Produce Highest Qualty ?

[morgandy]

Hi folks,

I know this has been asked a thousand times, but searches aren't giving me answers.

I am using x3....I do a huge amount of portraits, nature, and other things. So much of the time, I don't get my camera settings right, so I have to do a lot of manipulation to my shots. Obviously this just degrades everything.

Okay, so stating what everyone already knows, what would the best steps be to maintain highest quality? Lighting and hue seem to be my biggest issues. I got into numerous features to try and get things right. I need a cheat sheet at this point!

I've heard working with curves is least damaging, but, I do need to know what the majority of folks do to really nail the quality.

Attached are the before and afters of 2 shots. I think both of the afters are overworked, highlights blown out, skin tones not consistent, don't look like real photos.....yes, my fault at the shoot, but I should be able to repair more, right?

Normally I would toss the one of the large family shot, but there were only 2, and they're important to them, so doing what I can. A crazy yellow light was being thrown on them from one side, and really threw everything off in every part of the shot. Ignore the crazy

I save my original to a different directory. It is saved as a 72p jpg. Should I change that this file type at this first stage? I'm looking for a few first steps (or all steps) that people normally use as a standard.

Also, I did read somewhere that using a rastor layer gives better quality. Can someone give me more detail on that? I haven't really used much layering.

Ignore the horrendous slant, issue occurred, am resolving.

It is very hit or miss with me...some are fantastic, and I'm trying to remember to create a script for everything I do now, but I want a sensible sequence of steps if possible.

THANKS so GREATLY for some advice!!!! (picture ratio off , disregard!)

[ronzie]

First off, does your camera have RAW format? If so, then you can use a RAW editor usually furnished with the camera to salvage some blown out highlights or blocked shadows and shoot saving RAW format. The camera RAW format saves a greater density range in which the important tonal ranges can be adjusted for the output format.Then export your files in .tif format working in .tif non-lossy format in PSPP until you are satisfied. Archive the .tif for later editing. Print from .tif format or save as high quality .jpg when finished processing. Usually the camera RAW editor is more complete than PSPP.

Learn exposure technique and how to use the histogram on your camera to get within recoverable range. Learn how to take bracketed exposure sets on your camera.

PSPP can not recover what is not there. In addition if your shot has low contrast boosting it will increase noise.

[brucet]

OK I'll give my slant on the subject. Keep in mind though that there could be a 1000 answers to your question.

As pointed out start with RAW if you can.
If not work in tiffs. (Everytime you save a jpeg you will lose quality).

So starting with a tiff I would go to Adjust / Brightness and Contrast / Levels and hit Reset and then levels. (This gives a clean start and the Levels button will give you an auto 'fix').
Then Go to Adjust / Brightness and Contrast / Highlights/Midtones/Shadows and tweek them.
Then go to Adjust / Curves. Play with curves but be very gentle. (There are many tutorials around for curves).
Then go to Adjust / Hue Saturation / Hue Saturation Lightness and play just a little.

Remember to always use modest adjustments.

Finaly go to Adjust / Sharpness / Unsharp mask. Put in the following numbers as starting point. 2,100,5. Sharpen should ALWAYS be your last action.

Then save the file as a jpeg. Do not save over your tiff file. By saving as a jpeg you can always go back to the tiff and start again.

These are just simple steps. But remeber no matter how good PSPx may, or maynot be, it can't do magic on photos that are poor to start with.

Hope this helps.

[df]

If you're just looking for general thoughts on a workflow I have a few points.

1) getting it right in camera is what you're striving for, but is not always achievable due to a number of reasons. No excuses here, it is what it is. Just do your best and move on from there.
2) if your image has noise you'll want to adress that towards the beginning of your process.
3) you'll want to get your color cast correct at the beginning, as well as the exposure. They pretty much go hand in hand. Sometimes if you need more color you'll boost the contrast just a tad, but don't overdo it.
4) save sharpening and local tone mapping until last. Sharpen first, the tone map.
5) always "Save As" or do something else to ensure you're working on a copy of the image and not destroying your original.
6) if you have a particularly difficult edit you'll want to save in stages. Going back to the beginning when you could have saved yourself a half hour is pouring salt in a wound. If you have layers, save the file as a PSP file to retain those layers.

