Adjustments panel with favorite Curves, Vibrance, HSL, Gradient, and Adjustment Layer Clipping Mode controls underlined. These controls perform 90% of my raw workflow.
We continue our examination of Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers by Martin Evening.
Why Shoot Raw?
In Real World Camera Raw for CS4, Fraser and Schewe ask and answer this important question. When shooting raw, you get to control scene interpretation. With raw, the only on-camera settings that have an effect on captured pixels are ISO speed, shutter speed, and aperture.
Everything else is under your control when you convert the raw file. You can reinterpret the white balance, color metric rendering, tonal response, and detail rendition (sharpening and noise reduction) with a great deal of freedom. Within limits of exposure and linear capture, you can even reinterpret the basic exposure itself, resetting white and black points.
In essence, you’ve captured everything the camera can deliver. So, you have much greater freedom in shaping overall tone and contrast for the final image. For me, this freedom translates to a big question,
"What is an optimum workflow to properly Tone Map the final product... be it HDR, panorama, or just a single provocative image."
Adjustment Panel
Camera Raw 4.6, commonly associated with Photoshop CS3, has eight sub panels in the Adjustment panel. These workhorse panels are Basic, Tone Curve, Detail, and HSL. You can mess with everything from white balance to sharpening and noise reduction - such adjustments become the heart of your workflow. The same panel is available in Camera Raw 5.3 for CS4; its in Camera Raw’s tools and the new Adjustments Panel where Tone Mapping really becomes exciting and your workflow really takes off... I explicitly refer to non-destructive local tools Adjustment Brush and Graduated Filter.
Kelby's Lightroom 2 Develop Module Workflow
The Develop panel in Lightroom 2 has several major elements. Basic, Tone Curve, HSL/Color/Grayscale, Split Toning, Detail, Vignettes, and Camera Calibration comprise the most commonly used sequence of major development elements. This particular order is specified in Lightroom 2’s Develop Module. Kelby reviews each successive element in The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 book for digital photographers in a sequential workflow.
I find Basic, Tone Curve, HSL/Color/Grayscale, Detail (Sharpening and Noise Reduction), and Camera Calibration my workhorses for raw development, converting me to the more standard pro’s view that some 80% of my development work can be done in Lightroom. Kelby advocates 90% or more...
From this viewpoint, I approached Evening’s Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers seeking the simplest workflow to quickly enhance my already full plate. What additional factors do I need to learn to make CS4 quickly a part of an already more encompassing workflow?
Evening’s CS4 Raw Workflow Editing
Sharpening
During capture, image sharpness can be loss to optic quality, image resolving ability of camera sensor, and the anti-aliasing filter which covers the sensor. Captured images can be less sharp than they should be.
Capture sharpening is one of the first things you do to an image before you start retouching. If you shoot raw, capture sharpening must be done either in the raw processing program (Lightroom 2, Bridge CS4) or afterwards in Photoshop. With advent of Camera Raw 4.1 (CS3), new sharpening controls rewrote the rules completely. Now, it makes sense to do capture sharpening at the raw processing stage before you open images in Photoshop.
The Detail panel springs from work of Bruce Fraser in Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop CS2. With its inclusion, both Lightroom 2 and Adobe Camera Raw 5.3 are at the forefront of sharpening.
Take note - most of the rest of the workflow we describe is in Photoshop in the Adjustments panel. In order to proceed from sharpening to tone mapping, one needs to involve Bridge and Photoshop. This is not the most efficient workflow method.
In Camera Raw 5.3, Bridge CS4 nests Sharpening and Noise Reduction in a separate Detail panel. Since I usually shoot landscapes, I will apply the sharpening landscapes preset to the raw file in Lightroom 2.
Adjustments Panel controls
There are several advantages to the adjustment layer approach:
1. Adjustment layers are not permanent. If you want to undo an adjustment or readjust settings, you can do so at any time!
2. Adjustments remain 'dynamic'.
3. Adjustments can be masked; apply the associated layer mask and refine using the Masking Panel.
4. Best of all, adjustment layers are no longer restricted to a modal state (you have to double-click the layer first to access adjustment controls).
You have the potential to quickly access adjustment layer settings anytime you wish. If you click on an adjustment layer, you can paint on the layer mask, adjust layer opacity and blending options, with full access to adjustment controls.
Immediately beneath iconic options, the Adjustments Presets list can be quite helpful.
Are Curves ALL You Need?
"I'm a firm believer in trying to make Photoshop as simple as possible. With 22 items listed in the Image Adjustments Menu, you can achieve almost all image adjustments you need by using just Curves and Hue/Saturation."
