment move the slider until the clipping in the shadowedareas disappears
4 Adjust Brightness
The Brightness control allows you to increase or decrease how brightyour image appears independent of the Exposure setting TheBrightness setting is best used in conjunction with other Camera Rawadjustments such as Contrast and Saturation Changing the contrastand saturation may require you to increase or decrease the brightnessof the image slightly to compensate for the harsher changes
5 Adjust Contrast
The Contrast control simply allows you to darken the dark areas of animage while brightening the lighter areas of an image The Auto settingfor Contrast may be the optimum setting for Contrast but feel free tomove the slider to the right to increase contrast in the image until youget the result you want
21Chapter 1 Getting to Know Bridge Camera Raw and Photoshop
Figure 1-12 Clipping in the highlight areasappears in red if the Highlights check box ischecked
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 21
22 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
6 Adjust Saturation
Before you adjust a raw photo it may appeardull and lacking in contrast Donrsquot worry Thecolor information is still in the file mdash all youhave to do is increase the Saturation control tobring out the color (Personally the Saturationcontrol is my favorite I canrsquot wait to get intoCamera Raw tweak my Exposure ShadowsBrightness Contrast and then increase the sat-uration and watch my photos ldquocome aliverdquo)
There isnrsquot an Auto setting for saturation Youhave to do it by hand increasing color satura-tion by moving the Saturation slider to theright Figure 1-13 shows the original image andthe image adjusted in Camera Raw
7 Click Open
Clicking the Open button will then open yourconverted raw image into the Photoshopwindow where you can make further adjust-ments and edits to your heartrsquos content Youcan also click the Done button to save yourCamera Raw settings for the image and return toBridge without opening the image in Photoshop
At this point Camera Raw saves your changes butnot to the original raw file Camera Raw leaves theoriginal alone but it does add your changes to asidecar file a file created to contain changes yoursquoveadded to the original raw image These files aresmall and are given an XMP file extension
Hello Photoshop CS2I bet you were wondering when Irsquod get to PhotoshopCS2 (Well back to it anyway) Thanks for being patient but in this chapter itrsquosfirst things first Bridge and Camera Raw are after all the first steps you takeas you get into processing raw images When yoursquore familiar with browsingimages opening them and then converting them in Camera Raw yoursquore readyto poke around in Photoshop CS2 check out the new features and dive backinto processing your images with a slew of new tools to use
Whatrsquos newThe Photoshop version CS2 hasnrsquot changed much from the past few versions(CS2 is actually version 9) but a whole slew of new features have appearedunder the hood
As shot
Adjusted in Camera Raw
Figure 1-13 Original imageand the image adjusted inCamera Raw
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 22
I cover these features in Part III but here are a few popular new ones
New Exposure control Photoshop now includes a new control that letsyou adjust exposure outside of Camera Raw that can be used for JPEGor TIFF images
New Blur and Sharpen filters CS2 provides us with more Blur andSharpen tools I cover both in more detail in Chapters 11 and 12Figure 1-14 shows the new Smart Sharpen filter mdash bound to be thenew photographerrsquos favorite CS2 sharpening tool for photos
Figure 1-14 The new Smart Sharpen tool provides the photographer with more options for sharpening photos
Vanishing Point filter This feature is tailored to advanced users whoseek to edit images in perfect perspective
Smart Objects Using these you can make edits to an image file whilelinking the image to the original Linking to the original lets you maintainthe quality of an image your photos remain sharp even after extensiveedits because the linked original remains unchanged Irsquove found thateven some older low-resolution digital images can benefit from this fea-ture especially those Irsquove edited extensively
Lens Correction filter The new Lens Correction filter provides the capability to correct lens shortcomings such as barrel distortion andvignetting Those of you who are familiar with those problems probablyfeel like cheering Herersquos the gist Some lenses at extreme settings createslight darkened borders around an image called vignetting Also you cansee visible distortion at extreme zoom settings especially wide angle
Red Eye tool The new Red Eye tool lets you easily correct the red eyeeffect that plagues so many snapshots of family and friends who reallydonrsquot want to look like insomniacs or vampires
23Chapter 1 Getting to Know Bridge Camera Raw and Photoshop
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 23
24 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Spot Healing Brush tool I use this tool a lot to correct blemishes onskin or get rid of stray gum wrappers on the floors of architecturalimages (such as the example shown in Figure 1-15) Nothing can ruin aphotographerrsquos mood like traveling a few thousand miles taking photosof historic sites and then viewing images littered with garbage on thefloor The Spot Healing Brush comes in handy for just those situations(Too bad there isnrsquot a real-life equivalent)
Figure 1-15 The Spot Healing Brush is a great tool to help clean up parts of a photo
A cleaned floor
Spot Healing Brush
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 24
WYSIWYG fonts Great acronym but what does it mean (Just kiddingWhat You See Is What You Get has been around for a few years)Photoshop now shows you exactly what the font will look like when you add text to a Photoshop document using the Text tool
Getting around Photoshop CS2Getting around Photoshop can seem a little intimidating at first but afteryou get used to working with menus palettes and the Toolbox yoursquoll getcomfortable pretty quickly The trick is knowing what features are availableand where to find them So by way of a little exploration Figure 1-16 showsthe Photoshop window and these essential areas
Menus In the menu bar yoursquoll find a whole slew of utilities commandsfilters and settings Familiar menus such as File Edit View Windowand Help are there and if yoursquore used to working in Windows or the Mac yoursquoll be instantly comfortable with these
Option bar The Option bar resides just below the menu bar and isreserved for settings related to tools chosen from the Toolbox
Toolbox The Toolbox is (well yeah) a collection of tools you use toedit images Many of those tools are like camping knives they havemultiple tools inside them Just right-click a tool and yoursquoll see a flyoutmenu that shows you more tools
I sometimes refer to these tools as ldquomy little friendsrdquo mdash they donrsquottalk to me but I can talk to them No really You can use one ofthese tools mdash the Audio Annotation tool mdash to record audiomessages and attach the recordings to an image Talking picturesanyone
Image window The Image window is where the image you openedin Bridge or from Camera Raw resides
Palettes Palettes are control panels that provide information toyou or enable you to perform specific editing processes to yourimage For instance the Info palette provides color informationregarding specific areas of an image where the Layers paletteenables you to view edit and create the needed fill and adjustmentlayers
25Chapter 1 Getting to Know Bridge Camera Raw and Photoshop
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 25
26 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Figure 1-16 The Photoshop CS2 window
Making adjustmentsThough the goal with making overall adjustments in Camera Raw is to reducethe sheer number of overall adjustments needed in Photoshop there is stillmuch creative work to do Photoshop is actually where you take the steps tocomplete the adjusting and editing of your image The following overview ofthis process (known as ldquoworkflowrdquo) summarizes the steps for making quicktonal adjustments and edits to an image
Menu bar
Layers palette
Option bar
Toolbox
Image window Go to Bridge
Palette well
Info palette
Paintbrush
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 26
1 Open an image in Photoshop
Using Bridge open an image in Camera Raw make adjustments andthen click the Open button The image opens in Photoshop
2 Save the image as a PSD file
After opening an image in Photoshop from Camera Raw the file is stillin the digital format native to the camera that took the picture mdash forexample NEF for a Nikon digital camera or CRW for a Canon modelAdditionally you donrsquot want to adjust or edit the original file thatprocess destroys some of theoriginal data and you shouldonly do that with a copy Savingthe image to another folder inPhotoshop format is the bestmethod of keeping your imagesorganized and your originalimage preserved
Select FileSave As or pressShift+Ctrl+S (Shift+Ocirc+S on aMac) The Save As windowshown in Figure 1-17 gives you the choices to select afolder change the filename ifyou choose and most impor-tantly change the file formatSelect the folder you want tosave your working file to andthen click the Format selection box to select Photoshop(PSDPDD) as the file format Click the Save buttonto save your working file
3 Duplicate the background layer
As yoursquoll discover Irsquom a stickler for making backups and protecting origi-nal files mdash and layers In Photoshop images are adjusted and edited inseparate layers When you open an image all the image information iscontained in the background layer Each adjustment you make should bemade in its own layer That way if you need to correct an adjustment
27Chapter 1 Getting to Know Bridge Camera Raw and Photoshop
Figure 1-17 The Save As window
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 27
28 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
you can always go back to thatparticular layer and makechanges without affecting theother layers You can also deletea layer if you donrsquot like anadjustment you made mdash andkeep the original image intactWhen yoursquove finished makingchanges to your image yoursquollhave a number of layers eachwith its own adjustment oredit (Working in layers getsthe detailed treatment inChapter 10)
To back up and protect the orig-inal ldquobackgroundrdquo layer chooseLayerDuplicate
4 Adjust Color Levels
Create a Levels adjustment layerby clicking the Create Layerbutton located on the bottomof the Layers palette (seeFigure 1-18)
Shown in Figure 1-19 the Levelsadjustment window shows youa graphical representation ofthe color (red green and bluechannels) distribution of theimage also referred to as thehistogram Under the histogramare three sliders The slider on the left controls the shadow portions of the image the middle sliderthe midtones (also called gamma) of the image and the slider on theright controls the amount of color in the highlight areas of the imageWith the default Channel set to RGB move the left and right sliders to thepoint of the histogram where pixels begin to show up clearly Moving themiddle slider to the right increases contrast in the image by darkeningthe highlight areas Experiment with moving the sliders until you get theresult you want
Figure 1-18 Creating a new Levels adjustmentlayer
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 28
Figure 1-19 Adjusting Levels
5 Adjust Saturation
My favorite adjustment can be found in the Saturation layer Saturationallows you to increase color in your image To make your images ldquopoprdquowith some color click the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer button onthe Layers palette and choose HueSaturation In the HueSaturationwindow (shown in Figure 1-20) move the Saturation slider to the right toincrease color in your image Be careful not to add too much color ifyou do clipping can occur Sometimes a little goes a long way
6 Save the image
After making adjustments savethe image by choosing FileSave or by clicking the Savebutton on the Option bar
29Chapter 1 Getting to Know Bridge Camera Raw and Photoshop
Figure 1-20 Increasing saturation in an imagewith the HueSaturation adjustment
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 29
30 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Figure 1-21 shows you how making Levels and Saturation adjustments candramatically change the appearance of an image (Chapter 10 has the detailsof making overall adjustments)
Figure 1-21 Original image and the image with levels and saturation adjustments
Original image Adjusted image
05_774820 ch01qxp 1306 615 PM Page 30
2Enlightened by Raw
In This Chapter Describing raw format
Comparing raw to JPEG and TIFF
Balancing the advantages of doing raw against the convenience of JPEG
Checking out the DNG format
Luckily for shutterbugs the technology of digital photography is alwaysevolving Earlier compact digital cameras were pretty advanced their
3-to-5-megapixel capability produced pretty good JPEG images But thesecameras have now evolved to 7-to-9-megapixel sensors bigger lenses (withvibration reduction) and greater ease of use You can even shoot in auto-matic mode or set aperture priority or shutter priority to whet your creativeshooting tastes As a bonus the macro capabilities of these cameras arephenomenal
These advances mean you have more choices in equip-ment and capabilities Todayrsquos affordable digital SLRs(and advanced compact ldquoprosumerrdquo cameras) boastcapabilities we only dreamed of a few years ago mdashbut their biggest advantage is that the latest modelscan shoot in raw format
Raw format provides the photographer with moreoptions for bringing out the best in digital imagesYou get more control over color exposure andsharpness mdash and if yoursquore like me the more controlthe better If you give a painter a greater selection ofbetter paints more brushes and a bigger canvas to workwith yoursquoll notice the difference in the paintings Raw givesthe photographer exactly that mdash a wider range of creativechoices more detailed control over color and tones and a bigger canvasto work with
06_774820 ch02qxp 1306 633 PM Page 31
32 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Whatrsquos RawQuite simply a raw file can be described in the same terms as a film negativethat hasnrsquot been processed yet mdash only without the chemical stink The imagedata is there but it needs to be developed In effect Camera Raw is the vir-tual equivalent of the film-development chemicals that were the only way todevelop color images before digital cameras You could say that shooting inraw is environmentally friendly too No toxic gunk to bite your fingers or pol-lute the environment mdash just you your computer and Photoshop CS2
When you shoot a raw image your digital camera collects data The rawimage file is just a recording of what the image sensor has collected In rawmode your digital camera doesnrsquot do anything with the data it just saves itto a file No processing is performed like when you shoot in TIFF or JPEGformat The file doesnrsquot become an image until the photographer processesit Figure 2-1 shows just what a raw file looks like without being processedItrsquos dull lifeless and without vibrant color
Figure 2-1 An unprocessed raw file just waiting for you to develop it
Because I brought up the topic of film there is a huge difference between thechemical processing of film and the digital processing of raw-format filesWith film you get only one chance at processing the file If the temperature of the chemicals are wrong or the length of time in processing is wrong thenegatives get ruined You canrsquot go back and do anything to fix that You only
06_774820 ch02qxp 1306 633 PM Page 32
get one shot at developing film If you make a mistake your film mdash and thephotos you shot on it mdash are (technically speaking) hosed wasted toast destroyed With digital raw files you can process your images many times Goahead and make some mistakes it doesnrsquot matter You can always go back tothe original digital raw image and process the image again
Being an old film guy whorsquos developed many rolls of film in my old chemicaldarkroom I think raw is a beautiful thing
One of the reasons the raw photos first appear dull and lifeless is becauseraw files are for the most part captured in grayscale Donrsquot get me wrong mdashthere is color information in a raw file you can see some in the photo inFigure 2-1 which shows how the image looks when first opened in CameraRaw Color characteristics are recorded for each pixel as red green or blue araw-converter program such as Camera Raw will interpret the color duringconversion Thatrsquos why more color becomes visible as you make adjustmentsin Camera Raw
Camera Raw converts a raw file by interpolating color information The raw converter knows the color associated with a particular pixel but ldquoborrowsrdquo color from neighboring pixels to create the needed colorAdditionally Camera Raw opens a raw image with some automatic tonaladjustments made for you however saturation is not automatically addedFigure 2-2 shows the same image as in Figure 2-1 after color is extracted inCamera Raw
Figure 2-2 The processed raw file shows the true color of the original image
33Chapter 2 Enlightened by Raw
06_774820 ch02qxp 1306 633 PM Page 33
34 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Raw versus Other FormatsOkay raw format may not be idealfor every photographic situation Ishot thousands of images in JPEGformat before the raw format made itinto advanced compact digital SLRcameras Many of those photos arepermanent staples in my portfolioAnd yes I admit it I still shoot JPEGssometimes I carry around a compactdigital camera that produces great 7megapixel images (Figure 2-3 forexample) My compact camera isconvenient for snapshots or interest-ing subjects I come across while dri-ving around town mdash and it serves asa backup while Irsquom shooting naturephotos But for those images (as forall my more serious shooting) I usemy digital SLR mdash in raw format ofcourse
Though I have a nice collection ofimages from earlier digital cameras(and I still carry a compact aroundin my pocket) I often run intothe limitations of shooting inJPEG or TIFF format mdash thesefor instance
Loss of image data while making adjustments in Photoshop ShootingJPEG you can run into this problem a lot Without the lossless overallcolor and tonal adjustments that yoursquod get in Camera Raw you haveto make those adjustments in Photoshop mdash and theyrsquod better beright the first time You lose image data every time you save reopenand readjust a JPEG in Photoshop In essence every adjustmentaffects the tonal range of the image yoursquore throwing away bits ofinformation leaving less data available for creating the image (adestructive effect)
Figure 2-3 Shooting in JPEG can producegreat images but you canrsquot do as much tothem
06_774820 ch02qxp 1306 633 PM Page 34
When shooting in raw format you have the advantage of making adjust-ments in Camera Raw to white balance tint exposure shadows curvesbrightness contrast and color saturation mdash without the risk of losingimage data (and some image quality along with it)
Limited white-balance adjustment When Irsquom out in the field shooting(with my digital camera always) Irsquoll often set the white balance on thecamera to best match the lighting conditions Irsquom faced with Irsquoll use theauto-white balance setting in some situations as well If Irsquom shootingJPEG or TIFF and discover later when editing those images in Photoshopthat the white balance needs adjustment it will take a lot of work tomake those corrections If Irsquom shooting raw I can easily adjust the whitebalance any way I need to
Limited exposure adjustment I hear this argument all the time ldquoGoodphotographers should always get the right exposure when they shootphotos so they donrsquot have to make adjustments in software laterrdquo Thatrsquosgood advice and should always be suggested as a goal mdash but in the realworld sometimes a perfect exposure just doesnrsquot happen Even the bestphotographers shoot photos that need some exposure adjustment insoftware If Irsquom shooting in JPEG or TIFF format and I need to adjustexposure after the fact I have to use Photoshop CS2 Exposure adjust-ment to do the job mdash and although this feature is a welcome addition forJPEGs it can still degrade image quality
Shooting in raw format means you donrsquot have to settle for the exposureyou get with the shot you can fix under- or overexposed photos inCamera Raw using its Exposure adjustment Even better you can do thatwithout losing image data (which is what happens if you shoot in JPEGand use the Photoshop Exposure feature to tweak exposure later)
Limited image quality due to compression JPEG is a compressed fileformat When you shoot a JPEG image your digital camera processesthe image and then compresses it One of the side effects of compres-sion is the fact that you lose image data in the process Itrsquos really notnoticeable but when yoursquore using an 8-bit file format such as JPEG youneed all the image data you can get
When you open JPEG images in Photoshop to begin adjusting and edit-ing make sure you save them as a file format other than JPEG when youimport them into Photoshop Converting the images to PSD or TIFFformat will help avoid the image degradation that happens everytime you save a JPEG file Figure 2-4 shows the effects of resavingJPEG images while editing them in Photoshop More artifacts creepinto the image after itrsquos been resaved a few times
35Chapter 2 Enlightened by Raw
06_774820 ch02qxp 1306 633 PM Page 35
36 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Figure 2-4 Resaving JPEGs reduces overall image quality
Advantages and Disadvantages to RawOkay even though this book is about shooting images in raw format and follow-ing the steps to completing your images for display by using Bridge CameraRaw and Photoshop letrsquos keep it real There are both advantages and disad-vantages to shooting and processing raw images Many pro-level photogra-phers donrsquot mind taking the few extra steps that raw format entails mdash generallythey get higher-quality images that way mdash but JPEG images are often faster totake if the opportunity to get a shot is fleeting Bottom line Itrsquos a three-waytradeoff The individual photographer has to balance the speed and conve-nience of JPEG against the greater control and image quality that are possiblein raw format
06_774820 ch02qxp 1306 633 PM Page 36
Taking advantage of raw formatOf all the advantages that shooting raw offers compared to JPEG the biggest iscontrol When shooting photos for my fine-art portfolio or for portraits I wantcomplete control over the tonal adjustments to my images Even though thelatest digital cameras are pretty handy at processing images almost all needpost-processing help in Photoshop Shooting in raw format lets me judge andadjust color and exposure for each individual photo if I choose I donrsquot have totrust blindly that my digital camera automatically produces images that matchmy taste I have the data I need to make them look right
In addition to giving you control over the processing of your images in rawformat Camera Raw provides other advantages over JPEGs or TIFFs
Full use of all the information captured Shooting in raw format givesthe photographer all the data the digital camerarsquos image sensor cap-tures thus providing the photographer with more data to work with tomake adjustments edits and sizing later in Photoshop Yoursquore not lim-ited to the reduced data in a compressed 8-bit JPEG file (as detailed inthe next section)
Easy exposure adjustment without losing image data Figure 2-5 showsa photo I shot at dusk (a difficult lighting situation) to capture the reflec-tion of the sky on a pond It was a tough task to get the right exposurefor the image in a neutral part of the image As it turned out I was off alittle in my exposure setting but no problem I used the Camera RawExposure control to increase the exposure by 1 12 f-stops
Figure 2-5 Adjusting exposure ldquoafter the factrdquo is one advantage to shooting raw
37Chapter 2 Enlightened by Raw
06_774820 ch02qxp 1306 633 PM Page 37
38 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Some digital SLRs underexpose photos by about one f-stop when shoot-ing in raw mode Thatrsquos by design it prevents you from blowing out partsof the image (that is overexposing certain parts of the image so nousable image data emerges) Such underexposure saves you from endingup with (say) unusable pure white as part of a sky You could deal withextremes of exposure by using exposure compensation (if your camerahas that feature) mdash or you could use Camera Raw to adjust the exposureafter you shoot mdash and probably get better results Keep in mind that itrsquosoften easier to compensate for underexposed areas than overexposedareas
Easy adjustment of white balance White balance (or color temperatureand tint if you want to get real technical) is sometimes difficult to getright when yoursquore out shooting with your digital camera You can use theauto adjustment but sometimes the color and tint of the images areslightly off when you view them in Bridge or Camera Raw If Irsquom shootingraw Irsquom not going to sweat too much I can easily make a change in thewhite balance of the image later in Camera Raw Figure 2-6 shows threeversions of the same image displayed in Camera Raw as shot in the digi-tal camera using three settings (from left to right) Auto Cloudy andShade If I were shooting JPEG Irsquod have to jump through hoops to makethe same adjustments in Photoshop
Non-destructive adjustment of tone and color This is the real kickerBy shooting raw mdash and converting the images later in Camera Raw mdashthe photographer can make changes to brightness contrast curve taband color saturation without the risk of losing valuable bits of imagedata
Figure 2-6 As Shot Cloudy and Shade white balance settings
As shot Cloudy Shade
06_774820 ch02qxp 1306 633 PM Page 38
A few potential drawbacksEven with all the great capabilities the raw image format provides itactually does have a few disadvantages mdash not many mdash but a few are worthmentioning
File size Raw images arenrsquot compressed like JPEGs The file sizes aremuch larger mdash and they take longer to download to your computer A typ-ical 8-megapixel raw image will be saved at a size of about 7 megabytesThe same 8-megapixel image shot in JPEG format will create a file lessthan half that size around 3 megabytes If yoursquore cramped for memory-card space yoursquoll be able to fit at least twice as many JPEGs as raw fileson your memory card Just remember JPEG compression loses somequality
Extra step in processing Unlike JPEGs (which you can view immediatelyin Photoshop) raw images require an extra step Opening them in CameraRaw and processing them If your workflow is pretty close to the oneexplained in Chapter 4 mdash and you process raw images as shown inChapter 9 mdash then the extra step will be worth the effort the timesavingbatch processes offered in Bridge can help you make up for lost time
39Chapter 2 Enlightened by Raw
The 16-bit advantageWhen yoursquore shooting in raw format you areessentially capturing all the data that yoursensor can capture mdash and todayrsquos digital cam-eras can capture at least 12 bits per channel(that is per each red green and blue channel)for each pixel When you shoot JPEGs you cap-ture images at only 8 bits per channel for eachpixel mdash yoursquore already working with less dataand your digital camera had better processthose 8-bit images correctly Donrsquot get mewrong you can still get great photos working inthe 8-bit world of JPEGs but after you get theminto Photoshop you can do only a limitedamount of processing before image qualitystarts to degrade
When quality counts more than speed shootingin raw format mdash and then editing the photos inPhotoshop in 16 bit-mode mdash gives you a largeadvantage over JPEGs Thatrsquos because JPEGquality is no more than what you get via yourdigital camerarsquos software algorithms mdash resultsthat are automatic and fast but maybe not quitewhat you want With raw format you can makemore accurate adjustments to the image andhave a lot of image data left over to give youmore options You can do more extensive editscrop or enlarge mdash while maintaining imagequality throughout your image
06_774820 ch02qxp 1306 633 PM Page 39
40 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Slower processing in your digital camera Some older camera modelsthat feature the raw format may take a few seconds to process the rawimage before yoursquore able to shoot another Too if yoursquore shooting rawand JPEG (some digital cameras can produce two images for one shot)your digital camera will have additional work to do to produce both theraw and JPEG files
Lack of raw-format standards Each digital camera manufacturer hasits own version of raw format proprietary formats reign right nowSo far those who shoot in raw have only one option that offers someversatility mdash Camera Raw along with a new digital negative (DNG)format (see the next section) mdash currently endorsed by Adobe Itrsquos nota big issue now but some photographers worry about what mighthappen years down the road Will future software be able to recognizecurrent raw images Adobe seems to be the only company addressingthis issue right now
The present drawbacks to shooting and processing raw-format images maynot outweigh the advantages for many photographers And why notCheaper large-capacity memory cards can handle the extra card spaceneeded to handle larger files The extra step in processing really doesnrsquot costyou much time mdash in fact processing images in Camera Raw can save youfrom having to perform similar adjustments in Photoshop mdash and you canmake adjustments without throwing away valuable bits of data The finaldrawback to raw format (lack of firm industry standards) will most likely beovercome as technology develops and as more and more photographers usethe raw format
Introducing the Digital Negative (DNG)Up to this point in the digital-photography era raw file formats havenrsquot beenuniform Each digital camera manufacturer that offers raw in its digital cam-eras maintains a proprietary format (Imagine what it would have been like ifall camera makers designed their cameras only to work with their own pro-prietary film Or how about driving cars that only run on one brand of fuelYou get the idea) Unfortunately due to a lack of industry standards cameramanufacturers are forced to offer their own versions of raw images
As if to add confusion for photographers manufacturers package softwarewith their digital cameras mdash and it only converts raw images shot in theirversion of raw format Some of these programs work very well but if you alsoshoot raw images using other digital cameras from other manufacturers youcanrsquot use the software to convert those images Camera Raw at least workswith raw images from most makersrsquo digital cameras mdash a step in the rightdirection
06_774820 ch02qxp 1306 633 PM Page 40
Adobe has recently announced and released its attempt at coming up withone standard file format for raw images mdash digital negative (DNG) The intro-duction of DNG recognizes the need for an industry-standard format for rawimages mdash and it is indeed a major step forward But a true industry standardhasnrsquot arrived yet camera manufacturers as a whole have yet to buy in onDNG But donrsquot be too harsh on the industry The technology is evolvingrapidly and leading manufacturers have done a terrific job delivering prod-ucts that photographers want and rather quickly Until a raw-image stan-dard is developed Adobersquos DNG format and the Digital Negative Convertersoftware utility (shown in Figure 2-7) make a great first step You can get acopy of the Adobe Digital Negative Converter at Adobersquos Web site (go towwwadobecom)
Figure 2-7 The Adobe Digital Negative Converter utility
41Chapter 2 Enlightened by Raw
06_774820 ch02qxp 1306 633 PM Page 41
42 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
The potential advantages of using DNG include the following
Common raw format If yoursquore shooting professionally and need to submitimages to publishers (or other clients who require raw images) DNG pro-vides a common format for these images DNG is a non-proprietary formatand itrsquos publicly documented
Changes and additions to the raw image are embedded within theDNG With other raw formats when you make adjustments or add meta-data to the raw files those changes arenrsquot saved to the actual raw fileInstead theyrsquore saved to additional files called sidecar files With DNGraw format all changes and metadata additions are stored within theDNG file This reduces the chance of the sidecar files not being copied orbacked up with the original raw files when you move files around duringimage management
Longer-term compatibility If it were easy to predict the future wewould all be millionaires It seems likely though that software and com-puters will be able to read standard file formats (such as JPEG TIFF andpossibly the new DNG) 10 or 15 years from now mdash maybe not so likelytheyrsquoll be able to read the obscure (and proprietary) raw formats pro-duced by some digital cameras
One vital capability mdash available now mdash is software thatrsquos compatibleacross all digital camera platforms with no delays between updates foryour digital camera equipment and software
06_774820 ch02qxp 1306 633 PM Page 42
3Applying Color Management
In This Chapter Introducing color management
Choosing Photoshop CS2 color settings
Assigning profiles
Calibrating your monitor
Proofing
Digital photography costs a lot of money for one that wants to get seriouswith the craft Therersquos always the latest digital camera to buy the next
lens in your collection memory cards gadgets and other gizmos Ah buttherersquos more to contend with that will draw resources from your wallet
If you do a lot of printing like I do yoursquore constantly running to thecomputer store or getting on to the Web to purchase inkjet car-tridges and photo paper I figure Irsquom spending at least adollar per 8times10 print plus a lot more when Irsquom printingup to 13times19 inch prints Printing one series of printscan get quite expensive mdash and if yoursquore not using acolor-managed workflow your costs can skyrocket
When adjusting and editing images in Photoshopyou want to make sure that the images you print onyour printer match exactly the image yoursquove beenviewing on your computerrsquos display Otherwiseyoursquoll be throwing money out the window every timeyou make a ldquotestrdquo print that doesnrsquot match not to men-tion the level of aggravation you have to put up withduring the neverending trial-and-error method of printingTo guarantee your sanity you need to implement color man-agement and forever say goodbye to the expensive trial-and-errormethod of printing As a bonus you can buy some more of those gizmos withthe money yoursquoll save in ink and paper
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 43
44 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Coloring Your WorldIf you talk to digital photographers who have lots of experience shootingphotos working with Photoshop and printing their images yoursquoll find oneconsensus among them The hardest thing to accomplish in digital photogra-phy is managing color When you think about all the steps involved mdash firstshooting an image with particular light in mind converting the raw filemaking further adjustments and edits in Photoshop and then sending theimage to a printer mdash itrsquos a miracle that the final print even resembles whatwas first envisioned
One of the most difficult types of images to color manage is portraits Letrsquosface it (sorry about that) we human beings know the color range of skintones mdash and if theyrsquore off just a little we notice Figure 3-1 shows a portraitas seen on a computer monitor and then shown as printed Managing colorhelps you create prints that closely match what the colors should look like
Figure 3-1 Maintaining the correct skin tone in portraits reinforces the need for colormanagement
As seen on the monitor As printed
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 44
Color management is the process of producing images with the correct colorwhere color is predictable throughout the image capture editing and print-ing processes
1 Image capture This is a fancy way of saying ldquoshooting photosrdquo Makingcolor space settings in your digital camera is the first step in your color-management workflow Digital cameras actually have settings that deter-mine the type of color they produce This setting is known as colorspace Many digital cameras operate in one color space sRGB sRGB is acolor space intended for images to be viewed on your computer notprints This doesnrsquot mean that images from most digital cameras wonrsquotmake good prints Photoshop will convert the images to any color spaceyou choose If your digital camera offers only sRGB as its color spacedonrsquot worry mdash you can always convert your files to another color spacesuch as Adobe RGB (1998) when you open them in Photoshop
If your camera has the option of setting its color space to somethingother than sRGB set your digital camera to Adobe RGB (1998) Doing sowill ensure that yoursquore shooting images in the same color space used forworking with photos in Photoshop that are intended for printing
2 Applying color settings in Photoshop After you install Photoshop CS2on your computer it isnrsquot exactly ldquoready to rockrdquo Yoursquoll have a littlework to do to make sure color settings are applied correctly
