Improve Photography » Post-processing

Edit My RAW File [Photo Contest]

Jim Harmer — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 08:24:56 +0000

For the last month or so, I’ve been teasing this contest but today I’m finally ready to release the details. This contest will test your skill at editing photos in Lightroom, Photoshop, Aperture, or whatever other software you choose. I took the photo and I’m inviting you to download the photo and edit it however you see fit.

The best editing job will win a $100 Amazon Gift Card and a free online photography class from us. The second and third place winners will win one free online photography class.

This is the photo you’ll be editing for the contest. It’s sharp, but it has exposure issues, white balance problems, and needs skin smoothing. Plus, you can add in your own special style to design it up.

How to Enter this Contest

Download my RAW file here. Once on that page, click File > Download. You may need to sign in to your Google account. If you can’t open a RAW file or can’t get Google Drive to work for you, then you can save a large JPEG of the file here.
Edit the photo however you see fit. No holds barred. ONE entry per person.
Upload the photo to our NEW Improve Photography Community page on Google+, or you can pin your photo to one of your pinterest boards and write #improvephotography as the pin description. While you’re at it, you can also follow me on Pinterest here! Deadline to enter is midnight MST on Tuesday, February 5, 2013.

How We’ll Judge and Announce the Winner

Dustin Olsen and I will judge the photos according to three criteria: (1) Does the editing job make the model look her best? (2) Are there any technical issues with the editing job such as noise, sharpness, etc? and (3) Has the editor taken creative liberty to create something unique?

The winner will be announced on Monday, February 11 by the end of the day on the Improve Photography Google+ page as well as on Facebook.

More Important Rules

ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON! Seriously. I mean it
You’re welcome to composite this photo with any other photo that YOU took and own all rights to.
No holds barred in terms of what you can do in editing. You’re welcome to go crazy or just do basic simple edits–make the photo look how YOU want it to.
The last time we did a contest like this, someone edited the model to look like a vampire. That was…. weird. Maybe no vampire edits this time? :-)
No entries will be accepted after midnight MST on Tuesday, February 5, 2013.

But What if You Don’t Own Photoshop?

The good news is that you can download a free 30 day trial of Photoshop or Lightroom de graca (I picked that one up in Mexico). You can also use free photo editing software like GIMP.

The Legal Stuff

Prizes left unclaimed until after February 15, 2013 will be forfeited. Prizes can be claimed only by sending an email to prize@improvephotography.com.

You’re only licensed to download, edit, and use this photo to enter this contest–the photo is mine. By entering this contest, you grant Improve Photography LLC and its employees, assigns, licensees, and sublicensees the right to publish your edits to this photo in any way reasonably connected to this contest or this site, including use in a possible webinar discussing the entries. If you choose to composite the contest photo onto a photo YOU took, you grant Improve Photography LLC and its employees, assigns, licensees, and sublicensees a license to publish your photo as part of the compilation you create in any way reasonably connected to this contest or this site, including use in a possible webinar discussing the entries.

No purchase necessary to enter. This contest is open to contestants worldwide, but is void where prohibited by law. You must be 18 years of age to enter.

Further Reading:

How to Protect Your Photos With A Watermark

Jim Harmer — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:46:05 +0000

I’ve always disliked watermarks. When I am asked to provide a portfolio review and see watermarks on the picture, I’m unable to even concentrate on the photo because I’m so distracted with the watermark.

However, about a year ago, I started watermarking my photos because I found a way to do it unobtrusively by using my signature on the photo. After all, when you walk into an art gallery there are signatures on the photos, so why not recreate that same branding on your digital photos?

In this tutorial, I want to explain why watermarking your photos is important EVEN IF the watermark could easily be cloned or cropped out. Also, I’ll show you step-by-step how to watermark your photos in Photoshop or Lightroom.

Note: If you receive this post via email, be sure not to miss out with this video on watermarking that is associated with this post.

