Post Processing - Share your tips

[Solberg]

I thought it would be great to share some tips/secrets.

I'll start:

on all my photos, I use the photoshop sharpen filter, then I go to image-> adjustments -> shadow/highlights and plays around eith the sliders.

Recently I downloaded two awesome plug ins :

Nik software

Color Efex Pro

and

Viveza

I would recommend them to everyone!

Anyway, please share you tips

[Adunaphel]

I recently started using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and i've been wondering since how i managed without it.

[LeVeL]

I usually play around with saturation and contrast mostly, with some minor brightness adjustments. But I'm a n00b

[Cold Fussion]

I don't have a set method because all photos require different editing to get it too look good. I normally experiment with curves and selective color until i find something i like.

[Buba]

color efex pro has some nice stuff...

[hansvonaxion]

Are they free downloads?

I tend to do some tweaking in the RAW window if it needs it, white balance, tint and recovery mainly.
Then levels (same as curves, really).
Then sharpen.

Thats for batches of photos.
If I have a single shot I might do a whole range of other stuff including shadow/highlight, selective colour, photo filter, fill layer etc.

[Mr_T]

For the past few months I have been staying away from editing as much as I can to be honest. The only thing I will chance is the exposure if it's underexposed. I could argue that Nikon cameras tend to under expose however mostly I just had the exposure wrong . I have found since I bought a grey (or gray as spelt in the US) card my photos replicate what was actually there with no colour casts or anything like that. It's a much underrated tool!

I also have to say that Lightroom is awesome for working with and storing large amounts of photographs. I has really help me organize my shots (I can't think of a better way of doing it). I have been using PhotoShop less and less recently and will probably end up just using Lightroom in the future.

[IceBone]

I only use Lightroom. Most pics i just increase the contrast and fiddle with the vibrance/saturation settings. Maybe add a tad of vignetting (not a huge TG-esque ammount, though). Some pics, though, require a bit more fiddling around, but I always attempt to keep the colours as natural as they can be.

[hansvonaxion]

Originally Posted by Mr_T

For the past few months I have been staying away from editing as much as I can to be honest. The only thing I will chance is the exposure if it's underexposed. I could argue that Nikon cameras tend to under expose however mostly I just had the exposure wrong . I have found since I bought a grey (or gray as spelt in the US) card my photos replicate what was actually there with no colour casts or anything like that. It's a much underrated tool!

I checked my 20D on a grey card and what I suspected was true, it underexposes in some situations. I usually keep my camera set on +1/3 stop to compensate.

You reminded me that the exposure slider in the RAW window is also useful.

You guys should all feel lucky you're living in the digital age, a friend used to use a colourmeter and filters to achieve a natural colour balance shooting film (overkill really) when you can do the same thing on the computer.

[Cold Fussion]

If your photos come out good then you can get away with light room for editing. If your like me then you need to do some more drastic editing in photoshop.

[rootrider]

Originally Posted by Solberg

on all my photos, I use the photoshop sharpen filter, then I go to image-> adjustments -> shadow/highlights and plays around eith the sliders.

two things:
-you almost always want to sharpen last. It's one of the more detrimental things you can do to a photo, so you want to try and get all of your editing in before you sharpen.

-check out unsharpmask, or one of the popular low pass solutions people like online.


First thing I do, if need be, is clean up the image. This might include straightening or cropping, working a little in Shadows & Highlights or cleaning up dust, paint scratches, etc. I work very minimally in this area (unless it's dust spots).. my goal is usually just to keep these sorts of things from being distracting.

I usually just work with levels, brightness & contrast, color balance, etc. They are all ways to adjust the levels, and it's usually the best way to edit a photo, presuming you want to keep as much of the original color and contrast balance as possible. Curves will tend to ruin that balance.

After adjusting levels I'll usually bump overall saturation just slightly (I usually shoot very neutral in camera) and then sharpen.

Add the border and watermark.. or whatever you like to do with your photos.

[Solberg]

What's the best way to sharpen?

[rootrider]

Originally Posted by Solberg

What's the best way to sharpen?

haha.. loaded question of the month award goes to Solberg!

There is no "best" way.. just better ways. Unsharpmask is something most people use, and it works very well for a lot of people. There are other more complicated methods, one of which I alluded to above.. but they tend to be geared towards sharpening certain parts of a photo rather than all of it.

[Solberg]

Is the unsharpmask better than 'sharpen'?

[hansvonaxion]

Unsharp mask gives you control. You'll want to change the settings according to resolution and such.

Smart sharpen gives you more control, but its more complex of course.