Photoshop CS4 workflow the digital photographers guide

digi-May you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it; may you enjoy the process of optimizing your own images as much as I do mine; and may the ever-growing possibilities

Get beautiful results with a better workfl ow

Convert RAW captures to maximize quality in

your images and fl exibility in your workfl ow

Apply targeted adjustments to your images

to optimize or add a creative element

Produce excellent black-and-white images, including simulated infrared eff ects

If you’re like most artists, the idea of structuring your work may

seem at odds with true creativity, but you’ll be surprised to learn

that just the opposite can be true In this latest edition of his

bestselling guide, digital imaging expert Tim Grey shows you how

proper workfl ow can free you from the repetitive parts of a project,

letting you focus on your vision and produce stunning results

You’ll discover new ways to create smooth workfl ows with Photoshop

CS4 and gain insights into Lightroom and Bridge, plus you’ll uncover

expert tips and techniques that reduce the time you spend at the

computer and speed you back to shooting.

Tim Grey is regarded as one of the top educators in digital photography and imaging, off ering clear guidance on complex

subjects through his writing and speaking He is the author of many books on Photoshop and digital photography, presents

workshops around the world on topics related to digital imaging, and regularly contributes to Outdoor Photographer, PC Photo,

Digital Photo Pro, and other print and online publications He also publishes the Digital Darkroom Quarterly print newsletter

and the daily “Digital Darkroom Questions” e-mail list

• Explore new updates to Photoshop CS4, Lightroom®, and Bridge

• Download, sort, and organize digital images on your computer

• Process RAW captures to retain maximum detail

• Crop, rotate, repair, and adjust tone and color in your images

• Harness new Clone, Curves, and Blend Mode features

• Get creative with colorization,

fi lters, and more

• Automate tasks and optimize your output

THE DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER’S GUIDE

Photoshop ® CS4 Workflow

Photoshop ®

CS4 Workflow

The Digital Photographer’s Guide

T i m G r e y

Acquisitions Editor: Mariann Barsolo

Development Editor: Pete Gaughan

Technical Editor: Jeff Greene

Production Editor: Elizabeth Ginns Britten

Copy Editor: Elizabeth Welch

Production Manager: Tim Tate

Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley

Vice President and Executive Publisher: Joseph B Wikert

Vice President and Publisher: Neil Edde

Book Designer: Franz Baumhacki

Compositor: Kate Kaminski, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Proofreader: Candace English

Indexer: Ted Laux

Project Coordinator, Cover: Lynsey Stanford

Cover Designer: Ryan Sneed

Cover Image: Tim Grey

Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-0-470-38128-1

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this book.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dear Reader,

Thank you for choosing Photoshop CS4 Workflow: The Digital Photographer’s Guide This book is part

of a family of premium-quality Sybex books, all of which are written by outstanding authors who

com-bine practical experience with a gift for teaching

Sybex was founded in 1976 More than thirty years later, we’re still committed to producing consistently exceptional books With each of our titles we’re working hard to set a new standard for

the industry From the paper we print on, to the authors we work with, our goal is to bring you the best

books available

I hope you see all that reflected in these pages I’d be very interested to hear your comments and get your feedback on how we’re doing Feel free to let me know what you think about this or any other

Sybex book by sending me an email at nedde@wiley.com, or if you think you’ve found a technical error

in this book, please visit http://sybex.custhelp.com Customer feedback is critical to our efforts at Sybex

Best regards,

Neil EddeVice President and PublisherSybex, an Imprint of Wiley

To Pete Gaughan — I still owe you an “on schedule from start to finish” book Next time? Thank you for your

tremendous support over the years.

Acknowledgments

Would you believe me if I told you this is the most difficult part of the book to write?

It’s true And it has only gotten more difficult over the years as the tapestry of my life in the world of digital imaging has grown more complex (in a good way) every single year

The truth is, there are so many people who have played a role in helping me do the things I love, it is difficult to remember them all, or even know where to begin They range from the top-name photographer who has provided inspiration, to the anonymous attendee in a lecture who took the time to tell me how helpful my presentation was to him or her I feel incredibly lucky to be doing what I’m doing, to have the opportunity

to do so many things I love, and somehow to be able to make a living doing it

This book represents a huge part of who I am as a photographer and educator in the field of digital imaging I consider it my “cornerstone,” and the majority of what I teach across the country and around the world is found in these pages And I most cer-tainly do not deserve all the credit

First on the list is Pete Gaughan He’s worked with me on the majority of my books (11 out of 15, if my math is correct), and he deserves much of the credit for both the fun I had writing the books and the quality of the final product

My girlfriend Renée deserves credit (and thanks) for encouraging me to follow

my dreams and focus my energy on the things I’m most passionate about She has been

a supporter from the first time we worked together, and now serves as a source of ration Thank you for everything

inspi-My stepdad, Bob, who raised me from a very young age, serves as a constant reminder of what’s important in life He died before he had a chance to see the second

edition of my book Color Confidence, which I dedicated to him, and I strive to ensure