How to watermark your pictures.

Why watermark photos if they are so easily removed?

Disclaimer: While I did go to law school, I’m not your lawyer. The information presented here is my understanding of the law as I have applied it to my business. Seek competent and licensed legal advice from an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction to apply the law to your circumstances.

There are three compelling reasons to watermark your photos: (1) It is an obvious visual cue to a potential infringer that the photographer wants to protect her rights, (2) It enables those who see your work to find you to license it, and (3) If the watermark is removed, the photographer may receive additional damages in the case of an infringement.

In the U.S. Copyright Law, under section 1202, copyright holders are granted up to $25,000 in damages if an infringement occurs where the wrongful party removed the watermark. This money is in addition to damages for the infringement, and it provides for attorneys fees, and it can be collected even where the photographer did not register her images. More on the legal aspects of watermarking on the FANTASTIC PhotoAttorney Blog.

How do you watermark your photos using Photoshop?

There are several ways to watermark your photos in Photoshop. I have found, however, that the simplest way of doing so is by creating a brush of your logo, and then simply stamping the photo inside Photoshop. If you’re receiving this post via email, you can see a video of how to watermark your photos in photoshop here.

Step One: Create a black document in Photoshop that is 500px wide and 300 in height. Resolution 150, transparent background.

Step Two: Get a paint brush with black paint and draw your signature on the canvas.

Step Three: Go to edit >define brush preset

Step Four: When you want to watermark an image, simply go to your brush tool and find the brush logo you just created, and stamp it on the picture. Simple!

How do you watermark your photos using Lightroom?

Watermarking photos in Lightroom is even faster than using Photoshop. If you’re receiving this post via email, you can see a video tutorial on how to add a watermark in Lightroom here.

Step One: Create your watermark logo in Photoshop or other program (see directions above)

Step Two: Highlight the photo you want to apply the logo to and go to File > Export

Step Three: Go to the bottom of the export dialogue to watermarking and click edit watermarks

Step Four: Browse to the graphic watermark you want to use and position the graphic on the photo. Save this watermark.

Step Five: Whenever you want to watermark a photo, Lightroom will automatically watermark it with the graphic you chose. If you don’t want to watermark a particular image, simply uncheck the watermark box as you export. Simple!Further Reading:

“Work It, Baby!” All About My Photo Workflow

Dustin Olsen — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:00:06 +0000

We are all good at taking photos… and when we catch the bug, we take A LOT of photos! But how do we keep them organized?? My workflow is done using Adobe Bridge, but the same concept of organization can be applied to pretty much any photo management software you choose. As a little bit of a side note – if you are using Apple iPhoto to manage your photos… STOP IT!! If Apple were lay claim to a failure, that would be one of them. Get your photos out of iPhoto and into something else. There will be a day when you will be really glad you did!

Now for my own workflow:
When I import the photos off the card, I put them in a set of folders that have been organized chronologically. For example:

Pictures > 2012 > January > 14 Jan – DustinEricaGarden

So that’s where you would put all the originals from the shoot. Since I shoot in RAW format, I will quickly head to Photoshop to convert them to JPGs and size them down for Client Proofing. To do that in Photoshop, go to:

File > Scripts > Image Processor…

Here I select the source files (which would be the originals) and that I would like to save them in the same location. Saving them in the same location will create a new folder labeled “JPEG” inside where you imported your original photos. While still in the image processor window, I will make sure that the JPG check box is selected and the resize one too. Then I will put in 1000px for both the height and the width of the images. This won’t make them square, but adjust whichever edge is longer to 1000px. This makes for easier online proofing. At the bottom I will add my Copyright statement and then tell it to run.

Once the photos are resized, I will then upload them to a site called ZangZing (FREE) for client proofing. What I do here is create a new album for my clients and upload all the originals and ask them to go through and mark “Favorite” on the ones they absolutely want to have printed/edited. I give them about a 15 photo limit because otherwise they might select them all. I restrict album access to private so only the client can see the photos.

