Digital Workflow using Adobe Photoshop...
Joe Kegley | E-Mail | Updated 03-03-09
The following is a list of steps I use to process the raw file from the camera into the finished jpg file. Depending on the quality of the photo, some steps may not be necessary... or additional adjustments not listed may be needed. These are the more common steps I use after every shoot. Realize the following are not instructions how to operate Adobe Camera Raw or Photoshop, but steps in a workflow process I use with a brief explanation of each phase.
One should note that Adobe Photoshop Lightroom offers a much better method of editing, organizing, and cataloging image files than Adobe Photoshop. If you need an image processing product just for photography work choose Adobe Lightroom. If you need a product for graphics design, web development, and to process image files from a camera, then you will want Adobe Photoshop.
Upload files from camera media.
You can't work on the files until you have saved them to your workstation. My method of organization is by location and date. I upload my raw files to a folder named after the location of where the shots were taken and the date of the trip/shoot. For instance I have a folder called 'Everglades_07-2-24' that contains all the images I shot on the trip that started on Feb 24th 2007.
My method of organization works well for this web site. It may not work for you. (As mentioned previously, for managing images in a more robust fashion, we suggest a program that organizes files by keywords in a database like 'Adobe Photoshop Lightroom'.)
Delete unacceptable images.
After uploading all my images to a folder I now want to delete all the images that I don't deem worthy of keeping. Most of the time these are blurry out of focused images. I usually do this in a two stage process.
The software I use to do this came with my Canon cameras, 'Digital Photo Professional'. This could also be done in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom or Adobe Bridge, but I prefer the Canon software. Regardless of what technique or software one uses, the idea is to get rid of all the extraneous information that will never be used.
- First Pass. This is where I get rid of the obvious junk files, files there's no hope of using for anything.
After opening 'Digital Photo Professional', I navigate to the folder that has the files I am interested in working with. Once all the files are listed in the view pane I select them all, then review each image using the 'Quick Check Tool' at '50% View'. Any image that is deemed junk, is flagged using the 'check mark1' function of the program. At the end of the process I select all the files flagged with a 'check mark1' and delete them.
- Second Pass. The next pass is more selective. Sometimes it may be a repeat of the process used in the first pass but with more discretion. Or I might want to compare similar images to each other. To do this I organize the images into subjects using a different flag or by placing 'like' images in a separate folder. For instance, I may organize 5 Wood Stork images so that I can view them together and decide which are the keepers and which are to be trashed. Regardless, the selection and deletion process is the same as the first pass.
- First Pass. This is where I get rid of the obvious junk files, files there's no hope of using for anything.
Adjust White Balance of raw file in Camera Raw.
My camera's Auto White Balance does a fairly good job when the images are taken outdoors with no flash. But occasionally I need to adjust the White Balance and the Camera Raw program within Adobe Photoshop is the place to do it.
Use the White Balance tool to set a rough adjustment. This tool has an eye dropper style cursor. The White Balance tool is located within the set of tools in the upper left corner of Camera Raw. After selecting the tool, click on something within the image that is very light gray or white (not blown out white, but something white with details) to get a rough adjustment.
If you click on something that produces a white balance that is just way off from the desired setting, you can go back to your starting point by selecting 'As Shot' from the 'White Balance' drop down menu. See image below.
To refine the white balance further, use the Temperature and Tint sliders on the 'Adjust' tab on the right side of Camera Raw. Usually when I am adjusting the white balance I just skip the White Balance tool and just use the sliders, though on occasion the White Balance tool can be helpful.Adjust Exposure of raw file in Camera Raw.
The 'Exposure' slider in Camera Raw offers finer control of highlight clipping than the similar behaving slider (right slider) in the 'Levels' control within Photoshop. This control manipulates the tonal values in the histogram located in the top right corner of Camera Raw.
To check for highlight clipping hold down the 'Alt' key while engaging the Exposure slider. White pixels indicate full highlight clipping and colored pixels indicate some clipping in the data for that pixel. I use the histogram, the clipping display, and the effect on the actual image to determine where to set the Exposure slider. I try not to set the Exposure slider more than + .50 when increasing exposure. Higher values sometimes generate noise in the image. On the reverse side, I have gone further than -.50 when decreasing exposure using the 'Exposure' slider. The 'Exposure' slider does well at recovering detail information from overexposed images.
(I rarely use the other sliders in the 'Adjust' tab)
Filter Noise in Camera Raw and/or Adobe Photoshop.
I listed Camera Raw here because the noise reducing controls within Camera Raw are supposed to be more effective than the noise reducing controls in Adobe Photoshop.
Unfortunately I am spoiled with using 'Noise Ninja', a noise reducing plug-in for Photoshop. So at this point I click the 'Open' button in Camera Raw and open the photo in Adobe Photoshop.
The 'Noise Ninja' plug-in has a specific profile for my camera and I am usually happy with the results. Within the 'Noise Ninja' dialog I can scroll around the image and see the before and after results before applying the actual noise filter. If I like what I see I click the OK button to apply the filter and move to the next task. Not much work involved here.
Adjust Levels in Adobe Photoshop.
At this point I open the 'Levels' control in photoshop to adjust the shadows (left most slider) and the brightness (middle slider) of the image. I almost always adjust the brightness but sometimes leave the shadows alone. (I rarely use the Brightness/Contrast tool in photoshop. It seems when I do everything else correctly, the Brightness/Contrast tool adds no value what so ever.)
Like the 'Exposure' control in Camera Raw, you can view shadow clipping by holding down the 'Alt' key while adjusting the left slider. Clipping will show up as white or colored pixels while black pixels indicates no clipping. Holding down the 'Alt' key while manipulating the middle slider does nothing.
Adjust the Shadow/Highlight Control in Adobe Photoshop.
I always test the Shadow/Highlight control to see if it adds any value to the image.
About 50% of the time it does only damage to the photo, but sometimes it does adds value. In general I leave the default settings alone except for the two 'Amount' sliders. When I use this control rarely does the Shadows 'Amount' slider go over a value of 8 and rarely do I go over a value or 20 for the Highlights 'Amount'. High values on these sliders seem to effect the color tone or add noise.
Adjust Hue/Saturation in Adobe Photoshop.
I probably use this tool on about 30% or less on my images. It is used only when the image color looks flat or I want to enhance (or de-emphasize) a specific color on the subject. Most of the time I use the tool I only adjust the Saturation slider (within a +- 30 range).
Touch Up any spots in Adobe Photoshop.
Removal of dust spots and/or very small extraneous items in the frame is done with the 'Spot Healing Brush' or the 'Clone Stamp Tool'.
Save as PSD file in Adobe Photoshop.
At this point I am ready to save my master image as a PSD file for storage. I only save as a PSD file if I think the image is good enough to warrant it and there maybe further need of the image with the adjustments I made. Much of the time I just save directly to jpg because I only plan to use it on a web site. Probably a bad habit, there have been many times where I wished I had the PSD file with the master adjustments I made.
Create JPG from PSD file in Adobe Photoshop.
Crop the image and/or resize it for it's intended use.
Sharpen in Adobe Photoshop.
Unless doing two or three pass sharpening, sharpening should be done as the last step on the final product, whether that final product is for print or for web.
I use Adobe Photoshop's Unsharp Mask control to sharpen my images. Generally I keep the 'Radius' set to 1 (sometimes 2) and the 'Threshold' set to 5. I vary the 'Amount' between 0 and up to 200. Keeping an eye on unwanted artifacts that may be generated or enhanced due to the sharpening process.
Note that I usually preview the image at 100% (not 50% like the image capture shows)