I’m not tardy with such thanks again

My mom probably doesn’t realize how much she’s influenced me in life You could say her fingerprints are all over the pages of this book Thank you, Mom We can dis-cuss this over wine for your (very special) next birthday I’ll explain later

Jeff Greene once again served as technical editor, helping to ensure everything

I wrote was accurate He also continues to be a valued friend and sounding board I still believe his son Eric (the famous pinewood-derby champion and star Little League baseball player) is doing most of the real work, but Jeff oversees that work and deserves credit all the same Thanks, Jeff

I’ve been inspired by many great photographers, many great students, and many great people I could probably fill an entire chapter (or more) thanking each and every one of them But they know who they are, and hopefully they know how much I appre-ciate their support The journey has been—and continues to be—incredible, and each of them has played a part in making it that way

I truly feel that I have the easy part when it comes to writing a book such as this

It is the hard-working team that assists me (and doesn’t get the glory of having their name on the cover) that really makes things happen Mariann Barsolo prodded ever

so gently to help get this book back on schedule (a revised schedule, mind you), and I appreciate her support and encouragement I also want to thank production editor Liz Britten, copy editor Liz Welch, proofreader Candace English, and the sales and market-ing teams

Of course, the most important ingredient for any book project is the readers So thank you for choosing this book as a source of knowledge and inspiration in your digi-tal photography workflow I hope it far exceeds your expectations

About the Author

imag-ing, offering clear guidance on complex subjects through his writing and speaking He loves learning as much as he possibly can about digital imaging, and he loves sharing that information even more

Tim’s work combines several of his greatest passions: technology, teaching, tography, writing, and travel All of these have been part of his life in some way for as long as he can remember, and became a major focus starting in high school He has been involved with digital photography and imaging for over 10 years

pho-Tim has written more than a dozen books on digital imaging for

photogra-phers, including the best-selling Photoshop Workflow series (the latest edition of which you’re reading now) and Color Confidence (Sybex, second edition, 2006)

He has also had hundreds of articles published in magazines such as Digital Photo

Pro, Outdoor Photographer, and PC Photo, among others He publishes the

Digi-tal Darkroom Questions email newsletter (add your e-mail address to the list at www.timgrey.com), as well as the Digital Darkroom Quarterly print newsletter Tim teaches through workshops, seminars, and appearances at major events He is a mem-ber of the Photoshop World Dream Team of Instructors

The Importance of Workflow 4

Sorting Images in Bridge 35

Converting with Camera Raw .56

Basic Rotation 88Basic Cropping 90

Arbitrary Rotation .103

Evaluating the Image 110

Prioritizing Adjustments 114Adjustment Layers and Photoshop CS4 .115Tonal Adjustments .117

Part III Advanced Adjustments 165

Shadow/Highlight 168Curves 177

Dodge and Burn 190

Curves for Color 207

Selective Color .211Color Casts 214

Targeted Color Painting 219

Saving and Loading Selections 264

Introduction to Masking 268

Adjustment-Layer Masking 277

Mask from a Selection 278 Painting on a Mask 279 Masks Palette 283 Layer Groups .285

Creating Adjustment Versions 285 Masking Multiple Adjustments 286 Applying Multiple Masks 288 Chapter 11 Creative Adjustments 291 Getting Creative 292

Colorize 292

Black and White Conversion 295

Black and White Hue Shift 295 Black and White Adjustment 298 Blur Effect 301

Infrared Effect 303

Vignette 307

Filters 309

Smart Filters 310 Filter Gallery 310 Masking Filters 312 Curves Color Shift .314

Creative Edges 315

Filtered Edge 315 Painted Edge 317 Part IV Finishing the Workflow 321 Chapter 12 Saving Files 323 Master-Image Concept 324

Filenames, Locations, and Formats 326

Photoshop PSD 328 TIFF 329 Choosing between PSD and TIFF 331 Chapter 13 Workflow Automation 333 Automation Philosophy 334

Image Processor .334

Actions 338

Recording Actions 338 Revising Actions 342 Playing Actions 345 Batch Processing 345

Destination Settings 347

Droplets .350

Chapter 14 Output Processing 353 Output Workflow 354

Preserve the Master Image .356

Process a Working Copy 357

Duplicate Image 357 Flatten Image 357 Image Size 358 Unsharp Mask 360 Image Output 363 Save a Copy 366

Appendix Sample Workflow Checklist 369 Sorting .370

Initial Image Preparation .370

Basic Optimization 370

Advanced Adjustments 370

Workflow Wrap-Up .371

Digital cameras are now the norm, and film is rapidly being relegated to the shelf where

it takes its place next to VHS tapes, 8-tracks, and reruns of The Honeymooners Jackie