Once the photos have been selected and ready for enhancements/editing, I create a general folder labeled, “Edits” for each month. For example:

Pictures > 2012 > January > Edits…

And inside each Edits folder are these two subfolders:

> JPGs
> PSDs

Original Quality, edited, JPGs are saved in this area. At the same time I finish a photo I like to make it “Web Ready” by resizing it and putting my logo on it and I then I save it in a folder called “BLOG” inside my “JPGs” folder. For example:

Pictures > 2012 > January > Edits > JPGs > BLOG…

I might create subfolders within “JPGs” or “PSDs” for a series of photos I edit just to keep clients separated from my own work or other files.

This type of organization has worked great for me because it’s been far easier to remember when an event happened rather than some crazy name I saved it all under.

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As far as my editing workflow goes – that changes depending on the photo I am working with. From HDRs to Portraits to Landscapes… they all need a special kind of love.

But, one thing I do make an effort to do when I am done editing the photo is to do levels so that if I print the photo, it will be bright enough. I will do a slight sharpen on it. Then I will increase the Sats because some printers take the sats away depending on where you go. Those are my finishing techniques but it’s a workflow.Further Reading:

How to Color Calibrate Your Monitor for Photo Editing

Jim Harmer — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:16:58 +0000

Computer monitors do their best to reproduce colors and brightnesses correctly, but each one is slightly different. In fact, a screen even reproduces photos differently when it starts up compared to the way colors and brightnesses look after the monitor has been running for a while.

This is a serious problem for photographers. We are careful to set the white balance properly in Photoshop or Lightroom, but what good does it do if your screen is not properly calibrated? Answer–none! The same is true for adjusting color saturation, brightness, and just about everything else.

Here’s a photo I edited before and after color calibrating. See the difference? Which side do you think is the color calibrated one? If your screen isn’t calibrated, it can be hard to tell!

Does everyone need to calibrate their monitor?

Probably not. If you’re just a hobbyist photographer who is learning the ropes, this probably isn’t the biggest fish you have to fry. There are many more important things to learn in photography than color calibration; however, if you’re more serious of a photographer and want to know that your photos look their best… then it’s time to calibrate!

I will note, however, that not all photographers agree on screen calibration. Dustin likes to do the manual calibration, I prefer to use the screen calibrator. It gives us something to argue about while we’re barbecuing.

Is monitor calibration only for printing? Will it mess up my photos on the web?

Put your mouse on this picture and click the pin it button to share this article on Pinterest!

No way! The purpose of calibration is to make sure that your eye sees the photo the same way on your screen as others will see it. For printing, you can be sure that by calibrating your screen your photo will look very close to how it looked on your computer screen.

However, when you edit on a calibrated screen and then post your photo online, it does not mean that everyone else will see the photo properly. Their screens are most likely uncalibrated, but it is still important to calibrate. Why? Because computer monitor manufacturers strive to make their products reproduce colors properly, so by color calibrating, you’ll be at neutral even if some screens are off one way and others are off another way.

There is a caveat, however. Almost without exception, computer monitors are kept brighter than a calibrated screen. So if I edit a photo on a calibrated device, it will likely show up a TINY BIT darker on uncalibrated monitors. Most people find that they like their screens pretty bright. The way that I avoid this is to simply brighten my photos a TINY bit in Photoshop or Lightroom before posting on the web since I know most people will be viewing the photo on a brighter screen.

What if my monitor can’t adjust enough?

It is possible that your monitor will be off enough and not have the necessary adjustments that it couldn’t be properly calibrated. However, the way that the color calibration tool that I personally use works, is that it simply saves a new color profile on your machine, so there is no need at all to adjust settings on the screen. It does everything for you.

What tool do you recommend for color calibration?