Masks Panel controls
Adjustment layers are added to the layer stack with a pixel mask attached. The density slider adjusts the mask density (opacity). The feather slider softens the mask edges. The color range button let you make selections based on colors in your image. You can select colors to add or subtract from color range selection and see results applied directly as a mask. The faint circle on the bottom left converts a mask to a selection. The triangle applies a mask to the layer.
Last, but not least, the vector mask button (upper right) provides surprising strength. A vector mask is just like an image layer mask, except the mask is described using a vector path. The mask can be edited using the pen path or shape tools. It is resolution independent. It can be transformed or scaled in size without any loss in quality.
Color Range - when I was a boy, CS Forester wrote the Hornblower series. Horatio Hornblower entered the British Navy as midshipmen, finally mustering out as Commodore of the Fleet. In days of sailing frigates and ships of the line, many a cold dawn watch occurred at the fore top mask.
I'm reminded of this vivid history when I watch Martin Evening take a picture of a sailing ship, use Color Range to select the delicate intricacies of mast and rigging, make a Color Range mask, then skillfully change the azure sky background to a more passionate, cloudy sky. This particularly striking example shows that a Color Range mask can handle incredibly complex images, create a superb mask, and elevate your photography to a new plane.
Conclusions...
The big advances in CS4 are the Adjustments and Masks panels! It's like one-stop shopping; instead of going to many dialog boxes, these panels immensely speed your workflow. Unfortunately, if you prefer sharpening and don't have Lightroom 2, the combination of Bridge and CS4 put sharpening tools in Adobe Camera Raw whereas the rest of this workflow is in CS4.
Evening does touch on Lightroom. But, he wants to present Bridge and CS4 as a package. Yet, he also uses Lightroom 2 as his search database for all photos. I do find his examples to offer additional insight into CS4 image processing. And, I anticipate the Schewe and Evening Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers – Ultimate Workshop will emphasize advanced workflow solutions.
As for me, I plan to use Lightroom to for pre-development, then use the Adjustments and Masks panel in CS4 for the fine, intricate steps to finalize my images.
My apologies for a longer than normal blog entry; it seemed important to illustrate the pros and cons, then reduce workflow to its simplest elements...
Enjoy...
Why Shoot Raw?
In Real World Camera Raw for CS4, Fraser and Schewe ask and answer this important question. When shooting raw, you get to control scene interpretation. With raw, the only on-camera settings that have an effect on captured pixels are ISO speed, shutter speed, and aperture.
Everything else is under your control when you convert the raw file. You can reinterpret the white balance, color metric rendering, tonal response, and detail rendition (sharpening and noise reduction) with a great deal of freedom. Within limits of exposure and linear capture, you can even reinterpret the basic exposure itself, resetting white and black points.
In essence, you’ve captured everything the camera can deliver. So, you have much greater freedom in shaping overall tone and contrast for the final image. For me, this freedom translates to a big question,
"What is an optimum workflow to properly Tone Map the final product... be it HDR, panorama, or just a single provocative image."
Adjustment Panel
Camera Raw 4.6, commonly associated with Photoshop CS3, has eight sub panels in the Adjustment panel. These workhorse panels are Basic, Tone Curve, Detail, and HSL. You can mess with everything from white balance to sharpening and noise reduction - such adjustments become the heart of your workflow. The same panel is available in Camera Raw 5.3 for CS4; its in Camera Raw’s tools and the new Adjustments Panel where Tone Mapping really becomes exciting and your workflow really takes off... I explicitly refer to non-destructive local tools Adjustment Brush and Graduated Filter.
Kelby's Lightroom 2 Develop Module Workflow
The Develop panel in Lightroom 2 has several major elements. Basic, Tone Curve, HSL/Color/Grayscale, Split Toning, Detail, Vignettes, and Camera Calibration comprise the most commonly used sequence of major development elements. This particular order is specified in Lightroom 2’s Develop Module. Kelby reviews each successive element in The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 book for digital photographers in a sequential workflow.
I find Basic, Tone Curve, HSL/Color/Grayscale, Detail (Sharpening and Noise Reduction), and Camera Calibration my workhorses for raw development, converting me to the more standard pro’s view that some 80% of my development work can be done in Lightroom. Kelby advocates 90% or more...
From this viewpoint, I approached Evening’s Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers seeking the simplest workflow to quickly enhance my already full plate. What additional factors do I need to learn to make CS4 quickly a part of an already more encompassing workflow?
Evening’s CS4 Raw Workflow Editing
Sharpening
During capture, image sharpness can be loss to optic quality, image resolving ability of camera sensor, and the anti-aliasing filter which covers the sensor. Captured images can be less sharp than they should be.