3 Viewing images on your computer monitor Most of your time is spentin the digital darkroom working with images in Photoshop The mostcritical element in implementing color management is calibrating yourmonitor (I discuss that issue further in the ldquoGetting Calibratedrdquo sectiona bit later in this chapter)
4 Printing In effect itrsquos the final destination for all your efforts mdash andprinting can be considered an art in itself During the printing process(explained in more detail in Chapter 12) color settings need to be pre-cisely applied by you Photoshoppers (another one of my original techni-cal terms) out there so that Photoshop is able to properly convert colorthat will correctly be applied by the printer when producing prints
By applying the color-management processes described in this chapteryou get your images closer to digital-photography nirvana Your prints willlook more like what you originally envisioned while shooting your imagesand working with them in Photoshop Yoursquoll save a bunch of time moneyand sedatives in the process Color management is your guiding light (nopun intended) toward total inner peace and visual tranquility About imagesanyway
45Chapter 3 Applying Color Management
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 45
46 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Making Photoshop Color SettingsIn addition to making monitor calibration part of your color managementworkflow itrsquos equally as important to make sure the Photoshop color settingsare correct for the type of images you normally process If you work withphotographs that are meant for a variety of output methods you need thecustom color settings in Photoshop
You donrsquot want to expend a lot of energy shooting photos only to have themturn out wrong when you output your images to print or screen Managingcolor properly can save you the hassle by getting your colors right mdash somake color settings the very first stop in your image-editing workflow
Exploring (color and working) spaceColor space is the range of colors available to you for editing your imagesItrsquos like the colors you used in your old paint-by-numbers set mdash only insteadof 12 colors you have millions Working space is a Photoshop term usedto describe which color space is assigned to an image Yoursquoll find thesetwo terms mdash working space and color space mdash used interchangeably inPhotoshop
CMYK (a working space for press-type printing) and grayscale (used for edit-ing black-and-white images) are working spaces targeted toward specific pur-poses CMYK is defined as a full-color representation of a printing press theacronym CMYK defines cyan magenta yellow and black inks for the printingpress
For photographers the most important working space you use is RGB Mostof the photographerrsquos work is geared toward printing on ink jet printers firstand going to press for magazine book or other types of publications (or to the Web) second Digital photographers who incorporate a color-management workflow opt to use Adobe RGB (1998) first to edit images and then convert to different color spaces if a particular output requires it
The list that follows explains the differences and different uses of the workingspaces available in Photoshop while Figure 3-2 shows how using differentcolor spaces for a photo affect how they look
Adobe RGB (1998) This color space is designed to match the colorgamut of inkjet printers Highly recommended for use with images to beprinted on (well yeah) inkjet printers
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 46
sRGB This color space is designed for displaying photos on computermonitors such as Web graphics and Web photos
Colormatch RGB This color space is designed for a color gamutbetween sRGB and Adobe RGB (1998) Use for images with multiple pur-poses and output
Figure 3-2 Different color spaces affect how color is rendered in an image
As part of your overall color-management workflow I recommend alwaysediting your photographs in the Adobe RGB (1998) color space and savingthat image as a master file Adobe RGB (1998) provides the widest colorgamut available when itrsquos time to edit your images For output destined forthe Web or for special printing save a copy of your master to an sRGB orCMYK version of the file for output later Even while outputting your imagesin black and white I recommend using an RGB color space for your masterimage
Applying Photoshop color settingsIn this section I explain how to specify each setting in the Photoshop ColorSettings window This is one of the most overlooked steps in color manage-ment mdash and it makes a huge difference when used properly Additionally Iexplain when and how to assign a color profile to an image
If most of your work involves preparing images for the Web for printing orfor publishing each of those tasks will need a different monitor setting Thefirst step after calibrating your monitor (which I show you how to do in thelater section ldquoGetting Calibratedrdquo) is to set up your default color settings inPhotoshop Herersquos how
Adobe RGB (1998) sRGB Colormatch RGB
47Chapter 3 Applying Color Management
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 47
48 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
1 Choose EditColor Settings orpress Ctrl+Shift+K (Ocirc+Shift+Kon the Mac) to bring up theColor Settings dialog box
2 Click the More Options button
This expands the Color Settingsdialog box so that you can seeall the options as shown inFigure 3-3
3 From the Settings drop-downlist at the top choose NorthAmerica Prepress 2
The default for Settings isthe North America GeneralPurpose 2 which isnrsquot verygood for photographersSelect North America Prepress 2 (as shown inFigure 3-4) this setting worksbest for photographers
4 Set the Working Spaces
Change the Photoshop defaultfor the RGB working space toAdobe RGB (1998) as shownin Figure 3-5 Adobe RGB (1998)is the best working space forphotographers providing thewidest color gamut for color sat-uration Make sure to leave theCMYK Gray and Spot selectionsset at the defaults
For most of your image editinguse Adobe RGB (1998) to edityour master images If you needto you can convert to the sRGBworking space for the finaloutput of Web images
Figure 3-3 The Photoshop Color Settingsdialog box
Figure 3-4 Changing the Settings to NorthAmerica Prepress 2
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 48
5 Set Color Management Policies
Make sure to leave RGB CMYKand Gray set to PreserveEmbedded Profiles Thisensures that color settings aremaintained in images that youopen in Photoshop
Leave the three ProfileMismatches and MissingProfiles check boxes selectedThese settings ensure thatyoursquore prompted to choose acolor space to apply when youopen an image in Photoshopthat doesnrsquot match your defaultworking space
6 Set Conversion Options settings
I recommend leaving thedefaults for these settings toAdobe (Ace) for the Engineand Relative Colorimetric forthe Intent
The Engine setting controls Photoshop methods used for convertingcolors from one profile to another The Intent setting specifies what youwant the rendering to accomplish for conversions from one profile toanother The bottom line Adobe (ACE) and Relative Colorimetric areoptimal conversion settings for photographs
For editing photographs in Photoshop you get the best results by leav-ing the defaults (Use Black Point Compensation and Use Dither)selected This option ensures the black point of your image matches the black point of your print (or output) I normally leave the advanced con-trols set to their default settings of not selected
7 Click OK to save your color settings
In the next section I show you how to ensure that your color settingsare properly applied to your workflow
49Chapter 3 Applying Color Management
Figure 3-5 Setting the RGB Working Space toAdobe RGB (1998)
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 49
50 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Assigning color profilesThe final step to ensuring a propercolor workflow is to make sure thatthe images you open in Photoshopcontain the correct color profileyoursquove set up in the Color Settingsdialog box (see the steps in the preceding section) When youopen an image that doesnrsquot matchthat default color space yoursquoreprompted with the EmbeddedProfile Mismatch dialog box shownin Figure 3-6
In this dialog box you can choose one of three options
Use the Embedded Profile Select this option if you want to leave theimagersquos working space as is
Remember that if you leave this option selected you wonrsquot be workingin the default color space you indicated in the Color Settings window
Convert Documentrsquos Colors to the Working Space Select this option ifyou want to use your default color space This is recommended for mostimages
Discard the Embedded Profile Select this option if you donrsquot want touse a color profile for the image
Sometimes when yoursquore working on an image in Photoshop you need to con-vert the image to another working space to get a task done To get the bestcolor workflow in a situation like this first edit your images in Adobe RGB(1998) and then convert them later to meet your specific output needs Thecombination of using monitor profiles (explained in the next section on cali-brating your monitor) and assigning color profiles will help ensure an efficientcolor-management workflow
The process to assign color profiles to an image is as follows
1 Choose EditAssign Profile
The Assign Profile windowappears
2 Select the Working RGB option
Figure 3-7 shows the WorkingRGB set to Adobe RGB (1998) (Use the Donrsquot Color ManageThis Document selection only if you might want to submit your images to athird party and you donrsquot know how your images will be color managed)
Figure 3-6 Setting an image that has the RGBWorking space to Adobe RGB (1998)
Figure 3-7 Assigning a color profile to aphotograph
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 50
3 Select another profile from thedrop-down list provided by thethird option (see Figure 3-8) ifyou desire
This choice is rare for most pho-tographers but you can use thisoption to assign a specific pro-file For example a printingcompany for press services mayhave supplied you with arequired profile You may alsowant to convert an existingimage to sRGB if you are goingto save a version of the imagefor viewing on the Web but Iusually use the FileSave forWeb command for that
For most photographs you want to select the Working RGB option thesame option I recommend you choose in the Color Settings dialog box asyour default working space (See the steps in the earlier sectionldquoApplying Photoshop color settingsrdquo)
51Chapter 3 Applying Color Management
Figure 3-8 Selecting another profile
The PhotoDisc target imageThe PhotoDisc Target image (also called the PDItest image) comes with a number of color-management products such as the ColorVisionSpyder 2 Itrsquos also included in the Mac OS Itrsquosan industry-standard test image used to giveyou a direct view of how accurately the colorsdisplayed on your monitor match what youprint or prepare for the Web
Try using this image as a visual test to comparewhatrsquos on your monitor and whatrsquos actuallycoming out of your printer The image is royalty-free and can be easily obtained
To get a copy you can download the image frommy Web site at httpkevinmossphotographycomphotodisctestimagehtmor search for PhotoDisc Target Image on theWeb
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 51
52 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Getting CalibratedAs a photographer you have to visualize the changes yoursquore making to yourimages mdash and the key component that allows you to do that is your com-puter monitor Itrsquos also the only device that stands between the digitalcamera and your final print displaying your images accurately on your moni-tor is critical Properly profiling and adjusting mdash calibrating mdash your monitorensures that what you see is what yoursquore going to get in your final output ofthe image
The most important step of implementing color management into your work-flow is to calibrate your monitor Calibrating on a regular basis is importantbecause the colors brightness and contrast of your monitor change overtime Whether you use one of those big clunky computer monitors (calledCRTs) one of those sleek new LCD monitors or a laptop computer the ruleremains the same Calibrate on a regular basis
Most laptop (and some LCD) monitors wonrsquot let you adjust color balance andcontrast with some of them only brightness can be adjusted If you have anLCD monitor you should still calibrate to ensure optimal brightness settingsCalibrating is important to ensure that colors are completely accurate do asmuch of it as you can on your machine
When you calibrate your monitor you make adjustments to the brightnesscontrast and color balance to match what your calibration software uses asits standard These adjustments are actual physical changes to the operationof the monitor (but not to the image files you are viewing) Theyrsquore necessaryto produce an accurate profile that your computer then uses to determinewhat prints out
By calibrating your monitor you are effectively setting the stage for a suc-cessful color-managed workflow If you skip this step you end up makingadjustments to your digital files on the basis of false information The result-ing prints wonrsquot match what you see on your monitor
Calibrating with Adobe GammaAdobe Gamma is a Windows software utility (included with Photoshop CS2)that you can use to calibrate your monitor and to create a profile that yourcomputer will use The Mac version of Adobe Gamma was available with pre-vious versions of Photoshop and is no longer included with Photoshop CS2Instead Mac users can use the Apple Display Calibrator Assistant found inthe System Preferences folder
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 52
For best results let your monitor warm up for 30 minutes before you startany calibration procedure
To calibrate your monitor using Adobe Gamma follow these steps
1 Open the Windows ControlPanel by clickingStartControl Panel
2 Open the Adobe GammaWizard
Double-click the Adobe Gammaicon located in the WindowsControl Panel (shown inFigure 3-9) to start Gamma
3 Choose the Step-by-Step (Wizard) version (see Figure 3-10) and thenclick Next
You are asked to choose either the Step By Step (Wizard) method or theControl Panel method I recommend choosing the Step By Step methodas in Figure 3-10 itrsquos a lot easier
Figure 3-10 Choose the Step By Step (Wizard) version
4 Click Load (see Figure 3-11) to choose your monitor type and thenclick Next
53Chapter 3 Applying Color Management
Figure 3-9 The Windows Control Panel andAdobe Gamma icon
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 53
54 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Figure 3-11 Click Load to choose your monitor type instead of the default setting
You are presented with the Open Monitor Profile window
5 Choose a profile that matches your monitor or one that is similar to it(see Figure 3-12) and then click Open
This selection is used only as a starting point for the process After click-ing Open yoursquore sent back to the Adobe Gamma window shown inFigure 3-11
Figure 3-12 Select a Monitor Profile that matches your displayor is a close match
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 54
Select a profile that best matches the monitor you are using on yourcomputer by clicking the display type name in the list of profiles shownin Figure 3-12 If your computer monitor is not listed in the profile listyou can always choose the default setting provided in the list of profilesAfter your selection click the Open button and you are sent back to theAdobe Gamma window shown in Figure 3-11
6 Type a unique description with a date and then click Next to proceedto the next window
The profile you chose in Step 5 doesnrsquot appear in the Description fieldDonrsquot worry The monitor you chose in Step 5 is still associated with theprocess Just type a unique name with a date such as the name shownin Figure 3-13
Figure 3-13 Include a date reference for your description
7 Adjust brightness and contrast and click Next to continue
The Adobe Gamma window shown in Figure 3-14 instructs you to use thecontrast adjustment on your monitor and set the contrast to maximum
Next adjust the brightness control until the inside gray square is barelyvisible against the black surround (Keep the lighting in the room as darkas possible)
Note that you can click Back at any time to make changes to a previousscreen
55Chapter 3 Applying Color Management
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 55
56 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Figure 3-14 Adjust the contrast of your display in the Adobe Gamma window
8 Choose the phosphor type for your monitor and then click Next
If (in Step 5) you chose the type of monitor yoursquore using leave this set-ting as it appears If you chose the default setting in Step 5 you canchoose Trinitron as shown in Figure 3-15 If you know the actual phos-phor values of your monitor choose Custom and enter those values(You can look them up in your monitorrsquos manual)
Figure 3-15 Most users can accept the default monitor profiles that appear in this step
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 56
9 Adjust gamma settings and then click Next
Keeping View Single Gamma Only selected (as shown in Figure 3-16)move the adjustment slider to the right or left until the center gray boxbegins fading into the outer box This adjustment sets the relativebrightness of your monitor Make sure to choose Macintosh Default orWindows Default in the Gamma field Before clicking Next deselect theView Single Gamma Only check box
10 Adjust red green and blue gamma and then click Next
In this step eliminate color imbalances by adjusting each RGB (redblue and green) slider shown in Figure 3-17 until the color box in themiddle blends in with the outer box
Figure 3-16 Making single gamma settings
Figure 3-17 Adjust relative brightness
57Chapter 3 Applying Color Management
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58 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
11 Set the hardware white point (see Figure 3-18) to 6500degK and thenclick Next to continue
Most monitors are set with a native white point of 9300degK For photogra-phers 6500degK provides the cleanest and brightest white point thatmatches daylight the closest
12 Set the adjusted white point (see Figure 3-19) the same as the hard-ware white point and again click Next to continue
I recommend that you set the adjusted white point to match the hardwarewhite point Choosing another setting can result in unpredictable resultsFor most applications you can just leave this set as Same as Hardware
Figure 3-18 Setting the desired white point of your monitor to 6500degK
Figure 3-19 Setting the adjusted white point to Same as Hardware
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 58
13 View your changes by clicking the Before and After radio buttonsclick Finish
You have adjusted the brightness contrast and color settings of yourmonitor to the optimum values Clicking the Before and After optionsshown in Figure 3-20 shows you the difference
Figure 3-20 Use these options to view how the new adjustments look on your monitor
14 Save your new profile by typing a new profile name in the File Namefield (shown in Figure 3-21) leaving the file type as ICC Profiles thenclick Save to complete the calibration
This is an important step because mdash now that yoursquove calibrated yourmonitor with Adobe Gamma mdash saving the information into a new moni-tor profile ensures that your computer and Photoshop CS2 can later usethe profile correctly
Keep the existing profiles intact by using a unique profile name youcan easily identify Make sure you include the date of the profile inthe filename as shown in Figure 3-21 This identifies your uniqueprofile with a date so you know the last time you calibrated your monitor
59Chapter 3 Applying Color Management
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 59
60 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Figure 3-21 Saving the new monitor profile
Adobe Gamma is a decent tool for calibrating your monitor if yoursquore a casualPhotoshop user and donrsquot print a lot of photographs If yoursquore more seriousabout digital photography and regularly produce prints on a photo-qualityprinter you should strongly consider purchasing a more advanced colorime-ter and the software to go with it Yoursquoll get significantly better results withthis equipment saving time money paper and ink cartridges The next sec-tion covers colorimeters and other such advanced calibration tools
When you calibrate your monitor with Adobe Gamma a color profile is auto-matically loaded into your Windows Startup Menu every time you turn onyour computer If you graduate to a more sophisticated colorimeter and useit to create a monitor profile for your computer make sure you delete AdobeGamma from your computerrsquos Startup Menu to prevent Adobe Gamma frominterfering with your new monitor-profile setup
Calibrating with a colorimeterThe best solution for calibrating your monitor is specialized software used inconjunction with a colorimeter that reads the actual color values produced byyour monitor Todayrsquos top monitor-calibration systems include the ColorVisionSpyder2 the ColorVision Color Plus Monaco Systems MonacoOPTIX andGretag Macbeth Eye-One Display
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 60
Prices for these products vary but if you are on abudget consider the ColorVision Color Plus Thissoftware-and-colorimeter system offers good value for the money for most home systems ColorPlus provides much more accurate calibrationthan Gamma or Colorsync for the Mac Professionalor serious photographers may opt for themore high-end ColorVision (shown in Figure 3-22)Gretag Macbeth or Monaco products
Here are some important points to keep in mindwhen using a monitor-calibration package to cali-brate your monitor
Colorimeters read color from your monitormuch more accurately than you can when youlook at your monitor they provide a precisecolor profile
All the monitor-calibration products mentioned include colorimetersthat attach to LCD monitors as well as to CRTs
The software programs are easy to use and provide step-by-step instruc-tions while performing the calibration of your monitor Usually the stepsto calibrate your monitor with any of these products arenrsquot any more dif-ficult than using Gamma or Colorsync on the Mac
Most monitor-calibration solutions automatically remind you to cali-brate your monitor every few weeks This is important because monitorcharacteristics change over time if you donrsquot recalibrate on a regularbasis your settings start to look like bad science fiction
Calibrating your monitor every two to four weeks is recommended
Make sure the lights in the room yoursquore working in are dimmed and theblinds are closed when you calibrate your monitor (Lighting candlesand incense can be cool but keep rsquoem far enough away from the com-puter so the particles they give off donrsquot gum up the works)
ProofingAfter making sure your color settings are correct in Photoshop mdash and thatyoursquove at least calibrated your monitor to give your computer a good profileto set your display to mdash yoursquore ready to get into your color-managed work-flow (Part IV provides details of working with images in Photoshop) Whileworking with images itrsquos important to proof your images to make sure thatwhat yoursquore viewing on your monitor closely matches the type of output youintend for the image
61Chapter 3 Applying Color Management
Figure 3-22 The ColorVisionSpyder 2 colorimeter attachedto a laptop display
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 61
62 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Proofing in Photoshop is actually a pretty simple process First you need toset up your proofing profile to match the exact output your image is intendedfor When I use the term output Irsquom referring to a printer a specific type ofpaper yoursquore using in the printer or even output intended for viewing on theWeb or a PDF presentation Turn on proofing in Photoshop so the imageyoursquore working in is simulated as viewed on your monitor mdash and what yoursquoreseeing closely matches what should be printed Herersquos how
1 Choose ViewProof SetupCustom
2 In the Customize ProofCondition dialog box thatappears select the output pro-file that best simulates thecolor on your computerrsquos dis-play and then click OK
Figure 3-23 shows theCustomized Proof Conditionwith the Epson R1800 PrinterPremium Luster paper profileselected I chose that selectionbecause that is the particularprinter and paper combination Iactually use Your printer andpaper combination will proba-bly be different
3 Toggle Proof Colors on bychoosing ViewProof Colors orpress Ctrl+Y (Ocirc+Y on the Mac)
Selecting the profile doesnrsquot change your monitor display which is whyyou must perform this step to get the right results To view the differ-ence between how your image looks on-screen and how it should lookwhen printed (or saved as a Web image if you chose sRGB as a profile)toggle Proof Colors on and off (press Ctrl+Y [Windows] or Ocirc+Y [Mac] to toggle) When Proof Colors is on the image yoursquore viewing on themonitor will closely match what should be printed
Figure 3-23 Selecting a profile to simulate onyour monitor
07_774820 ch03qxp 1306 614 PM Page 62
4Using Workflows to Process
ImagesIn This Chapter Standardizing your image management
Loading and organizing images
Rediscovering (and improving) older images
Backing up and archiving images
Processing raw images efficiently
Correcting images in Photoshop with minimum data loss
Editing your images as a workflow made up of best practices
Natural-born talent has always been an asset to the bestartists including photographers Now that photogra-
phy has transitioned to the technical realm of computersand software however talent alone wonrsquot get photogra-phers through image management mdash or reveal howbest to use Camera Raw and Photoshop What willget you consistently good results however is a littlepractice with some of the techniques covered inthe chapters of this book mdash and repeating them till theyrsquore second nature Doing the same processesthe same way every time reduces the effort required the result is a consistent set of efficienthabits called a workflow
Workflow is the approach I take to every technique in thisbook It works equally well whether yoursquore managing imagesusing Camera Raw or making adjustments and editing images inPhotoshop Okay a step-by-step approach isnrsquot rocket science but if youstick to the steps that create each workflow mdash consistently mdash yoursquoll noticeimprovements in your productivity and in the quality to your photographicwork Best of all it isnrsquot a gadget mdash workflow doesnrsquot require you to spendmore money
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64 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Image Management as a WorkflowItrsquos a familiar scenario You go out and shoot some stunning photos and itchto get back to the digital darkroom so you can work rsquoem up You canrsquot wait toopen Bridge view what yoursquove shot and process the best ones Before youknow it yoursquove run a few images through Photoshop made a few prints andthen maybe moved on to cruising the Web to check up on your fantasy foot-ball team tomorrowrsquos weather or your bid on that Elvis coffee mug on eBayThe downloaded image is forgotten it sits there
If yoursquove been using a digital camera for a while now and take photos fre-quently yoursquove probably noticed how quickly images pile up on your harddrive Every time you download photos from a memory card to your harddrive you can be adding hundreds of digital images to an already-crowdedstorage space And they sit there and pile up
Yoursquove got potential trouble there One of the biggest challenges digital pho-tographers face is coming up with a system to manage all these files It maysound about as exciting as watching reruns on TV but image managementshould be exciting to the digital photographer mdash it means you can actuallyfind your best work Read on for helpful tips and a painless workflow that getyou to this worry-free image-organized state
Organizing imagesThe image-management workflow isnrsquot some industry-standard step-by-steprequirement itrsquos yours to create But donrsquot panic As a photographer yoursquollhave your own specific needs for managing images and each reflects yourwork categories topics clients file formats and so on so thatrsquos where youstart How you organize your images depends (at least in part) on the type ofphotography yoursquore into A professional portrait photographer for instancemay want to organize images by client a fine-art nature photographer mightorganize pictures by topic
You can mdash and should mdash tailor your image management to accommodate thespecific work you do The best tool for this purpose is a system of organizingimages mdash creating one following it consistently and setting up a standardworkflow for the images moving through it
Creating an image-management systemDonrsquot let that pile of miscellaneous images throw you Implementing animage-management system starts with two straightforward tasks
Planning how you want to organize your images Herersquos where yourknowledge of your photographic work comes into play A nature photog-rapher might separate images into categories (say plants animals andgeographic features) or by region (American Southwest Arctic tundratropical islands )
08_774820 ch04qxp 1406 214 PM Page 64
Creating folders to hold the categorized images Whether yoursquore usinga Windows computer or a Mac first create a master folder to contain allyour original working and final output images (I call mine DigitalImages but you can name it anything you want) Then create subfolderswithin your main images folder mdash for example classified by where theyare in their development (working and output images)
Trust me mdash the shots will keepcoming so theyrsquod better have a placeto go I shoot raw images mdash a lot ofraw images mdash and I save every onethatrsquos downloaded to my computerfrom my memory card Irsquove plannedmy image folders in three basic areas(shown in Figure 4-1) OriginalImages Working Images and Output
I load each memory card into its ownfolder Each ldquodownloadrdquo is given asequential name such as IMG0001lake michigan IMG0002 fallcolor and so on This system helpsme organize original raw images bydownload in a sequential orderwhile noting whatrsquos in the folder SeeFigure 4-2 for an example of settingup and naming image folders
Keep your original images original Icreate a Working Images folder thatcontains all the images Irsquom workingon in Photoshop Whenever I openan image in Camera Raw process itand then open it in Photoshop Iimmediately save the file as aPhotoshop image (in PSD format) toone of my Working Images folders You really canrsquot mistakenly change a rawfile but you can a JPEG or TIFF so by using this practice you wonrsquot risk alter-ing an original in any way
Finding lost treasures while reorganizingRecently while using the new Photoshop Bridge feature to migrate images tonew computers and external hard drives (for backups and offline image stor-age) I decided to go back to my old image files and reorganize them I hadstored CD after CD of older digital images along with some of my favorite35mm slides that I had scanned to digital files I spent a few evenings viewingthem printing a few oldies-but-goodies of the family and adding a few to myportfolio folder
65Chapter 4 Using Workflows to Process Images
Figure 4-1 Folders set up for original workingand output images
Figure 4-2 Name your folders so you knowwhat types of image files are stored there
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66 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Just by viewing and organizing my old images I discovered some greatphotos that Irsquod never had a chance to process or print mdash for instance thephoto of the creek during autumn a few years ago (shown in Figure 4-3)
Figure 4-3 Organize your older images and rediscover good photos
08_774820 ch04qxp 1406 214 PM Page 66
When organizing your digital photos donrsquot forget to include all of the imagesyoursquove downloaded to your computer in the past If you had already archivedthese files to CD or DVD take some time to view each disc and copy theimages that you never worked with before to your working images folder Ifyou take the time to review all of your older work yoursquoll be surprised howmany gems yoursquoll find
Backing up imagesOne advantage to keeping all your original working and output images in afolder structure (also called a directory tree) is that theyrsquore easy to back upthat way Yes you heard me right mdash back up your images Digital photogra-phers work in a digital world and digital data is vulnerable We rely on ourcomputers and hard drives for the well-being of our images mdash and computerscrash As manmade things machines are practically guaranteed to fail at acertain point Computer techies like to say ldquoThere are two kinds of peopleThose who have lost all their data and those that willrdquo
To protect your images back them up The bestmethod is to copy your image folder directly to abackup device such as an external hard drive (thedevice shown on the left in Figure 4-4) Thesedevices are becoming very affordable and easilyattach to your computer via a USB or FireWirecable
Backing up your images to an external hard drive isa good short-term solution mdash but you still need toarchive your images to make sure you can accessthem over the longer term Computers today comestandard with CD-writable optical drives (knowncasually as burners) that can write to blank CDs easily storing more than 500megabytes of data DVD-writable drives (refer to Figure 4-4) are becomingpopular Now a standard compact disc (CD) can store 700MB but storing one512-megabyte memory card per CD may be convenient If archive CDs start toproliferate remember One DVD can store more than 45 gigabytes of files
Whatever type of optical drive you have at your disposal I strongly recom-mend that you copy all your original images to a CD or DVD immediately afteryou download those images to your computer
Donrsquot stop at one copy make two One copy should be kept close by theother taken to your safety-deposit box (if you have one) or stored in a firesafe in your home or office Making two copies of your original images willhelp guarantee that you can recover all that work in case your hard drivecrashes your computer fails or a meteor lands on the office
67Chapter 4 Using Workflows to Process Images
Figure 4-4 Back up all of youroriginal images yoursquoll be gladyou did
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68 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
Managing images with BridgeBridge serves as your virtual light table but also allows you to do much morewith your images than view thumbnails Bridge gives you the tools to get con-trol of image management before you wind up with a mess on your harddrive Integrating Bridge to view and retrieve photos (as shown in Figure 4-5)makes them a lot easier to keep tidy mdash especially down the road when youhave accumulated thousands of images on your computer
As a software program Bridge doesnrsquot just sit there showing you row afterrow of images it gives you the tools to manage images by
Navigating image folders Use Bridge to view photos that you downloadUse Bridge as your digital light table You can even create folders mdash andcopy images between folders mdash using the Edit menu in Bridge
Loading photos into Camera Raw or Photoshop You can load rawimages directly into Camera Raw just by double-clicking the thumbnailsof the photos in Bridge If your original images were in TIFF or JPEGformat your images will load directly into Photoshop
Adding information with Metadata View technical information pro-vided by your digital camera and add additional information for eachphoto
This is your cataloging step in the image-management workflow
Applying labels and ratings Color-code andor apply ratings to yourphotos for easy retrieval later The idea is to come up with a system ofcategorizing your images that makes them easy to find and evaluate
Sorting and renaming photos By adding keywords labels and ratingsto your photos you can easily sort files at a later time
Protecting your images with quality mediaYou can purchase blank CDs or DVDs inexpen-sively now and great bargains are available atyour local computer or office supply storesWhether yoursquore using CDs or DVDs to archiveyour images be aware that optical discs are notall alike CDs and DVDs like many things areavailable in different levels of quality
There are some cheap discs on the market butthey may be cheap for a reason They mayscratch easily or may be susceptible to quickerchemical deterioration than other discs When
buying blank CDsor DVDs to usefor archiving yourimages buy aname-brand pre-mium disc (suchas Delkin ArchivalGold or VerbatimDatalife) These discs are said to hold up formany years even decades if theyrsquore carefullyhandled and stored
08_774820 ch04qxp 1406 214 PM Page 68
Figure 4-5 Bridge is your virtual light table
Managing images with a workflowOkay suppose the basics are in place You keep your images in organizedfolders you back up all your originals and yoursquore using Bridge to furtherview and organize your files What keeps all that working well is force ofhabit Following the same procedure mdash every time you add images to yourcollection mdash is the best way to maintain your images efficiently So herewithout further ado is the image-management workflow
1 Organize your files for image management