No doubt, what you’re looking for is the Spyder 4 Express from DataColor. Color calibration tools often cost over $1,000, but this little piece of love does the job for around $110. I personally use the Spyder color calibrator and it works VERY well. The one I use is the “Elite” not the express, but most people probably can get away just fine with the Express. I really like the free software that comes with the tool. It walks you through the process step-by-step and makes it amazingly simple. You can easily calibrate the screen in just 3 minutes.

Is there a free option for color calibration?

Yep! Windows 7 comes with a monitor calibration tool built-in. The trouble with this and many other tools is that it is quite subjective and inaccurate, but it might be a good option for photographers who don’t want to spend a load of money on a color calibration device. This will at least get you closer.

On Windows 7, go to Start > Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Display > Calibrate Color. Then open that program which will walk you through how to get a ROUGH approximation of a calibrated screen.

If you use a mac, check out Dustin’s instructions on the Pixels to Paper post.

Further Reading:

Understand Photoshop In 10 Minutes Or Less

Dustin Olsen — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:00:16 +0000

by Dustin Olsen

All designed up and ready for you to pin this photo on Pinterest!

Photoshop is overwhelming!! There is no way around it! There is just so much to constantly learn that undoubtedly, at some point, we have all needed someone to show us around and give us a few pointers. Photoshop is the digital photographer’s greatest tool if you know how to use it. Here are the things we all wished we knew when we started working with Photoshop:

How layers work
The number one thing that we need to understand about Photoshop is how layers work. It can be very confusing at first, but once you realize you have greater flexibility with your edits, you won’t go back.

Layers work from top to bottom. The bottom layer is your base layer, or the foundation of your creative project. From there, you add new layers on top of that to apply your edits and build upon your foundation. If you want to paint a color or increase exposure – add a new layer to affect the lower layers. It’s easy!! If you don’t like the layer with your edits, you can hide it by clicking on the “eye” icon to the left the layer. This way you can toggle back and forth to see how your edits are affecting everything below it.

Word of Caution – once you start working with layers, be sure to have the correct layer selected. There is nothing more frustrating than to keep attempting an effect that does not appear to be working only to discover that you had the wrong layer highlighted. Almost every tool in Photoshop is designed to only affect ONE layer at a time.

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Masking
What is a layer mask?? This is another part of flexible editing – but when you have this enabled on your layer, you are able to hide or reveal certain parts of your layer by just using the brush tool and painting over that area. You don’t want to use the eraser tool – this effectively replaces that option!! If you want to hide something, use a mask… decide you went too far or need to bring part of that hidden area back? Use a mask. Some people might ask why not just throw the lasso tool around it and hit the big delete key? Well – a mask allows for greater precision when selecting your objects and you even have the flexibility of bringing an area back if you went too far. Once you hit that delete key or use the eraser tool, you commit to the idea that you don’t need that data or information anymore.

You can only use Black or White paint in order for the mask to work. Just remember, black paint conceals… and white paint reveals. An easy way I like to remember this is: Black is dark like the night – things are hidden. White is light like the day – objects are visible.

To add a layer mask to your layer – you select the small icon at the bottom of your layers panel that looks like a square with a circle in the center of it. You’ll notice a white square linked to your layer thumbnail.

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Adjustment Layers
These pseudo adjustments (i.e. – Exposure, Brightness, etc) are similar to what you find in CameraRaw. It is applied as a separate layer and it comes with a mask. While you are able to make such adjustments globally… you can also mask out areas if you want just certain parts to be affected by the layer.

Your modifying options of these adjustments layers is available in the Adjustments Panel (Window >; Adjustments) when that specific layer is selected. You can hide these and get a greater idea of what you are adjusting – and if you do not like it, just delete or hide that layer and you are back to where you were.

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Filters
Isn’t it just so awesome that Photoshop comes with all these super wicked filters?? Virtually one click away and you can transform a photo and make it look like a hand-painted canvas piece of art or a psychedelic dance hall print. Because it’s so easy, I would suggest you proceed with caution. These filters are very cool but need to be creative and used in moderation because otherwise, it screams AMATEUR.

