Intro to EditingA Workflow Overview

Objective

• Know• Evaluating your photographs• Ranking and sorting in Bridge• Photo Editing Workflow

• Show• Rank and sort last project in Bridge• Create file management structure in S: drive

• Level of Thinking• Apply

DIGITAL WORKFLOWStep by Step

Digital Workflow

• Tasks are typically divided up into steps, steps that can be communicated to another so they can perform the task the same.

• For instance, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You may have a process – steps – how to make one. This process works for you. It eliminates problems you have encountered from previous attempts.

Digital Workflow

• In digital photo this process is called workflow – a series of steps used to accomplish something. In our case, managing and editing digital photographs.

• Most photographers will have their own unique workflow, but most of them are variations of the following steps.

Step One

• Capture Photographs• Check lens is clean• Battery is charged• Memory card ready• Settings are the way

you want them

Step Two

• Store and Organize• Transfer to computer

or other storage device• Organize in folders• Rename files

Step Three

• Select and Edit Photographs• Sort out “good ones”• Adjust exposure, tones,

sharpness, etc.

Step Four

• Display and Share• Print• Email• Social Networks• Photo sharing sites

Step Five

• Archive and Back Up• In our case, remove

from your S: drive to a flash drive or external

• Save final images for your Portfolio!

EVALUATING YOUR PHOTOGRAPHSGood, Better, Best

Evaluating Your Photographs

• Technical • Exposure• Depth of Field• Motion Blur

• Creative• Composition• Use of technical to aide composition

It doesn’t matter how great the composition is if you don’t get the exposure right.

It doesn’t matter how perfect the exposure is if the composition doesn’t work.

Rank and Sort

• Everyone has their own “system”• I like to:• Sort out the ones that appeal to me compositionally first• Examine these for technical issues and get rid of those

• Depending on how many exposures you have versus how many you need, you can be harder or more open with what you include in your first sorts

TRY IT OUTRank and Sort

Rank and Sort

• Open Bridge• Navigate to the Shutter Speed project images• Pick out the ones you like the best• Examine for:• Focus• Exposure• Noise

Rank and Sort

• Sort out the images you like the best compositionally Mark them somehow – either with a color or stars (THIS WON’T SAVE AT SCHOOL)

• Change the view to only see those images• Examine them more closely and weed out images with

technical issues (exposure, camera shake, unintended blur, focus issues)

Rank and Sort

• Put your final “selections” in a folder inside your project folder named “To Edit”

• Create another folder called “Edited” that we will use next class

EDITING WORKFLOW OVERVIEWStep by Step

Editing Workflow - .JPEG

1. Exposure2. Contrast3. B&W Conversion

OR color correction4. Lens Cor./Crop5. Enhance6. Save Layered File7. Resize & Sharpen

for Output

ExposureAdjustment Layers & Non Destructive Editing

Objective

• Know• Exposure• Levels Panel• Histograms• Non Destructive Editing

• Show• Use the Levels panel and Histogram Panel to adjust the

exposure and contrast of an image nondestructively.• Level of Thinking• Apply

Non Destructive Editing

• Destructive: Alters the actual pixels of an image. Not reversible – permanent change.

• Non-Destructive: Changes are made on different layers. Reversible and alterable. You can go back and adjust this kind of change.

Adjustment Layer

• Adjustment layers are non-destructive edits.

Adjustment Layers

• Each adjustment layer is added as a new layer in the Layers Panel.

• It automatically has a Layer Mask.

Properties Panel

• Adjust settings in the Properties panel.

• Double click on an adjustment layer icon to display the panel for that layer.

Try it Out

• Select the Exposure Adjustment Layer.

• Notice a new layer appears in the Layers Panel.

ExposureAdjustment Layer

• Exposure: Adjusts highlights

• Offset: Adjusts shadows

• Gamma: Adjust midtones

ExposureAdjustment Layer

• Tip: This adjustment layer is meant primarily for HDR images, not regular 8-bit images.

• Hold Ctrl when your mouse is over the number field to make less drastic adjustments.

NEXT UP…A better way to adjust exposure.

Histograms

• A histogram looks a lot like a bar graph because they are very closely related.

• A histogram is a special type of bar graph. • While a bar graph typically shows quantity, a histogram

shows frequency, or how often something happens. • One big difference you may notice in how they look is

that all the bars are smooshed together until they touch each other.