The earlier section ldquoOrganizing imagesrdquo shows you how I set up onefolder to store images in my Original Working and Output folders Yourwork may dictate different needs for setting up working and output fold-ers For instance if yoursquore a portrait photographer or shoot commer-cially yoursquoll be setting up separate folders for each of your clients andsubfolders for the jobs you do for each client
However you decide to set up your folder tree always keep your originalfiles separate from files that you work on in Photoshop You donrsquot want tomake a mistake and then save that mistake to your original file
2 Copy images to your computer
Using a card reader (or directly connecting your digital camera to yourcomputer) download your images to your Original Images folder Get in
69Chapter 4 Using Workflows to Process Images
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70 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
the habit of creating separate folders for each download create foldernames that follow a numerical order in addition to providing a bit ofinformation about the images yoursquore downloading
3 Back up your files to a backup device and to optical media
You can never have enough backups I use external hard drives as bothbackup devices and offline storage but the first thing I do after down-loading my original images from memory cards is to copy them immedi-ately to CD or DVD Use premium optical media so your discs are usable(as something other than coasters) in the foreseeable future
Using a laptop in my travels puts a practical limit on how much diskspace I have available Using an external disk to back up images (and tostore large image libraries) adds extra insurance for my images whileproviding convenient offline storage capacity
4 (Optional) Convert raw images to DNG format
Irsquove recently begun converting my original raw files to Adobe DNGformat as part of my image-management workflow Though the DNGformat is new and has yet to become a de-facto standard as a raw-imagefile format itrsquos the best we have right now
Irsquove also found that converting these raw images to DNG format and copy-ing the resulting files to CD or DVD gives me a little more protection alittle better chance that my images will be compatible with image-editingsoftware in the distant future
5 Add metadata to the files
Adding descriptions to your files helps you identify them and providepractical information about your images for later use I can look at animage thatrsquos a couple of years old and still know where I took it the timeof day and what camera I used If I view images that are 5 or 10 years old(before I developed the metadata habit) I may recognize where I tookthe photo but probably not much else about it Use Bridge to adddescriptive information to your images Yoursquoll be glad you did
6 Apply labels and ratings
Though you may have hundreds or thousands of images stored andarchived offline you can still have hundreds or thousands of photos onyour computer that need managing Bridgersquos color coding and ratingfunctions can help you tell winners from losers in your image collectionapplying color tags or numerical ratings to your imagesrsquo metadata
By following this workflow or modifying it to fit your particular needs yoursquollbe taking a huge step toward making your digital photography better orga-nized and protected mdash while saving yourself time in the long run becauseyour organizing system will prevent unsightly file buildup as your imagelibrary grows Yoursquoll be able to keep track of those old treasures and have aneasy way of finding images that yoursquove taken stored and backed up
08_774820 ch04qxp 1406 214 PM Page 70
When it comes to managing digital images I donrsquot really want to throw acheesy clicheacute at you but (ack here it comes) ldquoan ounce of prevention isworth more than a pound of cure (or for that matter cheese)rdquo
Raw Conversion as a WorkflowOkay suppose yoursquove just downloaded and organized a slew of raw images mdasheither in the native format from your digital camera or converted to the DNGformat Yoursquove beaten back the chaos with your image-management work-flow all right but chaos never sleeps So the next step is to transform theprocess of raw conversion into a workflow Details of using Camera Rawappear in Chapters 8 and 9 here however is the raw-conversion workflow
1 Open a raw image using Bridge
Start Bridge by choosing FileBrowse or by clicking the Go to Bridgebutton on the Photoshop Option bar Choose a raw image you want toprocess by double-clicking the thumbnail of the image (or you can right-click the image and choose Open with Camera Raw from the flyoutmenu) Figure 4-6 shows the image loaded in the Camera Raw window
Figure 4-6 The Camera Raw window
The red indicates highlight clipping
71Chapter 4 Using Workflows to Process Images
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72 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
2 Click the Shadows and Highlights check boxes (next to the Previewcheck box) to turn on the clipping warnings
Keeping these two check boxes checked is a good habit to developThey call your attention to the parts of your image where shadow andhighlight areas of the image are being clipped mdash that is losing usableimage data due to under- or overadjustment to exposure shadows orbrightness Such warnings help you adjust the image in Camera Raw
When the Shadows and Highlights check boxes are checked clippedshadow areas of the image show up in blue highlight clipping is indi-cated in red as shown in the portion of the sky in Figure 4-6
3 Turn on Auto Adjustments
CS2 brings us a new feature Auto Adjustments in Camera Raw If you useit Camera Raw automatically adjusts color and tone to what it considersoptimum for the image Honestly Auto Adjustments works pretty wellYou just press Ctrl+U on a Windows computer or Ocirc+U on a Mac andyoursquove got a good start in making adjustments I use it when I first openraw images in Camera Raw
4 Make overall tonal and coloradjustments in the Adjust tab(see Figure 4-7)
When you open an image inCamera Raw the Adjust tab isautomatically selected TheAdjust tab contains all the con-trols yoursquoll use to adjust WhiteBalance Temperature TintExposure Shadows BrightnessContrast and Saturation UsingAuto Adjustments in Step 3 willautomatically assign values toExposure Shadows Brightnessand Contrast mdash but you donrsquothave to settle for the automaticsettings You can tweak till youget the result you want (Yoursquollhave to set White Balance Tintand Saturation on your ownCamera Raw leaves those adjust-ments to the photographer)
Figure 4-7 The Adjust tab contains controlsfor overall adjustments
08_774820 ch04qxp 1406 214 PM Page 72
5 Apply sharpness and luminancecolor noise adjustments (see Figure 4-8)
The Camera Raw Detail tab(shown in Figure 4-8) offersthree controls for applyingsharpness and noise reductionto both the luminance and thecolor of the image Okay whatdoes that techno-babble reallymean Simply that you cansharpen the outlines of theimage and reduce those tinymessy bits in the grayscaleareas and get rid of the color-speckle thingies that show up inthe color areas of the imageBoth are referred to as noise
The Luminance Smoothingslider is sheer death tograyscale noise while the ColorNoise Reduction slider is a heftyweapon against the color noisethat can plague images shot inhigh-ISO settings or long expo-sures
Reducing luminance and color noise during the raw conversion work-flow should be your preferred method for handling noise ThoughPhotoshop CS2 offers the new Reduce Noise filter the goal is to be ableto make as many adjustments as possible before you open images inPhotoshop
Save the sharpening of any image for the very last steps in your image-processing workflow Use the Sharpness adjustment only for previewingimages in Camera Raw (Therersquos more about sharpening images inChapter 12 you might want to review it when preparing images foroutput)
You can set Camera Raw Preferences to limit the application of sharpen-ing to Preview Only (I show you how to set Camera Raw Preferences inChapter 9)
73Chapter 4 Using Workflows to Process Images
Figure 4-8 The Detail tab contains controls forsharpness and noise reduction
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74 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
6 Fine-tune the tonality and con-trast using the Curve tab
The Curve tab (shown in Figure4-9) lets you fine-tune an imagersquoscolor characteristics (tonality)Unlike the Curves adjustment inPhotoshop the Camera RawCurves adjustment works ontop of the adjustments made inthe Adjust tab it works like anadjustmentrsquos own ldquofine-tuningrdquo Ifind that making careful changesin the Adjust tab reduces anyneed to make changes in theCurve tab
Though most of your tonaladjustments should be madeusing the Adjust tab try usingthe Curve tabrsquos Tone Curveselection box to view yourimage using the MediumContrast and Strong Contrastpreset adjustment If you donrsquotlike the results of either you can always leave the Curve adjustment setto its default (Linear)
7 Click Open to open the image in Photoshop CS2
You can also click Done but that will just save the Camera Raw settingsfor that image yoursquove just made and then take you back to BridgeClicking the Save button will allow you to save the raw file (and its side-car file with your adjustments) to a folder of your choosing You can alsospecify another format for the file mdash raw DNG TIFF JPEG or PSD mdash butfor the most part yoursquoll be opening the image in Photoshop for overallcorrection and image editing
You may have noticed I didnrsquot include the Lens or Calibrate tabs in theCamera Raw workflow described here Thatrsquos because normally these con-trols are used sparingly you wonrsquot need them for most of your images (Evenso I cover those tabs and their controls in Chapter 9)
Correcting Images in Photoshop as a WorkflowIrsquove found that the more practice I got making adjustments in Camera Rawthe fewer corrections I had to make in Photoshop Better still accuratelyadjusting white balance exposure shadows brightness contrast and color
Figure 4-9 The Curve tab
08_774820 ch04qxp 1406 214 PM Page 74
saturation in Camera Raw isnrsquot destructive Making those same adjustmentsin Photoshop can destroy valuable image data that might affect the quality ofmy images especially if I print them larger than 8times10 inches
Unfortunately not all images can be adjusted in Camera Raw mdash only (wellyeah) the raw ones Letrsquos not forget all those JPEGs and TIFFs that we shot inour misspent youth or perhaps are even still producing (Okay I admit it Myeveryday compact camera doesnrsquot have raw as an option mdash only JPEG mdash andI take photos with that Nikon 7900 almost every day)
But we can still make the best of theimages we have Behold For fine-tuning images processed in CameraRaw mdash or photos shot originally inJPEG or TIFF format (such as the onein Figure 4-10) mdash I offer thePhotoshop image-correction workflow(applause please)
1 Open the image in Photoshopand evaluate the image todetermine your plan of attack
Does the image show an overallcolor cast (too blue magentayellow and so on) Is the imagetoo light or too dark Do youwant to increase the contrastDo you want to add color satu-ration Take a few moments tovisualize how you want yourimage to appear itrsquoll help youdetermine which adjustmentsbelong in the workflow
2 Create a Levels adjustmentlayer to correct color
Use this layer to adjust the amount of color in each of the Red Greenand Blue channels using these levels to compensate for incorrect colorYou can change the saturation or lightness for individual colors or theentire color range at once (RGB) If yoursquore just getting used to adjustinglevels simply make an overall correction in the combined RGB channel
I show you how to create adjustment layers in Chapter 10
3 Create a Curves adjustment layer to make finer color level adjustments
Experiment with slight adjustments across the tonal range of the imageYou can for example use the Curves adjustment layer to adjust the con-trast of the image mdash avoiding the BrightnessContrast adjustment(which is a more destructive way to adjust contrast)
75Chapter 4 Using Workflows to Process Images
Figure 4-10 A brand new JPEG image justwaiting to be adjusted
08_774820 ch04qxp 1406 214 PM Page 75
76 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
4 Punch up the color in your image using the HueSaturation adjust-ment layer
As with Saturation adjustment in Camera Raw you can move theSaturation slider to the right to increase the amount of color in yourimage Figure 4-11 shows the adjusted image the Layers palette showsadjustment layers created for Levels Curves and HueSaturation
Figure 4-11 The adjusted image (and its adjustment layers) after image correction
08_774820 ch04qxp 1406 214 PM Page 76
Consistently following the same steps mdash turning them into a familiar work-flow mdash as you make overall adjustments to images in Photoshop can vastlyincrease your efficiency mdash especially when you make those corrections inseparate layers Down the road you can go in and change individual adjust-ments as needed instead of having to redo the entire image
When yoursquore making overall adjustments to your image less is more Formany images slight adjustments do the trick Overdoing it can make yourphotos look fake and unrealistic
Editing Images as a WorkflowMaking adjustments to your images is a start but editing images can involvea lot of small specific changes to certain pixels mdash for example removing red-eye erasing chewing-gum wrappers or soda cans from the grass in a naturephoto or even making somebodyrsquos nose look twice as big (which can be funbut be careful not to insult anyone) Nailing down one procedure to handleimage editing can seem as complex as mapping out an entire step-by-stepprocess for life mdash it may sound impossible Not so Here are some basic stepsto help you reinforce best practices they make up your image-editing work-flow and they look like this
1 After you finish your overall adjustments in Photoshop create a newlayer and combine the previous layers into the new layer by pressingCtrl+Shift+Alt+E (Ocirc+Shift+Option+E on the Mac)
2 For each edit you make create a separate layer
Creating separate layers for each edit enables you to go back to just thatedit and remove or change it
3 Name each layer
Click the layer name in the Layers palette and type the new name for thelayer Name the layer to indicate the type of edit made using that layer(for example Healing Brush Dodge Burn Black-and-White or Red-Eye Removal)
4 Save the file in your Working Images folder
After the overall adjustments and image edits are made to the fileyoursquove created many layers Save the image by choosing FileSave Asand save the file in PSD (Photoshop) format Saving the file in Photoshopformat preserves the adjustments and edits yoursquove made in layersSaving the file in your Working Images folder is a good standard image-management practice
77Chapter 4 Using Workflows to Process Images
08_774820 ch04qxp 1406 214 PM Page 77
78 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
By practicing these five basic steps for each edit yoursquoll find that your fileswill be more organized making it easier to track changes for editing at a latertime (Handy if you get the itch to change your changes)
Figure 4-12 shows the same image used to illustrate the image-correctionworkflow with some new edits (courtesy of the image-editing workflow) Irsquoveadded layers to provide selective blur (one of my favorite effects) and toclean up some spots using the Spot Healing Brush
Figure 4-12 Create layers to add edits to an image
08_774820 ch04qxp 1406 214 PM Page 78
Reviewing WorkflowsAs you use this book as a reference for converting raw images and usingmany Photoshop features to adjust and edit your images use the workflowsdescribed in this chapter as your roadmap Repetitive processes that usebest practices create good habits make you more efficient and consistentlyboost the quality of your photos
Figure 4-13 summarizes workflows for image management Camera Rawimage adjustment and image editing
Figure 4-13 Summary of four workflows
ImageManagementWorkflow
Plan your imagemanagement fileorganizational structure
Copy images to your computer
Back up your files to a backup device and optical media
(Optional) Convert raw images to DNG format
Add metadata information
Apply labels and ratings
RawConversionWorkflow
Open a raw image using Bridge
Select the Shadows and Highlights check boxes to turn on clipping warnings
Turn on Auto Adjustments
Make overall tonal and color adjustments in the Adjust tab
Apply sharpness and luminancecolor noise adjustments
Fine-tune tonality and contrast using the Curve tab
Click Open to open the image in Photoshop CS2
ImageCorrectionWorkflow
Open the image in Photoshop and evaluate the image to determine your plan of attack
Create a Levels adjustment layer to correct color
Create a Curves adjustment layer to make finer color level adjustments
Punch up the color in your image using the HueSaturation adjustment layer
Apply sharpness and luminancecolor noise adjustments
ImageEditingWorkflow
Create a new layer
Fill the layer merging previous layers
Rename the layer
Perform the Photoshop edit
Save the image file
Workflow Summary
79Chapter 4 Using Workflows to Process Images
08_774820 ch04qxp 1406 214 PM Page 79
80 Part I Getting Your Feet Wet
08_774820 ch04qxp 1406 214 PM Page 80
Part IIImage-Management
Workflow withAdobe Bridge
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In this part
As you know digital cameras offer photogra-phers a huge advantage over film You can
shoot and shoot while reusing the same memorycards You donrsquot have to buy film anymore justcarry enough memory cards to do the job Onthe flipside of all that uninhibited shooting at agreatly reduced cost what are you to do with allthose digital image files The answer (drum rollplease) Organize your best practices into animage-management workflow with Adobe BridgeThis part shows you how
If you want to avoid the nightmare of shootingmore images than you can handle in PhotoshopChapters 6 and 7 can help you make sense of it allI show you how to set up folders to store youroriginal images and how to keep them separatefrom the images yoursquore working on Next I showyou around Bridge introduce you to all its mostuseful functions and apply those to managingyour growing number of images Organizing yourimages (and knowing how to take advantage ofall the features Bridge offers the photographer)enables you to manage your images like a pro
09_774820 pt2qxp 1306 632 PM Page 82
5Getting Around Across Under
and Over Adobe Bridge In This Chapter Explaining Bridge
Finding your way around
Using menus and panels
Changing the look of Bridge
Modifying Bridge preferences
Before digital photography I would view my 35mm slides on a light tableIrsquod carefully take them out of their protective sleeves and view them a
few at a time with a loupe (a little magnifying glass) Keepers wentin one slide file the rest were relegated to the other file If itsounds archaic it is but thatrsquos how we viewed photos andorganized them back then mdash with a light table and a filecabinet
The timing couldnrsquot have been more perfect whenAdobe first offered the file browser in Photoshop 7which has evolved into Bridge with the release ofCS2 Now working with thousands of digital files Ican use Bridge for almost all of my image manage-ment mdash including viewing my images on my virtuallight table the computer monitor Many of my bestpractices from pre-digital days were easy to adapt Thisbook stresses the need for an image-management work-flow and Bridge is your tool for managing your increasinghorde of digital images
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84 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
Introducing BridgeBridge is a standalone application that can be started in Windows or on theMac independently of Photoshop If yoursquore running other software in theAdobe Creative Suite such as Illustrator or GoLive you can use Bridge tomanage files for all of them including Photoshop mdash so it serves (aha) as abridge between them You can use Bridge to perform quite a range of tasks asyou organize your photos mdash including these
Browse your computer for images First and foremost Bridge is a greatimage-browsing program You can easily navigate all the hard drives andfolders in your system for images Figure 5-1 shows the Bridge windowwith a thumbnail selected
Figure 5-1 The Bridge window
Open images directly into Camera Raw or Photoshop Bridge serves asfile menu for both Camera Raw and Photoshop Double-clicking raw-image thumbnails in Bridge will automatically open images in CameraRaw If the image selected is another file format (such as JPEG TIFF orPSD) the image will be loaded directly into Photoshop
If you have other raw converters loaded on your computer double-clicking raw-image thumbnails might open your images in one of thoseother raw converters instead of Camera Raw You can always click animage and then press Ctrl+R (Ocirc+R on a Mac) to open an image inCamera Raw
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Add metadata to images For my commercial work one of the first thingsI do when first viewing a fresh download of images is to add metadata toeach image mdash data about data (in this case about images) that helps meorganize the files Your digital camera provides some metadata mdash forexample the date and shooting information such as shutter speed aper-ture and ISO setting You can add more metadata in Bridge (say copyrightinformation and a text description of the photo)
Metadata information is stored in a sidecar file kept with your imagesWhether yoursquore viewing thumbnails in Bridge or editing photos inPhotoshop that metadata is retained If yoursquore using DNG format (whichI discuss further in Chapter 2) metadata is stored directly in the imagefile (no sidecar file)
Add ratings and color labels to images One cool feature of Bridge isthe convenient way to rate rank and label your images You can indi-cate a rating to an image of one to five stars and even apply a color codeto an image Both ratings and color labels are good tools to use in con-junction with Bridgersquos image search features which allows you to searchfor images based on ratings and labels
Rename a bunch of images at once Bridge offers the ability to batchand rename images giving you the choice to both rename those imagesand then store the renamed images in a folder of your choosing Thisfeature comes in handy when you have a number of images yoursquoll wantto send to a client (or a friend for that matter) but donrsquot want to use thesame filename for the images that your digital camera provides
Choose workspaces Depending on what yoursquore doing with your imagesyou can use Bridge to switch between workspaces mdash different workingviews of Bridge If for example yoursquore creating a filmstrip-style presenta-tion you can use the Filmstrip workspace shown in Figure 5-2 For othertasks you can change workspaces easily by choosing WindowWorkspace (or by clicking the Workspace icons in the lower-right cornerof the Bridge window)
Run Photoshop automation features from Bridge These automatic fea-tures that can be run directly from Bridge include creating a PDF presen-tation creating a Web photo gallery and stitching together panoramas(using Photomerge) But the crown jewel of these features is the power-ful and time-saving Image Processor where you can batch-convert anynumber of images from one format to another while choosing a separatedestination folder for those files
With all the image-management functions that Bridge offers the photogra-pher itrsquos worth taking some time to get to know If you read up on using itsfeatures play around with it some and fit it into your workflow yoursquoll save alot of time in the long run and your images will be a lot better managed andorganized Just as Windows or Mac OS is the operating system for your com-puter consider Bridge the operating system for your images and Photoshop
85Chapter 5 Getting Around Across Under and Over Adobe Bridge
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86 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
Figure 5-2 The Filmstrip workspace one of many
Getting Acquainted with BridgeThe Bridge window is the gateway to where all the goodies are but therersquosone immediate piece of business to take care of How do you start Bridge(Oh yeah that ) There are actually three ways to fire it up
Start Bridge from your computer
Bridge is an independent software program just like Word Excel orPhotoshop From a computer running Windows choose StartAdobeBridge From the Mac Desktop double-click the Bridge icon(ApplicationsAdobe Bridge)
You can start Bridge by pressing Ctrl+Alt+O (Windows) or Ocirc+Option+O(on the Mac)
Start Bridge from the Photoshop File menu
From Photoshop CS2 simply choose FileBrowse shown in Figure 5-3
Start Bridge from the Go to Bridge button
From Photoshop just click the Go to Bridge button on the Option barshown in Figure 5-3
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Figure 5-3 Starting Bridge from the File menu or the Go to Bridge button
Getting the lay of the landBridge is indeed a powerful standalone program mdash complete with menustabs work areas and a range of specialized views to fit your work Before youjump into the details of how to manage images however take a look at thecomponents of the Bridge work area shown in Figure 5-4
Menu bar Contains Bridge commands within the File Edit Tools LabelView Window and Help menus Just about everything you want to do inBridge is found in these menus I sum up those commands in the nextsection
Option bar Contains the Look In menu Go Up a Folder theFilteredUnfiltered Images button the New Folder button RotateLeftRight Trash and Switch to Compact Mode buttons
Look In menu Displays the folder hierarchy favorites and the foldersyoursquove used most recently Itrsquos a fast way to locate folders that containimages
Favorites panel Gives you fast access to folders Version Cue (used tomanage the versions of files throughout the Adobe software suite) StockPhotos and Collections
File menu
Go to Bridge button
Option bar
87Chapter 5 Getting Around Across Under and Over Adobe Bridge
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88 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
Figure 5-4 The Bridge window
Folders panel Shows folder hierarchies and lets you navigate folders
Preview panel Shows a preview of the selected image
Metadata panel Contains information about the selected image (includ-ing data from your digital camera on how the photo was shot apertureshutter speed ISO settings and such) You can add various types ofinformation about the file in multiple areas
Keywords panel Lets you add keywords to the image information soyou can organize images by keyword (which really eases file searches)
Content area Displays resizable thumbnails of images and basic fileinformation
Menus
Versions and Alternates view
Details view
Filmstrip view
Thumbnail size slider
Metadata panel
Keywords panel
Image Preview panel
Menu bar
Favorites panel Look In menu
Thumbnails
Folders panel
Content area
Filter menu
Create Folder button
Rotate Image
CloseBridge
Switch to Compact Mode
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Would you like to see a menuAs with any typical Windows or Mac program Bridge comes equipped with afull set of menus mdash offering just about every function yoursquoll want to perform(except maybe brewing coffee) For example if you want to open an imageclick the thumbnail choose FileOpen and voilagrave
You could also just double-click the thumbnail to open the document Oftenyou have many ways to perform the same or similar functions in Bridge mdashand for that matter in Photoshop The functions you choose from otherparts of Bridge can also be found in the menus
File menu If yoursquore used toworking with Windows or Macprograms the File menu shouldbe familiar to you Shown inFigure 5-5 the File menu iswhere you can open a newBridge window create a folderopen a file or choose which pro-gram to open it in close Bridgeor send a file to the RecycleBinTrash You can also addinformation about the file (meta-data) to an image via the FileInfo command
Edit menu Irsquom a frequent visi-tor to the Edit menu (see Figure5-6) mainly because thatrsquoswhere the Undo command isSure the Bridge menus showyou the keyboard shortcuts butfor casual users using themenus is easier than memoriz-ing all those keyboard com-mands such as Undo Ctrl+Z(Ocirc+Z on the Mac) Yoursquoll alsofind the familiar Cut Copy andPaste commands here in theEdit menu
One command I use frequentlyis Apply Camera Raw SettingsIt copies the exact Camera Rawsettings made to one imageand applies them to multiple images mdash a great timesaver (Therersquos moreabout that technique in Chapter 6)
89Chapter 5 Getting Around Across Under and Over Adobe Bridge
Figure 5-5 The Bridge File menu
Figure 5-6 The Edit menu
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90 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
An especially nifty Edit menu command that I use often is Duplicate(Ctrl+D [Windows] or Ocirc+D [Mac]) Using it you can easily make anexact copy of an image mdash handy for creating more than one version towork on at the same time The Duplicate command is also the very thingwhen you want to create a ldquoworkingrdquo version of an image while leavingthe original in pristine untouched condition Bridge automatically addscopy to the filename of the newly created duplicate
Tools menu The Tools menu(shown in Figure 5-7) is home tomany of the Bridge andPhotoshop automation featuresBatch Rename (for example) is ahuge timesaver mdash you can reuseit to rename any number of filesyoursquove selected in the Contentarea and save those files toanother folder And thePhotoshop Services commandlinks you to Web resourceswhere you can upload yourimages to have them printed mdashas proofs or in book calendar or greeting-card format
Choosing the Photoshop command will take you to Photoshoprsquos automa-tion features including
bull Batch Run Photoshop Actions on any number of images selectedin the Content area
bull Contact Sheet II Irsquom sure yoursquore curious to what happened toContact Sheet I but Irsquom sure II is better Herersquos where you canselect any number of images in the Content area and almostinstantly create contact sheets from those images
bull Image Processor Yet another great timesaver If you want to con-vert a number of images from one format to another (say PSD toJPEG) the Image Processor is the Photoshop automation tool foryou
bull Merge to HDR Using this new feature in Photoshop CS2 you canmerge a number of images into one HDR (high dynamic range)image Itrsquos an advanced command that can be a powerful tech-nique Combining different versions of a same image taken at dif-ferent exposures can help you compensate for difficult lightingsituations Merging underexposed and overexposed versions of animage together (using Merge to HDR) would give you a single imagefrom two or three mdash maybe with striking results
Figure 5-7 The Tools menu
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bull PDF Presentation After selecting images in the Content area usePDF Presentation to create presentations of those images that youcan post to a Web site or e-mail to friends family or clients
bull Photomerge Stitching together images to create panoramas iseasy using Photomerge I show you that feature in more detail inChapter 13
bull Picture Package If you remember school pictures from back in theday or currently have your own kids in school Picture Package iswhere you can create your own 8times10-inch print it includes varioussizes of your chosen photos
bull Web Photo Gallery This is one of my favorite automation featuresof Photoshop Quickly and easily create your own photo Web siteAs a guy whorsquos developed many Web sites over the years I can tellyou this utility really works well You can choose a Web site tem-plate select photos to display by selecting thumbnails in Bridge andtherersquos your gallery Hey itrsquos so easy mdash and this Web site doesnrsquoteven have to send development offshore to be completed UsingWeb Photo Gallery is a no-brainer way to share admire or justshow off your photos
Label menu (see Figure 5-8) The Label menuprovides all the options for applying ratingsand labels to images (I show you how to usethese features in Chapter 6)
The View menu The View menu is where youfind the options that control how Bridge dis-plays itself on-screen The commands to dis-play your thumbnails in Thumbnail Filmstripor Details mode are in this menu as well Youcan also sort your thumbnails or show onlycertain types of images (such as all filesgraphic files or Camera Raw files only) byusing this menu
One neat feature I recently discovered whileplaying with the View menu is Slide Show(Ctrl+L Ocirc+L on a Mac) Starting Slide Showallows you to view your thumbnails in full-screen mode (as in Figure 5-9) Slide Show canbe another way to view and evaluate imagesin Bridge or simply to show off some coolphotos on your computer
91Chapter 5 Getting Around Across Under and Over Adobe Bridge
Figure 5-8 The Label menu
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92 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
Figure 5-9 The Label menu and Slide Show
Window menu The Window menu contains all the different workspaces(different views of Bridge see Figure 5-10) that you can choose whileworking in Bridge Letrsquos face it mdash digital photographers have differentpersonal tastes when it comes to working in Bridge and Photoshop theWindow menu accommodates them by letting you specify differentworking conditions
bull Default (Ctrl+F1 Ocirc+F1 on a Mac) The Default workspace providesthe best of everything Bridge has to provide The FavoritesFolders Preview Metadata and Keywords panels are displayedalong with thumbnails
bull Lightbox (Ctrl+F2 Ocirc+F2 on a Mac) The Lightbox workspacechanges your Bridge view to Thumbnails only You still haveaccess to all Bridge menus but the panels are gone
bull File Navigator (Ctrl+F3 Ocirc+F3 on a Mac) The File Navigator work-space shows you thumbnails in the Content area and the Favoritesand Folders panel This view allows you to view thumbnails in fold-ers that you can navigate in the Folders panel
bull Metadata Focus (Ctrl+F4 Ocirc+F4 on a Mac) The Metadata Focusworkspace presents Bridge with a smaller thumbnail view with theFavorites Metadata and Keyword panels displayed
bull Filmstrip Focus (Ctrl+F5 Ocirc+F5 on a Mac) The Filmstrip Focusworkspace provides a thumbnail view of your images with a largerpreview of a selected image in the main portion of the Contentarea No panels are displayed
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Figure 5-10 The Window menu
Help menu The Bridge Helpmenu gives you links toPhotoshoprsquos updated Help program and the convenientUpdates command Bridgedoesnrsquot really have its ownhelp section but Bridge Help(F1) does link you directly to the Bridge section of thePhotoshop Help application(shown in Figure 5-11)
The Updates command in the BridgeHelp menu links you directly to theAdobe Photoshop updates area ofadobecom This useful feature makes getting software updates forPhotoshop Bridge and Camera Raw easy I recommend checking for updatesevery month
Default workspace Lightbox workspace File Navigator workspace
Metadata Focus workspace Filmstrip Focus workspace
93Chapter 5 Getting Around Across Under and Over Adobe Bridge
Figure 5-11 Bridge Help
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94 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
Using Bridge panelsLocated below the menus and Option bar is the panel area The default work-space of Bridge will show the Favorites Folders Preview Metadata andKeywords panels Each panel has a specific function
The Favorites panel The Favorites panelshares the same space in Bridge as theFolders panel Shown in Figure 5-12 Favoritesis an ldquoareardquo browser Instead of rummagingaround in one folder at a time you canbrowse specific areas mdash say your computerAdobe Stock Photos (Adobersquos new stock-photo service) Version Cue and Collections(I show you how to customize Favorites in thenext section ldquoCustomizing Bridgerdquo)
The Favorites panel saves you time by lettingyou just drag a folder in from the Content areawhen you want to create a Favorites shortcutIf you work mainly from a few image foldersyou simply click My Computer find the folderyou want to drag to the Favorites panel anddrag it Finding that folder becomes a loteasier as you work in Bridge (or when youfirst start it up) mdash not a drag at all
The Folders panel (see Figure 5-13) As a userof multiple image folders I rely on the Folderspanel to navigate mdash and itrsquos where I managethe folders on my computer Similar toWindows Explorer the Folders panel lets youclick through drives and folders or move themaround by or dragging them to other foldersor drives
You can make just as many mistakes in the Folders panel as you can inWindows Explorer Be careful when you move folders around or sendfolders or files to the Recycle Bin or Trash You can inadvertentlydelete folders and files you want to keep
The Preview panel The Preview panel displays an image that isselected in the work area Right-click (Ocirc+click a Mac) to show the pre-view image (and all the options shown in Figure 5-14) on-screen muchthe same as when you preview an image in the work area
Figure 5-12 Favorites panel
Figure 5-13 Folders panel
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Figure 5-14 Preview panel
The Metadata panel You canview information about a select-ed image in the Metadata panelFigure 5-15 shows basic imagemetadata but you can also addEXIF information (data your dig-ital camera saves with the imagemdash aperture shutter speed ISOand such) and other importantprofessional tidbits such ascopyright