However – filters such as blur and sharpen are great to use (and some of the very few exceptions) when working on finishing touches of a photo. But just like anything else – too much of a good thing becomes bad. Using filter effects should be done in moderation. Don’t overdo it… actually… never mind. Go overboard!! Get it out of your system and then go back to it and not overdo it.

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History States
For every action applied – you just created a history state. By default Photoshop will only keep track of your 20 previous steps. If ever you decide you want to go back in time… only 20 clicks before hand can be undone. No more.

If you have plenty of RAM in your computer, we suggest that you change your Photoshop Preferences to support around 200 history states. You may not use all of those – but you have the assurance of being able to undo the edits you are doing.

Preferences >; Performance >; Under “History & Cache” >; Change History States from “20” to “200”.

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CameraRAW
What is all this hoop-la about CameraRaw and what is this RAW image format I see on my camera?? To be honest – CameraRaw is not technically part of Photoshop but most photographers will do 90% of their editing in the CameraRaw dialog window before making it all the way into Photoshop. CameraRaw allows you to adjust your photos to reflect as if the camera settings were set for that. For example, you forget to change the white balance or the exposure compensation on your camera – No problem! Shooting RAW images gives you that option because of all the data and information contained in the image. CameraRaw also makes it so you can push it to the next level with basic type edits. It’s extremely powerful and all the pros are doing it.

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Image Processor

Do you have a lot images you need to apply the exact same thing to each one? Using image processor is the quickest way to get things done quickly! I use this one when I convert all my RAW images to JPG or when I have series of photos I need to optimize for the blog. Image Processor is the easiest way to streamline your workflow when working in Photoshop.

File >; Scripts >; Image Processor…

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What is something you wished you knew when you started working in Photoshop??

Further Reading:

How to Create an AWESOME Photoshop Action Sequence in 10 Easy Steps

Jim Harmer — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:57:52 +0000

Amanda Tucker, who is one of the the members of our Facebook community, and who took the 30-Day online portrait photography class recently, did an awesome Photoshop work of a wedding picture (see below) that created an action sequence. She was kind enough to share her talents with all of you and reveals here how to make one of your own! You can check out Amanda’s (upcoming) website here.

This is the final product of this tutorial, created by Amanda Tucker. Want to make one? Read on!

Step 1: Take your photos. For the easiest sequence, set up tripod and take photos without moving the camera. Ensure your subject is within the same focal plane to ensure the depth of field matches. If you decided to pan, keep it short, so that the background isn’t distorted once assembled.

Step 2: Open all the images in Photoshop.

Step 3: Pick your first photo of the sequence, then copy and paste the other images on top, in the order you would like them to appear. Tip: You can just cut and paste the relevant portion of the images.

Step 4: Adjust opacity of layers to ~50% and align as needed using the move tool and arrow keys

Step 5: Once all your images are loaded and aligned, turn off all the layers except the first and second.

Step 6: With layer 2 selected, add a layer mask – (Layer> Layer Mask>Reveal All)

Step 7: With the layer mask selected, choose a large, soft paintbrush. Paint back in anything you want showing through from layer 1. Adjust brush opacity to taste.

Step 9: Adjust the layer opacity to taste to make your subjects more or less ghostly.

Step 8: Turn on layer 3- repeat step 6 and 7.

Step 10: Repeat for all your layers. Fine tune by adding to or subtracting from the layer masks (by painting in black or white) and adjusting opacity on the paint brush where needed.

Ta Da!

Ta da! Cool, huh?

Further Reading:

Mastering the Digital Age of Photography (By Dustin Olsen)

Jim Harmer — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:49:22 +0000

Doesn't this guy look like David Hobby (strobist)? It's just a random stock photo, but it totally looks like him.