Gleason was genius in his day and we can still laugh at the sketches, but we’ve moved

on as an audience It’s the same with film I love looking at the remarkable library of

imagery that was made with film, but my own skills with gelatin emulsions have given

way to techniques in Photoshop

When Tim Grey wrote the first edition of Photoshop Workflow, many aspects

of digital imaging were still in some transition There’s been a shakeout since then, and

today digital photography can be said to have matured considerably It might be a little

early to call it an adult, but certainly we’re looking at technology that’s in the latter

por-tion of adolescence The awkwardness and some of the attitude has faded, but there are

still plenty of things to learn before it heads off into the world alone

When it comes to workflow, it’s the same story Most of us are still trying to figure out the best, most efficient way to get the job done For those of us who began photog-

raphy with film and wet darkrooms, the learning curve has been challenging and it

has required looking at photography in a new way In the first edition of this book, I

described the difference between a film- and digital-based workflow this way:

“Back in the age of film, the workflow was established by the parameters of the medium itself You exposed the film, sent it to a lab for processing, and made a print or sent the image for prepress

“But digital processes don’t lend themselves to such a linear progression Every step

in the production of a digital image seems able to take on a new set of possible twists and turns, some of which are productive and some of which are a waste of time.”

The trial and error of establishing a good and efficient workflow has driven many

a good and sensible photographer to his or her wit’s end

New software comes on the scene with the promise of simplifying the workflow while providing new features that we, as photographers, have requested to give us pow-

erful new workflow tools

As a leader in this field, my friend Tim Grey has always been one to blaze a new path in digital imagery He has a natural curiosity and interest in new tools, and he has a

unique talent for seeing the best way to get things done Speaking personally, I’d rather

be out shooting than trying to work out how to develop an efficient way of processing

my images from camera to print Tim has taken the guesswork out of the process for

me; he has created workflow that makes sense and utilizes the new powerful software

tools that are available

It’s as true today as when the first edition of this book came out: The best flow is one that you shouldn’t have to think about Whether you’re a pro, an amateur,

work-or an enthusiast, Tim will show you how to make an efficient wwork-orkflow fwork-or you

Christopher Robinson

Editor, Digital Photo Pro

Although any art form deserves to be exercised with tremendous flexibility, tal technology calls for a certain amount of procedure To anyone trying to be artistic, procedure seems contradictory to creativity And yet, there is much to be gained from following a somewhat systematic workflow.

digi-Following a workflow doesn’t eliminate the ability to exercise creativity and jective decision making about your photographic images Instead, I see it as a way to provide structure to your thinking that can help you expand the level of creativity you can apply to your images By having a systematic method for processing your images, you’re free to think about the effect on the image rather than the actual process And just because you have a process doesn’t mean it isn’t unique or can’t be revised as the situation warrants it

sub-In this book, I present a structure you can follow (and modify) when ing your images in Photoshop It isn’t designed to be an absolute formula, but rather a guide to help you define a structure for your own workflow This process works well

optimiz-as a boptimiz-asic flow, but that certainly doesn’t mean you should blindly follow the workflow exactly as I present it Instead, think of it as one way to approach the image-optimiza-tion process, and then fine-tune it to meet your own needs

Besides wanting to promote a natural flow for making adjustments to images, it

is also important to me that detail in the image be preserved and that adjustments be made in a nondestructive manner As you’ll see throughout the book, every adjustment

I perform is done on a separate layer, not only keeping the original data safe but also enabling you to revise your adjustments at a later time with no penalty in image quality

I hope it becomes obvious as you read this book that I am passionate about tal photography and image optimization in Photoshop My greatest hope is that my passion will be infectious and that you too will grow to be passionate about optimizing your images (if you aren’t already)

digi-May you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it; may you enjoy the process of optimizing your own images as much as I do mine; and may the ever-growing possibilities provided by digital imaging make you all the more enthusiastic about photography

What about Lightroom?

With all this talk about workflow, you may be wondering why this book is about Photoshop instead of Lightroom After all, Lightroom allows you to perform many of the image-optimi-zation tasks you could otherwise perform in Photoshop, and is focused on providing a more efficient workflow

Throughout this book you will indeed find many references to Lightroom, outlining the things Lightroom will contribute to your workflow So why not abandon Photoshop altogether and perform all your adjustments in Lightroom?