[morgandy]

Thanks for the input folks..this is kind of my method:

Save original, write down or script each change and save as over and over.
Do the curves/levels or m/h/s first
Color
tweak again some adjustments
contrast and sharpen
I'm new to the tone mapping, still playing with that, and some other settings.
the camera I have now does not shoot raw, old one did..plan to upgrade when $$

in summary, I take most of the steps others do, but have read/heard over the years that curves and other settings will retain the quality more than bumping contrast, using levels and so forth. Just wanted a take on that.

-I've used photoshop for 10 or so years, went to Corel recently for a few reasons, no real difference as far as what I need. I was in a situation doing a large family shoot last weekend, where suddenly they wanted to move to another wall with 'warmer' lighting that had terrible yellow cast sconces, changing the lighting on each person as the shadows and distances spread. NIGHTMARE!!!! I didn't compensate for it stupidly. I have had to manipulate those so much, that the quality just degraded terribly. The other wall, fantastic studio-type work. Working on these particular ones, I have never had anything like
it.

I have to master layers still, and selections. I've always used one layer, seemed to work for me. With selections, hell on earth. I use the free-hand thingy, and now realize I HAVE to educate myself in other the other ways. The yellow wall went from high saturation to low, and color shifts. I had to select the family (free hand), and try to get an even tone across the wall.

But, coming back to the original part, again I just wanted a take on the best methods to retain quality, since some I've heard are short-cuts and not the best way.

Thanks much...

[brucet]

No such thing a 'stupidity' when it comes to photography. I would rather think of it as more lessons to learn.

A couple of comments.

IMHO you need to do your Levels first. This sets the baseline for all the next steps. Your contrast issues should and can all be fixed with Curves.

I have found, for quick fixes, the new Fill Light / Clarity in PSPx4 is magic. Worth the cost of the upgrade alone.
Download the trial and try it.

[teknisyan]

Here are two related Kb that can help you with your concern.

000011107 - How to save a Jpeg (*.jpg) and keep the high-quality of the photo? - http://corel.force.com/index/articles/e ... -the-photo

000011162 - How to keep the high-quality of image from RAW Files to another file format? - corel.force.com/index/articles/en_US/Master_Article/000011162-How-to-keep-the-high-quality-of-image-from-RAW-Files-to-another-file-format

[OldRadioGuy]

Lots of good advice here. Already mentioned but not emphasized:

PSP adjustment layers are non-destructive. X4 has 13 different types of adjustment layers, more than X3, so a trial download might be worth a look.

Also, save those RAW Files. A future version of PSP might have a new function enabling you to improve an image a little bit more.

Bob

[danwdooley]

You've already received a lot of good suggestions and I hope what I add here will not be that much of a duplication but rather a matter of emphasis. Some have mentioned using RAW as the shooting mode. I cannot agree more. It's an absolute must for the best potential outcome and offering you the greatest flexibility in image "correction" and enhancement. I have not shot anything but RAW in several years.

Depending on your camera and available software (and yes, that includes the RAW tools in X4) you can make adjustments to suit. I won't go into what, such as curves, levels, etc. as what is needed depends on the image and the nature of the "problems" with it. Once changes are made, I always convert directly to TIFF. Then I can work on it in the editing program and any interim saves are not degrading the image. Once I finish with it then it is saved as the finished JPG format.

You mentioned the save at 72 dpi. I wouldn't do that. I personally save at 300 dpi. That can be set as the default (or whatever else you choose) in the Preferences settings and so everything will default to that when you do a Save or Save As.

I see in the final message that your camera does not shoot RAW. Ok, at least set it to the highest possible resolution the camera will support and since the output will be JPG only, you have no choice but to edit in that mode. Save a copy of the original and work with the copy and as others have suggested, use layers to work on and don't be afraid to do a lot of "Save As..." so that your original is not damaged by overdoing.

Dan,