This is a guest post by Dustin Olsen, who now works with me (Jim) on Improve Photography. Here’s Dustin…

The photography industry has taken a turn for the worse! It has gone digital and the younger generations of our time have embraced it gladly and the older generations have about thrown it away.

Before the dawn of this new age, photography was an art that required a trained eye and an artistic mind when it came to literally making a photograph. You knew who the Masters were of this analog age because they learned to master the tools they were using and you could see it. Their work was beautifully stunning and original, like a true artist. However, with the transition to digital, we lost sight of the artistic value of photography and welcomed in anyone who could afford a digital SLR camera. We have undercut our own industry (in more ways than one), with such a welcome, when the professionals decided to ignore those with a digital camera because, at the time, digital was simply not good enough compared to our proven and trusted film cameras.

There is no turning back. We are a part of this, and if any one of us is going to survive… we need to master the digital age of photography. If you have not already learned to shoot in Manual mode, might we all suggest you learn! Shooting in Manual mode will not only challenge your knowledge as a photographer but also set you apart from those still shooting on auto with their “really nice cameras.” Come to understand the beauty of flash photography and experiment beyond the comfort of natural light.

Today, semi-amateurs are taking the jobs of professionals. They are untrained; they rely on the screen on the back of their camera, and spend extensive hours in Photoshop if they have the “know how.” We have criticized these new photographers and their inability to make a quality photograph straight out of the camera. And yet, we refuse to teach them in fear we will lose our upper hand in this cutthroat industry of ours. With nowhere to turn, the uprising generations of photographers have come to rely on Photoshop power to correct their photos in any and every way possible. And we criticize them for that too because we have not learned how that works either.

For those of us who have been in a darkroom before, you know what it’s like to dodge and burn our photos or find that perfect exposure to achieve even a little bit better what we saw with our own eyes.

Take time to learn some basic photo enhancement techniques in Photoshop or software of your choice. Learning such methods is no different than what we would do in it the darkroom. It’s just digital now.

It is extremely important that you learn and know how to post process a photo digitally – and that is if you are new or experienced. Your camera does not know what it is that your eye can see when you went to take that shot. Sometimes you are lucky but most of the times you need to make some adjustments to get that photo looking like it did in real life. There is nothing “real” about a photo straight out of the camera unless you have that exposable income to buy expensive equipment and take it with you everywhere you go. Digital processing is just as important as knowing your way around the darkroom.

To those of you who spend countless hours in Photoshop to correct a photo shoot you did… cut it out. Take some time to learn how to use your camera and set up your shot. Your family will love you for it because you are not in front of the computer all night after having been gone all day on a shoot. Knowing Photoshop is great, but you will make more money when you are making photos, not when you are editing them.

Mastering the digital age does not just involve what you can do on the computer, but in your camera as well. Whether it comes “Straight Out Of Photoshop” or “Straight Out Of the Camera” – we all continue to make and shape a history of memories at every sound of the shutter. What will you be remembered for?

Dustin Olsen is a professional photography instructor at ImprovePhotography.com.Further Reading:

Five Minute Upgrade: Learn to customize Photoshop for speed and creativity

Jim Harmer — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:07:25 +0000

In five minutes, you can easily upgrade Photoshop to make it easier for photographers to use.

Most photographers spend a lot of time in Photoshop. We do our best to learn tips and tricks on how to use Photoshop to create various effects, but if you’re still using Photoshop on its default settings and preferences, you’re totally missing out. Today I made a list of a few customizations I always make to Photoshop when I install it on a computer.

These quick changes you can make to Photoshop will make your digital image editing faster, nicer, and you will experience fewer instances of the program crashing.

