Digital Imaging Workflow and other info

8/3/2019 Digital Imaging Workflow and other info

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/digital-imaging-workflow-and-other-info 1/5

Large Format, Film, and Digital Methods (PMA 202)Edward Stapel

DIGITAL IMAGING WORKFLOW AND FILE MANAGEMENT

Working digitally allows you to generate a large number of files. How you organize and storeyour files is important. Below is a list of steps to help you better organize your digital world.You will notice that these steps are often redundant in order to best protect your images fromaccidental and/or catastrophic loss.

1. Image Capture – what we generally call photographing – with either film or digital camera.

2. Downloading or Importing.--Download your digital files from your camera’s memory card to a folder on the

computer’s desktop. Using a card reader sometimes speeds up this process and doesn’t useyour camera’s battery power to transfer files (instead of capture images). Backup your imageson something reliable – your flash drive, your external hard drive, a CD, or a DVD. Don’t leave

things on the school’s computers. Backup your images BEFORE you reformat your memory card.--Import your scanned images (from negatives, slides, photographs, or other flat

artwork). Scanning is a more deliberate process than downloading digital camera captures andit can be a time-consuming process. Save each import, or “raw” scan, as you go. Backup yourinitial “raw” scans.

3. Organize your images. Use Bridge, or a similar program, to organize your digital captures.Take the time to organize your shots – it will help you in the long run. Print contact sheets ofyour images and keep them organized in a binder of some sort as you would traditional filmcontact sheets. Please print contact sheets on the laser printers in the library or on your owninkjet printer. Please refrain from printing contact sheets on the school’s Epson printers.

4. Image Editing. This step includes all of the Photoshop work that you do to your image(s)whether it be a simple crop or elaborate image combinations. (Image Editing has its ownworkflow.)

5. Output. Generally speaking, this refers to printing. You will be printing your finished work ata determined image size and resolution on nice Epson paper with Epson pigment based inks inour Epson printers. Output may also refer to a variety of web-based applications or Powerpointpresentation. Essentially, “output” is a catchall term for what you do with your images.

6. Archiving. This term refers to how you store your finished work. Prints should be stored inan archival environment such as print sleeves, mats, and/or print storage boxes. Your digitalfiles should be stored on CDs or DVDs. Protect these disks as you would negatives. Don’t storeyour images in only one place (like your computer’s hard drive). As I’m sure you are aware,computers and promiscuous jump drives are susceptible to a variety of nasty things that canerase your images.



IMAGE EDITING WORKFLOW

1. Open your image. Make sure you have a saved version of the opened file. If your image(s) ison an external device you should transfer it/them to the computer’s desktop before opening –your computer will be happier if you do.

**If you are working with RAW files, make the following adjustments in Camera Raw (asneeded): Color Temp, Exposure, Sharpening, Lens Correction, Perspective Control, etc. Save thefile(s), and open them in Photoshop.

2. Rotate and Crop your image as needed.

3. Copy your Background for Sharpening. (If you Sharpened in RAW you may not need furtherSharpening) Sharpen your image using Unsharp Mask (under Filter>Sharpen). Be subtle here:20-80%, Radius 1, Threshold 0 is a good starting point for most “photographic” imagery. Renamethe copied background with the amount of sharpening used. If you are combining more thanone image you may want to apply sharpening to each image, or element of an image. Any

“spotting” or cleaning of your image should be done on this layer.

3. Adjustment Layers. These layers affect all layers that appear below them on the layerspalette, or the layers to which they are clipped, and allow you to go back and alter the effectsthey create. There are numerous options here, not all of them are needed with every image.Most images will benefit from the following:

a. Use a Levels or Curves layer to adjust the overall contrast of your imageb. For color images – Use a Levels or Curves layer to adjust the overall color balance of

your imagec. For color images – Use a Hue/Saturation layer to adjust the saturation of your image –

be subtle here, over-saturation can be noxious

d. Use Levels or Curves layer(s) with a mask(s) to “dodge,” “burn,” or otherwisemanipulate local areas

4. Adjust and assemble your image(s). This step includes any and all Photoshop manipulationsand trickeries: retouching, collage, additional local adjustments, paths, masks, etc.

5. Image Size. Set your Image Size and Resolution to your desired output size (ideal outputresolution for most printing needs is 200-300 ppi). To check the MAXIMUM image size at whichyou can print your image and avoid upsampling go to the Image Size dialog box, uncheckResample Image, enter the desired Resolution, and the largest size possible will appear.Reducing that size will not hurt image quality – increasing it will.

6. SAVE YOUR WORK!!!!Do this often as you go along! Save early, save often!

7. Output. Usually, but not always, this refers to printing.



RAW FILE WORK FLOW

Images captured in RAW are far more malleable than those captured as TIFFs or JPEGs. Similarto the TIFF format, RAW files do not compress vital image data, as JPEGs do. However, unlikeboth TIFFs and JPEGs, RAW files do not collapse many of the camera settings into the file data.What does that mean? It means that many of the camera settings determined at the time ofexposure, specifically White Balance and Exposure, are kept as discreet settings that can bealtered after the image is captured. But wait, there’s more! Other adjustments, such assharpening, curves, vignettes, perspective control, and a few other wonky things, can also betweaked. There is a variety of image editing options when working with RAW files. Please get inthe habit of making the following adjustments to your images.