Capture sharpening is one of the first things you do to an image before you start retouching. If you shoot raw, capture sharpening must be done either in the raw processing program (Lightroom 2, Bridge CS4) or afterwards in Photoshop. With advent of Camera Raw 4.1 (CS3), new sharpening controls rewrote the rules completely. Now, it makes sense to do capture sharpening at the raw processing stage before you open images in Photoshop.
The Detail panel springs from work of Bruce Fraser in Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop CS2. With its inclusion, both Lightroom 2 and Adobe Camera Raw 5.3 are at the forefront of sharpening.
Take note - most of the rest of the workflow we describe is in Photoshop in the Adjustments panel. In order to proceed from sharpening to tone mapping, one needs to involve Bridge and Photoshop. This is not the most efficient workflow method.
In Camera Raw 5.3, Bridge CS4 nests Sharpening and Noise Reduction in a separate Detail panel. Since I usually shoot landscapes, I will apply the sharpening landscapes preset to the raw file in Lightroom 2.
Adjustments Panel controls
There are several advantages to the adjustment layer approach:
1. Adjustment layers are not permanent. If you want to undo an adjustment or readjust settings, you can do so at any time!
2. Adjustments remain 'dynamic'.
3. Adjustments can be masked; apply the associated layer mask and refine using the Masking Panel.
4. Best of all, adjustment layers are no longer restricted to a modal state (you have to double-click the layer first to access adjustment controls).
You have the potential to quickly access adjustment layer settings anytime you wish. If you click on an adjustment layer, you can paint on the layer mask, adjust layer opacity and blending options, with full access to adjustment controls.
Immediately beneath iconic options, the Adjustments Presets list can be quite helpful.
Are Curves ALL You Need?
"I'm a firm believer in trying to make Photoshop as simple as possible. With 22 items listed in the Image Adjustments Menu, you can achieve almost all image adjustments you need by using just Curves and Hue/Saturation."
A. Sample image to set black point. B. Sample image to set gray point. C. Sample image to set white point. D. Edit points to modify curve. E. Draw to modify curve. F. Curves type drop-down menu. G. Set black point. H. Set gray point. I. Set white point. J. Show clipping. (See the Finger; it’s our elusive Targeted Adjustment Tool.)
Masks Panel controls
Mask Preview, Density Slider, Feather Slider, Convert Master Selection, Apply Mask the Layer, Enable/Disable Mask, Pixel Mask Mode, Vector Mask Mode, Refine Mask Edges, Make a Color Range Selection, and Invert the Mask.
Adjustment layers are added to the layer stack with a pixel mask attached. The density slider adjusts the mask density (opacity). The feather slider softens the mask edges. The color range button let you make selections based on colors in your image. You can select colors to add or subtract from color range selection and see results applied directly as a mask. The faint circle on the bottom left converts a mask to a selection. The triangle applies a mask to the layer.
Last, but not least, the vector mask button (upper right) provides surprising strength. A vector mask is just like an image layer mask, except the mask is described using a vector path. The mask can be edited using the pen path or shape tools. It is resolution independent. It can be transformed or scaled in size without any loss in quality.
Color Range - when I was a boy, CS Forester wrote the Hornblower series. Horatio Hornblower entered the British Navy as midshipmen, finally mustering out as Commodore of the Fleet. In days of sailing frigates and ships of the line, many a cold dawn watch occurred at the fore top mask.
I'm reminded of this vivid history when I watch Martin Evening take a picture of a sailing ship, use Color Range to select the delicate intricacies of mast and rigging, make a Color Range mask, then skillfully change the azure sky background to a more passionate, cloudy sky. This particularly striking example shows that a Color Range mask can handle incredibly complex images, create a superb mask, and elevate your photography to a new plane.
Conclusions...
The big advances in CS4 are the Adjustments and Masks panels! It's like one-stop shopping; instead of going to many dialog boxes, these panels immensely speed your workflow. Unfortunately, if you prefer sharpening and don't have Lightroom 2, the combination of Bridge and CS4 put sharpening tools in Adobe Camera Raw whereas the rest of this workflow is in CS4.
Evening does touch on Lightroom. But, he wants to present Bridge and CS4 as a package. Yet, he also uses Lightroom 2 as his search database for all photos. I do find his examples to offer additional insight into CS4 image processing. And, I anticipate the Schewe and Evening Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers – Ultimate Workshop will emphasize advanced workflow solutions.
As for me, I plan to use Lightroom to for pre-development, then use the Adjustments and Masks panel in CS4 for the fine, intricate steps to finalize my images.
My apologies for a longer than normal blog entry; it seemed important to illustrate the pros and cons, then reduce workflow to its simplest elements...
Enjoy...
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