Workflow with ND and RAW images only

[dirk]

Hi,

Same as with the Jpeg thread, I ask these questions for users who are shooting in RAW format with their ND. Obviously this is the best choice to get really all the ND can deliver. But at the cost of no preview, bigger file sizes, slower writing speed and more work afterwards (?).

So what is your workflow/ recommendation, if someone is using the Contax ND only for RAW images. How can he/she get most out of it?

Is software like "shadow recovery" and/ or "chroma noise reducer" still a better option than the included tools in Photoshop CS2?

Is there any other software out there in the meantime, which is better?

Which steps/ settings/ actions in PS CS2 are you using? Which settings do you have on your ND when shooting RAW images (tone curve, edge emphasis, w.Bal, chroma, ISO setting, +- correction etc.)?

Thanks in advance

 

[dirk]

Hi

I have made some testshots of my son in RAW modus. Any standard settings you recommend in PS CS2 which work in 90% of the cases to get good results?

How do you automise this in photoshop, in case you have 10+ images in RAW format?

 

[djg]

Hi Dirk,

I need to work up some energy and time away from my Arizona trip processing to write up some workflow descriptions, but here are some quick answers to at least get some direction.

If you select multiple images say in Windows Explorer or some other file utility and drag them into CS2, or select them in Bridge and tell it to open in Camera Raw, you get a filmstrip of all the images in ACR.

Select one image and process it in ACR to your liking. On the filmstrip controls make sure you select your processed image first and click Select All, then click Synchronize. A dialog opens so you can choose which settings to synchronize, and it will apply those settings selected from the original image to all the images selected.

The other thing you want to do is when you have a nice set of typical settings in ACR, you can save them as the default settings so they always get applied when you first open a raw image for the first time. I also save it as a named file setting, so I can always recover it. In fact I have many different setting sets saved, some for specific white balances, which I can quickly apply from the dropdown control in ACR.

BTW, here's the book you need to get (and me too, I'm ordering this week-end if my local Barnes & Noble doesn't have it):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/032127878X/002-0959307-3498419?v=glance

Cheers!

 

[dirk]

Hi DJ,

thanks for your tips, I will try this tomorrow immediately.

This is funny, someone else recommended this book a few days ago to me and I ordered it already at Amazon. But I have not gotten it yet. Should have been here already today. But English books need sometimes more time to get delivered in Germany...

If you order, please make sure to get the new version for CS2. Second edition. printed in 2005. The link you posted is for the old version (only for photoshop CS1), so the new RAW converter 3.1 will be mot covered in the old version.

I also ordered at the same time the book "color Management" from the same author. Also second edition 2005.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321267222/002-8238613-7582409?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance

I read somewheer on the net that this shall be one of the most important books out there

If at least one of them is not delivered tomorrow, I am running crazy....

Thanks again for the quick help. And I am looking forward for your workflow description.

P.S.: I will renovate our specific darkroominfo.com forum too, so that more software is covered there in detail. Currently it is just sleeping

 

[djg]

Thanks for the heads-up, Dirk! Looks like we have some reading to do for the week-end

.

 

[fotografz]

The Batch work flow in Photoshop CS2 Adobe RAW Converter(ARC):

Create a new, empty file folder on your desktop and label it. Place CF Card from camera in CF card reader. Open the camera file that now appears on your Desktop. Select all the RAW files and copy them (drag and drop on a Mac), to the New file folder you created. Once copied, remove the CF Card and keep it safe until you are done processing those files and have stored them on a DVD or other secondary place. You want to copy them to a new desktop folder for two reasons: 1) It assures you have multiple copies 2) working through the CF card reader is very slow compared to working on files located on your desktop.

Open PSCS2, then open the Bridge (the Seashell icon in the PS top menu). It will take a moment to open. In the Right Bottom corner there is a selection of Icons that allow you to pick how the images will appear on screen. Click on the 2nd one from the left showing a rectangle with smaller squares below it. This is the film strip option. To make the filmstrip thumbnails larger or smaller, use the slider to the left of the Icon choices. Now on the left side bottom is a selector window make sure the "Show Workflow Options" square is checked.

