Idiots guide to image processing

Blackvault · 8 Jan 2007 at 22:53

DreederOcUK said:
I too would recommend RawShooter Essential Its a Raw Convertor and is easier, better and mainly more intuitive than the Adobe Raw convertor built into CS2... Its also free which is good. RSE is used alongside Photoshop, be it elements or CS2... you use RSE to tweak the colours, exposure and contrast. Then export the image from a RAW file into a Jpeg or Tiff, import this file into PS and do the rest of the editting, such as cloning out dust, straightening horizons and adding borders.

I know using RSE adds another step to your workflow, but, IMO again it is worth it.

Alternatively, there is Adobe Lightroom which is currently in a Free beta stage, I have tried it and personally dont like it, but as your having to learn a new tool from scratch you might find you get along better with it than RSE.

I switched from RSE to Lightroom Beta and I find it's more logical and easier to navigate and thus helps to get the work done quicker.

Blackvault

Naffa · 9 Jan 2007 at 01:50

What about Aperture? I suspect it's another high end complicated bit of software. But I've heard on the wire that in a good few years it could well supersede Photoshop.

http://www.apple.com/aperture/

May give it a whirl and see what's going on.

Got a feeling it's a Mac only piece of software though.

Snapshot · 9 Jan 2007 at 07:35

^^Gord^^ said:
There is also Adobe Photoshop CS2 for Photographers by Martin Evening (ISBN 0-240-51984-1) which is usefull.

I think there's an 'Eements' version as well. I have a copy but it's in a sealed wooden box 100 miles away at the moment so I can't check.

MrSix · 9 Jan 2007 at 07:53

I would reccomend getting a trial of Adobe Photoshop CS2 and having a look at some basic tutorials for various easy processes, levels, colour balance, brightness and contrast etc. Once you're comfortable with that, then you can move on to cloning, burning and dodging.

If you want any pointers on any of the above things, i'll happily send you the walkthru's I wrote for myself when I was learning photoshop, so I didn't forget.

brakeinup · 9 Jan 2007 at 09:05

Or you could try the Canon DPP software for RAW work flow that you get with your camera (or free download from Canon).

And here are some tutorials to get you started:

Linky

As Shoei said get your monitor calibrated. Either buy a calibration unit (we use a Gretag Macbeth) or get someone in to calibrate it for you.

Slinwagh · 9 Jan 2007 at 10:28

Spie said:
That was the reason for asking. I want to start shooting in RAW and wanted an introduction to image processing.

I've downloaded Elements 4 and it looks quite straightforward. Lots of filters though.

Im pretty sure version 4 also lets you adjust the curves now too.

Darryn · 9 Jan 2007 at 10:31

naffa said:
What about Aperture? Got a feeling it's a Mac only piece of software though.

You are correct, it is a Mac Only piece of software, which is the only reason I havent recommmended it in my post above. It is an extremely powerful program, and handles the transfer, processing, retouching, exporting, album creation and archiving of photos. It has a tough learning curve, ive only scratched the surface of its potential myself and love it.

SDK^ · 9 Jan 2007 at 11:06

naffa said:
What about Aperture? I've heard on the wire that in a good few years it could well supersede Photoshop.

Aperture and Photoshop are completely different applications - Adobe have Lightroom to compete with Aperture

glitch · 9 Jan 2007 at 11:46

Shoei said:
at this point is it worth suggesting getting some thing like a Pantone Huey to calibrate your monitor.
No point tweaking the photos and what gets printed looks nothing like whats on the monitor!
Stuck a Huey on my monitor, 5 mins later nicely calibrated. The old un-modified colour was very blue and cool. Now its nice and warm and looks better.

From the in-depth reviews I've read, the Huey only adjusts the primary colours so isn't as good an investment as it may seem.

I have to say the GretagMacbeth (or the LaCie or Pantone versions) Eye-One Display 2 is the only way to go for truly accurate calibration.

Bolerus · 9 Jan 2007 at 13:48

glitch said:
From the in-depth reviews I've read, the Huey only adjusts the primary colours so isn't as good an investment as it may seem.

I have to say the GretagMacbeth (or the LaCie or Pantone versions) Eye-One Display 2 is the only way to go for truly accurate calibration.

Just looked that up and OUCH

is there a budget option, or perhaps somewhere that you can that hires them out.

I need to get my monitor calibrated, and whilst I know you shoudl really do it at least once a week, I really cant budget in a calibrator

This photgraphy bug is a really expensive one ( a curse on my boss for buying that minolta and asking me to learn how top use it)

I have recently bought a pc that came witha 21inch samsung monitor form members market, and that came with a piece of calibration software, but at one point it asks me to half close my eyes and adjust till 2 colours match, but I think it is not primarily in English and I cant quite understand what it means lol. Anyway, software calibration is surely, unreliable at best

Shoei · 9 Jan 2007 at 14:33

glitch said:
From the in-depth reviews I've read, the Huey only adjusts the primary colours so isn't as good an investment as it may seem.

I have to say the GretagMacbeth (or the LaCie or Pantone versions) Eye-One Display 2 is the only way to go for truly accurate calibration.

For £40 im not complaining or expecting it to be perfect, but its got to be a lot better than using nothing though and wondering why the print outs dont match the screen.

Naffa · 9 Jan 2007 at 14:37

DreederOcUK said:
You are correct, it is a Mac Only piece of software, which is the only reason I havent recommmended it in my post above. It is an extremely powerful program, and handles the transfer, processing, retouching, exporting, album creation and archiving of photos. It has a tough learning curve, ive only scratched the surface of its potential myself and love it.

Damn, I wish my mum hadn't given my eMac away now. :mad:

Bolerus · 9 Jan 2007 at 14:49

ahh the huey is 40 - 60 pound, thats acceptable /phew

This is going to make me sound liek such a cheapskate. but

If i buy one, would it be portable onto multiple monitors (EG I have monitors at home, plus my Girlfriend has one, and there is one at work I would like to do as well)

Or would one Huey only be usuable on one monitor?

FranchiseJuan · 9 Jan 2007 at 15:08

Getting into the discusion a little late here, but I think sitting down to learn photo editing is kind of backwards. I think is far better to shoot and then learn how to correct things that you find you need to in your photos. When it comes to post processing, it is better to have just enough (or slighly less info then you need), then too much info when you start out, as you will spend more then post processing then shooting, which is never a good thing (says the man who currently is about 10K photos behind in post processing

.

Shoei · 9 Jan 2007 at 15:31

Bolerus said:
ahh the huey is 40 - 60 pound, thats acceptable /phew

This is going to make me sound liek such a cheapskate. but

If i buy one, would it be portable onto multiple monitors (EG I have monitors at home, plus my Girlfriend has one, and there is one at work I would like to do as well)

Or would one Huey only be usuable on one monitor?

Its USB, so no problem lugging it around.
TFT's tend to require less frequent calibrating from the reviews ive read of all the calibrators.
Dont see why you couldnt install the app on each pc, calibrate it then just swap it from monitor to monitor.
Bought mine to work, but the app doesnt work well on Vista Business nor on dual screen setup.