There are several answers to this in my mind For one thing, many photographers aren’t able to take full advantage of the end-to-end workflow in Lightroom because they don’t need to share images with clients and are spending the majority of their digital darkroom time focused on producing optimal results with a relatively small number of images

Another consideration is that Lightroom is still relatively new, and although it offers many incredible features, it still doesn’t provide everything a photographer might need in terms of image optimization, and it doesn’t provide a particularly good solution for photographers who still need to work with their images in Photoshop

Also, Lightroom takes a completely new approach to optimizing your images, and does away with the layer-based approach used in Photoshop As such, you don’t have a single file encap-sulating all of the adjustments you’ve made, and you don’t have quite as much flexibility

Although I find Lightroom to be a valuable tool for organizing my images, I still take my best images into Photoshop and use layer-based adjustments to produce a master image file contain-ing all of those adjustments, using that file as the basis for all future output for that image

Lightroom most certainly provides some workflow advantages, and for many photographers resents an excellent workflow solution I’ll address those issues in some of the chapters, but will focus most of this book on showing you how to produce the best images possible in Photoshop

rep-Who Should Use This Book

Photoshop CS4 Workflow covers the full spectrum of adjustments you’ll want to

apply to photographic images in Photoshop As a result, it is appropriate for raphers of all skill levels who would like some guidance in creating the best workflow for image optimization Beginning users will build a strong foundation and then be able to move on to more advanced topics, while expert users will gain a greater under-standing of the issues affecting workflow, as well as some new techniques they can use

photog-on their images

This book was written based on Adobe Photoshop cS4, but it’s also applicable

in large part for users of prior versions of Photoshop (though some new features will obviously not be available)

If you’re a digital photographer who doesn’t feel totally confident that you’re getting the most benefit from your image optimization in Photoshop, this is the book for you

Chapter 1: Workflow Foundations will help you understand the principles of a good

founda-tion and will get you thinking about your priorities in an image-optimizafounda-tion workflow

Chapter 2: Download and Sort provides guidance on the process of getting digital captures

onto your computer and then sorting and organizing them

Chapter 3: RAW Conversion shows you how to process your rAW captures to retain

maxi-mum detail

Chapter 4: Rotate and Crop provides the basics of cropping your images as well as rotating

them to set the proper orientation or to fix crooked horizons

Chapter 5: Basic Tone and Color guides you through the basic adjustments that affect tone

and color in your images

Chapter 6: Image Cleanup helps you master the art of repairing damage, dust spots, and

flaws in your images to help them look their best

Chapter 7: Advanced Tonal Adjustments takes things a bit further with tonal adjustments,

showing you some of the advanced options available

Chapter 8: Advanced Color Adjustments offers a look at some of the advanced options

avail-able for fine-tuning color in your images

Chapter 9: Making Selections includes many methods for creating selections, from the basic

tools included in Photoshop through some advanced methods

Chapter 10: Targeted Adjustments lets you put your selections, as well as other techniques,

to use so you can apply adjustments to specific areas of your images, which truly

unleashes the full power of Photoshop

Chapter 11: Creative Adjustments gives you an opportunity to exercise a little creative license

with your images by using techniques that go beyond the basic photo optimization

Chapter 12: Saving Files covers the basics of saving your image files to ensure that all the

work you’ve put into the image is retained for future output or revisions

Chapter 13: Workflow Automation will help make your life easier by showing you how to

automate repetitive tasks that you need to apply to your images

Chapter 14: Output Processing finishes up the workflow by discussing how to prepare your

images for final output

Photoshop CS4 Workflow, Online

Some utilities and companion files mentioned in the book are available from Tim Grey’s

site, www.timgrey.com Simply navigate to the Writing section of the website and find the

link to the downloads page associated with the listing for this book on the Books page

Sybex strives to keep you supplied with the latest tools and information you need for your work Please check their website at www.sybex.com for additional con-

tent and updates that supplement this book Search for photoshop and workflow (or

the book’s ISBN, 9780470381281) to access the book’s update page.

Getting Started

Getting off to a good start is important in many areas of life, and it is no different with your digital photography workflow Taking the right approach at the early stages of your workflow has a significant impact on your results In this first section, I’ll discuss some of the fundamental considerations in establishing and following a workflow for optimizing your digital photos, and help you ensure the first steps you take in that workflow are leading you down the right path I’m sure you’re eager to get to the advanced techniques covered later, but I encourage you to spend some time in this section so you can build

a solid foundation for your image-optimization workflow.

Chapter 1 Workflow Foundations

Chapter 2 Download and Sort

Chapter 3 RAW Conversion

I

1

Whenever I think about optimizing a photographic image, I tend to think about

“process.” That always gets me reminiscing about working in a wet darkroom (ah, the smells!), producing black-and-white prints under the glow of red lights, and watching

an image magically appear on the exposed paper as it soaks in the developer solution

Of course, making a print in a wet darkroom

is a procedural process You perform a series

of steps in the correct order.

When you’re working with digital images, the process and options are considerably different, but the concept of a workflow still applies Establishing an appropriate workflow provides an efficient method of working on your images to help ensure the highest quality possible.

