Chapter12

Ch 12: Developing Photos

Photoshop CS6 EssentialsBy Scott Onstott


Using Adobe Bridge• Bridge is a separate application

that comes with all Creative Suites and even stand alone Photoshop

• Use Bridge to import, organize, and tag your photos with keywords

• Bridge will display content from a variety of Adobe applications

• You can access Camera Raw within Bridge itself by right clicking any photo and choosing Open in Camera Raw

• Camera Raw preferences are in Bridge


Structuring Metadata• Keywords are like categories: Places,

People, Events, etc• Sub keywords are searchable terms like

Flowers, San Francisco, and so on• After you create a structure of keywords

and sub keywords you can assign sub keywords to any selection of photos (one or more) with a single click

• Use the Filter panel to filter your library of photos by keyword; for example click San Francisco to see all the photos you shot on your recent trip


Using the Mini Bridge• Bridge must be running to access pictures

using the Mini Bridge panel within Photoshop• Mini Bridge can be more convenient than

switching to Bridge to access photos• You can control thumbnail size with the slider

at the bottom of the panel• The limitation is you can’t tag photos with

metadata in Mini Bridge so it’s useful for a later stage in the photo-importing process, just as a means for locating images by thumbnail


Basic Development• Use the sliders on the basic tab to start

developing your photo• Start at the top and work your way down;

the controls were designed with this workflow in mind

• Pay attention to the histogram as you adjust the sliders; you don’t want the graph to get pushed of either end

• Pull the graph back into the tonal range by adjusting Recovery, Blacks and Fill Light in particular


Adjusting the Tone Curve• The tone curve divides the entire tonal

range (from white to black) into four sections called Highlights, Lights, Darks, and Shadows in that order

• If you sense that an image needs increased contrast in one part of the tonal range simply adjust the corresponding slider

• Tone curve is similar to the Curves adjustment but simplified with sliders

• You can adjust how much of the curve is considered part of one of the 4 categories by dragging the horizontal sliders


Sharpening and Reducing Noise• Always set zoom magnification to 100%

in the preview image when using the Detail tab in Camera Raw

• Doing otherwise leads to false results• Hold down Option/Alt and drag the

Sharpening sliders to see what’s really being adjusted in a grayscale preview

• Prints always need more sharpening than looks good on screen

• Don’t overdo sharpening however! Go to the point where it looks too much and then back off a bit for screen output; push it up a notch for print


Adjusting by Color• Use the HSL / Grayscale tab to adjust

particular colors (8 channels)• You can adjust hue, saturation and/or

luminance for each of these 8 channels

• Use the Targeted Adjustment tool if you’re not sure which channel a particular color belong to

• Targeted adjustments are made over the Preview window not the sliders


Camera Calibration• If you are shooting with a

professional level camera then take advantage of the Camera Calibration tab in Camera Raw

• Simulated manufacturer profiles are accessible from drop down menus on the Camera Calibration tab

• Tweak the adjustments to your liking by dragging the color temperature and color channel sliders


Lens Corrections• If you are using a professional level camera and lens

then select them from the drop downs in the Lens Corrections tab

• These will be pre-selected in raw files but you’ll have to select them yourself in JPEG or TIFF images

• The profiles are created in a lab and are very accurate• Adjust the correction amount if you want to go beyond

the correction for dramatic effect• It’s better to use the Effects tab for artistic post crop

vignetting and/or introduction of film grain

Technology

Chapter12