BASIC DIGITAL WORKFLOW / / ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS6

UPLOADING YOUR CARD

  1. Put card into card reader.
  2. Put card reader w/ card into port (USB or fire wire)
  3. Adobe Bridge CS6 – Photo Downloader will open or FILE> Get Photos
  4. Make and name a folder where you wish to save your images
  5. Choose “Choose”
  6. Select the folder you just made
  7. Create a custom name if you wish
  8. Click Get Photos
  9. Bridge will open after images upload

UPLOADING YOUR CARD OPTION 2

  1. Put card into card reader
  2. Put card reader w/ card into port (USB or fire wire)
  3. Make and name a folder where you wish to save your images
  4. Open card
  5. Drag the DCIM file into the new folder you’ve created

BRIDGE (when not following uploading of images)

  1. Open Bridge via the icon in the dock, or from the Applications folder
  2. Locate the folder you wish to work from under “Favorites”
  3. Click to Open
  4. Note - If you can’t find your drive, locate it on the Desktop and drag it into “Favorites”

TO RENAME FILES IN BRIDGE

  1. Tools
  2. Batch Rename
  3. Select Location
  4. Type new file name

— You can also rename files by clicking on name, holding down the mouse and releasing

TO MAKE A CONTACT SHEET FROM BRIDGE

  1. Choose a folder that contains the files or select the files individually within the folder by clicking on image (hold down command to select multiple files)
  2. Click OUTPUT in the workspace (command F4) and click on PDF icon
  3. Select Document size as 8.5”x11” 300ppi
  4. Select layout of Columns and Rows
  5. Scroll down and click ‘Save’

Open your file from Photoshop,

  1. FILE> Open, or COMMAND R or double click on file in Bridge.
  2. When the RAW file dialogue box comes up, at the bottom of the screen check to see that thecolor space is Adobe RGB(1998) and the file is in 16 bit color. If it is in 8 bit change it to 16 bit.

In CAMERA RAW

- adjust color temperature - via the slider or by using the white balance tool

- adjust exposure - set overall brightness, so that the image looks correctly exposed. Be sure not to introduce too much highlight clipping.

- adjust highlights (recovery in CS5) - if the highlights are clipped use recovery to restore any detail that is clipped

- adjust shadows (fill light in CS5) - - to reveal more detail and lighten the shadows

- adjust blacks – optimize shadows by using the slider to set shadow clipping

Note that for these sliders, if youhold down the Option/Alt key as you drag the slider you will get a threshold modepreview making it easy to see what is clipped. You can also click on the triangular boxesabove the histogram to see image clipping.

OPEN IMAGE - click on the highlighted Open Image button.

  1. Make a duplicate file to work on. FILE> Save-As. Use .psd or .tif
  2. If necessary, crop, rotate or resize image: “crop tool” (key: C), IMAGE> Rotate Canvas, or IMAGE> image size. Generally the resolution should be set at 300 pixels per inch and largest image dimension 10 inches.
  3. Duplicate Original Layer — COMMAND J
  4. Clean image: use either the Clone (Rubber Stamp)(key: S), or the Healing Brush (key: J) tools. To use these tools you will have to select a brush size using the brushes palette. Rubber stamp uses a soft or semi-soft edged brush, the healing brush tool a hard edged brush. Hold down the option key to select a source point from which the tools will select the initial color to use for retouching.
  5. Any other image manipulation may also be done at this point.
  6. LEVELS
  7. CURVES
  8. COLOR BALANCE
  9. SHARPEN with High Pass Filter or Smart Sharpen

Layer> New Adjustment Layer > LEVELS or

You use the Levels dialog box to correct the tonal range of an image by adjusting intensity levels of image shadows, midtones, and highlights. The remaining levels are redistributed between levels 0 and 255. This redistribution increases the tonal range of the image, in effect increasing the overall contrast of the image. Below you can see where I have made the necessary adjustment by moving the Black slider to the edge of the histogram.

Layer > New Adjustment Layer > CURVES or

Try to get used to working with no more than 2-4 points at a time. As you get better you can add more but take care to maintain a smooth shape. If you wish to place a point on the curve that corresponds with an exact tonal value in the picture you are editing, put cursor over image.

Remember the steeper the S curve, the more contrast in the image.

- Delete a point on the curve – select a point and press delete

- Move the selected point one unit - arrow keys

- Set to a specific tone in the image by clicking on and selecting the point in the image. This is the On Image Adjustment Tool

Layer> New Adjustment Layer > COLOR BALANCE or

- Adjust sliders, equally for mid-tones, shadows and highlights.

To make multiple color tests:

Make a selection using the marquee tools in tool palette in the background layer

Add another Color Balance adjustment layer and another layer will appear. Adjust color. Press so it only affects the layer beneath the COLOR BALANCE layer for that selection. You will see an arrow appear on the adjustment layer. Make another selection and follow the same steps.

SHARPEN

  1. Create a sharpening layer with Magic E shortcut SHIFT+OPTION+COMMAND E
  2. Rename layer and Change Blend Mode to Overlay
  3. Filter > Other > High Pass
  4. To sharpen your image with the High Pass filter, keep an eye on your image in the document window and adjust the Radius value by dragging the slider bar left or right. As you drag towards the right, you'll be adding more sharpening, and as you drag to the left, you'll be reducing the amount of sharpening. You're going to want to start off with a very low radius value, somewhere between .5 - 3 pixels
  5. If you want to increase the sharpening amount, go back up to the Blend Mode options in the top left corner of the Layers palette, click the drop down menu that is on Overlay and change the blend mode to Hard Light. To reduce sharpening change blend mode to Soft Light
  6. Save Image

PRINTING

Do your final color balancing.

FLATTEN (Layer>Flatten Image) just before making your final print. Don’t save this way, or if you do, save as another file name so you can return to edit other file.

File>Print – see printing instructions on wall in the lab

NOTE: If you want to designate exactly where the print will be on your paper uncheck the center image box and click and drag image