The IPTC section is the place toadd copyright and other infor-mation (for instance moreabout the photographer andthe images) following IPTC stan-dards If yoursquore wondering whothe heck the IPTC is itrsquos aLondon-based press-and-telecommunications organization that setsstandards for news-media data You can check out this organization atwwwiptcorg
95Chapter 5 Getting Around Across Under and Over Adobe Bridge
Figure 5-15 Metadata panel
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96 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
The Keywords panel A goodimage management process thatI recommend in Chapter 6 isadding keywords to your imagesusing the Keywords panel (Iguess Irsquom recommending it heretoo) Adding keywords to yourimages makes all the differencewhen yoursquore organizing them (orsearching for them later)Getting in the habit of associat-ing keywords with images gives you a powerful image-management tool yoursquoll thankyourself in the future
Figure 5-16 shows a keywordIrsquove added to indicate where theselected image was taken
Customizing BridgeOne of my favorite things about Photoshop and Bridge is that they let meeasily customize my view of the software Sure a lot of computer programslet you add toolbars change fonts or fluff the cosmetics but when yoursquorecrafting an image you may want to change the look of Bridge entirely to fitthe work in hand
Bridge gives you power over how itrsquos displayed when you choose and tweakyour workspaces Many programs donrsquot let you customize panels and workareas but Adobe has gone out of its way to make Bridge customizable to fityour tastes or needs Changing the background color of the work area is kindof cool (your only choices are black white and grayscale) you can put a lotof detailed information in metadata mdash and manage it with Bridge mdash or evenspecify which metadata fields are viewable Bridge is a tweakerrsquos paradiseyou may not use even a fraction of the options but you have rsquoem if you needrsquoem If the designers and developers at Adobe wanted to ease the artistrsquosmind well mdash congratulations on a job well done
Changing workspaces and viewsPhotographers can be picky I guess itrsquos the nature of an artist who demandsperfection down to the slightest detail Bridge workspaces and views offerenough options to reasonably satisfy the most discerning taste (Okay maybemost digital photographers donrsquot really get that finicky about Bridge work-spaces but having options sure is nice)
Figure 5-16 Keywords panel
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This list highlights some of the ways you can change the way Bridge and itssections appear
Change your workspace The Window menu offers a useful range ofworkspaces but the one I use most is the default shown in Figure 5-17It includes the FavoritesFolders section a small preview Metadata andKeywords panels mdash everything I need for my work
Figure 5-17 Customizing the Bridge workspace
Minimize windowDrag to resize
Maximize window
Switch to Compact Mode
Drag to resize
Smallest thumbnail size
Slide to resize thumbnails
Largest thumbnail size
Thumbnail view
Filmstrip view
Details view
Duplicate and Alternates view
Drag to resize Bridge window
97Chapter 5 Getting Around Across Under and Over Adobe Bridge
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98 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
Resize panels and the Content area You caneasily resize your panels and the size of theContent area by dragging the borders (refer toFigure 5-17)
Resize the Bridge window In the bottom-right area of the Bridge window you can dragthe corner to resize the entire Bridge window(unless yoursquove maximized it already by click-ing the Maximize button in the upper-rightcorner of the window)
Change to Filmstrip view If you like the defaultworkspace (the way I do) but yoursquod rather lookat your thumbnails in Filmstrip view shown inFigure 5-18 click the Filmstrip view button atthe bottom-right of the Bridge window
Change to Details view If yoursquore comparingand analyzing your images yoursquoll want to viewthem with more image data displayed TheDetails view provides a view of each image inthe work area showing more file propertiesthan are displayed in the other views
Change to the Versions and Alternates viewIf yoursquore working with images in Version Cueyou can use this view to compare the differentversions or alternatives that were created
Changing Bridge preferencesJust when you thought it was safe to go back toyour computer therersquos more customization to doBridge gives you some detailed options for changingwindow colors and specifying which metadata fieldsto display with thumbnails To change Bridge preferences follow these steps
1 Start Preferences by choosingEditPreferences or pressCtrl+K (Ocirc+K on a Mac)
The Preferences window givesyou various ways (in the leftcolumn) to modify your prefer-ence settings GeneralMetadata Labels File TypeAssociations Advanced andAdobe Stock Photos The defaultchoice is General Preferencesshown in Figure 5-19
Figure 5-18 Filmstrip Detailsand Versions and Alternatesviews
Figure 5-19 The General Preferences window
10_774820 ch05qxp 1306 634 PM Page 98
2 Change the Content area background to black white or gray
One cosmetic change you can make to Bridge is to change the back-ground of the Content area You canrsquot specify a color but you can usethe Background slider in the Thumbnails section to adjust from black(at left) all the way to the right for white
A neutral gray background is actually best for viewing image thumbnails mdash and thatrsquos true whether yoursquore viewing images inPhotoshop Bridge or even prints on your desk Your eyes canbest judge colors without the interference of a white black or colorbackground For most images leave the background of the Contentarea gray
3 Modify information to be displayed under thumbnails
By default thumbnails appear with the filename datetime the imagewas taken image dimensions and keywords Figure 5-20 shows a fourthline change to show copyright information which I specified usingAdditional Lines of Thumbnail Metadata in the third selection box
Figure 5-20 Changing thumbnail-image informationin Preferences
4 Customize Favorites
Remember the Favorites Panel You can specify the areas of your com-puter that appear in Favorites by selecting what you want in the FavoriteItems area of Preferences Figure 5-21 shows how selected Favorite Itemsappear on-screen in the Favorites panel
99Chapter 5 Getting Around Across Under and Over Adobe Bridge
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100 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
Figure 5-21 Changing whatrsquos displayed in the Favorites panel
5 Customize Metadata Preferences
Click Metadata in the Preferences window to show the available meta-data selections There you can select and deselect the metadata fieldsyou want to appear in the Metadata panel
Review that slew of metadata default fields carefully Decide which fieldsyou will and wonrsquot be using mdash and then select or deselect them accord-ingly in Metadata Preferences (shown in Figure 5-22)
Figure 5-22 Changing whatrsquos displayed in the Metadata panel
10_774820 ch05qxp 1306 634 PM Page 100
6 Modify Label definitions
Chapter 6 shows you how to apply color labels to your images but youcan customize the descriptions of your color labels in the Labels sectionof Preferences (shown in Figure 5-23) The default for each color label issimply the color name but you can customize these names any time youwant to fit your own labeling system Knock yourself out
Figure 5-23 Changing whatrsquos displayed in the Metadata panel
7 Modify File Type associations
You may want to leave this section of Preferences as is Though you canchange the software programs associated with file types why do that ifyoursquore happy with the way things are working on your computer Yoursquoreunlikely to need this section unless something unusual is going on Forexample if your JPEGs are opening automatically in Word instead ofPhotoshop you can change that setting here
8 Change miscellaneous settings
The Advanced preferences are further ways to customize how Bridgeworks You can set the largest file yoursquoll let Bridge open how manyrecently viewed folders the Look In pop-up shows you and whether touse double-clicking to edit Camera Raw settings I tend to leave thesesettings alone but some are like parachutes When you need them noth-ing else does the job For example if you work with Bridge in a languageother than English you can select from many languages by clicking theLanguage selection box shown in Figure 5-24
101Chapter 5 Getting Around Across Under and Over Adobe Bridge
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102 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
Figure 5-24 Changing the language setting in Preferences
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6Managing Images
In This Chapter Managing photos with Bridge
Developing an image-management workflow
Navigating folders
Applying labels and ratings
Adding metadata
Opening images
If you went through Chapter 5 you got a look at how powerful Bridge is forworking with images Irsquove been using only Bridge mdash ever since it was in
beta mdash to manage my images until now itrsquos my primary tool for keeping myever-growing image library under control Windows Explorer used to be mytool of choice for organizing and managing my images for one whorsquosbeen using Windows for more than a dozen years it took a program like Bridge to get me to break old habits
If yoursquore new to digital cameras and Photoshop you mayhave only a few hundred photos to manage So far But ifyou take a few weeksrsquo vacation to that exotic islandyoursquove always dreamed about (and if you do congrat-ulations) you could come home with hundreds moredigital images Those images add up quick mdash and canfill up your hard drive in a hurry Solution Manageyour images with Bridge Then go take a vacation
Managing Images with BridgeIn Chapter 5 I show you just about every menu commandpanel and change to workspaces and preferences to Bridge now itrsquostime to put this software to work managing images As with every processcovered in this book I take the same approach setting up and using a work-flow (in fact the same one mentioned in Chapter 4) for image management
Herersquos the image-management workflow you can implement with Bridge stepby step
11_774820 ch06qxp 1306 617 PM Page 103
104 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
1 Navigate and create image folders
You can view photos that you download directly from your digitalcamera or card reader This is a lot better than the old light tables thatused to be used to view those little negatives and slides
2 Organize images
Organize your images into Original Working and Output folders Use theFolders panel and the Edit menu (Copy and Paste commands) to moveimages into their designated folders mdash or drag and drop images fromfolder to folder
3 Add information with the Metadata panel
You can view the information provided by your digital camera mdash in par-ticular technical data for each photo mdash and add information about eachimage in the Metadata panel
4 Apply labels and ratings
You can color-code your photos for easier retrieval later mdash and rateyour photos (from one to five stars) and save the ratings so you can getto the best ones quickly
5 Sort and rename photos
By adding keywords labels and ratings to your photos you can easilysort files later Renaming files is a snap using Bridge Double-click the file-name and then type a new name
6 Load images to Camera Raw or Photoshop
After yoursquove properly organizedyour image files (and viewedtheir thumbnails in the Contentarea) is the time to load yourraw images into Camera Raw oryour other images directly intoPhotoshop
Navigating and creatingimage foldersUsing the Bridge Folders panel is justlike navigating folders via WindowsExplorer My Computer or the MacFinder The Folders panel gives youan Explorer-like view of your com-puter and your storage devices (suchas a CD-ROM drive or an externalhard drive) Figure 6-1 shows howyou can view folders using theFolders panel Figure 6-1 Viewing folders in the Folders panel
11_774820 ch06qxp 1306 617 PM Page 104
Another way to view folders and their contents through Bridge is to use theLook In menu on the Option bar as shown in Figure 6-2
Figure 6-2 The Look In menu
The Look In menu gives you a hierarchical view of the folders contained inyour Desktop Favorites and most Recent folders Click a folder in the LookIn menu and the contents of that folder are displayed in the viewing area
Creating foldersIf you havenrsquot yet created your Original Working and Output folders hereare the steps that create these folders using Bridge
1 Using the Folders panel select the drive where you want to create thenew folder
2 Create a new images folder
Choose FileNew Folder or press Ctrl+Shift+N (Ocirc+Shift+N on a Mac)You can also click the Create New Folder icon on the Bridge Option bar
Look In menu
105Chapter 6 Managing Images
11_774820 ch06qxp 1306 617 PM Page 105
106 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
3 Name the folder
Figure 6-3 shows you the newly created folderin the Content area Type a folder name overthe highlighted text New Folder This iswhere your creativity comes into play youcan name the images folder anything youwant Just donrsquot get too silly (Personally I callmy main images folder by the boring but prac-tical name ldquoImagesrdquo)
4 Create working and output folders
Click the new Images folder just created andrepeat Steps 2 and 3 creating subfolderswithin this folder Yoursquove just taken a hugestep toward getting control of that unrulyhorde of images
Digging for lost treasuresWhile yoursquore busy implementing a workflow tomanage your images take time to organizesome of your older images as well If yoursquore likeme you have years of valuable photos that needto be organized and archived Not only is goingback and viewing older images fun it can beproductive
Currently Irsquom in the process of scanning myolder 35mm slides Some of those photos matchor exceed my quality expectations today butwere never processed and printed for a varietyof reasons (but none of them very goodexcuses) The same story goes for some of myearly digital photos Itrsquos a long process but witha solid image-management strategy you canprobably identify many of your older images toadd to your portfolio
Go ahead and start digging for lost treasuresBridge makes it fun and easy
Figure 6-3 Naming a newfolder
11_774820 ch06qxp 1306 617 PM Page 106
Organizing images in foldersAfter setting up folders for storing your digital images you can get down tobusiness organizing your images into those folders You may have many fold-ers already in various areas of your hard drive but take this opportunity tomove those folders into the new structure yoursquove set up for image manage-ment Organized folders are great for peace of mind As Irsquove demonstrated Iset up three basic areas to store my images Herersquos how
1 Copy your original images to your Original Image folders
I always leave my original images as originals I donrsquot like to makechanges to these files I want to keep them intact as you would a filmnegative I simply download images from memory cards each one intoits own subfolder in my Original Images folder and then back up the newimage folder to DVD
Give each folder a name thatcombines chronologicalsequence with a few descriptivewords so you have a clue to itscontents (as with the foldersshown in Figure 6-4) Suchfolder names make it easier torecognize folder contents laterwhen you view them in BridgeWhen your number of originalimage folders grows to the hun-dreds the chronology anddescriptions included in foldernames will come in handy
2 If you have some unfinishedldquoimages in progressrdquo savethem to your ldquoworkingrdquo imagefolders
Create your working image fold-ers to match the targeted pur-pose of your images If (forexample) you do mostly personal work such as pictures of familynature or pets then create a working folder for each category If yoursquoretaking photos professionally create a separate folder for each client orjob yoursquore working on
When first you open images in Camera Raw and Photoshop get into thehabit of immediately saving the image file to a working image folder inPhotoshoprsquos PSD format That way the saved image becomes the oneyoursquore working on and resides in the working folder The original staysintact and you eliminate the risk of altering the original accidentally
107Chapter 6 Managing Images
Figure 6-4 Assigning chronological anddescriptive folder names to your original imagefolders
11_774820 ch06qxp 1306 617 PM Page 107
108 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
3 If you have images you want to print or publish save them to ldquooutputrdquoimage folders
When yoursquove finished adjusting and editing your images yoursquoll want tosave specialized versions of them to specific output folders mdash say forprint Web or publication mdash with each version sized differently andquite possibly assigned a different color space (I cover creating outputimages in more detail in Chapter 12)
Adding Information to Imagesrsquo MetadataMetadata is information that describes an image file mdash and it can encompassnot only the information provided by your digital camera but also such tid-bits as author information your copyright and keywords Normally metadataisnrsquot stored inside your image file but instead in a standard ExtensibleMetadata Platform (XMP) format in a separate sidecar file mdash unless yoursquoreusing DNG files (which store metadata along with the image)
You can use metadata information you add to an image later to organize andkeep track of files and versions as well as search and sort images The moreimages you have the more valuable this information becomes as a tool tohelp manage your image library This is one of the features that makes Bridgeso powerful
You add metadata information toimages by typing the information inthe Metadata panel in Bridge asshown in Figure 6-5
File Info offers you an easier andmore efficient method for addingmetadata information You canaccess File Info by choosing FileFileInfo or by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Alt+I(Ocirc+Shift+Option+I on the Mac) TheFile Info window (the PicturesndashAdobeBridge window on the Mac) appearsas shown in Figure 6-6
The Description window is the firstto show up on-screen On its leftside yoursquoll see a number of pages inwhich you can view or add metadata
Figure 6-5 The Metadata panel in Bridge
11_774820 ch06qxp 1306 617 PM Page 108
Figure 6-6 Entering data into the File Info window
As you click through each page of the File Info window adding or viewingdata you can always click OK to save your added information (or clickCancel to quit)
The different File Info metadata pages include these
Description You can add general information about your image here
Camera Data 1 Displays information provided by your digital camera
Camera Data 2 Displays more information provided by your digitalcamera (some models are just pickier about details)
Categories You can enter information based on Associated Press categories
History Displays Photoshop history information if the image was previ-ously edited in Photoshop
IPTC Information Pages You can enter information about the photo-grapher and images per IPTC standards
Adobe Stock Photos Provides information for images obtained throughAdobe Stock Photos
109Chapter 6 Managing Images
11_774820 ch06qxp 1306 617 PM Page 109
110 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
Origin Here you can enter additional information for images targeted tothe news media
Advanced Here you can view EXIF data about the image yoursquore workingwith The camera information includes zoom setting shutter speedaperture white balance and even the type of lens you used
For the most part the File Info and Metadata fields were built around IPTCstandards which cater to the international press community (Hey why not mdashtheyrsquore one of the largest groups of professional photographers around theworld) Take advantage of the standards that IPTC has put forth and increasethe manageability of your growing image library You can visit the IPTC(International Press Telecommunications Council) site at wwwiptcorg
Applying Labels and RatingsOrganizing and searching a large number of digital photos in a detailedmanner can be a daunting task Thankfully Bridge provides some simplemethods of applying tags to images mdash which easily categorizes them for laterviewing
Make a habit of applying ratings or labels to your photos when you first trans-fer the images to your computer View these new images with Bridge and applyyour labels and ratings at the same time you apply any metadata informationYoursquoll be thankful in later months and years that you took a little time to addthis information (Think of the savings on aspirin alone)
Applying color labelsIn previous versions of Photoshop you could flag an image (toggle a specialindicator on or off) to determine which images were keepers Bridge nowoffers more advanced ways to organize and search images by applying colorlabels mdash which helps you develop a system of organizing images to reflectyour priorities and choices with more options
Figure 6-7 shows where to apply color labels to images in Bridge For theexample shown I applied color labels to the images in the Bridge Contentarea (not hard mdash you just choose the Label menu and then select the colorlabel for the image) Here I use green to mean ldquogordquo (that is use the image andprint it) red is a ldquono-gordquo (donrsquot use the image) and yellow as a ldquomayberdquo (con-sider using this image later)
Applying color labels makes photos much easier to view and organize laterWhen you want to view only the images in a folder labeled with a particularcolor you just click the Unfiltered button on the Bridge Option bar and thenchoose that color as shown in Figure 6-8
11_774820 ch06qxp 1306 617 PM Page 110
Figure 6-7 Applying color labels to images
Figure 6-8 Applying a filter to view images only with a certain color label
111Chapter 6 Managing Images
11_774820 ch06qxp 1306 617 PM Page 111
112 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
If you want you can change the labels to descriptive names such as ldquoflowerslandscapes keepers possible or printrdquo Just choose EditPreferences inBridge and choose the Labels category to change the default names
Applying ratings to imagesAnother way to organize and viewimages is to apply a rating to yourimages You can apply ratings toyour images from one star to fivestars as shown in Figure 6-9 I applyhigh ratings mdash four or five stars mdash toimages I intend to process print orpost to the Web Images that I rate atthree stars or fewer may never getprocessed (Feel free to come upwith your own system of ratingimages)
Two quick steps apply ratings toyour images
1 Select images that you want to rate with the same rating
Click the images while holding down the Ctrl key on a PC or the Ocirc keyon a Mac
2 Choose LabelRating
You can apply ratings from one star to five stars You can also choosecolor labels
Sorting and searching photosApplying labels and ratings to your photos is a great method to sort andsearch for photos later To sort photos in Bridge choose ViewSort Selectthe sort method you want from the Sort menu (I chose to sort by rating inFigure 6-10)
You have various ways to sort images in a folder using the sort methodsavailable in the Sort menu mdash including by rating and by label
Toggle your sorts by selecting and deselecting Ascending Order in the Sortmenu In Bridge the default setting is Ascending your highest-rated imagesappear at the bottom
Figure 6-9 Applying ratings to selected images
11_774820 ch06qxp 1306 617 PM Page 112
Figure 6-10 Sorting photos by rating
Loading Photos to Camera Raw and PhotoshopSome digital photographers like to load their photos into Photoshop the old-fashioned way by using the FileOpen command in Photoshop Many othershowever prefer the visual displays and search methods offered in BridgeBridge is so versatile it can accommodate many personal preferences
To load photos into Photoshop using Bridge follow these steps
1 Use the Bridge Folders panel (or the Look In menu) to find the folderwhere the desired image files are stored
2 View the images stored in the Content area of Bridge
You can use the scrollbar to view the images that do not appear in theContent area
113Chapter 6 Managing Images
11_774820 ch06qxp 1306 617 PM Page 113
114 Part II Image-Management Workflow with Adobe Bridge
3 Double-click the image youwant to load in Photoshop orclick the file and then pressCtrl+O (Ocirc+O on a Mac)
The image loads into aPhotoshop image window Ifyou havenrsquot already startedPhotoshop it starts automati-cally and displays the selectedimage ready to edit
There is no steadfast rule for howto browse and open images inPhotoshop Itrsquos totally up to personalpreference Play around with Bridgeto find out the best way for you tobrowse and open images Figure 6-11shows another way of openingimages in Bridge which is to right-click the image thumbnail in Bridgeand choose Open in Camera Raw
Figure 6-11 Opening images in Bridge
11_774820 ch06qxp 1306 617 PM Page 114
Part IIIWorking with Raw Images
12_774820 pt3qxp 1306 621 PM Page 115
In this part
When I first switched from film to shoot-ing digital I was amazed at the quality of
the photos I was getting from those older 3- and 5-megapixel sensors The JPEGs I produced arestill staples in my portfolio today When I gradu-ated to more advanced digital cameras and startedshooting photos in raw format however I felt thatmy photographic capabilities had suddenly shotthrough the roof
I played and experimented with other raw convert-ers when I started but always used Camera Rawfor my more serious work Why bother masteringanother software program when I could just useCamera Raw After all I was perfectly happy withthe results I was getting from converting my rawimages with Camera Raw
Irsquove reached the point where I can open a raw filein Camera Raw make color and tonal adjustmentsand then open the image in Photoshop to makeany necessary edits and apply finishing touchesOften the color and tonal values I worked up inCamera Raw are right on mdash and those adjustmentsare a lot quicker to make than the same adjust-ments in Photoshop After you get some practicewith the steps in this partrsquos chapters I suspectyoursquoll come to the same conclusion
12_774820 pt3qxp 1306 621 PM Page 116
7Understanding Exposure and ColorIn This Chapter Explaining color and tonality
Adjusting color
Understanding white balance and saturation
Making tonal adjustments
Evaluating images
As you can probably tell by now Irsquom a huge fan of Camera Raw andPhotoshop It rates right up there with football big lenses ice cream
and good science fiction on TV (Live long and prosper) Though you can dosome amazing things with Camera Raw and Photoshop the key to really get-ting the most out of your images is mdash first mdash to understand exposure colorand tonality After you get those down the rest becomes easier and alot more fun
The purpose of this chapter isnrsquot to dazzle you with technical terms and the scientific background of imagesensors light and color Instead I explain the differentcolor adjustments and then get into what the toolsare for adjusting tonality Understanding both colorand tonality sorts out what tasks need to be donewhen processing images in Camera Raw and fine-tuning your images in Photoshop
Getting to Know Color and TonalityCamera Raw gives you control of a lot of important adjust-ments in your photos but before you dive into your raw images Iexplain what you need to look for and evaluate in your images before youstart making adjustments to white balance tint exposure shadows bright-ness contrast and saturation Collectively those adjustments are referred toas overall adjustments (Gotta love those fancy technical terms)
13_774820 ch07qxp 1406 221 PM Page 117
118 Part III Working with Raw Images
Itrsquos important to understand each ofthese areas so yoursquoll know what todo to an image to ldquomake it look rightrdquowhen you print it or prepare it forviewing If yoursquore into photos ofpeople you need to pay specialattention to the skin tones of thepeople yoursquore photographingWhether your subjects are AsianCaucasian or even Martian the lastthing you want is to process a photothat makes your subjectsrsquo skin looktoo yellow or red (or too green orblue depending on where theirancestors lived on this planet oranother) You want to make surethe ldquoskin tonerdquo the right amount ofcolor in the skin looks the way itrsquossupposed to as in the portrait inFigure 7-1
Color is everythingOften yoursquoll see the terms color and tone used in the same sentence to describecolor mdash which isnrsquot exactly accurate Color adjustments refer to making changesto a particular color in the entire image Changing white balance adjusting tintand increasing color saturation are examples of changing color in an image(When you adjust tone yoursquore changing the way those colors are distributedacross different parts of the image See the next section ldquoUnderstanding tonerdquofor more details)
When you first open a raw image in Camera Raw chances are yoursquoll need toadjust color in the image Your digital camera collects color information foreach pixel but doesnrsquot process the image to adjust the color to any knownstandard Itrsquos up to you to adjust the amount of color in your image The con-trols you use in Camera Raw to change and adjust color include
White Balance White balance is first adjusted in your digital camera soyou can properly set up your camera for the type of lighting conditionsyoursquore shooting in
The white balance setting in your digital camera (or the equivalent adjust-ment in Camera Raw) is actually a combination of color temperature andtint In Camera Raw you can actually set those two adjustments separatelyDigital cameras today usually do a great job when you set them to do thewhite balance setting automatically the camera adjusts both the colortemperature and tint for the image For instance a room illuminated with
Figure 7-1 Itrsquos important to properly evaluateskin tones for portraits
13_774820 ch07qxp 1406 221 PM Page 118
fluorescent lighting gives a particular look to the color of the images shotthere mdash and itrsquos different from what yoursquod get in the same room illuminatedwith ambient lighting Same goes for the great outdoors Your digitalcamera automatically adjusts color temperature and tint differently fordirect sunlight shade or cloudy conditions
Temperature Temperature is the precise measurement of light using theKelvin scale (thatrsquos Kelvin not Kevin) For instance daylight is measuredat 5500deg and fluorescent light is measured at 3800deg An outdoor phototaken with a ldquofluorescentrdquo color temperature of 3800deg will have a blue castto it as shown in Figure 7-2 If your image appears blue in Camera Rawyou can adjust the color temperature to compensate for the blue cast
Figure 7-2 An outdoor photo with different color temperature settings
Tint Tint is another control you can use to tweak the look of a color inan image The Camera Raw tint adjustment allows you to fine-tune whitebalance by increasing or decreasing the amount of green or magenta
Saturation Saturation is simply the degree of intensity applied to a color inan image Increasing or decreasing overall color (equal red blue and greenchannels) in an image is accomplished by using the Saturation slider inCamera Raw In Photoshop you can increase the Red Green or Blue (RGB)colors in the image individually or by using the combined RGB adjustment
In addition to the Saturation control in Camera Raw the Calibration tab(shown in detail in Chapters 8 and 9) lets you fine-tune Red Green andBlue hues and saturation mdash as well as adjust for any color cast in theshadows
Outdoor setting at 5500deg Flourescent setting at 3800deg
119Chapter 7 Understanding Exposure and Color
13_774820 ch07qxp 1406 221 PM Page 119
120 Part III Working with Raw Images
Understanding toneAfter yoursquove adjusted the white balance tint and saturation of your imagersquoscolors in Camera Raw you can make tonal adjustments to distribute thosecolors across different parts of the image Yoursquore not changing any coloryoursquore changing the way it appears in the light tone dark tone and midtone(in-between) areas of the image as shown in Figure 7-3
Figure 7-3 Light dark and midtone areas of an image
Light
Dark
Midtones
13_774820 ch07qxp 1406 221 PM Page 120
Think of tone as not changing color within an image but how you dis-tribute color across it When you adjust exposure shadows brightness contrast and curves in Camera Raw you are making tonal changes to theimage
Tonal adjustments to your images are made by using these controls inCamera Raw and Photoshop
Exposure Worth the price of Photoshop CS2 all by itself the CameraRaw Exposure control allows you to increase or decrease the actualexposure of an image Getting a good exposure with your digital camerais important but itrsquos nice to be able to increase or decrease the amountof exposure digitally That capability helps prevent processing an imagethatrsquos overexposed (too dark) or underexposed (too light) Check outthe examples in Figure 7-4 to see what I mean
Figure 7-4 Underexposed overexposed and just right
A new feature in CS2 is the Exposure adjustment Itrsquos a nice addition toPhotoshop similar to a feature used in Camera Raw for non-raw imagessuch as JPEGs or TIFFs The drawback to using the Photoshop Exposureadjustment is that itrsquos considered destructive yoursquore potentially throw-ing away pixels
If yoursquore shooting raw always adjust exposure using Camera Rawreserve the Photoshop Exposure adjustment for other file formats
Underexposed Overexposed Just right
121Chapter 7 Understanding Exposure and Color
13_774820 ch07qxp 1406 221 PM Page 121
122 Part III Working with Raw Images
Shadows Camera Raw gives us the ability to increase or decrease areasof the image that are mapped (assigned as black) Increasing Shadows inCamera Raw has a benefit of making the image appear as if it has morecontrast I recommend that you increase Shadows only until clipping(loss of detail) occurs I explain more about the Shadows adjustmentand clipping in Chapter 9
Brightness In Photoshop brightness is combined with the BrightnessContrast adjustment In Camera Raw the Brightness adjustment is astandalone control
Contrast The Contrast control allows you to increase or decrease con-trast in the midtones of the image you can make your light areas lighterand your dark areas darker Another advantage to shooting raw is thatyou can adjust contrast in Camera Raw without throwing away anyimage data Like the other color and tonal controls in Camera Raw theContrast control changes your images non-destructively
As with the Shadows adjustment be sure you monitor any clipping thatmay occur when you increase or decrease the contrast in an image
Evaluating Color and TonalityWhen yoursquove got a good handle on what color and tonality means as appliedto Camera Raw and Photoshop the next skill to master is evaluating imagesThankfully Camera Raw and Photoshop offer the photographer such tools ashistograms (which I get to in Chapter 8) and clipping warnings to help youevaluate color and tonality But donrsquot forget the best judge of all mdash yourself
Yes itrsquos true that Camera Raw and Photoshop enable you to make preciseoverall adjustments but sometimes the dominant factor in adjusting colorand tone must be the artistic taste of the photographer Camera Raw andPhotoshop are artistic tools after all the completed image should reflectyour personal interpretation Sometimes that means adding a touch morecolor saturation or contrast to an image to get a specific effect
Personally I tend to enhance shadows and color saturation a tad more thanthe norm in some of my nature and abstract images (such as the one shown inFigure 7-5) Hey I like color For my portraits skin tones are far less forgivingI tend to make my overall adjustments exactly as the portrait dictates mdash tomatch the photo I viewed through the lens of my digital camera Skin tonesneed to be exact or the portrait just wonrsquot look right
13_774820 ch07qxp 1406 221 PM Page 122
Figure 7-5 Color and tonality can be a matter of the photographerrsquos personal vision of the image
Doing the evaluationBefore beginning any adjustments in Camera Raw or Photoshop take thesesteps to evaluate your image
1 Open the image in Camera Raw
To do that find the thumbnail in Bridge of the image you want to evalu-ate and click it Then you can choose FileOpen In Camera Raw orpress Ctrl+R (Ocirc+R on a Mac)
2 View the image in the Camera Raw window and evaluate white balance
Yoursquoll get more proficient at judging white balance of an image with practice Taking this step for every image you process will get youthere quicker Look for a portion of the image that is supposed to bewhite Does that area have a blue or orangeyellow tint to it If soyour white balance needs to be adjusted
123Chapter 7 Understanding Exposure and Color
13_774820 ch07qxp 1406 221 PM Page 123
124 Part III Working with Raw Images
Color temperature will become more blue when decreased and moreorangeyellow in cast when increased If your image has a blue colorcast increase the color temperature in Camera Raw If the imageappears too yellow in cast decrease the color temperature
3 Evaluate the image for correct exposure
Judging whether an image looks too dark or too light seems an easy wayto judge exposure For some photographs Irsquom sure thatrsquos fine mdash butCamera Raw offers features that really let you fine-tune exposure I showyou those foolproof techniques in Chapter 9
4 Evaluate shadows