Now, on the left top, there are two tabs, Click on "Favorites" and then on "Desktop" in the pull down menu that appears. Then in the filmstrip click/select the desktop file that you created and filled with RAW images. All the RAW files in that folder will now open in the filmstrip with the first one (or any one you select) large in the display window. Again, in the left bottom there are choices to be made like color space; what bit depth; size (I recommend using the NDs native size which will appear without a + or - after it. However, IF you want to make large prints or think you will be cropping severely you can select a + size. If you want to do larger versions this is the place to do it at the RAW stage. Then select the resolution (I leave it at 300 PPI)

To Batch process, select all similar images in your film strip, and
double click on them. A second film strip will open on the left side. Hit "Select All". When selected, hit "Synchronize" just below it. A dialog window will appear and you can select all the functions that you want to apply to that batch of images. (I leave them all selected and never open this window again). Close that window. Now begin to correct the image in the main display window and all the functions you selected in the Sync window will also be applied to all the images shown on the left side filmstrip. When done you can then individually select each of those images one at a time to further tweak it or apply other corrections without affecting all of the other images in that group. Cropping and straightening is an ex&le of such functions, because they may all need different crops.

Note: you can delete images in the left batch slide film which will make a red X appear over them, and those images will not be trashed, but will not be processed with that batch.

Now hit "Select All" once more and in the main dialog window bottom right, click on "Save XXX Images" as tiffs, to another file folder on your desktop. Repeat process for the next batch.

Once you have this down, there are ways to skip from a batch of say 3 images to 5 further down that are similar without opening everything in-between. But stick with this for now.

 

[jsmisc]

Marc,
Thank you very much for that excellent and helpful post. There is so much to learn in Photoshop. That was really good.
John

 

[albert4321]

Photoshop/bridge is part of the workflow which may be the most time consuming one. I read the book JD mentioned twice and it is a good one.

As the book indicated, the workflow should include injestion, renaming, cataloging, editing, enhancing, achieve, proofing, and output, etc. humm, color mgmt should be included somewhere along the line.

I recently took a "digital workflow for pro" workshop from Kevin Aime of "just show me how". man, it was great. In hi-season, I shoot over 3 thousand images per week. And never being able to keep up with it in front of the computer. Now, I think I am more comfortable with my new workflow.

my workflow is something I can't explain here with a few words as I am still learning and fine tuning for my personal preference. I will write more when I have a concrete bullet proof workflow for myself. But what DJ and Marc mentioned is a majoy step.

 

[dirk]

Hi Marc

thanks you for the information about your workflow. This know-how saves hours of try and error

Unfortuntealy, I am totally busy at the moment and had no time yet to spend with my ND. The books arrived, screened the first pages and they seem to be really good.

The negative side is that there is a lot of time needed for reading this

I just made some research about monitor and printer calibration. This is a science for itself...

Originally, I wanted to buy a new LCD screen, but as far as I understood it, if I calibrate my old screen (1 year old LCD), I might not need a new one, since all colours will match the print anyway, if I use Epson ink and Epson paper with my Epson 1290 printer. Is this corect?

I will probably go for the Colorvision Spyder2. Seems to be the best price/performace ratio. They have also an advanced calibration tool for printers called PrintFix. But I wait for that one, because they told me there would be a new improved version within the next weeks, called Print Fix pro.

(Print fix does only works, if you use the original ink of the producer i.e. Epson ink for Epson printers. The new Pro version will support also other inks for an i.e. Epson printer).

 

[djg]

Dirk, don't bother with PrintFix - it's not very effective Hopefully the Pro version will be a big improvement. I have Spyder 2 Pro and it does a nice job with my tube monitors.

I don't get an EXACT replica on-screen of what I get on mu printer, as there are gamut differences, but it's definitely close enough.