Chapter Contents

The Importance of Workflow Establishing a Workflow Revising Your Workflow

The Importance of Workflow

the term workflow has become a buzzword in the world of digital imaging, especially

with the advent of an entire category of workflow software that includes adobe toshop lightroom and apple’s aperture it’s no wonder the notion of workflow for digital photographs led to an entirely new category of software While many photog-raphers embraced digital photography as a way to exercise increased control over the process of producing a photographic image, it brought with it a steep learning curve, a variety of new tools, and a certain amount of confusion about exactly how the process should be approached

Pho-a workflow in digitPho-al photogrPho-aphy implies Pho-an end-to-end Pho-approPho-ach to dePho-aling with your images, from downloading them to your computer, to organizing them, opti-mizing them to look their best, and sharing them in various ways in this book i focus the most attention on the workflow for optimizing your images in adobe Photoshop,

as that is an area photographers focus a lot of energy (to make their images look their best) and tend to get confused (in large part because there are so many different options available in Photoshop, and so many conflicting recommendations for how to perform various tasks)

i’m a huge advocate for taking a deliberate approach to optimizing your digital photographs that means not taking a haphazard approach to the process, but it also means not having a rigid set of rules that can never be broken it means having a plan for your digital-imaging workflow that will ensure an efficient process for you and the best quality possible in the images you produce understanding the benefits of a con-sistent and optimized workflow will help you appreciate the importance of establish-ing that workflow in the first place

Quality

Quality is always critical in a digital photograph that doesn’t necessarily mean the image must be perfectly sharp from edge to edge, or that there can’t be any noise, or that it must obey the rule of thirds it simply means the quality is the best it can be based on what you’re trying to accomplish with the image (figure 1.1)

as much as i love using Photoshop to truly maximize the potential of a graphic image, i’m not a big fan of the “i’ll fix it in Photoshop” approach to digital photography i truly believe you need to do all you can at every stage of the workflow

photo-to maximize the quality of the image (realizing quality is a subjective term) that

qual-ity starts with the original capture so although this book focuses on what you do to the image after the capture, it is important to realize that the actual photography is a critical factor in the ultimate image quality you’ll achieve to achieve the best results

at the end of your workflow, you need to start with the best images at the beginning of your workflow

as you take the steps to optimize your image, a proper workflow helps ensure the best results Having a plan for your workflow means you’re thinking about which approach you’ll take, the methods you’ll use, and the order in which you’ll perform

the various adjustments applied to your images these are key factors that affect the

quality of the final image, and having a plan focused on optimal quality will give you

much better results than adjusting your images in a haphazard fashion

Figure 1.1 “Quality” doesn’t necessarily mean an image that is tack-sharp from edge to edge, or that exhibits other characteristics

we think of when talking about a photographic image It simply means producing an image with the best results possible based on

your intent

the bottom line is that you care about the quality of your images more than anyone else does You have already invested significant time, effort, and money to

ensure you can achieve the best results in your digital photography taking the

time to develop an appropriate workflow for your digital images will enable you to

maintain that quality through to the final image

Note: Quality can be a subjective factor in many images, especially when unique photographic methods or special effects are used Although the definition of optimal quality can vary by photog-rapher or even by photographic image, your workflow should focus on maintaining the quality and aesthetics of your original image as you captured it, while producing an improvement in the final result

as you are defining (or fine-tuning) the workflow you use to optimize your images, consider the effect of the particular methods you’re using, as well as the order

in which you perform tasks, to see if there are things you can do to improve image

quality throughout this book, i’ll be sharing methods for achieving exactly those

high-quality results with your digital workflow

as much as most photographers love working with their images—seeing them transformed from good captures to remarkable images—generally they don’t want to sit in front of the computer all day they’d much rather be out taking new pictures By developing a general workflow, you can work much more efficiently You won’t have

to stop and think about what the next step is although some images will certainly require extra attention, and at times you will need to try out various techniques before achieving the desired result, an established workflow you are comfortable with will make the work of perfecting your images go relatively quickly

When giving presentations on digital imaging (see www.timgrey.com for a ule of upcoming appearances), i may take half an hour to fully discuss the details of one particular adjustment, whereas making the adjustment as part of your normal workflow may require mere seconds or a few minutes at most the time spent under-standing how the adjustment works is a worthwhile investment When you’re familiar with the tools, you’re able to use them much more efficiently it may take some time for you to fully grasp all the details, but by taking the time to truly understand how the tools work, you’ll be much more efficient without compromising the quality of your images

sched-Consistency

another benefit of a consistent workflow is—no surprise here—consistency this relates to the two previous topics: by maintaining a consistent workflow, you’ll ensure consistent quality in your images and a familiarity that will improve your efficiency

When you find a workflow that works for one image, that workflow (with obvious variations as needed for specific images) will work well for all of your images