As explained earlier in this chapter evaluating shadows is judgingwhether the midtones of the image should be lighter or darker CameraRaw lets you adjust this to your personal taste but it also shows youwhen your adjustment is causing clipping (loss of detail) in the shadowareas of your image
5 Evaluate Brightness
Though I often adjust exposure just up to where clipping is introduced Imay want to make an image lighter or darker depending on what I wantto convey I use the Camera Raw Brightness control to increase or decreasebrightness to my taste
6 Evaluate Contrast
For my scenic photos whether they be cityscapes or landscapes I tendto lean more toward higher contrast For portraits Irsquoll only increase con-trast if there is not enough contrast in the image making the skin tonesunrealistic
7 Determine how much color you want to add or subtract to the image
The last evaluation I make to an image is saturation With raw imagesoften the way to reveal the color in the image as you had envisionedwhile taking the photo is to move the Saturation slider higher
The breakfast-by-the-lake exampleI have a great shooting arrangement with Bambi one of my favorite modelsI show up every Saturday morning at 730 am at the park with my digitalcamera tripod and backpack and hike over to the part of the lake where shehas breakfast On cue she then hides behind some trees and I take photos ofher Strictly professional
13_774820 ch07qxp 1406 221 PM Page 124
Figure 7-6 shows an original image of Bambi and the same image adjusted forcolor and tonality in Camera Raw I first evaluated the white balance of theimage and decided to increase the temperature slightly to add a little ldquowarmthrdquo(a little more orange and yellow) I then actually decreased exposure not tocorrect the image but to make it slightly darker I decided to increase shad-ows a bit (remember I like my dark areas to be a little darker than normalsometimes) and then increased the saturation to bring out some color
Figure 7-6 Original image and the same image after evaluating and making adjustments
Except for an out-of-focus branch or two I liked the way Bambi turned out(Of course I can always get rid of some of the branches covering her facewith the nifty Healing Brush tool which I further explain in Chapter 11) Irsquomgoing to bring her a print next Saturday (I hope she doesnrsquot think Irsquom bring-ing her breakfast)
Original Evaluated and adjusted
125Chapter 7 Understanding Exposure and Color
13_774820 ch07qxp 1406 221 PM Page 125
126 Part III Working with Raw Images
Itrsquos easy to go bonkers with color and tonal adjustments in both Camera Rawand Photoshop In Figure 7-5 for example the background color is slightlyexaggerated but thatrsquos an effect I wanted for that particular photo For otherphotos I may not exaggerate saturation or contrast at all it depends on howI want my image to be viewed Be careful you donrsquot make adjustments soextreme that your photos start to appear unrealistic mdash unless of coursesome of you Surrealists want them to be like that
13_774820 ch07qxp 1406 221 PM Page 126
8Getting Acquainted with Camera Raw
In This Chapter Viewing Camera Raw window
Using the toolbar
Looking at the histogram
Using the menu
Clicking through image panels
Choosing workflow settings
Going through the tabs and controls
ldquoPressingrdquo on-screen buttons
If you shoot raw images (or are planning on doing so in thenear future) yoursquore going to find Camera Raw as your
best friend As a photographer Irsquove used Camera Rawexclusively to make my color and tonal adjustmentssince I switched to the raw format some time ago
The more proficient you become at making adjust-ments in Camera Raw the less yoursquoll depend onPhotoshop to make those corrections Yoursquoll reachthat level of ldquoenlightenmentrdquo the moment you dis-cover that after getting a raw image into Photoshopyou donrsquot need to adjust any levels curves brightnesscontrast or saturation All of your Camera Raw adjust-ments were right on You have arrived
Looking at Camera RawWhen you first load Camera Raw by opening a raw image the first thing yoursquollnotice is a large image preview (unobstructed by toolbars and palettes)Controls for adjusting images surround the image preview on the topbottom and right as shown in Figure 8-1
14_774820 ch08qxp 1306 611 PM Page 127
128 Part III Working with Raw Images
Figure 8-1 The Camera Raw tools and controls
On top of the image preview is the Camera Raw Tool palette and Option barThe Tool palette contains controls for zooming moving white balance colorsampling cropping straightening and rotating To the bottom of the imageyoursquoll find workflow settings that let you set the color space to work in imagesize and bit depth At the right of the image are the histogram settingsCamera Raw menus and Camera Raw control tabs
Working with the Toolbar ControlsThe Camera Raw toolbar shown in Figure 8-2 consists of the basic toolsneeded to edit an image Herersquos a rundown
Toolbar
Workflow settings
Rotate Image Preview Preview check boxes Control Tabs
Settings selection
Camera Raw menu
Histogram
Image zoom controls File control buttons
14_774820 ch08qxp 1306 611 PM Page 128
Figure 8-2 Tool palette and Option bar in Camera Raw
Zoom tool (press Z) Use this tool to enlarge your view of the imageshown in the Image Preview
Hand tool (press H) If you zoom in to the image you can move theimage around by dragging it with the Hand tool (Wouldnrsquot it be nice tohave one of these in real life when somebody nabs your parking spot)
White Balance tool (press I) Use this tool to select a neutral gray areaof the image to use in improving the white balance
Color Sampler tool (press S) Use this one to select pixels whose RGBvalues you want displayed on-screen
Crop tool (press C) You can use this new tool to crop images in CameraRaw instead of waiting until the image is loaded into Photoshop
Straighten tool (press A) Cool tool alert This is a great addition toCamera Raw mdash you can use it to straighten images without the hassle ofstraightening in Photoshop Now making that horizon straight is easierthan ever
Rotate buttons (press L for left R for right) Rotate your image clockwiseor counterclockwise with one click of the left or right Rotate buttons
Preview check box Preview is a fun feature to use If you want to com-pare what your image looks like with and without adjustments made inCamera Raw you can toggle the image between those views by checkingand unchecking the Preview check box
Shadows check box I recommend this a few times in the next chapterbut Irsquoll say it now Make sure this check box is checked before you adjustimages in Raw When itrsquos checked Camera Raw shows you the clippedshadow areas of the image (pixels that contain no detail due to under-or overexposure in that part of the image)
Highlights check box As with the Shadows check box make sure thisone is checked before you tweak an image in Raw that way you can viewclippings in the highlight areas of the image
Zoomtool
White Balance tool
Hand tool
Color Sampler tool
Straighten tool
Crop tool Rotate tool
Show shadow clippings
Show highlight clippings
RGB valuesPreview image adjustments
129Chapter 8 Getting Acquainted with Camera Raw
14_774820 ch08qxp 1306 611 PM Page 129
130 Part III Working with Raw Images
Reading the Histogram and RGB ValuesThe histogram and the RGB readoutgive you information about the colorand exposure values of the image asit appears in the Camera Raw ImagePreview The RGB readout displaysthe Red Green and Blue color valueswhen you point to a selection in theImage Preview with any of four tools(Zoom Hand White Balance orColor Sampler) The histogram asshown in Figure 8-3 shows the cur-rent exposure setting of the image
Reading the RGB values and viewingthe histogram is cool but what doesit all mean to the photographerwhorsquos processing images in Camera Raw In essence they are both visualtools you can use to evaluate the adjustments yoursquore making to the image
The histogram shows you the current individual Red- Green- and Blue-channelhistograms you use it to evaluate exposure White and colored spikes at eitherthe left or right of the histogram indicate clipping With that information youcan better judge where to adjust the tonal values of the image
Image SettingsThe Image Settings selection box(see Figure 8-4) lets you view differ-ent versions of the image as youmake adjustments Choosing ImageSettings for example shows you theimage as it was before you madeadjustments Choosing Camera RawDefaults restores the default imagesettings in Camera Raw And choos-ing Previous Conversion applies theCamera Raw settings from the lastimage you worked on in Camera RawThe Custom selection shows how theimage looks after applying theadjustments yoursquove made
Red green and blue readout
Histogram
Figure 8-3 The Camera Raw Histogram andRGB readout
Figure 8-4 The Image Settings selection box inCamera Raw
14_774820 ch08qxp 1306 611 PM Page 130
Camera Raw MenuFor some reason they almost hid theCamera Raw menu If you look hardenough next to the Image Settingsselection therersquos that little trianglethingie button thatrsquos the CameraRaw menu shown in Figure 8-5 Themenu includes commands to loadsave or delete settings or subsets ofsettings
Itrsquos an impressive list of alternativesfor applying settings including somereally helpful timesaving commandsto use on your raw images I describeeach Camera Raw menu setting inthis list
Load Settings This commandmakes a lot more sense whenyoursquove reviewed the other menu options in this list When you chooseLoad Settings you can choose from saved Camera Raw settings youmade in previous images
If you have a slew of images to convert and not much time saving thesettings from one image and loading them into another can not onlysave you time but also give the converted raw images some overallvisual consistency
Save Settings This command saves the settings yoursquove made to animage in Camera Raw with the intention of reusing those settings inother (similar) images When yoursquove finished making the Camera Rawadjustments choose the Save Settings command and name the settingsor leave their default name (that of the image filename) in place
Save Settings Subset If you donrsquot want to save all of an imagersquos settingsyou can save subsets of the adjustments you make in Camera Raw Youchoose those adjustments in the Subset window (see Figure 8-6) whenyou choose Save Settings Subset
131Chapter 8 Getting Acquainted with Camera Raw
Figure 8-5 The Camera Raw menu
14_774820 ch08qxp 1306 611 PM Page 131
132 Part III Working with Raw Images
Export Settings This is an espe-cially useful command whenyoursquore copying images to a CDor sending a batch of images viae-mail to an agency (or to othersto work on your images) andyou want to retain the adjust-ments yoursquove made in CameraRaw The Export Settings com-mand lets you create a sidecarXMP file that can be copied withthe image so it can be loadedwith the image later ExportSettings will create sidecar filesonly if none exists as in thecase of the raw file being in DNG format
Use Auto Adjustments With the improvements in CS2 including a newCamera Raw one of the nice additions is Auto Adjustments By defaultCamera Raw applies auto adjustments to an image when itrsquos first loadedAuto adjustments works pretty well sometimes I donrsquot even have to doany tweaking at all
I suggest leaving Use Auto Adjustments turned on but if you want youcan turn Auto Adjustments off by pressing Ctrl+U (Ocirc+U on a Mac) ortoggling it on or off in the Camera Raw menu
Save New Camera Raw Defaults Camera Raw bases its default settingson the model of digital camera thatrsquos producing your raw images For eachdifferent digital camera that Camera Raw supports it uses a specific setof adjustments tailored for each When you open a raw file produced bya Canon EOS 350D for example (or a Nikon N70s or any other digitalcamera supported) Camera Raw applies the corresponding adjustmentsIf you want to use your own set of defaults just make whatever adjust-ments you want in your new default set and then choose Save NewCamera Raw Defaults from the Camera Raw menu
Reset Camera Raw Defaults Although you can save new Camera Rawdefault settings for your specific model of digital camera you can alwaysswitch back to the original defaults by choosing Reset Camera RawDefaults from the Camera Raw menu
Preferences Thankfully there arenrsquot a lot of settings to change in theCamera Raw Preferences window (shown in Figure 8-7) but some of thechanges you can make in Preferences are very important
Figure 8-6 Using Save Settings Subset to saveselected adjustments
14_774820 ch08qxp 1306 611 PM Page 132
Preferences lets you specifywhere to save Camera Rawadjustments (to a sidecar file ora database) and apply sharpen-ing adjustments made in CameraRaw (to the raw image or forpreview only) as well as tweakthe Camera Raw cache andchoose how sidecar files arestored Herersquos the list
bull Save Image Settings InIn this selection you canindicate whether you want to save Camera Raw settings for imagesin the Camera Raw database or sidecar (XMP) files The default set-ting is XMP which allows you to copy raw settings along with files
Camera Raw doesnrsquot make any physical changes to your raw imagesit saves any adjustments you make to sidecar files (which can laterbe copied with the raw images) If you change Save Image SettingsIn so your changes are saved to the Camera Raw database you canstill view your changes but you canrsquot copy those changes to othercomputers CDs or DVDs later on
bull Apply Sharpening To This is actually the only change to preferencesI make I make sure that I set this preference to apply sharpeningto preview images only If you set sharpening to preview imagesonly you can preview in Camera Raw what the image will look likesharpened but not apply sharpening before opening the image inPhotoshop
Sharpening images is a workflow step best saved for last To maxi-mize the quality of a final image do your sharpening after yoursquovedone your editing and re-sizing in Photoshop (I cover sharpeningin Chapter 12)
bull Camera Raw Cache Cache is a term used to describe storagespace (in this case storage on your hard drive) where image datafor recently viewed and adjusted images is stored for fast retrievalThe default cache is 1GB mdash and one gigabyte is sufficient for mostimage processing needs mdash but if you work with hundreds of rawfiles at one time you may want to increase the Camera Raw Cachesetting
bull DNG File Handling Settings for ignoring XMP sidecar files andupdating image previews can be turned on in this section by click-ing on the respective selection boxes If yoursquore working with DNGfiles there really isnrsquot any advantage to ignoring previous XMPsidecar files so Irsquod leave that defaulted to not selected I also leavethe Update Embedded JPEG Previews option unchecked as I usu-ally donrsquot have a need to update raw file JPEG preview images(after all they are just previews)
133Chapter 8 Getting Acquainted with Camera Raw
Figure 8-7 The Camera Raw Preferenceswindow
14_774820 ch08qxp 1306 611 PM Page 133
134 Part III Working with Raw Images
Camera Raw Workflow SettingsAt the lower-left corner of the CameraRaw window is a set of Workflowoptions (see Figure 8-8) Unlike othersettings that are image-specific youcan change or retain the Workflowsettings for all the images yoursquove worked on in Camera Raw These settingsinclude the color space you want your images to be converted to when theyrsquoreopened in Photoshop as well as the bit depth of the files the image size andthe resolution in which to open the image Herersquos the lineup
Space Choose one of four color spaces to use when converting theimage Adobe RGB (1998) Colormatch RGB ProPhoto RGB or SRGBI always leave this setting at Adobe RGB (1998) as most of my work isprepared for printing or press If your photographs are being preparedexclusively for the Web you may want to choose the sRGB option
Depth Raw images are typically set to 16-bits per channel which givesyou 128 times the tonal range of 8-bit images Thatrsquos a lot more informa-tion (hence more detail) to work with in Photoshop Because most ofyour images will be further adjusted in Photoshop I recommend leavingthis set to 16-bits per channel
Size Camera Raw will set the size to the default resolution of your digitalcamera If you know yoursquore going to be producing large prints or smallerimages for your image you can set the resolution higher or lower andlet Camera Raw do the resampling (which is quicker than resizing theimage later in Photoshop) This feature can come in handy when youhave to process multiple images in Camera Raw For individual imagessome photographers save resizing for later as a step in their output-preparation workflow
Resolution If you have determined the final resolution you want for yourimage you can make that change in the Resolution setting (I usually pre-pare my images for printing so I set the resolution to 360 pixels per inch)
Camera Raw ControlsThe Camera Raw control panels also known as tabs (see Figure 8-9) arewhere most of your work will happen when you process images Color tonedetail lens curve and calibration adjustments are available in each tab
Figure 8-8 Camera Raw Workflow options
14_774820 ch08qxp 1306 611 PM Page 134
Figure 8-9 Camera Raw controls
I show you the details of how to use them in Chapter 9 for now herersquos asummary of what they do
Adjust tab (Ctrl+Alt+1 Ocirc+Option+1 on a Mac) This tab contains allthe controls that adjust color and tonal values in an image WhiteBalance Temperature Tint Exposure Shadows Brightness Contrastand Saturation
Detail tab (Ctrl+Alt+2 Ocirc+Option+2 on a Mac) This tab is home to theSharpness Luminance Smoothing and Color Noise Reduction controlsThough I recommend that you use Camera Raw sharpening only forviewing images (save the real sharpening for later in Photoshop) youcan use this tab to reduce grayscale noise (with Luminance Smoothing)and turn down the color noise (with the Color Noise control) mdash a verywelcome feature
Lens tab (Ctrl+Alt+3 Ocirc+Option+3 on a Mac) The Lens Tab includessome advanced controls that let you make corrections to images thatcontain chromatic aberrations (also called lens artifacts) and vignetting(dark or light borders around an image)
Vignetting can actually become an artistic effect you can add to imagesespecially portraits Sometimes I use the Vignetting control to actuallyintroduce vignetting into an image
135Chapter 8 Getting Acquainted with Camera Raw
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136 Part III Working with Raw Images
Curve tab (Ctrl+Alt+4 Ocirc+Option+4 on a Mac) I find this control invalu-able The curve adjustment is a tool used to fine-tune the tonality of animage You still need to make tonal adjustments in the Adjust tab butthe Curve tab is where you finish it off Three preset curve adjustmentsare available Linear (default) Medium Contrast and Strong ContrastYou can also customize the curve by dragging different points on thegraph
Use the Curve tab to make your final brightness and contrast adjustmentsinstead of using the Photoshop BrightnessContrast control (which actu-ally causes the image to lose detail in the form of valuable data)
Calibrate tab (Ctrl+Alt+5 Ocirc+Option+5 on a Mac) The controls in theCalibrate tab let you adjust the Camera Raw camera model (as recog-nized by the image yoursquove loaded in Camera Raw) so you get the bestshadow tint plus red green and blue hues and saturation
Control ButtonsAll these wonderful controls prefer-ences and settings really wonrsquot helpyou unless you have a way of savingopening canceling (which yoursquoll findyou can do a lot of) and closingadjusted images mdash without havingto open them in Photoshop To therescue come the Camera Raw control buttons located to the lower right ofthe Camera Raw window as shown in Figure 8-10
Each control button has a specific function
Save (Ctrl+Alt+S Ocirc+Option+S on a Mac) This button saves the adjust-ments to the image while leaving the Camera Raw window open
Open (Ctrl+O Ocirc+O on a Mac) Use this one only when you want to openthe image in Photoshop because thatrsquos what it does mdash and then it closesthe Camera Raw window
Cancel (Esc) Click this button when you want to exit from adjusting theopened image without saving any changes yoursquove made
Done (Enter) This button saves the adjustments and returns you toBridge without opening the converted image in Photoshop
Figure 8-10 Control buttons for Camera Raw
14_774820 ch08qxp 1306 611 PM Page 136
9Processing Raw Images
In This Chapter Implementing a workflow for raw images
Evaluating images
Adjusting the tab controls
Sharpening and reducing noise
Correcting lens shortcomings
Calibrating color creatively
Saving your settings subsets and labor
Using Bridge to apply raw settings
On to the raw workflow In Chapter 8 I show you all the neat tools and con-trols Camera Raw has to offer Herersquos where those tools go to
work processing raw images Developing and using a consistentworkflow to process your raw images (while taking advan-tage of Bridge automation features) will help you becomemore efficient
Camera Raw gives the photographer some serioustools for correcting color and tone If you take thetime to get some practice at using them properlyyoursquoll find these corrections are actually easier tomake in Camera Raw than in Photoshop Irsquove gottento the point that many of the images I process inCamera Raw are pretty much ready for prime timewhen I open them in Photoshop As yoursquoll find thebetter you get at making these adjustments in CameraRaw the less you have to do later
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 137
138 Part III Working with Raw Images
Using a Step-by-Step Raw ProcessIrsquove gone over workflows in Chapter 4 but here is where we really dive into theldquorawrdquo details of Camera Raw As with all the processes I show you throughoutthis book processing images in raw requires its own step-by-step progressionof tasks
1 Evaluate your image
Take a look at your image as opened in Camera Raw Be sure to takeadvantage of the histogram the shadows and highlights and the clipping warnings
2 Correct the white balance
White balance (the combination of temperature and tint) takes a littlegetting used to adjusting The best way to become proficient is to experiment using the different white balance choices Camera Raw provides
3 Adjust exposure using the Exposure control
It bears repeating This control is extremely valuable Thatrsquos because itrsquoshard to get dead-on exposures with your digital camera in some lightingconditions The Exposure control lets you fine-tune the exposure of theimage as yoursquove envisioned it
4 Adjust shadows using theShadows control
Those dark areas of the imagecan use some tender lovingadjustment once in a while mdashand the Shadows control helpsyou control clipping in thosedark areas of an image
5 Adjust brightness using theBrightness control
There are going to be imageswhere yoursquoll adjust the expo-sure exactly where you want itto minimize clipping in the high-lights like the example shown inFigure 9-1 The Brightness con-trol gives you the option oflightening up the image a bitwithout re-introducing thosepesky ldquoclipsrdquo
Figure 9-1 Clipped highlights show up in red
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 138
About that technical term ldquopesky clipsrdquo mdash itrsquos a word I use to describechunks of pixels that have no image definition a condition known asclipping (ldquoPeskyrdquo is a technical term for ldquocolorful rude word we canrsquotprint hererdquo)
6 Adjust contrast using the Contrast control
If the Camera Raw default contrast setting isnrsquot ldquodoing itrdquo for you usethe Contrast control to increase or decrease the contrast in the image
In addition to the Contrast control you can use the Curves control toincrease or decrease contrast in an image
7 Adjust saturation using the Saturation control
Increase the amount of color in your image using the Saturation controlAs with other adjustments that apply color or tone in Camera Rawincreasing saturation helps bring out the color in your image
8 Apply the Curves adjustment
Fine-tune the dark light and midtone areas of your image using theCurve control (located in the Curve tab)
9 Reduce noise using the Luminance Smoothing and Color NoiseReduction controls
If your images were shot at a high ISO a slower shutter speed or bothyou could wind up with a color-speckled effect called noise The Detailtab contains two controls Luminance Smoothing (which reduces gray-scale ldquograinrdquo) and the Color Noise Reduction control (which reducesthose speckled artifacts found in some images)
10 Correct lens aberrations and vignetting
If you have noticeable lens shortcomings such as aberrations andvignetting you can easily correct these by using the Aberrations andVignetting controls in the Lens tab
139Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
Incorporating DNG into your raw workflowAdobersquos new DNG format (described in Chapter 2)is an attempt to standardize a raw file format thatstands a pretty decent chance of being com-patible with computer software 10 or 15 yearsfrom now Many photographers who shoot withcameras from multiple makers (hey it happens)
want to use one standardized raw format for alltheir cameras mdash but also want some assurancethat photo editors and raw converters will recog-nize their raw-format originals in the foreseeablefuture DNG is the option that comes closest tofilling the bill
(continued)
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140 Part III Working with Raw Images
If you want to convert raw images to DNG formatthe steps are simple
1 Open the DNG Converter from the shortcuton your desktop
2 Select the folder that contains the originalraw images you want to convert
3 Select a folder destination to which youwant to copy the converted DNG files
You can also create a new folder by click-ing the Make New Folder button
4 Click the Convert button
(continued)
In my workflow I always copy my original rawfiles first mdash to two quality DVD discs (one for on-site storage one for off-site storage) These daysIrsquove also started converting my raw files to DNGusing Adobersquos DNG converter Those convertedDNG files get backed up to separate DVDs aswell (yes two copies) Incorporating DNG intoyour raw workflow would involve only three extrasteps converting your raw images to DNG back-ing up the converted images to CD or DVD andthen opening these converted files in CameraRaw at the beginning of your raw workflow
The jury is still out on whether DNG will becomethe favorite raw archiving format of the futurebut just now itrsquos the only option available that
allows photographers and studios the ability toconvert all disparate raw images to a commonformat for image archives
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 140
Evaluating ImagesThe first step in processing raw images is to evaluate your image Chances arethe first time you really view an image other than the thumbnails in Bridge isthrough the Camera Raw preview When you first open an image in CameraRaw Auto Adjustments are automatically applied (That would explain whyyour raw images actually look pretty good)
If you want to see what your image looks like without Auto Adjustments pressCtrl+U (Ocirc+U on a Mac) to toggle Auto Adjustments on and off
The image shown in Figure 9-2 represents an unprocessed image loaded inCamera Raw mdash with and without Auto Adjustments applied
Figure 9-2 Raw image with (on left) and without Auto Adjustments
For the most part Auto Adjustments work pretty well to get me started formany of my images and I view images with Auto Adjustments applied whenevaluating for further adjustments To evaluate images
1 Open an image in Camera Raw
141Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 141
142 Part III Working with Raw Images
2 Make sure Auto Adjustmentsare turned on
You can either press Ctrl+U(Ocirc+U on a Mac) or click theCamera Raw menu and chooseUse Auto Adjustments (seeFigure 9-3)
3 Check the Preview Shadowsand Highlights check boxes(which are located along the top of the window above your image)
To make sure your adjustments will be view-able later make sure the Preview button shownin Figure 9-4 is checked Also make sure theShadows and Highlights check boxes arechecked yoursquoll want to know if any clippingis present when you evaluate the image
4 Evaluate white balance
Look at the image and evaluate whether or not there is a blue or yellowcast to it If so yoursquoll need toadjust the white balance of theimage
5 Evaluate exposure and shadows
Check to see not only whetherthe image appears underex-posed or overexposed but alsowhether therersquos clipping in theshadow or highlight areas Thisis where adjustments can gettricky Yoursquoll want to use a com-bination of the Exposure andBrightness controls to adjustyour image to gain the correctexposure and minimize clipping(as in the shadow area shown inFigure 9-5)
When evaluating an imageenlarge the Image Preview soyou can check more closely forclipping Use the Zoom tool toenlarge the image from 100 to200 percent and then check theshadow and highlight areas
Figure 9-3 Using Auto Adjustments
Figure 9-4 Checking thePreview Shadows andHighlights check boxes
Figure 9-5 Clipping in the shadow areas of animage
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 142
6 Evaluate brightness and contrast
Almost all raw images will have a need to have the contrast increasedAuto Adjustments will make these adjustments to an optimum setting
7 Evaluate saturation
Auto Adjustments donrsquot affect saturation when it comes to judging howmuch color yoursquod like to introduce into the image with the Saturationcontrol yoursquore on your own Often you can saturate to taste (so to speak)but be careful oversaturation ldquoblows outrdquo parts of your image with toomuch color intensity Pay special attention to the red and yellow areasthese colors are often the first to become oversaturated
8 Check for sharpness and noise
When yoursquore working with raw images itrsquos easy to overlook the controlsthat arenrsquot in the other control tabs Same goes for evaluating your image
a Click the Details tab
b Slide the Sharpness control slider all the way to the left
c Enlarge the image in the Image Preview by clicking the Zoom toolor by pressing Ctrl++ (thatrsquos the plus-sign key on your keyboard)You press Ocirc++ on a Mac
d View your image enlarged and check it for sharpness and imagenoise
I often view an image in Bridge but until I open it in Camera Raw andzoom in I wonrsquot know whether the image is sharp enough for me to evenwant to proceed
Adjusting the Image with the Adjust TabFinally wersquore ready to edit some images in Camera Raw I start by taking careof the major business first mdash making color and tonal corrections (includingcurves) to my image in the Adjust tab (Ctrl+Alt+1 or Ocirc+Option+1 on a Mac)
When you first open an image in Camera Raw the default tab shown is theAdjust tab shown in Figure 9-6 The Adjust tab is where yoursquoll make all of yourcolor and tonal adjustments that were described in Chapter 7 white balance (or color and tint) exposure shadows brightness contrast and saturation I take you through each of these in order
143Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 143
144 Part III Working with Raw Images
Figure 9-6 The Adjust tab with Auto Adjustments applied
Adjusting white balanceWhite balance temperature and tint all relate to each other White balance isactually a combination of color temperature and tint in Camera Raw you canset it quickly by choosing any of the predefined temperature-and-tint settings
Setting the white balance can be accomplished in two ways choosing one ofthe settings in the White Balance selection or using the Temperature and Tintcontrols If you choose one of the preset White Balance selections yoursquoll noticethat doing so adjusts the temperature and tint for you as shown in Figure 9-7
Each White Balance selection will dynamically change the Temperature andTint controls displaying color temperature in degrees Kelvin
On most digital cameras you can set the white balance manually (and quickly)by choosing preset White Balance selections mdash but if you happen to chooseone that doesnrsquot produce an image with correct temperature and tint nowrsquosyour chance to make it right The Camera Raw White Balance Temperatureand Tint controls give the photographer the power to improve these valuesin images that didnrsquot quite get photographed correctly
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 144
Figure 9-7 The Adjust tab with Auto Adjustments applied
Fluorescent temperature 3800deg tint +21 Flash temperature 5500deg tint 0
Shade temperature 7500deg tint +10 Tungsten temperature 2850deg tint 0
Daylight temperature 5500deg tint +10 Cloudy temperature 6500deg tint +10
As shot temperature 4950deg tint -3 Auto temperature 7500deg tint +1
145Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
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146 Part III Working with Raw Images
Herersquos how to change the white balance of an image
1 Click the White Balance selection (see Figure 9-8)
Choose one of the predefined White Balance selections that best repre-sent lighting conditions for the image when you photographed it
Figure 9-8 Selecting from pre-defined White Balance selections
2 Fine-tune temperature
If the White Balance setting still doesnrsquot give you the adjustment neededto eliminate any blue or yellow cast move the Temperature slider to theright to remove any blue cast or to the left to remove any yellow cast tothe image
3 Fine-tune tint
You probably wonrsquot need to adjust tint in many of your images but ifyou see a visible green or magenta cast to your image move the Tintslider to the right (to reduce green and increase magenta) or to the left(to reduce magenta)
Correcting indecent exposure(Well sometimes that happens when you shoot raw right) I think the Exposurecontrol in Camera Raw is worth the price of Photoshop itself Okay serious
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 146
photographers always strive to achieve the best exposures possible for theirimages but difficult lighting conditions can sometimes throw a digital camerarsquosexposure off by a few f-stops
Figure 9-9 shows an example of difficult lighting conditions backlighting Iwas taking a photo of this troublemaker (he always gets into the bird feedersin the garden) but the sun was coming in behind the subject resulting inunderexposure Backlit conditions are great for silhouettes but not when youwant to capture detail of the main subject as in my case here Rocky thesquirrel The Camera Raw Exposure control was the very thing I needed toexpose the main subject of the image correctly
Figure 9-9 Rocky the ldquobird-feed-stealing-backlit-underexposedrdquo squirrel
To show you how to adjust exposure using the Camera Raw Exposure con-trol Irsquom switching topics from ldquopesky bird-feed-stealing squirrels of theMidwestrdquo to ldquophotos taken in Londonrdquo The Camera Raw Exposure controllets you increase or decrease exposure of an image thatrsquos under- or overex-posed Unless yoursquore already an old hand evaluating the exposure you getfrom your digital camera can be tricky at first mdash but with some practiceyoursquoll be comfortable in no time Figure 9-10 shows the photo after the WhiteBalance Daylight setting was selected (in the previous step) but with theAuto setting turned off in the Exposure setting so you can see the originalexposure
Underexposed original image Exposure corrected inCamera Raw
147Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 147
148 Part III Working with Raw Images
Figure 9-10 Image with the original exposure shown
Itrsquos clear that the image is too dark mdash a common type of underexposure whena photo is taken in bright light and the digital camera meters its exposure fromthe bright sky Fear not The Camera Raw Exposure control can get that expo-sure to where you want it Herersquos how
1 Click the Auto button
Make sure Auto Exposure is turned on and re-evaluate your image expo-sure with the Auto Exposure adjustment applied by Camera Raw TheAuto adjustment for Exposure will approach where you want the imageto be corrected For the image shown in Figure 9-11 the Auto adjustmentadds +135 (about one-and-a-third f-stops) to the exposure of the image
2 Increase or decrease exposure to avoid clipping
Moving the Exposure control slider to the right increases exposuremoving the slider to the left decreases exposure
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 148
Figure 9-11 Camera Raw Auto set for the Exposure control
Make sure the Shadows andHighlights check boxes are checkedso you can view any clipping thatmight occur as you adjust yourimages in Camera Raw Clipping inthe highlighted areas of the imagewill show as red clipping in theshadow areas will show as blue(Figure 9-12 shows an example ofclipping in highlight areas of the skya result of overexposure) Whenyou start to see clipped areas in animage yoursquoll need to move the slid-ers back until no clipping occurs
You can also hold down the Alt key (Option on a Mac) while moving the sliderto check for clipping Holding down the AltOption key turns the image blackand displays clipped pixels as they appear when you move the Exposure con-trol slider See Figure 9-13
Avoidance of clipping isnrsquot the only goal of adjusting exposure First you wantto adjust till you get the best exposure for the image You can minimize clippingwith other controls (such as Shadows Brightness and the Contrast) but donrsquotsacrifice the overall exposure of an image just to kill off a few clipped pixels
149Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
Figure 9-12 Clipped areas in an image wheretoo much exposure is added
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 149
150 Part III Working with Raw Images