When we are looking at a histogram for a photograph, it is showing us the frequency of all the tones from black

to white. There are 256 values.

Clipped

• …is a result of capturing or processing an image where the intensity in a certain area falls outside the minimum and maximum intensity which can be represented.

• In other words, tones that should be distinct all look black (0) or all look white (255)

• The tones are “clipped”

Histogram PanelExpanded View

Levels Adjustment Layer

• One way to adjust the histogram in Photoshop is to use a levels adjustment layer.

Levels Adjustment Layer

• Presets• Color Channels• Auto Settings• White, black, and gray

point samplers• White, black, and

gamma point arrows• Set output points

Levels Adjustment Layer

• Clipping Mask• Previous state • Reset• Visibility• Delete

Adjusting Arrows

Contrast

• Working in the Levels panel also adjusts the contrast of an image.

• Contrast is the difference between the brightest and the darkest areas of an image.

High Contrast

Low Contrast

Contrast & Levels

• Moving the black point and white point closer together raises the brightest and lowers the darkest parts of the picture – increasing the contrast.

• Lower contrast by adjusting the output slider. Move the black point up, to make the darkest parts lighter. Move the white point down, to make the lightest parts darker.

CURVESTonal balance and contrast

Objective

• Know• Curves Panel• Contrast

• Show• Adjust the tones and contrast of an image using Curves.

• Level• Apply

Curves Adjustment Layers

• Tonal Range: Range from dark to light• Curves panel lets you adjust tones within that range –

make them darker or lighter• It is all about INPUT versus OUTPUT

Curves

• Input: X-Axis• Output: Y-Axis

• You can control what the OUTPUT of the INPUT is – what the camera records (INPUT) and what you eventually see in your image (OUTPUT)

CURVES

CURVES

• Raising the curve raises the overall brightness.

CURVES

• Lowering the curve lowers the overall brightness.

CURVES

• Lowering the white point lowers the contrast.

CURVES

• Dragging it to the left increases the contrast.

CURVES

• Pulling both towards the center creates a posterized effect.

CURVES

• You can set points along the curve to adjust specific tones.

• An S curve is typical when you increase contrast.

Try it Out

• Use Curves Adjustment Layers to:• Increase the contrast in the image• Decrease the contrast in the image• Lower the brightness• Raise the brightness• Create a posterized effect• S Curve

• Put each effect on a different layer. Rename the layer for what it does. Turn off the eyeball when you are finished with each one.

Try it Out

• Add a Curves Adjustment Layer to your edited pictures.• You can delete the Levels AL if you want, or keep it.• Save.

BLACK & WHITE CONVERSIONS

Objective

• Know• Methods of converting to b/w in Photoshop• Nondestructive vs destructive editing

• Show• Convert images to b/w with several different methods

• Level of Thinking• Apply

Why Black and White?

• Color can be distracting• Adds drama• It is beautiful• Puts focus on the subject/moment• But most importantly, B&W emphasizes composition

which as new photographers you need to practice.

“Every time someone tells me how sharp my photos are, I assume that it isn't a very

interesting photograph. If it were, they would have more to say.”

DESTRUCTIVE METHODS

Remember…

Destructive methods cannot be changed later.

Color Mode

• The color mode is a translator – it tells the computer how to interpret and display the information it is getting.

• Grayscale makes them all be gray tones (0 to 255).• RGB splits the information into three channels, Red,

Green, and Blue.• CMYK into four channels, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and

Black (Key).

Channels

• Your camera saves data in RGB mode.

• There are three channels, one for each color.

Convert to Grayscale

• Image > Mode > Grayscale• “Discard”

• Pros: Quick and easy• Cons: No control, destructive

NON-DESTRUCTIVE METHODS

Non-destructive methods allow you to go back and change things later.

The original image layer is not directly affected.

Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer

• Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue/Sat• “OK”• Move Saturation slider all the way to the left

• Pros: Quick and easy• Cons: No control

Gradient Map

• Press “D” on keyboard to reset foreground/background colors to b & w

• Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Gradient map

• “OK”• Pros: Quick and easy• Cons: No control

Channel Mixer

• Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Channel Mixer• Tick Monochrome Box• Move Red, Blue, and Green sliders to adjust image• “OK”

• Pros: High degree of control• Cons: Not as flexible as next techniques

Black and White Adjustment Layer

• Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Black and White

• “OK”• Move color sliders• Hold mouse over picture,

then click and drag to adjust areas of the picture directly

• Pros: Most flexible of all• Cons: Not available outside

of CS3/4/5

ASSIGNMENT

Assignment: B & W

• Look through the images you have sorted out to edit.• Select at least two that you think would look better (not

just good) in black and white. • Convert them to black & white using an adjustment layer

of your choice (non-destructive editing).• Save to your S: drive.

WORKING WITH COLOR

Objective

• Know• Identify color casts• Information Panel• Curves Panel - Color

• Show• Identify color casts using the Information Panel and remove

with the Curves Panel.• Levels• Apply

Color Cast

• A color cast is an unwanted tint in an image due to lighting or improper white balance settings in the camera.

Color Cast

Color Cast

Information panel

• Use the Information Panel to identify color casts.

• Hover your mouse over something white or neutral in your image to get RGB information about that point.

Information Panel

• If the RGB values are all the same, this indicates a neutral point – no color cast.

Information Panel

• If the R, G, or B is higher, that indicates too much of that color.

• In this case, a Red cast.• (This is extreme – this

is actually an orange color in the picture)

RGB Color Wheel

RGB Color Wheel

• To get rid of a color, you add the opposite.

• To get rid of RED, you add CYAN.

• To get rid of a BLUE cast, you add YELLOW.

Curves

• Select the channel you want to adjust in the drop down.

• Pull the curve up to add the color, down to take it away.

• Use arrow keys on keyboard for small adjustments.

Try it Out: Color Casts

• Use the Color Sampler tool and the Info Panel to set a point in your image.

• Use Curves to adjust the color channels and make that point neutral.

Assignment: Color Casts

• Edit the other three images (that aren’t black and white) using the Info Panel and Curves.

• Make sure to select a point that should be neutral (white or gray).

FILE FORMATSDigital Workflow

File Formats

• File formats are like languages – languages a computer speaks to interpret information.

• Different languages are better for different things.• The format (language) you save your images as is

determined by what you want to do with them.

File Formats

• Digital cameras are usually capable of two different file formats – JPEG and RAW.

• All cameras can do JPEG.• Some cameras can do RAW.• RAW is higher quality (more information!).

JPEG

• Default file format available on all digital cameras. • “Joint Photographic Experts Group”• Pronounced “Jay-peg”• Camera processes images according to your settings, then

compresses it. Compresses means it deletes data – this CANNOT be recovered.

• DSC1012.jpg

RAW

• Available on many cameras – almost ALL dSLR cameras.• Highest possible quality.• All of the image data is there. There is NO compression.• Only things that permanently affect a RAW image are

exposure settings: ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and the focus.

• All processing is done by YOU in Camera RAW software.

RAW

• RAW is really good for if you have white balance or exposure problems.

• A major problem is that all camera manufacturers have their own RAW file format (language). These are not compatible.

• Nikons are .nef • Canons are .cr2

DNG

• Digital Negative• Created by Adobe – universal RAW format• Cameras will not save directly as .dng, but files can be

converted to .dng using Photoshop or Bridge.

TIFF

• “Tagged Image File Format”• Saves without compression.• Transfers between most programs.• Great for preparing to print.

PNG

• “Ping”• Another format that compresses, but better. • Facebook seems to like PNG better. • Good for preparing for the web.

A note on JPEG files

• The JPEG file format compresses the file EVERY TIME you open and save it.

• If you keep opening and re-saving the file, eventually the image will degrade and you will see what is called “jpeg artifacts.”

• These are splotchy areas in your image.• Prevent this by using “Save As” instead of resaving over

the same file.

JPEG Artifacts

Quality Settings

ASSIGNMENT

Archive Your Images

• Save the PSD versions of your files in your S: drive, into a folder called “Portfolio.”

• These are the layered files – not flattened!

Prepare to Print

• Crop ONE image to 8”x10”• Flatten the layers• File > Save As a TIFF file• Put in a folder in your S: drive called “Print” and save

this file in there.

Turn In

• Flatten your images.• Image > Resize• Pixel width – 900• Resolution -72• File > Save for Web, JPEG• 200k or less• Save in your S: drive, and then turn in to AR 21 account

as directed.