Note: Keep in mind that an established workflow doesn’t define absolute rules for the ments you must make to all of your images, or even the specific order in which you must perform those adjustments Rather, it provides a roadmap that guides you through the best way to approach your images for optimization

adjust-in effect, if it makes sense to establish a workflow for optimizadjust-ing your images (and i certainly think it makes a lot of sense), it also makes sense to be consistent in your use of that workflow in other words, make a plan and stick to it to achieve the maximum benefits

Because you’re reading this book, i’m assuming you already appreciate the value

of establishing a workflow for optimizing your digital images By extension, i also

assume you aren’t completely comfortable with the process you’re currently using as

you work your way through this book, that will change

as you begin creating a workflow that works for you, i strongly recommend making duplicate copies of a couple of favorite images that could use some work, and

going through the process of experimenting with the adjustments that will form the

foundation of your workflow Because they’re just copies of your images, you don’t

have to worry about whether you produce a good final result, and you can focus on

practicing the steps involved and figuring out what works best for you

Note: Although this chapter is about establishing a workflow for your images, you won’t find details of a specific workflow here That’s because this entire book is about the workflow process, and

by going through the book in its entirety you’ll learn what steps you need to include in your own flow, and in what order you’ll likely apply them

work-Workflow Philosophy

You may not consider the concept of a workflow in Photoshop to be the most

philo-sophical subject, but it is helpful to have a philosophy that drives your workflow

at a fundamental level, my workflow philosophy revolves around maximizing quality first and foremost, while trying to maintain the greatest efficiency and flexibil-

ity at the same time for me, this approach unleashes the maximum potential of the

image and best leverages the power of Photoshop

at a more tactical level, my philosophy about an image-optimization workflow focuses on solving the biggest problem with the image first now, when i say “problem,”

i don’t literally mean that, because i also feel it is important to start with the best

images possible What i mean is that you should make the most significant adjustment

first for most photographers, that tends to mean making tonal adjustments before

color adjustments, for example, but that is only a guideline and won’t be followed

rigidly as you evaluate and work toward optimizing an image, start with what you

think is the most significant change to be applied, and work your way down to the

“fine-tuning” adjustments this also involves starting with the global adjustments

(those that affect the entire image) and then narrowing your focus to adjustments that

affect only specific areas of the image

this approach also applies at the level of an individual adjustment for example, the order in which you adjust each of the sliders for adjustments that contain multiple

sliders (which is pretty much all of them) is worth some consideration When

decid-ing which slider to adjust first, i don’t simply go from top to bottom in the dialog

box instead i start with the slider i feel represents the most significant or important

this philosophy can help guide you to a workflow that will work best for most

of your images, and will also help you make decisions that are specific to a given image, rather than following a rigid workflow and not making any decisions at all

Determine Priorities

Your priorities in optimizing your images probably reflect the topics covered in the beginning of this chapter in particular, you probably want to ensure maximum qual-ity in your images while maintaining efficiency with your workflow However, you may also have other priorities for your images, which you’ll want to consider when fine-tuning your workflow

the first step in establishing a digital workflow is to think about what is tant to you and how you prefer to work some of this relates to overall strategies

impor-for example, i strongly recommend using adjustment layers or separate image layers for all adjustments this approach will be emphasized throughout the book, with a layer-based method for every adjustment presented another aspect to consider is the general flow of your adjustments do you prefer to clean up dust and other blemishes before you get started, or would you rather move right into tonal adjustments? this book will present recommendations on the order in which you should make your adjustments, and under which circumstances you should change that order

of course, your priorities will depend in large part on the type of work you’re doing and the deadline under which you’re operating for example, photojournalists often have speed as their utmost concern for them, a workflow that focuses on meth-ods to speed up the process of preparing images is optimal for a nature photographer producing large prints, quality is the greatest concern, even if that means taking con-siderably longer to process an image for a given photographer, the optimal workflow may even vary based on the particular project the key is to define a workflow that meets your typical production needs, but to remain flexible so you can revise your workflow based on changing needs

What you may find, however, is that when you use the best methods to assure optimal image quality, and you start to learn more about how to use the best tools for that purpose, you may find you’re also able to work quickly in other words, with an efficient workflow you understand, you can focus on speed and quality at the same time, without really making any sacrifices

Focus on Results

although workflow is all about a process, the real purpose of that process is to create the final result (figure 1.2) Photographers typically capture images because they want

to produce beautiful prints or other output to share with as many viewers as possible

We want that final output to be impressive, both because of the content of the image and because of the quality of the final display as such, it is important that you keep

thinking about the final result when you’re optimizing your images, as well as when

you’re figuring out your workflow in the first place

Figure 1.2 For most photographers, the ultimate result of their digital workflow is a high-quality

print they are proud to display for all to see

You want to produce the best images possible, and a proper workflow will ensure you are able to maintain that quality throughout the process However, also

consider your intent for the final appearance of your images How you want your

images to look at the end of the process can determine the steps you take to adjust

the images during that process for example, if you are preparing an image for a

bro-chure and need it to be a real attention-grabber, you might boost the saturation and

kick up the contrast the same image used for a restaurant menu might need to be

flex-as you think about the results you are trying to achieve and the typical order

of priorities in producing the best results, you’ll get a sense of how you might organize the process of optimizing your images give some thought to the order in which you should make your adjustments, and the factors that are particularly important to you when it comes to your images as you think about these topics, you’ll start to get a feel for a workflow that will make sense for you and your images