Figure 9-13 Checking exposure while pressing the Alt (Option) key
Using the histogramHistograms can be very useful when evaluating images but are an often-overlooked or confusing tool used in Photoshop Camera Raw or even onyour digital camera The reason histograms are confusing and overlookedBecause nobody ever explains how to use them When I first started usingdigital cameras my owner manuals always showed how to view the his-togram but not how to read it As an avid reader I also havenrsquot seen a lotwritten about reading histograms or using them to correct images either
For the most part a histogram is a chart that shows you the distribution ofpixels from the dark areas (indicated on the left side) to the light (on the rightside) While yoursquore shooting photos out in the field your digital camerashows you a histogram on its LCD to indicate the exposure of an image Whenyoursquore evaluating and adjusting images in Camera Raw the histogram showsyou how red green and blue pixels are distributed in the current imageusing colored channels to represent red green and blue portions of thechart Yoursquoll also see colors such as cyan yellow and magenta too mdash butthose are specific combinations of red green and blue
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 150
Figure 9-14 shows three histograms one without clipping one with clippingin the imagersquos shadow areas (black end of the histogram) and one with clip-ping in the highlight areas (white end of the histogram)
Figure 9-14 Reading the Camera Raw histogram
One really useful feature of the Camera Raw histogram is its indication of clip-ping Spikes at the left end of the chart mean there is some clipping in the darkareas of the image spikes at the right end indicate clipping in the light areasYoursquoll see the histogram change as you adjust color and tone
Lurking in the shadowsWith white balance and exposure adjusted the next step is adjusting the imagefor the shadow tonal values The Shadows control is located just under theExposure control which is a pretty clear hint about what to do next Movethe Shadows slider to the right (to darken the shadow areas of the image)or left (to lighten up the shadow areas)
Figure 9-15 shows the image with the shadow adjustment at a value of 9That value may be a little too high clipping will be highlighted in blue asitrsquos introduced in the dark areas of the image To reduce clipping move theShadows slider to the left until the blue highlight areas are minimized
A couple of keyboard techniques come in handy here
Pressing Alt (Option key on the Mac) while dragging the Exposure slidershows you the areas of the image affected by clipping
Holding down the Alt key (Option key on the Mac) while clicking and drag-ging the Shadows slider will turn the Image Preview white mdash while show-ing the shadow areas of the image where clipping is occurring Figure9-16 shows the shadows clipping display
Normal histogram Clipping in blackend of histogram
Clipping in whiteend of histogram
151Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 151
152 Part III Working with Raw Images
Figure 9-15 Here blue highlighting shows clipping while adjusting shadows
Figure 9-16 Clipping shown while adjusting Shadows
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 152
The trick to adjusting Shadows is to attempt to achieve a ldquotrue blackrdquo in yourimage while minimizing any clipping in the shadow areas Depending on theimage and exposure you may have only limited latitude for your adjustmentsIf you want an appearance of increased contrast in your image you can alwaysrely on the Contrast control or the Curves control to introduce more contrastUse the Shadows slider to adjust the dark areas of your image to your prefer-ence while minimizing clipping
Adjusting brightnessThe Brightness control can be mistaken for an exposure control actually allit adjusts is how bright the colors (in particular the midtone values) are inyour image Moving the Brightness slider to the right lightens the midtonesmoving it leftward darkens the midtone areas
Figure 9-17 shows the Brightness adjusted to a value of 43 The Auto Adjustmentfor this image actually set the Brightness value at 53 but because I like myskies a little dark (especially blue skies) I turned the Brightness slider downto the left to give me that darker sky without sacrificing too much highlight inthe buildings
Figure 9-17 Adjusting brightness
153Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 153
154 Part III Working with Raw Images
Increasing and decreasing contrastLocated just below the Brightness control the Contrast control increasesthe dark and light areas of your image when you move its slider to the rightMoving the slider to the left decreases contrast in the dark and light areas ofthe image
I often use the Contrast and Brightness controls as tools to fine-tune theappearance of an image without affecting the overall exposure and shadows
For the image shown in Figure 9-18 the Auto setting was set to 21 but Iwanted to increase the contrast to darken the blue sky and lighten up theclouds a bit A value of 31 gave me the effect I wanted without introducingclipping mdash and also without sacrificing detail in other areas of the image
Figure 9-18 Adjusting contrast
Adding color with the Saturation controlThe Saturation control simply adds color to the image Thatrsquos possiblebecause raw images donrsquot actually contain visible color instead they
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 154
store color information (RGB values) for each pixel mdash which Camera Rawinterpolates The result may not match what you saw (or wanted to see)when you shot the image when you view a raw image in Camera Raw coloralmost always needs to be increased You can do that by using the Saturationcontrol to bring out the color values stored for every pixel in the image
There isnrsquot an Auto check box for the Saturation control adding color is totallyup to you For most of my photos a saturation setting of 20 to 30 usually givesme the amount of color I want in my photos Experiment with the Saturationcontrol to get closer to the results you want in your photos Figure 9-19 showsthe photo Irsquove been working on with the Saturation control set to a value of 30
Increasing saturation can affect the overall white balance of an image Whenadjusting saturation re-evaluate the color of the image and donrsquot be afraid totweak the white balance again using the Temperature control After addingcolor to the image using the Saturation control I went back to the Temperatureslider and changed the setting from 5500 to 5350 to reduce the ldquowarmthrdquo inthe image (which became exaggerated when I increased the saturation)
Figure 9-19 Increasing color saturation
155Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
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156 Part III Working with Raw Images
Itrsquos All in the DetailsThe controls in the Detail tab (Ctrl+Alt+2 Ocirc+Option+2 on a Mac) contain afew little goodies that could easily be overlooked Global adjustments includethe Sharpness control Luminance Smoothing and the Color Noise Reductioncontrol
I find the Luminance Smoothing and Color Noise Reduction controls extremelyvaluable for cleaning up my images before getting them into Photoshop
Figure 9-20 shows the Detail tab mdash and yes a new raw image To illustratethe controls in the Detail tab I needed an image that needed a little help so I decided to come back home from across the pond back to the belovedMidwest I chose this difficult image because itrsquos hard to illustrate luminanceand color noise in an image mdash this sunset was shot at a higher ISO of 400 soI was sure I could muster up some noise in the sky portions (Itrsquos an AuthorrsquosPrerogative)
Figure 9-20 The Detail tab ready to ldquoimproverdquo a sunset
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 621 PM Page 156
Sharpening things upThe Sharpness control lets you apply sharpening to the preview image theconverted image or both My recommendation is to apply sharpening only tothe preview just to check for the sharpness of the image Actual sharpeningshould be applied to the actual image only after adjustments edits and sizingis made to the image in Photoshop
The quality you get when you sharpen an image depends on its final size Ifyou sharpen an image before you resize it you could do more damage thangood winding up with an extremely oversharpened appearance in the finaloutput version If you use the Sharpness control in Camera Raw use it onlytemporarily mdash to add sharpness to preview images
Herersquos how to set Camera Rawrsquos Sharpness control to sharpen previewimages only
1 Open Camera Raw Preferences
Press Ctrl+K (Ocirc+K on a Mac) or click the Camera Raw Menu button andselect Preferences
2 Set the Apply sharpening toselection to ldquopreview onlyrdquo
In the Camera Raw Preferenceswindow (shown in Figure 9-21)choose Preview Images Onlyfrom the Apply Sharpening Todrop-down list When you makethis selection Camera Rawapplies sharpening to previewimages only
Getting smooth with Luminance SmoothingI donrsquot know about you but I think the Luminance Smoothing control winsthe Photoshop ldquoCool Namerdquo award for adjustments Luminance is an interest-ing word to begin with but when you combine it with smoothing you soundimpressively technical and artistic to your friends What it does is even betterLuminance smoothing reduces one of the two types of noise that can appearin an image noise contained in the grayscale areas
All digital camera sensors produce some sort of noise Itrsquos not noise like some-one yelling at you to take out the garbage but electrical noise graininesscaused by an electrical field affecting the image sensor while itrsquos collecting
157Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
Figure 9-21 Applying sharpening to previewimages only
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158 Part III Working with Raw Images
light In most photos you wouldnrsquot even notice the noise but for those takenat high ISO settings (400 to 1600) or long exposures you can see the graininesswhen you zoom in on your image at 100 or 200 percent (as in the area shownin Figure 9-22) Visible noise What a concept And you wonrsquot even see noisein your viewfinder it sneaks up on you later like the boogie man
Figure 9-22 Grainlike noise visible at 200-percent zoom
The Luminance Smoothing control reduces that grainy-looking noise lurkingin the shadow parts of an image Herersquos how to use it for that purpose
1 Zoom in 100 to 200 percent by using the Zoom tool or by pressingCtrl+ (Ocirc+ on a Mac)
2 Use the Hand tool to move the Image Preview around until you cansee a good sample of luminance noise that would usually be foundin the dark areas of the image
3 Move the Luminance Smoothing slider to the right to reduce lumi-nance noise (as in Figure 9-23)
For this image I moved the Luminance Smoothing slider rightward to asetting of 30 which reduced image noise to an acceptable level
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 622 PM Page 158
Figure 9-23 Reducing luminance noise
Reducing color noiseColor noise visible in an image appears like little colored speckles in theshadow or sky areas of certain images
If yoursquore having a tough time figuring out the difference between color noiseand luminance noise experiment a little Enlarge the image preview to 100 to200 percent and be sure to set both the Luminance Smoothing and ColorNoise Reduction sliders to 0 Move the Luminance Smoothing slider to theright until you see the grainy-looking noise start to go away If there is colornoise in the image you can still see it as those pesky colored speckly thingies(a seldom used technical term for color noise)
To reduce color noise you donrsquot have to move the slider to a value of 30 or40 sometimes only slight adjustments to a value of 3 to 7 will do the trick
Working with the Lens TabThe Lens tab (press Ctrl+Alt+3 or Ocirc+Option+3 on a Mac) gives the pho-tographer the power to correct imperfections that can occur due to lensshortcomings (Ack wait Donrsquot go throwing away your digital camera or thelenses you bought for your digital SLR The fact of the matter is that almostall lenses display chromatic aberrations or vignetting from time to time)
159Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
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160 Part III Working with Raw Images
As a rule lens shortcomings appear when you adjust your zoom to either theextreme wide-angle or telephoto settings mdash or when the lens aperture iseither wide open or closed down Todayrsquos compact and prosumer model digital cameras come equipped with lenses of excellent quality and theyonly keep getting better
If yoursquore going to be making large prints from your digital images or croppingto extremes the controls in the Lens tab (shown in Figure 9-24) may come inhandy These are the controls for those ever-so-slight adjustments that makeyour images that much closer to perfect
Figure 9-24 The Lens tab and its controls
Those chromatic aberrationsChromatic aberrations occur in areas where your lens canrsquot focus red greenand blue light along edges of the image to the necessary degree of precisionThe Lens tab gives you two controls to counteract those aberrations the FixRedCyan Fringe slider and the Fix BlueYellow Fringe slider
Herersquos how to use them to correct chromatic aberrations
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 622 PM Page 160
1 Zoom in on your image to 100 to 200 percent
2 Using the Hand tool move around the image to determine whethercolor fringing exists
3 If you detect red or cyan fringing on edges of the image (as illustratedin Figure 9-24) use the Fix RedCyan Fringe slider to minimize it
4 If you detect blue or yellow fringing on edges of the image use theFix BlueYellow Fringe slider to minimize it
Reducing vignettingVignetting occurs when the outer edges of the image arenrsquot properly exposedoften leaving a dark circular edge around an image Vignetting will often occurwhen you shoot images with your lens set to a wide-open aperture settingUsing a lens hood can also affect an image where the lens actually capturesthe outer edges of the attachment
The Vignetting Amount slider is an easy way to eliminate this condition Thephoto shown in Figure 9-25 shows vignetting that occurred when this land-scape was shot with a wide-angle lens
Figure 9-25 Image with some visible vignetting
161Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
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162 Part III Working with Raw Images
Want to minimize the effect of vignetting on an image Go for it
1 Move the Vignetting Amount slider to the right to reduce the dark-ened edges of the image
Be careful not to overcompensate for vignetting so as to not affect anyother tonal values of the image Overcompensating (usually by movingthe slider too far to the right) can produce light edges around the image
To reduce the lighter-edge vignetting effect just back off your adjust-ment slightly by moving the slider to the left
2 Adjust the midpoint
The Midpoint slider helps you adjust the area in which the vignettingeffect is reduced Move the slider to the left to shrink the area move theslider to the right to increase the area of your adjustment Figure 9-26shows vignetting reduced by adding a Vignetting Amount value of 25and a Midpoint value of 21
Using vignetting as a special effect
Though the Vignetting and Midpoint controls weredesigned to reduce vignetting effects Irsquoll oftentake them the opposite direction mdash and not justto be contrary For years portrait photographershave used vignetting as a portrait effect here Ican do that digitally Adding a dark graduatedborder around a portrait can have a pleasingeffect on the total image drawing attention to thearea of the photo that is most important mdash theperson yoursquove photographed
The Vignetting control in the Lens tab can be aquick easy no-fuss way to add this effect to yourimage
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 622 PM Page 162
Figure 9-26 Vignetting reduced
Love Them CurvesThe Curve tab (Ctrl+Alt+4 Ocirc+Option+4 on a Mac) provides an excellent addi-tion for fine-tuning the distribution of tonality throughout an image (I oftenuse the Curve control to add a little extra contrast)
The Curve chart resembles a histogram The left of the chart represents thetonal distribution in the shadow areas of the image the right of the chart rep-resents the highlights areas (See Figure 9-27)
To adjust your images using the Curve control
1 Select a Tone Curve setting
I usually start out either selecting the Medium Contrast or the StrongContrast setting depending on how much contrast I want to add to animage If I want to reduce contrast Irsquoll choose the Linear setting which isa straight line in the curve that doesnrsquot change the tonality of the image
2 Fine-tune the curve
163Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
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164 Part III Working with Raw Images
Figure 9-27 The Curve tab
For fine-tuning the curve either you can drag the existing curve pointsor add curve points on the curve by using the Ctrl+Click technique(Ocirc+Click a Mac) To fine-tune your adjustments you can just drag aselected curve point You can also move a curve point by clicking it andthen clicking the up down right or left arrow keys on the keyboard
If you really want to get precise you can enter numeric numbers for theselected curve points in the Input or Output fields
Getting used to fine-tuning the tonal adjustments in the Curve tab cantake a while If you want to make some quick curve adjustments rightaway yoursquoll find that the Tone Curve pre-selected settings should do thetrick for most of your photos Experiment with the Curve tab beforemessing around with the curve too much Yoursquoll find that subtle adjust-ments will give you the best results
Caught Calibrating AgainThe Calibrate tab (Ctrl+Alt+5 Ocirc+Option+5 on a Mac) wasnrsquot meant for you toapply color correction to your images but to fine-tune the camera profilesthat are built into Camera Raw When updates to Camera Raw are available(at httpadobecom) for you to load onto your computer typically thoseupdates include profiles for new models of digital camera
15_774820 ch09qxp 1306 622 PM Page 164
When Adobe adds a new digital camera model to Camera Raw they programin specific color profiles for that particular model digital camera The controlsin the Calibrate tab (see Figure 9-28) are intended to be used to fine-tune thecamera profile in Camera Raw with what your own digital camera is producing
Most photographers wouldnrsquot go through the hassle of calibrating their digitalcamera to the profiles available in Camera Raw after all the profiles providedwork very well as they are set up now Another reason itrsquos a real hassle tocalibrate your digital camera
To actually recalibrate the Camera Raw built-in profiles you would have topurchase or download a calibration target image take a photo of it in neutraldaylight balanced lighting then compare the image converted to ProPhotoRGB working space with the same image in Camera Raw You would thenhave to match the colors of the text image with the photo in Camera Raw inorder to adjust the colors in the Calibrate tab mdash with both windows visibleon your computer monitor If you understand all that I think yoursquoll appreciatewhy most of us just use the Camera Raw built-in profiles
Although the Calibrate controls arenrsquot meant for applying color correctionsto photos you can still use rsquoem to get some really cool color effects Thephoto shown in Figure 9-29 (for example) was first adjusted normally usingthe controls in the Adjust and Curve tab Then I messed with it in theCalibrate tab and added some kinky colors
Figure 9-28 The Calibrate tab
165Chapter 9 Processing Raw Images
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166 Part III Working with Raw Images
Figure 9-29 Using the Calibrate controls to produce unnatural colors for special effects
Processed normally
Colors changed with Calibrate controls
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Part IVPhotoshop CS2
Image-ProcessingWorkflows
16_774820 pt4qxp 1306 615 PM Page 167
In this part
In those dark days before digital photographerscould shoot in raw format and take advantage
of the enlightened features of Camera Raw wehad to make all our color and tonal adjustmentsin Photoshop (Uphill in the snow Both ways)Of course just because yoursquore now able to domost of your correction work in Camera Raw doesnrsquot mean yoursquore exempt from tweaking colorand tone in Photoshop before you do your editsBut okay things are better
One reason to know how to make levels curvescolor balance and saturation adjustments inPhotoshop is to accommodate the changesyou sometimes have to make in your color-management settings or your targeted outputmedia (say a particular type of inkjet paper)This Photoshop adjustment know-how comes inespecially handy when you want to adjust onlycertain parts of an image mdash and (hah) thatrsquos some-thing you canrsquot do in Camera Raw Yet anyway
In this part you get a handle on making overall cor-rections and edits to your images mdash to finish whatyou started in Camera Raw I also show you howto use adjustment layers and Layer Masks to makeeven finer adjustments and edits Donrsquot forgetSometimes you still have some nagging ldquored eyerdquoblemishes and errant branches you need to editin your photos So hang on to your hat mdash itrsquos timeto shift Photoshop into high gear
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10Adjusting Color and Tone in Photoshop
In This Chapter Doing overall adjustments as a workflow
Adjusting an image layer by layer
Using variations to evaluate images
Creating a Levels adjustment layer
Making a Curves adjustment layer
Adjusting hue and saturation in a combined layer
Adjusting color and tone in Camera Raw might leave you with the feel-ing that most of your work on an image is done mdash and
sometimes it is What yoursquore actually accomplishing inCamera Raw is applying basic adjustments to an imagethat wasnrsquot processed in the digital camera preparingit for Photoshop (where you can go wild with it)Chances are the photo still needs some minor colorand tonal tweaks mdash which is what this chapter is allabout
Organizing those tweaks into an efficient routine iswhat I call the overall-adjustments workflow a fine-tuning of the color and tonal corrections made inCamera Raw tailored to get the photos ready foroutput that has a specific profile mdash say a Web site orthat photo-quality glossy paper yoursquore loading into yourinkjet printer
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 169
170 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Overall Adjustments as a WorkflowAs with any other process explained in this book this chapter explains theoverall adjustment of an imagersquos color and tones in Photoshop step by step mdasha workflow approach Although that process is similar for both Photoshopand Camera Raw making adjustments in Photoshop is more of a strictlylinear process In particular watch for these differences when you adjustcolor and tone in Photoshop
Make color settings and proof before you make color and tonal cor-rections Yep here it comes again color management In Photoshopyou can work with images that have specific color spaces such asAdobe RGB (1998) and you can proof your images as you work on them mdash simulating targeted output such as an image for the Web mdash or a printed image on a specific paper on your inkjet printer
After making color and tonal adjustments in Camera Raw yoursquoll noticethat the actual color and tones may change in appearance when you applydifferent color profiles or turn on proofing in Photoshop (check out theexample shown in Figure 10-1) In Photoshop yoursquoll need to make fur-ther overall adjustments to match your intended output (If the buildinglooks familiar itrsquos where The Beatles recorded ldquoGet Backrdquo on the rooftopand the rest of Let It Be in the studio below (Offhand I think they passedthe audition)
Figure 10-1 Proofing images changes appearance
Make color and tonal adjustments in layers In Camera Raw you makecolor and tonal adjustments with the Adjust and Curve tabs In Photoshopyou make these corrections in individual adjustment layers (which Iexplain in the ldquoJust Layering Aroundrdquo section later in this chapter)
Default color profile Epson premium glossypaper profile
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 170
Consider more options In Camera Raw you can adjust white balanceexposure shadow brightness contrast saturation and curves You havethe same options in Photoshop (except for those great White Balancecontrols in Camera Raw) plus a few more I show you in this chapter
Implementing color management firstBefore diving into making overall corrections to your images yoursquoll need tomake sure your color settings are made and that yoursquore proofing your imagefor the intended type of output Working in the correct color space and proof-ing your images as yoursquore making adjustments will ensure that what yoursquorelooking at on your computer monitor will be as close as possible to what youwill print (I cover color management in Chapter 3 herersquos where you put someof those color-management concepts into action)
171Chapter 10 Adjusting Color and Tone in Photoshop
Selective colorThe Selective Color adjustment (ImageAdjustmentsSelective Color) is supposed to beused for CMYK color processes but you can stilluse it to adjust individual colors in a photo Thoughitrsquos not included in the typical overall-correctionprocess itrsquos still useful for further tweaks whenyou want to enhance (or experiment with) yourimages
I occasionally use Selective Color to adjust spe-cific colors mdash enhance lighten darken orchange them without affecting the other colorsor tones in the image I also use this adjustmentto darken a blue sky when other methods mightthrow the sky color out of gamut
Original image With Selective Color
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 171
172 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Here are the steps toward an overall-corrections workflow in a color-managedenvironment
1 Make sure the correct color profiles are applied
Part of your color-management workflow make sure that yoursquoll be work-ing in the correction color space To check which color space yoursquoreworking in choose EditAssignProfile
Figure 10-2 shows the AssignProfile window with WorkingRGB Adobe RGB (1998) chosenThis is a typical working spaceyoursquoll be working in for most ofyour photos
If the color settings made inCamera Raw differ from thoseyou specified in the Camera RawWorkflow settings to match thecolor space in Photoshop youget a Color Settings Mismatchmessage like the one shownin Figure 10-3 At least theEmbedded Profile Mismatchwindow lets you choose the pro-file embedded with the image(here the Space setting chosenin Camera Raw) or the colorspace setting made in thePhotoshop Color Settings
2 Set up proofing and proof yourcolors
If yoursquore processing an imageand know its final destination(such as a particular printerpaper or the Web) make sureyou set up and turn on proofingChoose ViewProof SetupCustom Choose the target profile that matches youroutput destination from theDevice to Simulate drop-downlist (in the Customize ProofCondition window shown inFigure 10-4)
Figure 10-4 Selecting an output profile tosimulate on your monitor
Figure 10-2 Making sure the correct colorprofile is chosen
Figure 10-3 The Embedded Profile Mismatchwindow
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 172
If your color management is set up correctly then choosing the correctcolor space and device to simulate on your monitor should give you anaccurate view of the image as it will appear on your printer or the WebAny adjustments you make from here should give you results that matchwhatrsquos finally printed or displayed on the Web
3 Turn on Gamut Warning
Pressing Shift+Ctrl+Y (Shift+Ocirc+Y on a Mac) turns on Gamut Warningallowing you to preview areas of your image that are considered out ofgamut for the device selected in the Customize Proof Condition windowAreas out of gamut will be highlighted in gray as shown in the photo inFigure 10-5
Figure 10-5 Gamut Warning shows the out-of-gamut areas in an image
When areas of your image are out of gamut it means theyrsquore beyond therange of colors that the selected output device can produce Results maybe disappointing because your printer driver translates any out-of-gamutareas as the closest color match it can produce If you print an imagewith areas out of gamut the colors may not match or may appear toodark or too light
Developing an overall corrections workflowAs in Camera Raw the most efficient approach is to do your global color andtonal corrections as a consistent step-by-step workflow After you get used tomaking any necessary corrections in a particular order every time you canwhip through those images making corrections like a black-belt Photoshopmaster
173Chapter 10 Adjusting Color and Tone in Photoshop
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 173
174 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Now for a birdrsquos-eye view of an overall-correction workflow Note the variouslayers at which the procedures take place therersquos more about them in theldquoJust Layering Aroundrdquo section later in the chapter Herersquos the sequence
1 Open a file from Camera Raw or Bridge
(Okay sometimes the obvious still has to be stated) You can open PSDfiles directly from Bridge or open raw files from Camera Raw directlyinto Photoshop (Bridge handles the rest)
2 Save your image in PSD format
After opening your image from Camera Raw into Photoshop save yourfile in PSD (Photoshop) format mdash first into a working folder (For moreabout file management see Chapters 4 and 5)
3 Evaluate the image
Instead of diving right in to make color and tonal changes in Photoshoptake a minute to look at the open image and plan the steps necessary tomake corrections
4 Adjust Levels
The Levels adjustment layer is where you adjust tonal ranges and colorthroughout an imagersquos shadows midtones and highlights Photographersfind this level a useful tool for setting the white and black points of animage adjusting color and removing color cast
5 Adjust Curves
As with the Curves control in Camera Raw the Curves adjustment layeris where you fine-tune how tonal values are distributed across the tonalrange of the image This adjustment is a great way to increase or decreasecontrast mdash without having to adjust brightness or contrast directly
6 Tweak Color Balance
Adjusting color balance is another way you can fine-tune the color in animage Unlike the generalized color adjustments made in Camera RawPhotoshop Levels and Photoshop Curves the Color Balance adjustmentlayer lets you add and subtract red green and blue color while main-taining luminosity (tonal values) in an image Yoursquoll use the ColorBalance adjustment layer occasionally to fine-tune specific colors
If yoursquove processed your image in Camera Raw mdash and used the Levelsadjustment to remove any color cast mdash you may not need to use theColor Balance adjustment for many of your photos Okay that particularadjustment may not always add value to your workflow mdash but it givesyou a great secret weapon if you ever need to fine-tune the colors inphotos with finicky color balances
Figure 10-6 shows an image with too much magenta and the same imagecorrected using the Color Balance adjustment
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 174
Figure 10-6 Using the Color Balance adjustment to correct color in an image
7 Adjust BrightnessContrast
When I first started using Photoshop I used this adjustment a lot toincrease contrast in dull photos and adjust overall brightness if neededOver time Irsquove found the BrightnessContrast adjustment to be highlydestructive It degrades the quality of your images mdash especially notice-able if yoursquore making prints 5times7 or larger mdash so I recommend only sparinguse of BrightnessContrast in Photoshop
If you need to adjust either brightness or contrast in your image get inthe habit of using Curves instead of the BrightnessContrast adjustment(Sneaky sure but it works)
8 Adjust HueSaturation
My favorite adjustment to make in Photoshop is increasing the color Ilove adding color to my photos (no melted crayons) Now that I use theSaturation control in my raw images when I convert them in Camera RawI rely a lot less on the Photoshop version of Saturation When processingJPEGs from my image library (or from one of my compact digital cameras)I rely on the Camera Raw HueSaturation adjustment to get me closer tothe colors I envisioned when I took the photo
Just Layering AroundMaking overall adjustments in Photoshop is different from making adjustmentsin Camera Raw In Camera Raw adjustments are made in linear incrementseach adjustment is added to the metadata of the image leaving the originalfile intact In Photoshop however these adjustments are pictured and pre-sented in layers mdash you do each one as if it were on a transparent overlay
Magenta cast Corrected with Color Balance
175Chapter 10 Adjusting Color and Tone in Photoshop
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 175
176 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
stacked on top of the image Each layer represents a separate adjustment tothe original image or background layer
Itrsquos kind of like making a sandwich You start off with a piece of bread mdashyour original layer mdash and then you lay some bologna on top (another layer)a piece of cheese (another one) some mustard (ditto) and then finallyanother piece of bread thatrsquos thefinal layer Substitute specific adjust-ments for those layers and you havethe Photoshop approach to images(I donrsquot know about you but Irsquom get-ting hungry)
Think of each layer as a transparencythat contains a specific addition Whenyou open an image file in Photoshopthe original image is used as a back-ground layer Add a layer to make anadjustment that layer is placed on topof the background layer Each new editis contained in a new layer stackedfrom the bottom on up When theadjustments are done the stack iscomplete mdash a composite image mdashmaybe not edible but a finishedproduct
Getting around theLayers paletteThe Layers palette is the part ofPhotoshop that contains all thelayers that make up an image Itrsquoswhere you go to create and controlall layers you can create new oneshide some and work with them indi-vidually or in groups Clicking thepalettersquos menu button displays theLayers menu Figure 10-7 shows theLayers palette and the Layers menu
By default the Layers palette is visi-ble when you start Photoshop If youinadvertently close the Layerspalette while yoursquore working inPhotoshop you can always start itup again by choosing WindowsLayers or by pressing the F7 key
Figure 10-7 The Layers palette with the Layersmenu
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 176
Herersquos a fast list of what you can do with the layers in Photoshop
Understanding the background layer When you open an image filePhotoshop creates the bottommost Background layer Because itrsquos basicto the other layers it doesnrsquot allow you to make certain changes to itYou cannot delete it re-order itor change its opacity or blend-ing mode
Before you edit your imagealways make a duplicate of theBackground layer Itrsquos a bestpractice to avoid editing theBackground layer altogetherReserve that layer as the origi-nal to base all your edits on Itrsquosyour backup mdash your parachutein case anything goes wrongRight-click (or Ocirc+click on aMac) the Background layer andthen choose Duplicate Layerfrom the menu
Showing or hiding a layerrsquoscontents You toggle betweenShow and Hide by clicking theEye icon (aye-aye sir thatrsquoswhat it looks like) If the Eyeicon is visible the contents ofthe layer are visible If the Eyeicon is not visible the contentsof the layer are hidden
Creating new layers Click theCreate a New Layer button (seeFigure 10-8) and then choosethe layer type in the flyoutmenu
Renaming layers Simply double-click the layer name and type the newname
Changing layer order To change the order of your layers click a layerand drag it to where you want it to appear in the stack
You can also create a new layer by dragging an existing layer to theNew Layer button which is located on the bottom of the Layers palette
177Chapter 10 Adjusting Color and Tone in Photoshop
Figure 10-8 Creating a new layer
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 177
178 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Deleting layers Click the layerand drag it to the Trashcan iconat the bottom-right of the Layerspalette You can also right-clickthe layer and choose DeleteLayer from the menu as shownin Figure 10-9
Flattening layers When you flat-ten layers you combine them allinto one layer When you flattenan image you can make no fur-ther changes to any of the oldlayers In effect they disappearas layers leaving only theireffects in the flattened versionof the image Flattening layers isa normal step to do right beforeyou print out an image or submitit for publishing Three things tokeep in mind here
bull If no layers are selectedthe entire image is flat-tened into one layer thattakes the top layerrsquos name
bull If two or more layers are selected only those layers are combinedinto one layer mdash again taking the top layerrsquos name
bull To maintain your image edits save your image before you flatten it mdashand be sure to give the flattened version of your image a differentfilename when you save it
Creating adjustment and fill layersPhotoshop provides two sets of layers you can use to complete your imageadjustment layers and fill layers Though they work the same (that is as stacksof transparent overlays) each type of layer has its own purpose This sectionshows you how to use mdash and make mdash both types
