Photoshop Work Flow

I have photoshop elements 6.0 and just made the jump for P&S JPEG to a dSLR RAW & JPEG.

I have a question about work flow, i.e. what order should you work in? and does it matter? I'm new to using photoshop elements.

I figure that I should 1st process the image using Camera RAW. I'm not sure where to go to next, Color Correction, Lighting, fixing lense vignetting, sharpening, etc.

Thanks for the suggestions

Kirk

Ok I will take a punt - but understand this question is almost as political Canon vs Nikon.

#1 Shoot RAW - no question.

#2 White balance

#3 Correct / adjust exposure, black and white points

#4 Fix any Vignetting and CA

#5 crop

#6 Colour correct

#7 Fix any backscatter et al

#8 Render to final size

#9 Sharpen

#10 Print / export / whatever

If you work in lightroom or similar then all of the above can be done in that.

Note that not all of the above are mandatory - some images will need more some less.

If you are not in lightroom then probably 1 through 5 in RAW converter and the remainder in Photoshop.

Sharpen last - I archive my shots before #8 and do not keep them after this point.

FWIW I often only set approximate black and white points in the RAW processor ( taking care not to plug shadows or burn hilights )

I will then final correct them with curves in Photoshop.

Paul C

I like to crop before I do any exposure or color adjusting. I find that when adjusting exposure, brightness, etc. extraneous portions of the photo can affect the lighting of part that I want to keep.

I like to crop before I do any exposure or color adjusting. I find that when adjusting exposure, brightness, etc. extraneous portions of the photo can affect the lighting of part that I want to keep.

Agreed. Crop immediately the image hits jpeg, psp or tiff. All else comes next.

Maybe its a bit off topic but I'm looking at 'Focus Magic' (v 3.02) as a better sharpening tool than PS 'unsharp mask'. Anyone have any views?

0.5 Goes without saying but I always put my RAW files on DVD before doing anything.

I also crop before adjusting exposure. Sometimes there are some blown out highlights which can be dealt with by slightly cropping. I guess I'd like to ask Paul if there's a reason for waiting to crop. Maybe something I've not thought of.

Maybe its a bit off topic but I'm looking at 'Focus Magic' (v 3.02) as a better sharpening tool than PS 'unsharp mask'. Anyone have any views?

I learned a totally awesome way to sharpen photos from a dude in my camera club. I don't have my notes with me at work, but when I get home, I'll look them up and post them. Truly, his technique made an incredible difference in some of my images. Unsharp mask really sucks in comparison.

I guess I'd like to ask Paul if there's a reason for waiting to crop. Maybe something I've not thought of.

No mate, no cunning plan.

In the RAW processor while I do adjust exposure, white and black points I do not push them so hard as to plug he shadows or burn the hilights (5 to 95%)

Often later, I want to play with contrast and will need a bit of leeway at that time, also at that time I will often fine tune the white and black.

Again, there is no absolutes with workflow - do what makes sense and works for you.

Paul C

Here's the way I learned to sharpen in PS CS3

Make a duplicate layer. Filter/Other/HighPass. I set the amount to maybe 3 - 5 pixels.

Then you click on that fx box in the layer box, click Blending Options/Overlay

You can adjust the above using the opacity slide. Its a superior way to sharpen using photoshop and takes just a few more steps than unsharp mask. I have the PDF's if anyone is interested in the step by step. You can then flatten the image at the end.

With something like Lightroom you may want to crop later rather than earlier as you may want to change the way the images is cropped after receiving feedback. If you crop first, you have to reapply all the other changes which may be difficult.

You can adjust the above using the opacity slide. Its a superior way to sharpen using photoshop and takes just a few more steps than unsharp mask. I have the PDF's if anyone is interested in the step by step. You can then flatten the image at the end.

I would be interested in these. Can you send it via e-mail?

skdougla@comcast.net

Thanks

Kirk

With something like Lightroom you may want to crop later rather than earlier as you may want to change the way the images is cropped after receiving feedback. If you crop first, you have to reapply all the other changes which may be difficult.

With Lightroom this should make no difference ( it makes no difference with Aperture) as all changes are reversible and at the same time applied to the whole image. In other words you can change or remove a crop at any time and any other global adjustments you've made like exposure etc will continue to apply to the whole image

With Lightroom this should make no difference ( it makes no difference with Aperture) as all changes are reversible and at the same time applied to the whole image. In other words you can change or remove a crop at any time and any other global adjustments you've made like exposure etc will continue to apply to the whole image

While the changes are reversible, my point is that if you do the crop at the beginning and you remove it, you remove every other step applied after it. The only way to get the effect of the crop back is to undo it. Most, if not all, other adjustments, can be reversed without being undone. For example, if you changed Blacks from 5 to 20, you can change them back to 5 at any time.

While the changes are reversible, my point is that if you do the crop at the beginning and you remove it, you remove every other step applied after it. The only way to get the effect of the crop back is to undo it. Most, if not all, other adjustments, can be reversed without being undone. For example, if you changed Blacks from 5 to 20, you can change them back to 5 at any time.

Again, this does not apply with Aperture, I can click an adjustment like Crop on and off at any time or change the crop and it does not affect the other adjustments either before or after it. I thought, that Lightroom was similar.

Again, this does not apply with Aperture, I can click an adjustment like Crop on and off at any time or change the crop and it does not affect the other adjustments either before or after it. I thought, that Lightroom was similar.

I am not aware of how to undo a single step in Lightroom without undoing all subsequent steps. I'm keen for someone to show me how to do this.

I'm unsure about lightroom because I use Adobe Bridge but it is simply slider adjustment. The crop can be done and then undone at any point and the sliders readjusted as necessary. The reason I tidy up the crop first is it allows me to adjust for the photo that I want and I'm not making unnecessary adjustments.

I am not aware of how to undo a single step in Lightroom without undoing all subsequent steps. I'm keen for someone to show me how to do this.

Hopefully Lightroom guys will chime in, but as you do edits in Lightroom there should be a list of steps that accumulates; you should be able to click on or off or adjust any one of those steps, not only for that image but also if you decide to apply those same changes to other images.

Hopefully Lightroom guys will chime in,

but as you do edits in Lightroom there should be a list of steps that accumulates;

you should be able to click on or off or adjust any one of those steps, not only for that image but also if you decide to apply those same changes to other images.

There is nothing in the online help to suggest that it is possible.

I will check with a friend who uses Lightroom and get back to you.

It does not make sense to me that you can't, as any edit in Lightroom is merely an instruction set and is not actually affecting the RAW image.

Make a duplicate layer. Filter/Other/HighPass. I set the amount to maybe 3 - 5 pixels.

I just read an article that said the slider should be between 2-3. That makes sense. One of my photos didn't score in my camera club's competition last night. The judge said that it looked over sharpened, which kind of lent a graininess to the image. So I think he was right and I'll go more easy on the sharpening.

Funny how you don't notice those things on your computer screen but when the image is projected, every single flaw is revealed.

BTW, that judge was a windbag. We had about 180 images and he gave 2 minute commentaries on each one. The janitor was ready to kick us out of the building before the competition was over.