Note: I’d be the last person to suggest you need to write your own manual on how to apply a workflow to your images (especially because this book can guide you through the workflow process)

However, it might make sense to write out the basic steps you feel are important as you develop your own workflow Also, be sure to see this book’s appendix for a guide you can use as you develop your own workflow

Maintain Flexibility

another important consideration for your workflow is flexibility You want to be sure your workflow is making your image-optimization process more efficient and that it allows you to change your mind about what you want the image to look like

A Flexible Attitude

one aspect of maintaining flexibility in your workflow is a state of mind it is tant that you don’t get caught in the trap of always doing the same things to every image each image is unique and deserves to be optimized based on what you judge to

impor-be the impor-best result for that particular image i’ve known photographers who apply the same adjustments with the same settings in the same order to every single image this robotic approach to image editing won’t demand too much of your time, but it also won’t ensure optimal image quality some images may be improved by the particular adjustments, while others may be harmed

even if you find that certain settings for some adjustments seem to work best for every image, keep in mind that the workflow you establish is a basic guideline for the general order in which you’ll perform your adjustments don’t think of your workflow as a rigid set of rules that dictate what steps should be taken and in what order

even after you’ve established a workflow that helps you achieve exceptional results with your images, don’t be afraid to change things around for a particular image some images will have unique problems that need to be addressed early in the workflow to maintain high quality in other situations you’ll simply want to depart from your typical workflow to produce a creative variation (figure 1.3) Whatever

the situation, there are many good reasons to depart from your typical workflow to

achieve certain goals treat your workflow as a guide for producing the best results

with your typical images, but maintain the flexibility to change your process when

you feel it will benefit the final result

Figure 1.3 Even if you’re happy with the way an image has turned out, you may later decide you’d like to stretch the creative limits

of that image Maintaining flexibility with your workflow helps ensure you can always act on your creative ideas

(fig-Figure 1.4 By using layers in your workflow, you’ll maintain the flexibility to revise the adjustments you’ve made at any time

without risking a loss of detail or quality in the image

By following my recommendation to use a layer-based workflow, you’ll ensure that the original image data contained in the Background layer is maintained the result is that you can always return to the image and remove particular adjustments,

or fine-tune that adjustment if you’ve changed your mind about the effect you’re ing for You may have experienced a situation where you’ve optimized an image, and

then opened it at a later date only to wonder what you were thinking when you made

the original adjustments By working with layers you can ensure that such situations

don’t represent a need to compromise the overall quality of the image, but rather

represent opportunities to make the image even better than it was the first time you

worked on it

Note: I’ll discuss more details of the benefits of adjustment layers in your workflow in Chapter 5,

“Basic Tone and Color.” Also in that chapter you’ll learn how Photoshop has organized adjustment layers into a new Adjustments palette; see the section “Adjustment Layers and Photoshop CS4.”

Revising Your Workflow

i think of a digital-imaging workflow as a living entity—not because i have some weird

fascination with workflow, but because i realize that your typical workflow will change

over time You need to be comfortable revising your workflow to take advantage of

new techniques you learn

Nothing Is Permanent

a variety of factors may lead you to revise the way you work on your images for one

thing, as you learn new image-editing techniques you may want to incorporate them

into your workflow as you read more books, take workshops, or just talk to others

who are also involved in digital photography, you’ll discover new methods that

pro-vide efficient ways to achieve similar results or ways to produce completely new

varia-tions of your images

Because it is simply a guideline for adjustments, a general workflow provides the flexibility to incorporate new methods into the process of optimizing your images

However, in many cases you may develop a specific workflow that involves performing

specific actions (with variable settings) in a specific order to ensure you are always

able to achieve the best results, be willing to revise your workflow to incorporate new

skills as you learn them

another factor that can impact your workflow is changes in software With each new version of Photoshop or with the release (or discovery) of new plug-ins and

filters, you’ll find ways to add efficiency and creativity to your normal workflow

the key is to be willing to revise your workflow when appropriate if you learn

a way to make your workflow more efficient or to provide even better results, by all

means change your workflow to include such techniques

Evolving Requirements

as you continue working with your images, you’ll likely find that your own

require-ments will evolve there are two general categories for these changing requirerequire-ments

the first category represents actual changes to the results you need to produce

for example, if you’ve been producing only ink-jet prints but now need to be able to

prepare your images for offset press output, you may need to revise your workflow

the second category has to do with the likelihood that your standards will get higher with time if you’ve been working with digital imaging for any length of time, you can probably relate to this from your own experience When the first photo ink-jet printers became available, most of us were thrilled with the quality they could provide