Laying on the adjustmentsAdjustment layers are reserved for specific adjustments and only those Theyallow you to change color or tonal values of an image and lay those changesover your original (background) image without affecting it you can try outyour changes till you get the ones you want When you create an adjustmentlayer changes made in that layer are viewable along with all the adjustmentsyou made in the layers underneath it You can use adjustment layers to enhance
Figure 10-9 Deleting a layer using the Layersmenu
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 178
color balance brightness contrast and saturation mdash and create new layers ifyou need them (more about that in a minute)
An adjustment layer affects all layers beneath it in the Layers palette Theadvantage is that a change made to one adjustment layer doesnrsquot have toaffect the layers stacked beneath it For example if you want to change thebrightness of an image you make that change only once mdash in one layer mdashand it affects the overall image
Filling in with fill layersIrsquove reviewed adjustment layers as the ones you create to make changesto levels curves color balance hue and saturation The other group oflayers called fill layers allow you to lay on solid colors gradients or pat-terns As with an adjustment layer a fill layer does not affect the layersunderneath it
Some fill layers also allow you to adjust them here are the types of fill layersyou can use in your image-editing workflow
Solid color A solid color layer is considered a fill layer Create a solidcolor layer to fill an image witha color You can use it to createa colored background for animage
Gradient fill layer You can usegradients to apply a color in atransition from light to dark Itrsquosuseful for creating a dark-edgedvignette for some images or atransitioned color backgroundFigure 10-10 shows differenttypes of gradients
Gradients are used to createsome cool special effects Youcan (for example) experimentwith how your images look byincreasing or reducing the opac-ity of a fill layer
Pattern fill layer When youcreate this type of layer it con-tains a pattern from the Patternmenu shown in Figure 10-11Adjust the layerrsquos opacity tostrengthen or weaken the pat-tern effect
179Chapter 10 Adjusting Color and Tone in Photoshop
Figure 10-10 Choosing a gradient type
Figure 10-11 Choosing a pattern fill
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 179
180 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Making Overall AdjustmentsOverall adjustments (which are introduced in Chapter 4) to an image are justas amenable to becoming a workflow as the other processes in this bookHerersquos a look at the first five general steps of an overall-adjustment workflow
1 Double-check your color settings before you open any image for over-all adjustment
2 Open an image from Camera Raw in Photoshop
3 Save the image to PSD format in your Working folder
4 Proof for a specific output device
5 Evaluate your image
bull Does the image look good straight out of Camera Raw
bull Is it too dark too light too flat (lack of contrast and color satura-tion) or does it have a color cast
Sometimes getting an image into Photoshop and then proofing the image fora specific device printer or paper will make it look different
Evaluating images using VariationsOne quick way to evaluate animage is to view the image usingVariations mdash multiple thumbnailsof an image that open different versions of the image showing different color balance contrastand saturation To view Variationschoose ImageAdjustmentsVariations Figure 10-12 showsthe different thumbnail choicesoffered
The Variations command is availableonly for images in 8-bit-per-channelmode Though you can choose thumb-nails to make adjustments I recom-mend using only the adjustmentlayers to apply actual adjustmentsI use variations just for evaluationpurposes
Figure 10-12 Using Variations to evaluateimages
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 180
Adjusting levelsIn my overall-adjustment workflowthe first actual fix I make is adjustinglevels mdash making exact corrections to the tonal values of an image byfine-tuning the colors in the high-lights midtones and shadows
To adjust colors and tone using the Levels command follow thesesteps
1 Create a duplicate of theBackground layer by choosingLayersDuplicate typing anew name into the As field (for example Duplicate) andclicking OK
The Duplicate Layer fieldappears for the purpose asshown in Figure 10-13
Okay this step really doesnrsquot fit any particular niche in myoverall-adjustments workflow mdashbut it is a best practice Alwaysmake a duplicate of the back-ground layer before you createany new layers
2 Create a Levels adjustmentlayer by clicking the CreateNew Adjustment or Fill Layerbutton from the Layer palette(shown in Figure 10-14)
The Levels dialog box appears
181Chapter 10 Adjusting Color and Tone in Photoshop
Figure 10-13 Duplicating the Background layer
Figure 10-14 Creating a Levels adjustment layer
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 181
182 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
3 Make sure the Preview box ischecked
Keep the Channel selectionRGB as shown in Figure 10-15Yoursquoll be correcting levels forthe entire image mdash all threecolor channels (Red Green andBlue) at the same time
As you become more familiarwith adjusting levels inPhotoshop experiment withchanging the Channel selectionto the Red Green or Blue chan-nels and adjusting them individ-ually If you are a new user ofPhotoshop keep the RGBChannel selected
4 View the histogram and slidethe Shadows input slider to theright till it gets to where thecurve of the histogram begins(as shown in Figure 10-16)
With Preview selected you canview the image changes as youmove the slider
A histogram provides a snapshot of the tonal range of an image The his-togram shows how much detail is in the shadow area on the left in themidtones in the middle and in the highlights on the right
Histogram data is different for every image For many images the his-togram curve begins all the way to the left where no Shadow input-slider adjustment is needed
5 Slide the Highlights inputslider to the left till it gets towhere the highlights curvebegins
With Preview selected you canview the image changes as youmove the slider as shown inFigure 10-17
Figure 10-15 The Levels adjustment windowprovides controls to adjust color highlightsmidtones and shadows
Figure 10-16 Moving the Levels Shadows andHighlights input sliders
Figure 10-17 Adjusting shadows midtones andhighlights can improve the tonality of the image
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 182
6 Move the Midtones input slider to the right slightly checking theimage for improved color saturation and contrast
Often you can improve the appearance of an image by using the Midtone slider to darken the midtones If you do a lot of CMYK work forpress you may often need to nudge the Midtone slider to the left thisavoids images looking too dark and muddy To be safe always test printyour images then review them and readjust as necessary
7 Click OK to complete the Levels adjustment
If you are not satisfied with the effects of your Levels adjustment you canreset the settings to the original values Just press and hold the Alt key(Option key on the Mac) and click Cancel You can then re-create a Levelsadjustment layer and attempt to adjust levels again
You can experiment with adjusting levels in any of the following ways mdash andview the results in your image
Set the blackpoint of your image by clicking the BlackpointEyedropper and clicking a dark part of the image This provides amore accurate blackpoint as a baseline for adjusting levels in yourimage (The blackpoint is an area in the image that represents a trueblack)
Set the whitepoint of the image by clicking the WhitepointEyedropper and clicking a lighter part of the image Doing so pro-vides a more accurate whitepoint as a baseline for adjusting levels inyour image (The whitepoint is a portion of the image that representsa true white)
Try darkening shadow areas by moving the Shadows input slider tothe right
Move the Midtones input slider to the left to adjust the darker mid-tones You can lighten midtones by moving the slider to the right
Increase contrast and brighten up highlights by moving the Highlightsinput slider to the left
Figure 10-18 shows the results of adjusting these levels Moving the Shadow input slider to the right darkened the shadow areas moving the Midtones input slider to the right darkened the midtones and moving theHighlights input slider to the left brightened the highlights
183Chapter 10 Adjusting Color and Tone in Photoshop
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184 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Figure 10-18 The image before and then after adjusting levels
How rsquobout them curvesWhen you adjust the tonal range ofan image using Levels you makeonly three adjustments shadowsmidtones (gamma) and highlightsThe Curves adjustment allows for upto 14 different points of adjustmentthroughout the tonal range
I do mention this more than a fewtimes in this book but I like to adjustCurves instead of BrightnessContrast to increase contrast in myimages Works great not destructiveof data mdash whatrsquos not to like
To adjust an imagersquos tonality usingthe Curves adjustment layer followthese steps
1 Create a Curves adjustmentlayer
To do so click the Create NewAdjustment or Fill Layer buttonfrom the Layers palette andthen choose Curves as shownin Figure 10-19
Before After
Figure 10-19 Creating a Curves adjustment layer
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 184
2 Increase the number of gridlines to provide a more pre-cise grid
Press and hold the Alt key (theOption key on the Mac) whileclicking inside the Curves gridto increase the number of gridlines as shown in Figure 10-20
3 Make tonal adjustments byclicking the curve line anddragging it to the desired gridpoint or by clicking Auto
Drag the curve upward and leftto brighten downward and rightto darken Experiment with cre-ating adjustments for shadowsmidtones and highlights
Figure 10-21 demonstrates how theAuto curves feature can improvecolor in shadows midtones andhighlights
Figure 10-21 Using the Curves adjustment layer to improve this underexposed image
Before
After
185Chapter 10 Adjusting Color and Tone in Photoshop
Figure 10-20 Using the Curves adjustmentwindow
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 185
186 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Adding color with the HueSaturation adjustment layerThe next step in the overall-adjustment workflow is to add some visual ldquopoprdquoto your image adding color saturation to increase vibrancy and eye appeal
With any overall adjustment sometimes less is more you may need to makeonly a slight correction When adjusting color saturation for example some-times all you have to do is budge the slider to the right until you see the colorspop up a little ldquoEasy does itrdquo is the rule if you donrsquot make your images appearunrealistic
To create a HueSaturation layerfollow these steps
1 Click the Create NewAdjustment or Fill Layer buttonfrom the Layers palette andthen choose HueSaturationas shown in Figure 10-22
The HueSaturation dialog boxappears
2 Make sure Preview is selected
You want to be sure you seethese changes before youapply them
3 Increase image saturation bymoving the Saturation sliderslightly to the right as shownin Figure 10-23
As a rule of thumb increase thesaturation until you see thecolors start to pop
Be careful not to add too muchcolor saturation it can makecertain colors in the image blowout mdash that is lose detail astheyrsquore overpowered by thecolor If some areas look blownout back off your adjustmentslightly until yoursquore pleasedwith the result Figure 10-22 Creating a HueSaturation layer
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 186
Figure 10-23 Increasing saturation in the Master channel
You can use the HueSaturation adjustment layer to adjust individualcolor hues or saturation amounts This is an advanced method of color-correcting your images Experiment with changing the hue andorsaturation of each color to see the result You may find that adjustingthe Master (the default setting) alone can work just fine for your photos
4 Check Gamut Warning by choosing ViewGamut Warning
For the photo of the fire engine I actually had to decrease some satura-tion in the Red channel to bring the image more within the gamut of myselected output (but then I punched up some other colors)
5 Click OK to save your settings
Figure 10-24 shows the original fire-engine image with Levels and Curvesadded and then with HueSaturation adjusted The photo now appearsslightly more vibrant mdash but not overprocessed mdash and thatrsquos what yoursquoreshooting for
Figure 10-24 The fire engine looks a little more vibrant with a bit of overall adjustment
Original image Levels and Curvesadjustments
HueSaturation adjusted
187Chapter 10 Adjusting Color and Tone in Photoshop
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 187
188 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
17_774820 ch10qxp 1306 620 PM Page 188
11Editing Images
In This Chapter Editing images in an organized workflow
Creating separate layers for edits
Exploring the Photoshop Toolbox
Making selections
Making specific edits
Using Layer Masks to make selective changes
After you convert an image from raw to Photoshop and make overall cor-rections to color and tone yoursquore about half done with the image With
many photos you still have to edit mdash make improvements that are unique tothe image such as removing ldquored eyerdquo fixing dust spots (digital SLRs can getrsquoem from dirty image sensors) or erasing those power lines youdidnrsquot see when you were shooting outdoors
There are other traditional photographic tricks us old-school darkroom wizards used to do such as dodgingand burning The editing phase is also the time thatyou can let your artistic intentions run wild using anarray of Photoshop special effects mdash in particularfilters which I cover in more detail in Chapter 14This is always one of my favorite subjects to talkabout so letrsquos get into some Photoshop editing
Using an Image-Editing WorkflowTypically an effective image-editing workflow is put togethermuch like the overall-correction workflow I describe in Chapter 10Here too I encourage you to make your image edits in a step-by-step
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 189
190 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
sequence of best practices Unlike the procedure for overall color and tonalcorrections however you do have the freedom to mix up the order of youredits a bit But I still like consistency so I take these edits in individual steps
1 Plan your edits
After you complete overall corrections evaluate your image to deter-mine what type of edits if any are needed Common types of edits to planfor include these
a Dodging and burning
Dodging is a technique you use to lighten a certain area of animage burning darkens a certain area of an image Whether yoursquoreworking on landscape still life portraits or photos of your petsevaluate your images to see if areas need to be dodged (like whenyou want your dogs eyersquos to be more bright) or burned (like whenyou need to darken areas of a landscape)
Dodging and burning areas of an image can rescue out-of-gamutparts of an image and bring them back into a printable range (Formore about out-of-gamut colors see Chapter 10)
b Removing spots
Dust spots on digital images arenrsquot really possible for images takenwith compact digital cameras because the lens is built into thecamera But when yoursquore shooting with digital SLRs dust spots canhappen when particles find their way onto your image sensor Itrsquoshappened to me and is fairly common for digital SLR shooters
On a recent trip to England I had the opportunity to stop off at thisone interesting spot to take photos of some big stones sticking outof the ground I slapped a circular polarizer on my lens to get somedarker blue skies and to reduce the glare off the stones To mylater dismay I discovered (while zooming in on those photos inPhotoshop) spots in the sky caused by water spots on my circularpolarizer I called up the trusty Healing Brush tool and used it toremove those spots as shown in Figure 11-1
c Retouching
Nature is not always kind Time and again the people whose por-traits I take want to make sure I get rid of the wrinkles pimplesand blemishes we all seem to have No problem When editingimages in Photoshop you can soften skin using the Blur tool orone of the blur filters You can use the Dodge tool or Paintbrush tohelp whiten teeth and eyes (If you get good at retouching por-traits you can save your friends and clients some money Theywonrsquot have to go to a plastic surgeon for a facelift or the dentist toget teeth whitened mdash provided they never venture out)
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 190
Figure 11-1 Removing spots with the Healing Brush tool
If yoursquore shooting portraits retouching in Photoshop is an impor-tant phase of your work Plan your edits carefully
d Sharpening
To make a general statement all digital images need some sharpen-ing Sharpening should be the last step you take before printinga photo or posting it to the Web I show you more about sharpen-ing in the next chapter but Irsquom mentioning it here because sharp-ening is considered an image edit
Figure 11-2 shows a zoomed portion of the photo of those stonesin the ground before mdash and after mdash sharpening with the UnsharpMask filter (I didnrsquot see any Druid sacrifices there that day but Idid have to sacrifice my lunch hour so I could take the time toshoot some photos)
Spots removedOriginal image
Spots
191Chapter 11 Editing Images
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192 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Figure 11-2 Applying the Unsharp Mask for sharpening photos
2 Create separate layers for each edit
After you evaluate an image and then decide (say) to dodge it thenburn it and then make the cigarette butts disappear from its floor do eachof those edits in its own layer That way you can delete layers whose editsjust didnrsquot do the job without affecting other image-editing layers
Herersquos the fast way to create an editing layer
a Create a new layer
Press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E or Ocirc+Shift+Option+E on a Mac to mergea copy of all visible layers into a new target layer (Run out of fingers yet)
By combining all the previous layers into the new layer yoursquoreessentially merging all the adjustment layers and other edits yoursquovemade so far Press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E (Ocirc+Shift+Option+E on a Mac) tocombine the previous layers into your new editing layer
b Give the layer a proper name
For example if yoursquore creating a new layer to use the HealingBrush to remove spots on your image give the layer a descriptivename (such as ldquoHealing Brush Editsrdquo) After you create the layerdouble-click the layer name in the Layers palette and type in anew name like the example shown in Figure 11-3
Not sharpened Sharpened with Unsharp Mask
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 192
If you use the Merge Visiblecommand (LayersMergeVisible) you wind up flat-tening all the visible layersinto one layer Thatrsquos not agood idea if you want topreserve all your changesin separate layers Insteadof using the Merge Visiblecommand press Shift+Ctrl+Alt+E (Shift+Ocirc+Option+E on a Mac) toretain all the previouslayers but to merge thoselayers into the one you justcreated Now yoursquore readyto make an edit
After yoursquove created your firstediting layer and combined allthe visible layers into that layeryou can simply duplicate thenew layer for whatever new edityou want to perform next
3 Edit your image
Now that you have a fresh newlyldquomergedrdquo layer to work on goahead and remove a blemishwhiten some teeth and dodgeor burn parts of the image tosee how those features work
Keep each edit to its own layerIf you start by removing a blemish and then decide you want to dodge orburn some other part of the image create a new layer first (by choosingLayerDuplicate Layer)
Getting to Know Your ToolsWhen working with images and making edits in Photoshop many of the graphictools yoursquoll be using are accessed from the Photoshop Toolbox The Toolboxshown in Figure 11-4 includes more than 60 tools to manipulate and edit yourphotos
Just as an artist carries an assortment of pencils brushes erasers and a fewother tools in an art-supply box you have the same arsenal at your disposalThe Toolbox includes all the drawing and painting tools the artist canrsquot dowithout mdash plus a few others that a digital artist canrsquot do without (such as theRed Eye Removal tool the Healing Brush and the Magic Wand tool)
193Chapter 11 Editing Images
Double-click layer name
Create new layer
Type new layer name
Figure 11-3 Typing a new layer name
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194 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Figure 11-4 The Photoshop Toolbox
Using the Marquee toolUse the Marquee tool to draw rectan-gles ellipses horizontal columns or vertical columns in an image Right-clicking the Marquee tool icon in theToolbox brings up the flyout menuwhich includes other Marquee tools(see Figure 11-5)
Using the Marquee tool is a quickway to make edits to the selectionor even to crop part of an image
1 Select the Marquee tool
2 Draw a marquee around the image portion you want to crop
3 Make edits to the selection
If you simply want to crop the selection choose ImageCrop to crop theimage to your selection
M Rectangular Marquee
J Healing Brush tool
R Blur Sharpen SmudgeE Eraser Background Eraser Magic Eraser
P PenA Path Selection
H Hand
Foreground colorD Default Colors (Black amp White)
Q Edit in Standard mode
F Standard Screen mode
ImageReady
N Notes Audio Annotation
S Clone Stamp Pattern Stamp
C CropL Lasso
V MoveW Magic WandK Slice Slice Select
B Brush Pencil Color ReplacementH History Art HistoryG Gradient Paint BucketO Dodge Burn Sponge
T Type ToolsU Shape Tools
I Eyedropper Color Sampler MeasureZ Zoom
Q Edit in Quick Mask modeF Full Screen modeF Full Screen mode with menu bar
Swap ForegroundBackground colorsBackground color
Figure 11-5 The Marquee tools give you fourways to draw marquees
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 194
195Chapter 11 Editing Images
The Lasso toolThe Lasso tool is essential formaking selections within parts of animage mdash and editing just those areasyoursquove selected The Lasso toolflyout menu shown in Figure 11-6offers three tools for creating selec-tions the Lasso tool the PolygonalLasso tool and the Magnetic Lassotool (See the ldquoLasso thisrdquo section later in this chapter for more about thePolygonal Lasso and Magnetic Lasso tools)
The Lasso tool is commonly used to make selections in an image that can beeasily traced itrsquos like drawing an outline on tracing paper placed over a pic-ture Select the Lasso tool and then mdash while holding down the left mousebutton mdash trace over the part of the image you want to select
Snip-snipping with the Crop toolThe Crop tool is as simple as an artistrsquos mat knife You draw a boundaryaround the parts of your image in which you want to crop as shown inFigure 11-7 You can specify the width and height of your crop as well asthe resolution you want to make the cropped image
Figure 11-7 Using the Crop tool
Cancel crop
Complete crop
Crop tool Option bar
Crop tool
Crop selection
Figure 11-6 The Lasso toolrsquos flyout menu
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196 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Editing with the Healing BrushSome of the coolest editing toolsthat Photoshop offers are theHealing Brush tools The flyout menushown in Figure 11-8 includes fourHealing Brush tools that enable youto correct minor details Imagineeliminating pimples hair and dustfrom all the places you donrsquot wantthem (Digitally at least)
Spot Healing Brush tool New in CS2 this tool is easier to use than theHealing Brush tool Just select the Spot Healing Brush and start paintingareas to retouch Because the tool samples surrounding pixels for youyou donrsquot have to worry about making a selection
Healing Brush tool With this tool you can sample a selection of pixelsand then paint those selected pixels onto other areas Using this tool is agreat way to retouch areas of your images
Patch tool This works similar to how the Healing Brush tool works Thedifference is with the Patch tool yoursquore actually making a selection ofan area to use for painting in the selected pixels
Red Eye tool Also new in CS2 this handy little tool provides a quick wayto remove that ghoulish ldquored eyerdquo from your cherished photos
Cloning around with the Clone Stamp toolThe Clone Stamp tool is the equiva-lent of a rubber stamp (you know mdashpress a stamp on an ink pad andthen on paper) only itrsquos digital You sample part of an image (colortexture whatever) and apply thatsample elsewhere in the image All Brush tips work with the CloneStamp tool so itrsquos a great retouching alternative One of its special versionsthe Pattern Stamp tool re-creates patterns from the cloned selection andapplies to another part of the image Figure 11-9 shows the Clone Stamptoolrsquos flyout menu
Removing pixels with the Eraser toolThe Eraser tool is the digital equivalent of those pink erasers at the ends ofpencils You can erase pixels as you move the cursor over them changingthem in ways specified in the Eraser mode you choose on the Option bar
Figure 11-8 Healing Brush tools
Figure 11-9 The Clone and Pattern Stamptools
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 196
Use the Background Eraser tool toremove the effects of overall imageadjustments (see Chapter 10) madeto only certain areas or layers of theimage To erase all similar pixelswithin a layer use the Magic Erasertool Among the tools shown inFigure 11-10 are the BackgroundEraser and Magic Eraser
Sharpen or blur with the Blur toolThe Blur tool can be a quick way toedit a too-sharp edge by blurring aportion of your photo in much thesame way yoursquod use the Sharpen toolto add crispness If you are editing aportrait and want to get a blurredeffect you can make an overalladjustment to the photo using theGaussian Blur filter mdash but then usethe Sharpen tool selectively tosharpen hair and eyes Figure 11-11shows the Blur toolrsquos flyout menu
The Smudge tool warps and pushes pixels in the direction you are draggingthe tool giving you a morphing or smudge effect Like the Liquefy filter theSmudge tool enables you to hide flaws or achieve some really cool specialeffects
Drawing shapes with the Pen toolThe Pen tool actually does a wee bitmore than a pen you use to write loveletters shopping lists and checksThe Pen tool in Photoshop createslines curves and shapes (also calledvector paths) for a variety of editingand drawing purposes The Pen toolflyout menu (shown in Figure 11-12)shows its different options mdash includ-ing the Freeform Pen tool and a vari-ety of anchor-point Pen tools
Load up an image and experiment with the Pen and Freeform Pen tools ThePen tools offer a valuable way to create special effects when you want tomake complex selections
197Chapter 11 Editing Images
Figure 11-10 The Eraser Background Eraserand Magic Eraser tools
Figure 11-11 The Blur Sharpen and Smudgetools
Figure 11-12 The Pen tools
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198 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Making selections with the Magic Wand toolOne of the most valuable editing tools in the Toolbox is the Magic Wand Youcan use it to make selections mdash one of the most widely used processes inediting images mdash for example to select similarly colored areas in your photoYou can specify the color range and tolerance for a selected area by using theOption bar to set them
Selections are used to select contigu-ous and discontiguous areas of animage so you can make edits specifi-cally to that area selected Forinstance if you want to select onlythe clouds in an image of sky use theMagic Wand tool to select only thewhite areas (the clouds which arediscontiguous) and not the blue (thesky) I often use the Magic Wand toolto select portions of the backgroundsin my portraits so I can lightendarken or even blur those areas toget the effect I want Another way Iuse selections is to isolate mdash and fix mdash areas of my image that are outof gamut I want the whole image tomatch the gamut range of my selectedprinter and paper combinationbut I donrsquot want to change the entireimage mdash just the areas that are out of gamut
Figure 11-13 shows the Magic Wand tool used to select a section of an imagethat is overexposed relative to the rest of the image I selected that portionso I could adjust its brightness to match the rest of the image
Painting withthe Brush toolThe Brush Pencil and ColorReplacement tools are commonlyused to paint changes on yourphotos Figure 11-14 shows theBrush tool and its flyout menuNumerous brush sizes tips and modes are available on the Option bar asshown in Figure 11-15 Theyrsquore useful with many Photoshop image-editingtechniques
Figure 11-13 Using the Magic Wand to selectsimilarly colored areas of an image
Figure 11-14 The Brush Pencil and ColorReplacement tools
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 198
Figure 11-15 Modes available for use with the Brush tools
Dodging and burning using Dodge and Burn toolsOne of the most common edits thatdiscerning digital photographersmake in Photoshop is dodging andburning Back in the day when photographers like me developedphotos using enlargers and chemi-cals I had a few tricks up my sleeveto touch up my work Dodging andburning allowed me to darken orlighten certain areas of a print to myliking by either reducing or increas-ing exposure to certain parts of the print Photoshop lets old-timers like medo those same things with the Dodge and Burn tools shown in Figure 11-16
199Chapter 11 Editing Images
Figure 11-16 The Dodge Burn and Spongetools
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 199
200 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
The Sponge tool is useful when you want to make slight color-saturationadjustments to an area For example you can decrease the color saturationof a certain area where the red may be too bright or ldquoblown outrdquo giving anunnatural look to the photo The Sponge tool can also come in handy to helpbring out-of-gamut areas of your image back into a color range that yourprinter can handle
Writing text with the Type toolsUsed most often by graphic design-ers who combine both text andimages in their everyday work theHorizontal and Vertical Text toolsshown in Figure 11-17 are methodsto insert text into an image Add textto your photos in just three steps
1 Click the Horizontal Type toolin the Toolbox
2 Choose the font you want to use
New in CS2 is the ability to view WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) samples of each font by clicking the Font menu located on theOption bar as shown in 11-18
Figure 11-18 Choosing a font and font size on the Option bar
Figure 11-17 Type tools let you add text to animage
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 200
3 Click your image and type thetext
For my photography Website httpkevinmossphotographycom I always typea description name or locationfor each photo on my site I usethe Text tool to easily add thetext to my image canvas Afteryou type some text you canmove it around with the Movetool and place it exactly whereyou want it as shown inFigure 11-19
Shaping things up withthe Shape toolsFor situations when you want to drawsimple shapes (or insert predefinedshapes into your photos or canvas)the Photoshop Toolbox offers Shapetools to do just that Figure 11-20shows all the Shape tools available in the Rectangle tool flyout menu
Suppose I want to insert a copyrightsymbol next to my text for the Orchid artposter example I used in the previous section The process for adding thissymbol is as follows
1 Right-click (single-click on the Mac)the Rectangle tool and choose theCustom Shape tool
2 Choose the copyright symbol fromthe Option bar Shape selectionmenu shown in Figure 11-21
3 Drag the Custom Shape tool over thepart of your image where you wantto insert the symbol as shown inFigure 11-22
201Chapter 11 Editing Images
Figure 11-19 Type and move your text to thedesired location on your canvas
Figure 11-20 Shape tools available inthe Photoshop Toolbox
Figure 11-21 Selecting a shape to insertonto the canvas
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 201
202 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Figure 11-22 Adding a copyright symbol to the canvas
Zooming in and outThe Zoom tool provides one of many ways toenlarge or shrink your view of the details in animage Click the Zoom tool place your cursor overyour image and click You can also right-click(Option+click on a Mac) with your mouse andchoose Zoom Out to reverse your zoom as shownin Figure 11-23
Other methods for zooming in and out of an imageinclude using the Navigator palette or pressingCtrl+- On a Mac the preferred method for zoom-ing in is to press Spacebar+Ocirc+Click to zoom outpress Spacebar+Ocirc+Option+Click
Using tool presetsOne timesaving feature of Photoshop is that youcan set up tools the way you like them You workwith these every day so itrsquos nice to have some of
Figure 11-23 Right-click in theimage to view the Zoom toolrsquosoptions
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 202
them set up with your own cus-tomized settings and shortcutsWhen you save settings for com-monly used tools in Photoshop youcreate tool presets
I prepare a lot of photos for printand for the Web One set of presetsI use on a regular basis is my cropsettings mdash for both my Web site andfor printing I create crop presetsincluding 11times14 inches at 360dpi forprints and 4times5 inches at 72dpi for theWeb Then I save these crop settingsas presets so I donrsquot have to go inand manually specify a crop settingevery time I want to crop an image
Other common presets to considerare for Brush sizes frequently usedfonts and font sizes As you becomemore familiar with Photoshop andreally nail down your everyday image-editing workflow try setting up your common toolsusing the Tool Presets palette shown in Figure 11-24
The Tool Presets palette offers some useful featuresfor creating presets
You can drag the Tool Presets palette from thePalette well to your image window
If you need to view all presets instead of thepresets for the tool selected uncheck theCurrent Tool Only check box Re-check CurrentTool Only to view only the presets for theselected tool
You can organize presets by tool type deletepresets or change the way presets are dis-played To do so use the Preset Managerlocated in the Tool Presets flyout menu
To set up a tool preset follow these steps
1 Click the tool in the Toolbox that you want tocreate a preset for
In Figure 11-25 Irsquom selecting the Crop tool
203Chapter 11 Editing Images
Figure 11-24 The Tool Presets palette andflyout menu
Figure 11-25 Select theCrop tool
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 203
204 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
2 Make the settings to the tool that you want to preset
For the Crop tool preset I created a crop size of 19times13 inches at 360dpiin the Crop tool options on the Option bar as shown in Figure 11-26
Figure 11-26 Making a preset for Crop settings
3 Click the Tool Presets palettein the Palette well and clickto save the tool settingsmade in Step 2 as shown inFigure 11-27
You can also access the toolpresets by clicking the tool button on the far-left of the Option bar or bychoosing WindowTool
4 Type a name for the tool that yoursquore saving
Photoshop creates a default name for your preset that you can cus-tomize to your liking
As you can see there are a number of ways to open the Tool Presets paletteand create tool presets that can save you editing time
Making SelectionsIf yoursquore editing photos that look just fine for the most part often you want tochange only certain parts of them Photoshop offers a variety of tools tomake selections mdash defined editable areas within an image When you make aselection in Photoshop you can then edit only that part of the image withoutchanging the rest Getting familiar with these capabilities mdash especially theediting of selections mdash is necessary if you want to edit your individualimages with consistent quality To keep that quality the larger goal is to setup an image-editing workflow for your photos
Selecting only certain parts of your images mdash and editing only those selectedparts with tools covered in this chapter mdash gives you great creative controlYou can replace a dull background with a vibrant color darken a bright skybrighten a dark sky and selectively sharpen or blur a part of your image toget the desired effects
Figure 11-27 Naming and saving the preset
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Making selections with the Magic Wand toolThe Magic Wand tool is probably the most popular selection tool used tomake the most common selections in photos I often use the Magic Wand toselect areas of an image that are similar in color if I want to make color ortonal changes to only the selected areas
The typical process for making mdash and then adjusting mdash a selection lookslike this
1 Create a new layer by choosing LayerDuplicate Layer
2 Select part of the image you want to modify using the Magic Wand tool
I use the Magic Wand tool to select backgrounds in images that I want tochange I can lighten or darken the background replace the backgroundwith parts from another image or blur the background Whicheveradjustment I want to use I have to separate the subject from the back-ground before I make my edits