Five Minute Upgrade #1: Set up your cache levels

You don’t need to know what a “cache level” is in order to get improved performance out of this tip. Just trust me, it will speed up Photoshop. In Photoshop, click Edit > Preferences > Performance > and then look for where it says “cache levels” on the right. The default number is four. Depending on how you work, you will want to change this number. Since most photographers open a lot of files in Photoshop and only make one or two quick changes, it is better for photographers to change this number to 1. If you’re the type of photographer that uses dozens of layers and uses resource-intensive edits (such as gaussian blur), then you might want to make this a higher number, such as 6.

Just in case you’re curious, here’s an explanation from Adobe on how cache levels work: “Photoshop uses image caching to speed the redraw of high-resolution images. With caching, Photoshop uses low-resolution versions of images to quickly update the image onscreen as you work. The Cache Levels option allows you to tell Photoshop to save from 1-8 levels of cached image data. The more cache levels you have, the slower Photoshop opens the file, but the more responsive it is while you work. The fewer cache levels you have, the faster the image loads, but slower Photoshop performs.”

Make Photoshop Faster #2: Reduce your history states

Before you leave the screen where you just adjusted your cache levels, you should also change the number of history states that Photoshop stores. For each history state you save, Photoshop has to store an original size of the photo in the state. In short, it means slowing you down significantly. As long as you know how to work non-destructively in Photoshop and you don’t regularly find yourself going back more than 5 or 10 states to undo a mistake you’ve made, I would change the number of history states to 5. Rarely do I find myself needing to click “Undo” more than 5 times, so this is the right setting for me (and most photographers).

Make Photoshop Faster #3: Turn off image preview saving

One default preference in Photoshop that makes it slower to open photos is when it saves image previews. To turn off this setting, go to Edit > Preferences >File Handling > and then choose “Never Save” under Image Previews. Ahh… the joy of a faster Photoshop experience.

Make Photoshop Nicer #4: Use larger layer thumbnails

When I am working on a photo and create several layers, the tiny little thumbnails are difficult to see. In fact, I usually have to click the “hide layer” eye icon a few times to see what the layer impacts since the thumbnail is just too tiny to see (and I have 20/20 vision). It drives me insane to work in Photoshop without changing this setting to get larger layer thumbnails. To change it, simply right click anywhere in the plain gray space of the layers palette, and then choose “Large thumbnails.” After you do this five minute upgrade, you’ll be wondering why you didn’t know about this before!

Make Photoshop Faster #5: UNfix the memory setting in Photoshop

This is a VERY common mistake made by photographers when they try to speed up Photoshop. In the panel we were using earlier, found at Edit > Preferences > Performance > Memory Usage. When photographers find that Photoshop is running slowly, many users increase the amount of RAM that Photoshop can use. In many or most cases, this will actually slow Photoshop down if you turn this setting up too high. Why would that slow down Photoshop? When this setting is too high, Photoshop and your operating system can’t access the needed RAM, so it uses virtual RAM on your hard drive, which is significantly slower. If you’re going to change this setting at all, always keep it within the ideal range that is stated in the window and never adjust this setting by more than 5% without re-starting Photoshop and testing your performance. My advice? Just don’t touch this one, especially because many photographers use many resource-intensive programs at once (such as Lightroom and Photoshop), so you need the RAM balanced equally between them.

If you enjoy these daily photography tips, LIKE Improve Photography on Facebook or you can follow us on Twitter.

Further Reading:

Lightroom vs. Photoshop

Jim Harmer — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 04:56:04 +0000

What program is she using? The world may never know…

Yesterday, I wrote an introduction to Lightroom Presets. This prompted MANY readers to ask whether they should buy Photoshop or Lightroom, and whether Lightroom is useful on photos other than portraits, or if it is just a portrait photography tool. Michael Bates wrote on the Improve Photography facebook fanpage, “I’m new to the world of photography so forgive me if this is a dumb question. Can you use lightroom for more than portrait photography? Say landscape? And what can you do with Lightroom that you can’t do with Photoshop CS6?”

Photoshop or Lightroom… which one is best?