When you open an image in RAW you will see a panel on the right that contains a histogram,exposure information, and a control panel. There are 10 tabs in the control panel – we will beconcentrating on 3 for now. You are encouraged to investigate all of the tabs in the RAWworkspace.

Tab 1. Basic The controls under this tab are to be used as needed.1. Adjust White Balance and Color temperature.2. Adjust Exposure.3. Adjust Recovery (highlights),Fill Light (mid tones), and Black (blacks, duh)

Tab 3. DetailYou can apply sharpening in Photoshop but doing it here in RAW gives you morespecific control over the image and will keep the Photoshop file size smaller.

1. Zoom your image to 100% to best view the effects of sharpening.2. The default settings for Sharpening are a good place to start, adjusting the amount

slider as needed (25 – 75 is good for “photographic” imagery).3. Sharpening sometimes results in digital Noise. If so, Adjust the Luminance sliders to

mask noise in gray areas and the Color sliders for noise in color areas.

Tab 6. Lens Correction This tab allows you to correct the perspective or your image, transformit, correct for chromatic aberration (aka fringing), and add vignetting.

1. Make sure the Manual tab is selected2. Make any desired changes is perspective or orientation3. Correct any chromatic aberrations (fringing usually occurs near the edges of your

images, especially if you are using a wide angle lens, or at the edges of elements in yourimages.)

4. Adjust vignetting if you like.

Save your image as a .dng (Digital Negative) and thenOpen it in Photoshop.



MASKS AND ADJUSTMENT LAYERS

There are numerous ways to create and work with masks. Here are a few instructions on how touse them, followed by some useful keyboard shortcuts. If you are working on a laptop a mouseis incredible useful for fine-tuning your masks and selections.

Masks with the Paint Brush or Gradient Tool: To make a Curves or Levels adjustment layer forlocal changes (dodge, burn, color balance):

1. Create a new Curves or Levels adjustment layer2. Activate the mask by clicking on its thumbnail (you will see little black corners appear

around it)3. Fill it with black4. Make sure your foreground color is white5. Make your masked area with a Paint Brush or Gradient (see below for specific tips)6. Adjust your Curve or Levels7. Click on the Mask tab and adjust the mask edge if necessary

Paint Brush : Simply paint in the area where you want a mask. You can alter the size, type, andopacity of the brush as needed.Gradient Tool : Make sure you have your Gradient Tool set to “Foreground to Background” and“Linear Gradient.” Drag a gradient line in the area where you want the mask to be (usually fromthe image edge into the scene). You may need to use a paintbrush to clean up your maskedareas.

Masks with the Pen Tool: This option is slightly different in that you will start out by activatingan image layer, like your Unsharp Mask layer. Grab the Pen Tool and make sure “Paths” and“Pen Tool” are selected.

1. Create a path by selecting the area that you want to be a mask.

2.

Click the Paths tab, select the path you just made, and click “Load path as a selection”(third circle from the left on the bottom of the palette).3. Click the Layers tab and notice the “marching ants” around the area you selected.4. Select a Curves or Layers adjustment layer and notice the selection turn into a mask.5. Adjust your Curve or Levels6. Click on the Mask tab and adjust the mask edge if necessary

HELPFUL KEYBOARD SHORTCUTSOption-Delete = fill with foreground colorCommand-Delete = fill with back ground colorX = Flip-flops foreground and background colorsB = Paint BrushG = GradientP = Pen ToolCommand-D = Deselect (makes the marching ants go away)Command-I = Invert (handy for inverting masks)Command-Z = Undo (duh)Option-Command-I = Image SizeCommand-S = SaveShift-Command-S = Save As



Scanning Sizes – Negatives, Resolution, Prints, and FilesThe following table lists typical negative formats (large format, medium format, 35mm) and theapproximate print and file sizes for each at the listed resolution. Remember: it is always betterto scan at a higher resolution than you need and then downsize to your desired print size.

Common medium format, uh, formatsMedium format cameras use 120 film (some also use the increasingly less-common 220). Thenumber 120 is a format designation and has no correlation to size (it is NOT 120mm film). Thereare numerous types of medium format cameras that use a variety of image sizes on 120 film.Each image size allows for a different numbers of images per roll. These are the most common:

Image size Commonly referred to Number of imagesper roll of 120

6cm x 6cm 6x6, 2-1/4, square 12 **

6cm x 4.5cm 645 16 **

6cm x 7cm 6x7 10

** Diana and Holga cameras shoot 6x6 or 645 depending on the mask used inside (this alsodetermines the number of frames per roll – 12 or 16).

Negative size Resolution (ppi) Approx. Print Size Approx. File Size (MB)Color / B&W

4x5 1800 22x28 165 / 55

4x5 3200 40x50 500 / 170

6cm x 6cm 2400 17x17 80 / 25

6cm x 6cm 3200 23x23 140 / 48

35mm 4800 15x22 100 / 35

Documents

Digital Imaging Workflow and other info