The Magic Wand tool works best when the area yoursquore selecting is onecolor (or close to one color) and has distinct boundaries from theremaining area
The Magic Wand tool works just as well as a way to select the subject of animage instead of the background Select the background and then chooseSelectInverse to swap the selections for the rest of the image
The amount of feathering deter-mines how sharp or smooth theedges of the selection are For theimage in Figure 11-28 I applieda Feather radius of 2 pixelsby choosing SelectFeather(Ctrl+Alt+D or Ocirc+Option+Don the Mac) and then typing 2in the Feather Radius fieldin the Feather Selection window
3 Apply corrections to the image
For the landscape in Figure11-28 I adjusted the color andtone of the grass without adjust-ing color and tone for the rest of the image The image wasshot with direct sunlight which ldquowashed outrdquo some of the color of the grass area Ichose ImageAdjustmentsHueSaturation and then turnedup the saturation of the Yellow and Green channels to get the effectI wanted mdash without affecting the sky or the old building
205Chapter 11 Editing Images
Figure 11-28 Making selective adjustments
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206 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Putting a twist on the whole concept of selecting just one part of the imageI then wanted to adjust the color of the sky So I chose SelectInverse(Shift+Ctrl+I Shift+Ocirc+I on a Mac) to reverse the selection from where it wasto the rest of the image I then chose ImageAdjustmentsHueSaturationand tweaked the Blue channel to get the sky the way I wanted it Figure 11-29shows the finished product
Figure 11-29 Selective adjustment of selected areas can change an image dramatically
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207Chapter 11 Editing Images
Using rulers and gridsPhotoshop offers the capability to preciselyposition elements of your images Rulers gridsand guides are used to map out your photosallowing you to make edits in a measured envi-ronment The combination of these precisiontools with the Snap-To feature lets you navigateprecisely with your mouse or tabletrsquos stylus
You can apply rulers to your image window pro-viding measurements along the left and top ofyour image window Applying grids to an imageadds horizontal and vertical lines in your imagewindow to better help you navigate Guides pro-vide horizontal and vertical lines to your specifi-cation in the image window Hold down the Alt(Windows)Option (Mac) key as yoursquore dragginga guide to switch the guidersquos orientation 90degrees
I use rulers to help me make precision crops toimages when the Crop tool just doesnrsquot cut it (nopun intended) To bring up rulers in your imagewindow choose ViewRulers or press Ctrl+R(Ocirc+R on the Mac) You can change the actualunits of measure on the ruler from inches to cen-timeters (or other units) by right-clicking theruler (Ocirc+clicking the Mac) see the image onthe left here for an example
Using grids in your image window allows you tomake more precise edits to your image Gridsare nonprinting lines you can add to your imageby choosing ViewShowGrid The image onthe right shows an image window with gridsturned on
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208 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Lasso thisSeeing the Magic Wand tool at work might make you wonder what otherselection tools Photoshop has in its bag of tricks The three lasso tools areused to create finer selections in your image
Lasso tool Used for free-form drawing of selections such as the oneshown in the upper-left image of Figure 11-30 I chose this selection so Icould edit out the selected yucky spot on the peach without affectingthe rest of the image (I like my fruit to be perfect mdash no worms)
Magnetic Lasso tool Best used to trace more complex shapes Theselection marquee (the dotted line surrounding your selection) snaps tothe selection like metal to a magnet when you use this tool If you wantto select (for example) the entire orange the Magnetic Lasso tool(shown in the upper-right image of Figure 11-30) does a more accurateselection than the other Lasso tools
Polygonal Lasso tool Used for drawing straight edges of a selection thePolygonal Lasso tool is great for making selections like the one shown inthe bottom image in Figure 11-30 where the areas to select are shapesthat have straight lines (such as boxes rectangles triangles or windows)
Figure 11-30 Selecting an area of an image you want to edit separately from the rest of the image
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 208
You can always get rid of a selection if you want to start over by choosingSelectDeselect or by clicking Ctrl+D (Ocirc+D on the Mac) to deselect yourselection
Selection optionsWhen you make selections withany tools options are available tomake your selections more preciseFigure 11-31 shows the Select menuwhich provides functionality to helpyou work with selections
The most commonly used options inthe Select menu include these
All Use this command to selectthe entire image You can alsouse the shortcut Ctrl+A (Ocirc+A onthe Mac)
Deselect Choose Deselect toremove the selection outlineyou have made When makingselections you often have todeselect in order to start over tomake the correct selections Youcan also use the keyboard short-cut Ctrl+D (Ocirc+D on the Mac)
Inverse Sometimes you want toselect an area thatrsquos tricky com-plex or otherwise just tough toselect If yoursquore lucky the rest ofthe image may be easier toselect if thatrsquos the case selectthe easier area mdash and thenchoose SelectInverse TheInverse command reverses yourselection selecting the previ-ously unselected portion ofyour image
Feather Choose this command and then indicate the number of pixelsA feather of two or three pixels provides a smooth realistic edge foryour selections in many photos Experiment with setting the feature todifferent numbers of pixels until you find the right setting for yourphoto To feather a selection choose SelectFeather or press Ctrl+Alt+D(Ocirc+Option+D on the Mac)
209Chapter 11 Editing Images
Figure 11-31 The Select menu providesadditional commands to use when makingselections
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210 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Grow When you choose the Grow command you can increase the con-tiguous areas of your selection to include areas that are similar in colorTo grow a selection choose SelectGrow
Similar The Similar command increases your selection to all like colorsof the current selection regardless of their place in the image Toexpand a noncontiguous selection with similar colors choose SelectSimilar
Before you can use the Select commands you must have actual selectionsmade in your image And it bears repeating Make sure you duplicate the back-ground layer before making selections Selections can be cumbersome butwith practice you can become more proficient
Editing TechniquesMany photos have imperfections that you would rather do without mdash andhere itrsquos no fault of the photographer Unnoticed (or immovable) power linesoddities of contrast dust specks and even flies can find their way intoimages When you view the photos later on a computer you may want tochange the imperfections that bug you (pun intended) Or some details stickout when vagueness would be more forgiving (I donrsquot know about you butIrsquove found that digital cameras can capture a lot better resolution than myown eyes can) When yoursquore taking photos of people keep in mind that somefolks donrsquot want the sharpness todayrsquos digital cameras can deliver After allwho wants to see all the pores or wrinkles on someonersquos face
Worm holes in a peach You can fix that Pimples on a teenager You can fixthat too (on-screen anyway) Power lines running across your horizon Youhave an editing trick for that too
Getting the red (eye) outOne of the most common complaints I hear about photos of people is theldquored eyerdquo effect Bright red dots in the center of the subjectsrsquo eyes detractfrom the rest of the image
The digital cure for those devilish eyes is now literally one click away thenew Photoshop Red Eye tool Herersquos how to use it
1 After opening your image duplicate the background layer by choos-ing LayerDuplicate Layer or pressing Ctrl+J (Ocirc+J on the Mac)
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Your loved ones will thank you for fixing this problemUnfortunately for me I had topick a family photo that had thered-eye problem so I coulddemonstrate it here itrsquos noteasy to get a loved one to agreeto that (Canrsquot think why Ohwell Disclaimer The photo inFigure 11-33 has been croppedto hide the identity of the testred-eye subject)
2 Zoom in on the subjectrsquos eyesby pressing Ctrl+ (on a MacSpacebar+Ocirc+click) a few timesuntil the eyes are large enoughto edit
3 Click the Red Eye tool inthe Toolbox as shownin Figure 11-32
4 Drag a box around the red por-tion of the eye to remove thered as shown in Figure 11-33
If all the red is not removeddrag the marquee over the eyeagain and let go of the mousebutton Repeat the process forboth eyes Figure 11-34 showsthe effects of using the Red Eyetool
Figure 11-34 The original image and as corrected with the Red Eye tool
Before After
211Chapter 11 Editing Images
Figure 11-32 Choosing the Red Eye tool fromthe Photoshop Toolbox
Figure 11-33 Removing ldquored eyerdquo with the RedEye tool
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212 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Removing spotsYou may think that with todayrsquos digital cameras dust spots are a thing of thepast Thatrsquos not necessarily so Digital SLRs use interchangeable lenses whenyou change these lenses dust can sneak into the camera and onto the imagesensor mdash and you have digital dust spots Fortunately the Spot HealingBrush tool offers a digital remedy
Finding a photograph to use as an example of how the Spot Healing Brushtool eliminates blemishes was hard to do not many models would approve ofa page or two about their imperfections But a landscape canrsquot argue mdash so Iuse one here to show you how to fix dust spots with the Spot Healing Brushtool
Might as well get right to it Figure 11-35 shows a photo that contains a dustspot that has to be removed
Herersquos how to remove a portion of the image such as a blemish or a dust spot
1 Create a new layer to use for editing Press Shift+Ctrl+Alt+E(Ocirc+Shift+Option+E on a Mac) to create a new target layer with allof your previously visible layers combined
If yoursquove taken this step before to do another edit just duplicate the previous layer by pressing Ctrl+J (Ocirc+J on a Mac) or select the layer toduplicate and Choose LayerDuplicate Layer
2 If needed zoom in on the portion of the image that includes the blem-ish dust spot (as in the example shown) or unwanted pixels
To zoom in you can use the Zoom tool or just press Ctrl+ (on a Macpress Spacebar+Ocirc+click to zoom in)
3 From the Photoshop Toolbox right-click the Healing Brush tool andchoose the Spot Healing Brush tool (see Figure 11-36)
4 Adjust the size of your brush so itrsquos just a little larger than the spotyou want to remove
Enlarge the brush size by pressing the right-bracket key (]) or reducethe brush size by pressing the left-bracket key ([)
5 Drag the brush over the dust spot while holding down your mousebutton and then let go of the mouse button
Figure 11-37 shows the image before and after I removed the spot from it
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 212
Figure 11-35 Dust on a digital SLR sensor can show up in photos
213Chapter 11 Editing Images
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214 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
The Healing Brush tool works thesame way as the Spot Healing Brushwith one exception Using theHealing Brush tool you can pick thesample of pixels it uses to replacewhatrsquos in the area you paint Toselect an area to clone pixels frompress Alt+click (Option+click on aMac) that area
Figure 11-37 Removing a dust spot with the Spot Healing Brush tool
Figure 11-36 Selecting the Spot Healing Brushtool
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Dodging and burning to make your images popGoing back to the old days of printing in a darkroom one of the only tricks Ihad up my sleeve to edit prints was to dodge and burn Dodging was theprocess of blocking light from certain portions of the photographic paper asit was being exposed reducing light to that part of the image The result wasa lightening of the area
Burning was a technique used to add light to certain areas of the image that Iwanted to be darker than the rest of the image If I wanted part of the back-ground darker I burnt it If I wanted a petal of a flower lighter I dodged it
It wasnrsquot an exact science and I couldnrsquot see the results of my efforts until theprint came out of the chemical process washed and dried Worse yet I hadto dodge or burn each print individually to have the same effect across allprints Multiple copies of the same print meant multiple dodges and multipleburns mdash a long hard process With Photoshop you can edit your imagesdodge and burn each image once and print as many as you want
Herersquos a hands-on look at dodging and burning your images
1 Create a new layer to edit your image
Create the new target layer with the other visible layers combined bypressing Ctrl+Shift+Alt+E (Ocirc+Shift+Option+E on the Mac)
2 Evaluate the image
Look at the photo to evaluate which areas you want to darken and whichyou want to lighten (If you havenrsquot noticed yet one of my favorite sub-jects to photograph is stuff found in backyards mdash such as butterflies andbirds Theyrsquore great models donrsquot complain and they like to fly aroundand pose for photos)
3 If necessary zoom in on the portions of the image you want to darkenor lighten with the Zoom tool Then click (first) the Zoom tool in thePhotoshop Toolbox and (next) the image
Press Ctrl+ to zoom in on your images Press Ctrlndash to zoom back out Onthe Mac zoom in by pressing Spacebar+Ocirc+Click zoom out by pressingSpacebar+Ocirc+Option+Click
4 Click and hold the mouse button over the Dodge tool or press Shift+Oa few times to get to the tool you want to use
Use the Dodge tool to lighten areas or use the Burn tool to darken areas
215Chapter 11 Editing Images
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216 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
5 Make your brush larger by pressing the ] key to enlarge the brush orthe [ key to reduce the size of the brush
You can also choose a softer brush by choosing the Brush Preset Pickeron the Option bar Using a softer-edged brush can reduce the harshedges that can appear with burning or dodging
6 Choose the Burn tool to make the light areas you want to darken
7 From the Option bar experiment with different Brush and Exposuresettings
I usually accept the defaults and make sure my Exposure setting isaround 35 percent You can dodge and burn Highlights Midtones andShadows by making those individual selections in the Option bar asshown in Figure 11-38
Figure 11-38 Adjusting the Brush and Exposure settings
8 Choose the Dodge tool to make the dark areas of the image brighter
Figure 11-39 shows the original image and then how burning and dodg-ing (in that order) can help make your image more correct in high-contrast areas
Figure 11-39 Comparing the images before mdash and after mdash burning and dodging
Before After
Option bar Brush options
Shadows Midtones or Highlights
Exposure
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Using Layer MasksOne of the more advanced features of Photoshop separates the casual userfrom the serious user Layer Masks These specialized layers let you hide orexpose specific parts of a layer by painting the portions you want to hide mdashor emphasize or expose mdash with the Paintbrush tool
You have many ways to accomplish the same task in Photoshop Using LayerMasks is just one of many techniques you can use to hide portions of imagesand replace with other effects layers or adjustments Some pretty slick usesof Layer Masks include these
Creating a layer in a portrait to blur or soften the subjectrsquos skin (a portrait-editing technique) With most portraits the subjects donrsquotwant to see their wrinkles pores or blemishes Many photographers usetechniques such as a Gaussian blur to blur the flaws but then paint inthe sharpened portions of the portrait (such as hair and eyes) that theydo not want blurred
Creating a Layer Mask to selectively paint in the effects of an overalladjustment blur or sharpening Using Layer Masks is a common tech-nique for retouching photographs selectively
Selectively darkening a background Darken the entire image using the HueSaturation Lightness slider to the level where the background isdarkened to your liking (Donrsquot worry You can create a Layer Mask andthen paint back in the areas that you donrsquot want darkened)
Replacing the background of an image by masking a selection from animage
The following steps give you a detailed taste of the Layer Maskrsquos powershowing you how to use one to hide the sharp portions of a blurred imageand then selectively ldquopaint back inrdquo the parts of the image you want toremain sharp You can apply many such effects and filters and then useLayer Masks to selectively paint in the effects I call this process the ldquoBad TieDayrdquo effect
1 Make a duplicate of the imagersquos background layer by choosingLayerDuplicate Layer or pressing Ctrl+J (Ocirc+J on the Mac)
Provide descriptive names to your layers when you create them Youcan change the layer name by clicking the layer name in the Layerspalette and typing in the new text
2 Blur the image by choosing FiltersBlurGaussian Blur
Try a blur setting from one to four as shown in Figure 11-40
217Chapter 11 Editing Images
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218 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
3 Create a Layer Mask by choosingLayerLayer Mask
Choose the Reveal All option in theflyout menu to fill the layer withwhite allowing the effects of thelayer adjustment to show throughChoosing the Hide All option in theflyout menu paints the layer withblack to hide the effects of theGaussian Blur layer adjustmentFor this example Irsquove chosenReveal All
The Reveal All option lets the effectsof the Gaussian Blur continue toshow in the image as shown inFigure 11-41 Choose this option topaint the areas to hide the GaussianBlur effect Choosing the Hide Alloption hides the Gaussian Blureffect allowing you to use a Paint-brush tool to paint in the areas ofthe image where you want theGaussian Blur effect
4 Click the Paintbrush tool in thePhotoshop Toolbox
Press D to set the foreground colorto white and the background colorto black The D key always changesthese back to the Photoshop defaultcolors (hence the D) white for fore-ground and black for backgroundPress X to reverse these colors
Using black as the foreground colorin the Reveal All mode paints awaythe Layer Mask using white as theforeground color paints the LayerMask back in
5 Lower the opacity to around 70percent in the Opacity field on thePaintbrush Option bar
Lowering the opacity reduces theldquostrengthrdquo of your painting result-ing in a more realistic transitionbetween the masked and thepainted areas of the layer
Figure 11-40 Applying a Gaussian Blur tothe bad ties
Figure 11-41 Painting in the sharperportions that are hidden under the LayerMask
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 218
6 Paint in the areas ofthe image you want tosharpen
Yes itrsquos a bit morework but herersquos why itworks
bull Painting areas ofthe image hidesthe Gaussian Blurand reveals thesharper imagebehind theGaussian Blurmask leaving theunpainted areasstill blurred
bull Painting revealsthe sharperdetails of thechosen ldquobadrdquo tiebut leaves a soft-ened look for therest of the ties(which is proba-bly a good thingthese were hang-ing on a clearancerack for areason) asshown in theimagersquos final formin Figure 11-42
To selectively sharpen an image use the same approach used to blur theimage Create a layer and merge the previous layers Sharpen the entireimage and create a Layer Mask to hide the sharpening Paint the areas youwant to sharpen and thatrsquos it
219Chapter 11 Editing Images
Figure 11-42 Softened photo after painting in the sharpareas hidden by the Layer Mask
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220 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
18_774820 ch11qxp 1406 236 PM Page 220
12Preparing Photos for Output
In This Chapter Using a workflow for image output
Remembering color management
Sizing images
Resolving issues of (well yeah) resolution
Sharpening images
Printing images
Understanding (relative) image permanence
One of the biggest challenges a photographer faces is producing outputItrsquos not that itrsquos difficult (or that wersquore lazy) but we do spend a lot of
time shooting messing around with images in Photoshop and cruisingthe Web for photo sites when we have some spare time It justseems many photographers donrsquot print enough of their workto show off those stunning images
Have you ever gone through and viewed imagesyoursquove taken a few years ago and wonder why younever processed them or printed them for your port-folio (See I know yoursquove done that before) Thischapter shows you the process and techniquesneeded to produce beautiful prints and images forthe Web The ultimate destination for all our work isthe final image mdash and I have one more set of steps toshow you that will get you there the output workflowHopefully yoursquoll realize that by incorporating this finalworkflow into your overall process for every image yoursquollhave many more photos to hang on your wall do a show orpost to your photo Web site
19_774820 ch12qxp 1406 242 PM Page 221
222 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Using an Output WorkflowTurning those pretty on-screen pictures into scintillating Web images mdash or intoactual hard copy you can hold in your hands or hang on a wall mdash is anotherwhole kettle of fish This section shows you how to put the fish in the kettle inthe right order in an output workflow that looks like this
1 Organize your output photos
When you edit images in Photoshop keep those versions of your imagefiles in a folder named to indicate that yoursquove edited those images Whenyou prep your photos for output set up folders to save separate ver-sions of the images in folders for prints Web or press
2 Make sure color management is implemented
From making color settings (EditColor Settings) to proofing (ViewProof Setup) two best practices will help you ensure effective color management
bull Edit your images in the correct color space
bull Proof your images while editing using the correct output profile inthe Customize Proof Condition window shown in Figure 12-1
Figure 12-1 The Customize Proof Condition window
19_774820 ch12qxp 1406 242 PM Page 222
3 Properly resize your images
Use the Crop tool or the Image Size command to resize your images tomatch your output needs Make sure you specify the correct output res-olution such as 72ppi for Web images or 300ppi for prints Resize yourimages using the Bicubic resampling method (for enlarging photos) orthe Bicubic Smoother resampling method (for reducing the size ofphotos)
4 Sharpen your photos
Almost all digital photos look better when you sharpen them in Photo-shop To sharpen photos use the Unsharp Mask or the new SmartSharpen filters available in the Filter menu For best results in mostphotos first increase the amount to a setting between 100 and 300 setthe Radius to around 13 or 14 and then slide the Threshold slider toabout 5 to 7 to reduce sharpening artifacts
These settings are typical but the Amount Radius and Threshold set-tings might be different for your photos
5 Save the image in an output folder
Donrsquot forget a little thing called image management (which I cover inChapter 4) Before printing save your image using the FileSave Ascommand save the modified output file to a folder yoursquove designated for your output files
6 Print
Printing isnrsquot like typing your resignation letter to your boss in Word(after you won the lottery right) and then clicking the Print button InPhotoshop there are a number of printing options that have to be set upcorrectly to ensure that your prints come out of the printer just the waythey look on your computer monitor I donrsquot want to throw a curve ballhere but there are two methods for printing (Donrsquot worry I show youboth of them later in this chapter)
A Little Color-Management ReminderConfusing as color management can be when it comes to printing with accu-rate colors you need to be thoroughly familiar with spaces
Working space This term refers to the color area Photoshop uses towork with colors Images are edited in Photoshop using the workingspace color settings and then converted to the printer space during
223Chapter 12 Preparing Photos for Output
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224 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
printing Figure 12-2 shows thePhotoshop Color Settingswindow where your workingspace is applied in Photoshop
Printer space This term refersto the settings that tell Photo-shop the printer paper andlevel of quality yoursquore printingto To make great printsPhotoshop needs to know theprinter and paper yoursquore usingso it can convert your photorsquosdata correctly by using theprinter driver (loaded when you first set up your printer) All that happens when you usethe FilePrint With Previewcommand
For photographers there are only twoworking spaces to consider usingAdobe RGB (1998) and ColorMatchRGB Deciding which color space to use in Photoshop depends on the type ofprinter you have In my case ColorMatch RGB best matches the colors myinkjet photo printers can produce Choosing either working space producesexcellent results
To set your Photoshop color space follow these steps
1 Choose EditColor Settings
The Color Settings window (refer to Figure 12-2) is where you set upyour working space for editing photos
2 Choose US Prepress Defaults in the Settings field
This selection provides the best options for photographers
3 Choose Adobe RGB (1998) or ColorMatch RGB in the Working SpacesRGB field
You get great results using either choice for photos ColorMatch RGBmay provide more accurate color for use with some inkjet printersExperiment with using both Adobe RGB (1998) and ColorMatch RGB tosee what results are best for the printer you are using
Figure 12-2 Photoshop color settings
19_774820 ch12qxp 1406 242 PM Page 224
4 Choose Preserve Embedded Profile in the Color Management PoliciesRGB field
When you open a file that has an embedded working space other thanthat specified in the Working Spaces RGB field Photoshop either con-verts those files to the specified working space or preserves the embed-ded profile
I keep the default PreserveEmbedded Profiles That way Irsquollbe notified of any mismatches(see Figure 12-3) when I openthe file and have the opportu-nity to convert the file to myworking space at that time Byleaving the Profile MismatchesAsk When Opening optionselected Photoshop promptsme to either leave the image inits embedded working space orconvert the image to the work-ing space Irsquove specified in theColor Settings window
5 Set Conversion Options
Make sure to choose Adobe (ACE) (Adobe Colorimetric Engine) in theEngine field and Relative Colorimetric in the Intent field Adobe (ACE) isthe engine used to convert colors Relative Colorimetric is the bestchoice for rendering intent for photographers
6 Select Use Black Point Compensation
This is the default setting Black point compensation ensures that yourblack points are set in the shadow areas of your photos Selecting BlackPoint Compensation is best for photos If you donrsquot have this checkedyour images will appear muddy
7 Click OK to save
Sizing ImagesSooner or later as you work with your photos you have to resize them Ialways save this step until after Irsquove made my overall color corrections andimage edits Depending on the type of output you have planned for yourphotos you have to determine two factors
225Chapter 12 Preparing Photos for Output
Figure 12-3 The Embedded Profile Mismatchwindow
19_774820 ch12qxp 1406 242 PM Page 225
226 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
Image size The image size includes the dimensions you specify forwidth and height Do you want an 8times10 a 5times7 or a 4times6 photo If yourphotorsquos destined for the Web you want something smaller 4times6 may bethe biggest size yoursquoll want to display images at on the Web and smallersizes are preferred
Print resolution for your photo If you are preparing the image for print-ing set the resolution to 300 or 360 pixels per inch (ppi) If you are tar-geting the file for the Web yoursquoll want to set the resolution to 72ppiAnything more would be a waste of resolution (and of the time it takesto transmit the file to the printer) Choose a resolution of 72ppi for yourWeb images
Resolution of sortsBefore resizing images you want to understand pixels and resolution so youcan make the correct decisions in Photoshop when you resize your photosThe first step is getting familiar with some basic terms
Pixels Pixels are those little square dots illustrated in Figure 12-4 thatmake up an image Each pixel is uniform in size and contains one color Ifyoursquore shooting with say an 8-megapixel camera each image capturedcan contain 8 million pixels Thatrsquos a potential You always have theoption to capture images at smaller resolutions (say at 32 megapixelsor lower) In any case thatrsquos a lot of pixels
Image resolution This is the setting used to size an image for outputFor example images to be viewed on-screen or on the Web should be set to a resolution of 72ppi (pixels per inch sometimes referred to asdots per inch or dpi) Images targeted for printing should be set toaround 300ppi
Image resolution is relative Different digital cameras produce different-size images but itrsquos the number of pixels per inch that actually deter-mines resolution More pixels per inch means better image quality whenyou print large photos My 7-megapixel compact digital camera (forexample) captures images at 300ppi where the image dimensions are1024 times 768 inches My older 5-megapixel compact digital camera cap-tures images at 72ppi mdash but the dimensions are 355 times 266 inches
If you change the resolution of the image you get from a 5-megapixelcompact digital camera from 72ppi to 300ppi the dimensions thenshrink to 85 times 64 inches You really havenrsquot changed the actual size ofthe image yoursquove just shrunk the image on-screen to achieve a desiredoutput resolution that matches your printerrsquos optimum printing condi-tions If you had a 35-inch-wide printer you could change the ppi settingback to 72 to achieve that image-output size but the image quality atthat huge print size would be crummy
19_774820 ch12qxp 1406 242 PM Page 226
Figure 12-4 Most digital camerarsquos produce square pixels
File size For digital images the best way to describe the size of a file isby the number of pixels it contains The 7-megapixel file my compactdigital camera produces is 3072 times 2304 pixels Multiply those two pixeldimensions together and you have 7077888 pixels mdash 7 megapixels
Image dimension Image dimension is the actual physical size of animage when itrsquos printed or sized for display Image dimension should notbe confused with resolution or file size
Understanding interpolationInterpolation is the process of increasing the resolution of an image (or a sec-tion of an image) when cropping to increase the number of pixels per inch A
227Chapter 12 Preparing Photos for Output
19_774820 ch12qxp 1406 242 PM Page 227
228 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
6-megapixel digital camera should be able to produce 8times10 prints without aproblem even if you have to do some cropping
If you print large prints mdash say 11times14 or 13times19 mdash your digital camera canproduce more resolution without interpolation and thatrsquos a better resultLarger prints require a larger amount of image information however for larger prints the more megapixels the better Though you can get accept-able large prints from 5-megapixel cameras (or even some photos shot with a 3- or 4-megapixel camera) yoursquore usually limited to prints no larger than8times10 inches
If you do a lot of cropping and still maintain image sizes of 5times7 or 8times10 theimage quality may noticeably decrease at that print size mdash unless you tellPhotoshop to interpolate by indicating a higher resolution in the Crop toolrsquosOption bar when you crop
Irsquoll often crop out small portions of a photograph mdash itrsquos sort of like creating aphoto from a photo mdash but indicating a higher resolution in the Option bar maydegrade the quality somewhat depending on how much of the image yoursquoreeliminating in your crop Images from 7- or 8-megapixel cameras can still pro-vide enough resolution to produce high-quality large prints even if you dosome extreme cropping mdash as Irsquove done in the example shown in Figure 12-5
Figure 12-5 Extreme cropping at the same ppi setting
Original as 360ppi Extreme crop at 360ppi
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A great Photoshop plug-in to use to further interpolate images is GenuineFractals You can enlarge an image up to 700 percent without image degrada-tion a perfect solution for extreme cropping or when you want to enlargeyour digital images to poster-size prints For more information on GenuineFractals visit its Web site at wwwononesoftwarecom
When you choose a resample method Photoshop actually assigns an interpo-lation method mdash which assigns color values to the new pixels that are cre-ated when you enlarge an image Photoshop bases those color values on asample of neighboring pixels (hence the term sampling) The resamplingmethod you choose helps preserve the quality of the image when you size animage larger than its native (original) resolution
Herersquos your range of resampling choices
Nearest Neighbor Used for basic illustrations when quality isnrsquot anissue Not recommended for photos
Bilinear Another method not recommended for use with photos butstill useful for some illustrations
Bicubic The preferred method of resampling photos This method usesthe values of surrounding pixels to interpolate Leave Bicubic as yourdefault resampling method because it provides the highest quality inter-polation method in Photoshop
Bicubic Smoother This method (similar to the bicubic resamplingmethod) increases the size of an image mdash with smoother results than withother resampling methods May be good for some images and portraits
Bicubic Sharper This resampling method is used for reducing the size ofan image while enhancing sharpness
Note Because sharpening is a step that should come after resizing theBicubic Sharper option really isnrsquot needed
Resizing using the Crop toolOne easy way to size your images is by using the Crop tool to specify theexact width height and output resolution of an image Figure 12-6 shows theCrop tool used to crop and size an image
To use the Crop tool follow these steps
1 Open an image
2 Click the Crop tool in the Photoshop Toolbox
229Chapter 12 Preparing Photos for Output
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230 Part IV Photoshop CS2 Image-Processing Workflows
3 Type the width in the Width field in the Option bar
This measurement is how wide you want your output image to be whenit prints out or appears on the Web Here Irsquove chosen a width of 7 inches
Figure 12-6 Cropping with the Crop tool
4 Type the height in the Height field
Irsquove chosen a height of 5 inches
5 Type the resolution you want for your file
If yoursquore preparing an image for printing enter 300ppi to 360ppi in theResolution field If file is destined for the Web enter 72ppi Irsquove chosen a resolution of 360ppi for the purpose of printing To avoid getting thedreaded jaggies donrsquot increase the resolution greater than what theimage is already set to
Crop tool
Drag crop area
Set width Set height Set resolution (ppi)
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6 Click and drag the area in your image that you want to crop
Release the mouse button When you do the crop area you selectedremains bright the area you want to eliminate darkens Additionally youcan hold down the Spacebar while dragging the Crop tool and the selec-tion area moves without changing dimensions
7 Resize or move the crop area to the position you like best
Click the crop area and while holding down the mouse button move the highlighted crop area around until you position the crop where youwant it
Click any of the corners of the crop box and drag the corner up or downto resize the crop area Click just outside any corner to rotate the croparea
8 Click the check mark icon in the Option bar to complete the crop
Alternatively you can just double-click inside the selected area to com-plete the crop
The image is sized exactly as selected at 5times7 at 360ppi
Resize using Image SizeInstead of using the Crop tool to size images you can use the Image Size com-mand to change the size of images that donrsquot need cropping
To change the size of an image using the Image Size command follow thesesteps
1 Choose ImageImage Size orpress Ctrl+Alt+I (Ocirc+Option+Ion the Mac)
Figure 12-7 shows the Image Sizewindow
2 Deselect the Resample Imageoption
3 Type in the width of the image
If you are printing an 8times10 type8 in the Width field if the imageis in Portrait orientation or 10 if the image is in Landscape orientation
231Chapter 12 Preparing Photos for Output
Figure 12-7 The Image Size window
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