However, if you compare that early output to what today’s photo ink-jet printers are able to achieve, those older models will seem totally inadequate (figure 1.5) What used to be considered excellent quality is now rated as garbage

to your overall workflow

consider the adjustments that are necessary to achieve the results you desire, and think

about a logical way to apply those adjustments that will provide an efficient way to

produce consistently high-quality results

By taking the time to develop such a workflow, you’ll ensure that the process is working for you, rather than creating a situation where you are working hard but not

producing the consistent quality you desire With a proper workflow—as you’ll find

throughout this book—you’ll be able to unleash the great potential of the pixels in

your images

2

Download and Sort

The real workflow for your digital photos starts before the images even reach your computer Of course, I usually think about the digital workflow as starting before I even press the shutter release button, but the actual workflow of optimizing your images starts with the process of downloading and sorting your images Proper techniques ensure you’ll safeguard your images and keep your growing collection of photographs organized.

Chapter Contents

Adobe Bridge Downloading Photos Sorting Images in Bridge Evaluating Images

a variety of companies that enable you to perform many of these tasks, the fact that Bridge is included with Photoshop and provides all the basic features most photogra-phers will need makes it a good solution.

Figure 2.1 Adobe Bridge, which is included with Photoshop, is a tool for managing your images.

Bridge can be accessed from within Photoshop, but it is actually a separate cation you can launch by itself, meaning you don’t need to have Photoshop running in order to use Bridge If you already have Photoshop running, you can launch Bridge by

the right of the menu bar

Preferences

Before you start working with Bridge, it is a good idea to set the preferences to make sure they are set the way you want them to access the Preferences dialog box, select Edit >

Preferences (Bridge > Preferences on Mac oS) from the menu in Bridge (Figure 2.2)

on the left side of the Preferences dialog box is a list of the “pages” available in Preferences to access options in a particular category, click the name of the page you want to access

What about Lightroom?

In many ways you can think of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom as a replacement for Adobe Bridge, Adobe Camera Raw, and Photoshop While Lightroom doesn’t include all of the features of all of these individual tools, it includes most of the key features needed by photographers to manage their images in their digital workflow

Because of this overlap in features, many photographers are not sure which of these tools they should be using to manage their digital images The key difference between the two is that Bridge is a “browser” application, and Lightroom is a “database” application In many ways this

is a minor difference, but it does create some rather significant differences in terms of the formance and utility of the particular tool

per-If you already have a system for organizing your images utilizing a folder structure, you might

be perfectly happy using Bridge for your image-management needs If you want to have a tral application that manages your entire library of photographic images and helps streamline your workflow, Lightroom provides a good solution

cen-Because Lightroom is an integrated workflow application that includes its own tools for optimizing your images, and because it doesn’t provide ideal integration with Photoshop in terms of moving images back and forth between the two applications, in many ways it is best to choose either Light-room or the combination of Photoshop, Bridge, and Camera Raw for your imaging work

In this chapter I present image management within Bridge, but you could also use Lightroom for this purpose to take advantage of some of the advanced capabilities it offers

to determine these colors).

the first item in the Behavior section is a checkbox called Double-Click Edits Camera raw Settings in Bridge when this checkbox is selected, double-clicking on a raw capture will not open (or switch to) Photoshop, but instead will simply bring up the Camera raw dialog box directly within Bridge this allows you to adjust the con-version settings for the image without launching Photoshop, which can help speed up your workflow this is helpful when you want to make adjustments to the raw image but don’t want to complete the workflow at the same time (though clicking open in Camera raw will cause the converted image to be opened in Photoshop) the next time you open an image that has been adjusted in this manner, the settings you applied will

be retained and used for the raw conversion (unless you change those settings at that time) I’ll discuss the details of using adobe Camera raw to convert your raw captures

in Chapter 3, “raw Conversion.”

the next checkbox determines whether you need to hold the Ctrl/Command key while clicking to bring up the loupe display (I’ll talk more about the loupe display later) for getting a closer look at your image By default all you need to do is click on the preview of the image to bring up the loupe display If you find yourself inadvertently clicking on the image and bringing up the loupe when you don’t want it, you can select this checkbox so you need to hold Ctrl/Command while clicking to display the loupe

Even with this option selected, you only have to click again at the “point” of the loupe to hide it again

the number of recent Items to Display setting controls how many images will

be shown on the list when you select File > open recent from the menu this is a ful feature that allows you to quickly open recent files without needing to remember where they are I find 10 is usually adequate, but you can set the value as high as 30 if you like

help-the Favorite Items section contains a series of checkboxes that determine what items will be listed in the Favorites panel in Bridge (I’ll talk more about this panel