Dimitri
7th April 2007, 03:31 PM
From time to time i see people new to that RAW world being highly confused and don`t have a clue what to do in there , yep ,
been there myself and i assure you it was a nightmare.
I`ve put up a basic workflow mainly for landscapes and for those new to raw.
Thats a basic workflow of mine within PS2 , i don`t necessarily use the same technique on every picture but
i hope it can give you a good kick start.
************************************************** ****************
Here is my basic workflow.
The heaviest load goes into the field , the composition , the exposure (filters for the sky and so on)
and focusing matters are all taken care of in the field.
In the CS2 raw converter there are 5 windows....Adjust / Detail / Lens / Curve / Calibrate.
If as soon as you open the image it takes you straight into auto mode , just click Ctrl / U and get out of it.
I always start with the..... D e t a i l window and...
01. sharpness...click the little arrow above > preferences > apply sharpening to > preview image only ,
that means...no sharpening during raw conversion , EVER.
02. Luminance smoothing...i use it up to 40, if the sky has some luminance noise due to higher ISO. If it looks nice and smooth, don't use it at all.
03. Noise reduction...never use it as i shoot landscape at ISO 50-100 but if you are converting birds / animals , better use something like noise ninja.
Then i go to..... C u r v e and always (95%) use strong contrast , the strong curve gives a nice impact to the picture.
After that i go to..... L e n s and play a bit (if need) with chromatic aberration and vignetting.
Lastly i go to..... A d j u s t and.....
01. Usually keep the W/B as it is, ( the in camera AWB is pretty accurate ) unless you wish to change it and turn the picture warmer or cooler.
02. Temperature ( as WB above ) but if you change the W / B to something warmer , try to experiment with it as it can give you a more red…ish colour.
03. Tint...never touch it , i`m happy as it is.
04. Exposure...up to you to adjust but I usually tend to underexpose a wee touch and push the brightness up , I get better results.
05. Shadows...98% of the time down to 3 , it gives you good details in the shadows which you don`t lose later in the software when adding some contrast.
06. Brightness...if you bump that up a bit , it works like a highlight boost but doesn`t interfere much with exposure.
07. Contrast...i usually put it up a bit , around 60 ( i like contrasty landscapes ) but do not overdo it , you lose shadow details.
08. Saturation...usually up to 10 unless you like saturated images but if you are going to use something like a velvia plug-in or add more contrast later , keep that at zero.
I never touch the last window ( calibrate ) , i prefer the other options within photoshop.
************************************************** ************************************************** ********
Now you are ready to open it within photoshop , that is your first work done , spend some time within the raw converter and get the image near perfect
as you don`t lose any quality while working within the raw convertor.
I usually check in the "show workflow options" window at the bottom left that the image will be transfered as "adobe rgb" and with resolution of 300 pixels/inch ,
also 8 bits / channel.
Now in the main photoshop window.
I check my colours...Ctrl/U
Might use some shadow/highlight (s 1 / h 5)
Might use some...image > adjustments > selective colour > blue > 60% black , thats to darken blue skies.
Some times i use some filters...image > adjustments > photo filters or even the velvia plug-in for selective parts of the picture but thats for more advanced users and
we might have another tutorial in the future.
Remember never to go overboard with these things , it is very easy to get carried away.
Always work with layers (if you can) ( ctrl J ) and save with layers , that gives you the choice of changing your mind with out causing problems ,
I usually make sure i`ve finished with the image and then save it as tiff.
Finally about USM , i don`t use any on my original tiff files.
After the file is reduced for the web , I apply some very careful and small amount
of usm , around 80 - 150 / 0.3 / 0 depending on the picture but for a more advanced sharpening technique , check my Lab USM action thread in the
processing & equipment forum , its easy to use and gives much better results.
been there myself and i assure you it was a nightmare.
I`ve put up a basic workflow mainly for landscapes and for those new to raw.
Thats a basic workflow of mine within PS2 , i don`t necessarily use the same technique on every picture but
i hope it can give you a good kick start.
************************************************** ****************
Here is my basic workflow.
The heaviest load goes into the field , the composition , the exposure (filters for the sky and so on)
and focusing matters are all taken care of in the field.
In the CS2 raw converter there are 5 windows....Adjust / Detail / Lens / Curve / Calibrate.
If as soon as you open the image it takes you straight into auto mode , just click Ctrl / U and get out of it.
I always start with the..... D e t a i l window and...
01. sharpness...click the little arrow above > preferences > apply sharpening to > preview image only ,
that means...no sharpening during raw conversion , EVER.
02. Luminance smoothing...i use it up to 40, if the sky has some luminance noise due to higher ISO. If it looks nice and smooth, don't use it at all.
03. Noise reduction...never use it as i shoot landscape at ISO 50-100 but if you are converting birds / animals , better use something like noise ninja.
Then i go to..... C u r v e and always (95%) use strong contrast , the strong curve gives a nice impact to the picture.
After that i go to..... L e n s and play a bit (if need) with chromatic aberration and vignetting.
Lastly i go to..... A d j u s t and.....
01. Usually keep the W/B as it is, ( the in camera AWB is pretty accurate ) unless you wish to change it and turn the picture warmer or cooler.
02. Temperature ( as WB above ) but if you change the W / B to something warmer , try to experiment with it as it can give you a more red…ish colour.
03. Tint...never touch it , i`m happy as it is.
04. Exposure...up to you to adjust but I usually tend to underexpose a wee touch and push the brightness up , I get better results.
05. Shadows...98% of the time down to 3 , it gives you good details in the shadows which you don`t lose later in the software when adding some contrast.
06. Brightness...if you bump that up a bit , it works like a highlight boost but doesn`t interfere much with exposure.
07. Contrast...i usually put it up a bit , around 60 ( i like contrasty landscapes ) but do not overdo it , you lose shadow details.
08. Saturation...usually up to 10 unless you like saturated images but if you are going to use something like a velvia plug-in or add more contrast later , keep that at zero.
I never touch the last window ( calibrate ) , i prefer the other options within photoshop.
************************************************** ************************************************** ********
Now you are ready to open it within photoshop , that is your first work done , spend some time within the raw converter and get the image near perfect
as you don`t lose any quality while working within the raw convertor.
I usually check in the "show workflow options" window at the bottom left that the image will be transfered as "adobe rgb" and with resolution of 300 pixels/inch ,
also 8 bits / channel.
Now in the main photoshop window.
I check my colours...Ctrl/U
Might use some shadow/highlight (s 1 / h 5)
Might use some...image > adjustments > selective colour > blue > 60% black , thats to darken blue skies.
Some times i use some filters...image > adjustments > photo filters or even the velvia plug-in for selective parts of the picture but thats for more advanced users and
we might have another tutorial in the future.
Remember never to go overboard with these things , it is very easy to get carried away.
Always work with layers (if you can) ( ctrl J ) and save with layers , that gives you the choice of changing your mind with out causing problems ,
I usually make sure i`ve finished with the image and then save it as tiff.
Finally about USM , i don`t use any on my original tiff files.
After the file is reduced for the web , I apply some very careful and small amount
of usm , around 80 - 150 / 0.3 / 0 depending on the picture but for a more advanced sharpening technique , check my Lab USM action thread in the
processing & equipment forum , its easy to use and gives much better results.