Obviously, the answer to this question is BOTH! I don’t know any professional photographers that don’t own both; however, the reason you are asking this question is probably because you are wanting to buy your first editing program, so which one should you start with?

My recommendation is to buy Lightroom first. Lightroom is easy to learn, powerful, and it will also help you organize and categorize your photos.

Although I recommend Lightroom as your first program, many photographers still choose Photoshop first. There is no program on Earth that is more powerful for editing and manipulating photos than Photoshop; however, Photoshop was originally created to service graphic designers–not photographers. Even today, some common edits for photographers are time-consuming and cumbersome using Photoshop. Also, the full version of Photoshop does not have have any ability to catalog photos and keep them organized. Photoshop Elements has limited cataloging functionality, but it still doesn’t meet most photographers’ needs. It would take me several hours to go through a wedding shoot using only Photoshop.

Lightroom offers 95% of the editing functionality that photographers use most commonly in Photoshop, and it makes those tools readily available. In addition it offers a robust and speedy cataloging feature that lets you keep track of your photos and videos with the greatest of ease. When I shoot portrait or wildlife photography, I RARELY feel the need to round-trip (pass photos from Lightroom to Photoshop to make more extensive edits). However, when I shoot landscape photography or HDR, I almost always round-trip into Photoshop, because I like to push pixels around more with landscape photography. The most common edit that requires me to go from Lightroom to Photoshop on is when I need to use layers.

So the decision for choosing Lightroom or Photoshop depends largely on how much you like to digitally alter photos. If the most in-depth edit you do to your photos could be done with presets (as mentioned in yesterday’s post), or you simply do blemish removal or basic cloning, then Lightroom is the clear winner. If you don’t mind spending a lot of time trying to sort through your photos, you don’t have a large library of photos, and you want to do extensive editing on your photos, then Photoshop is probably more suited to your style of photography.

What edits can you make in Lightroom 4?

The list is LOOOoong, but I can see what photographers would ask if Lightroom can be used on photos other than just portraits. Lightroom is especially popular with portrait photographers because it helps to sort through hundreds or thousands of photos with ease. Landscape photographers, for example, would almost never come home from a shoot with 1,000 photos from a morning shoot.

The easiest way to find out what Lightroom does is to download the free 30-day trial of the software to see if it does what you want. But, for the sake of comprehensiveness, here is a basic rundown of SOME of the most common editing tools in Lightroom.

Curves

Levels

Faux graduated neutral density filters

Horizon correction

Cropping

All basic Adobe Camera Raw adjustments (exposure, fill light, contrast, vibrance, saturation, blacks, etc.)

Lens correction

Vignette removal

Chromatic aberration removal

Spot removal

Red-eye removal

Yet again, I have to say clearly that this is only a tiny fraction of what Lightroom can do, but hopefully this list will provide you with an idea of the type of editing functions that Lightroom can perform.

If you’re interested in purchasing Adobe Lightroom 3, you can check the current price on Amazon.com here.

Further Reading:

Amazon is Selling Lightroom 3 for $119 Today!!!!!

Jim Harmer — Mon, 30 May 2011 19:11:27 +0000

Lightroom 3 is a program made by Adobe, the makers of Photoshop. I usually recommend that photographers buy Lightroom 3 rather than Photoshop as your first image editing software choice because it is MUCH easier to use, faster, and perfectly capable for making 95% of the edits that most photographers make. Photoshop is really for making major changes to a photo or in-depth changes. If you don’t own it, this is a MUST HAVE for any photographer.

Anyway, Lightroom 3 is on sale at Amazon.com right now for $119!!!! When you get to the page, it shows that it costs $206, but if you look to the right hand side at the individual sellers, it is available from Amazon for $119. Here’s a link to this INCREDIBLE deal.

I have no idea how long this deal will last. This is NOT the education version of the software. I haven’t ever seen Lightroom priced so low… ever!Further Reading: