Todays color manipulation involves removing a glass shower door.
Here is our original file. The new version of this digital asset required I remove some componets. Versioning is quite common in our premedia industry.
The client asked that I remove all the metal frame work as well as the textured shower door. Thus leaving a completely exposed tiled shower and all the accompanied hardware.
My first step was to do all the appropriate masking required to color correct, digial retouch, and digital image manipulation.
Once the image was masked I used Adobe Photoshops Content Aware Scaling, Vanishing Point, Object Transform, Delicate Airbrushing via a Wacom Intuos Tablet, and selective layers with precise masking.
Here is the final image with all premedia color retouch and digital manipulation applied:
Animated view showing different steps of the process:
Catatlog production services, color retouching, and robust prepress experience go into each and every one of these little gems.
Many of my premedia / prepress clients have digital assets that require image extensions based on different uses. Their photo studio might have shot a certain scene in horizontal format, and the image is now needed in vertical for a different purpose. Another scenario may be a picture box in a page layout program ( Quark / InDesign ) is expanded by a graphic designer. The newly formed "white space" needs image data created. As is the case below. My client had a very nice legacy image that was retrieved from the image management system. This image needed to be versioned for a new purpose. My job was to use my high end Adobe Photoshop retouching and color correction skills to expand the bounds of the digital image, filling the new required space. The extension of this room scene wasn't as difficult as the image I posted in the prior blog. The wooden floor boards were easily stepped and repeated as necessary. You can see I did some selective masking and color correction on our clients amazing products.
Before
After Color Correction and Extending the Lower Floor Boards
Many of my premedia / prepress clients have digital assets that require image extensions based on different uses. Their photo studio might have shot a certain scene in horizontal format, and the image is now needed in vertical for a different purpose. Another scenario may be a picture box in a page layout program ( Quark / InDesign ) is expanded by a graphic designer. The newly formed "white space" needs image data created. As is the case below. My client had a very nice legacy image that was retrieved from the image management system. This image needed to be versioned for a new purpose. My job was to use my high end Adobe Photoshop retouching and color correction skills to expand the bounds of the digital image, filling the new required space. This particular image may have been the "trickiest" background extension this post processor has ever tackled. Using tricks such as vanishing point, content aware scaling, healing brush, and good ole' fashion cloning. The contour of the tile, light fall-off, and scene elements made this image fierce competitor, but in the end, the results were superb.
Before
New Image with Background Extension and Additional Color Corrections Applied
Many of my premedia / prepress clients have digital assets that require image extensions based on different uses. Their photo studio might have shot a certain scene in horizontal format, and the image is now needed in vertical for a different purpose. Another scenario may be a picture box in a page layout program ( Quark / InDesign ) is expanded by a graphic designer. The newly formed "white space" needs image data created. As is the case below. My client had a very nice legacy image that was retrieved from the image management system. This image needed to be versioned for a new purpose. My job was to use my high end Adobe Photoshop retouching and color correction skills to expand the bounds of the digital image, filling the new required space. This was on of the more tricky images I have worked. Using tricks such as vanishing point, content aware scaling, healing brush, and good ole' fashion cloning.
Original Image
New Image with Background Extension and Additional Color Corrections Applied
Careful selections, masking, and photo composition skills made this image possible. We now have a new media asset repurposed via high end prepress production.
Create a Luminosity Selection Starting with a self portrait I created at the Armstrong Redwoods in the Russian River Valley of California. I wanted to add a bit of detail to the highlights and add density at the same time. Here's how I did it!
Loading Luminosity Cmd + Opt (Mac) / Ctrl + Alt (Win) + 2 loads the luminosity of an image as a selection. This can then be used for a variety of manipulations such as adjusting color or building density.
Command + J will make a new layer out of your luminosity selection. Then I toggled thru the layer modes (do this by hitting V (for move tool) then use the shift and +). I really liked the way multiply adds density and detail to the highlights.
The Result A lovely image with just the right amount of depth and movement.
Production artists face many challenges throughout a day. Maybe you need to clone grass from one document to another or quickly shift between brushes and sizes.
All of this can be done super simply with your keyboard, stylus, or mouse. Try these tips to make your life easier!
Resizing Brushes
Tapping the left and right brackets to increase / decrease your brush size is so last year. Try using the new Drag-resize brush cursor keyboard shortcut in Photoshop CS4 to make changes to the brush size. Ctrl + Option (Mac) / alt + right click (win) -drag will increase/decrease brush size. Add the Cmd (Mac) /shift (Win) to change hardness.
Changing Brush Opacity
To change the opacity of a painting tool, use the number keys on the keyboard. Tapping one number assigns the percentage of the hit number (1 = 10%, 2= 20% etc. and 0 = 100%). Hitting two numbers quickly will give you that exact amount (5 + 4 = 54%). Note: If you have a tool selected that is not a painting tool, these shortcuts will affect the Opacity on the Layers panel.
Heal and Clone Between Documents
You can use the Healing brush and Clone Stamp tools between two open documents: Option (Mac) / Alt (Win) -click in the source document and then clone in the destination document.
Heal and Clone Stamp to Multiple Layers
For added flexibility, use the Healing Brush and Clone Stamp tools to clone to blank layers by checking Sample "All Layers" in the Options bar. In addition, you can choose to Sample the "Current & Below" layers. This can be extremely helpful when cloning image layers and adjustment layer information simultaneously.
One More Tip
I recently became a fan of Adobe Photoshop on Facebook and you should too! They post fun stuff and everyone gets involved. From "What's Your Favorite Shortcut" to some interesting posts from NAPP!
Todays tip will involve using Lab color space in Adobe's Photoshop CS4. We'll make a curves adjustment layer, tweak the a / b channels, adjust the layer opacity, and BAM! Your photo just got more color than a new 64 pack of Crayola's ! Prepress color management and color manipulation done fast.
Step one, open your image and under "Edit" menu, use the Convert to Profile command, and choose Lab.
Step Two go to Layer, New Adjustment Layer, Curves
Next Select the a channel, click on the curve (straight line) and put a point right at 50,50
Next Select the b channel, click on the curve (straight line) and put a point right at 50,50
Now take the endpoint shown below in the a channel, and drag it over to a point just to the left side of the histogram. In this particular image, the data starts around the 0,30 point.
Now take the endpoint shown below in the b channel, and drag it over to a point just to the left side of the histogram. In this particular image, the data starts around the 0,30 point.
Our final step is to adjust the layer opacity. The curve layer adjustment at 100% is a bit too saturated. I'm going to set the opacity to 60% as you can see below. This produces a nice looking colorful image, which should standout from the rest of your digital - image assets. This simple color correction technique takes less then one minute, and you can easily automate the process for a group of photos!
*Tip for advanced users. If you select the midpoints we anchored (50,50), use the arrow keys to subtley offest the points position. In doing this you can add / remove color casts to images. Use the a channel for red / green, b channel for blue / yellow. DAM! Color Retouching isn't that difficult after all.
If you work in prepress production you are going to have to create a photo composition sooner or later. So I thought I would give you a few tips on how to make two images become one.
Even Lighting and High Quality Masks
It takes a bit of artistic know how and a dash of creativity to pull off a quality photo composition. This first thing I do is bring the two images into the same document. Now compare the lighting, tone, and "style". The final look might be directed to you from an art director, client, or it might come from your own artistic style. Dancing in the Street
In my example image I used a stock street scene and a model shot taken in my studio. I wanted the final image to look like the model was dancing in the street. On the model I added more hair, tattoos, make-up, a grounding shadow, some light rays in her new hair, and then to achieve a grunge look I added contrast, noise, and desaturated her slightly.
A High Contrast Background
For the street scene I added lens flare, highlights via a white layer set to overlay, noise and a simple S curve for contrast.
Bring it All Together!
Placement was key as was the grounding shadow for the model. Get these two things wrong and the final comp will just look like a great big cut and paste project. The key is to make it look like you photographed her right there on that street! So how did I do?
Have you made any photo comps that you just HAVE to share? Send me a link or a tweet (@PremediaArts) I 'd love to see what your creating!
On this St. Patrick's day, I thought I would pause to give props to the cool neural sensation we refer to as GREEN. This is "The Color Space", after all. Did you think I was going to discuss waffle makers here? No, for that you will have to see my blog called, "The Small Home Appliance Space".
As the list at the top of this post indicates, there are so many ways to convey the color green. It doesn't matter if you are a color scientist, color management geek, painter, photographer, school lunch lady, or St. Patrick's Day reveler, green has different meanings for everybody.
Quick Quiz: The image above is a) PMS 356C b) 59R 138G 73B c)GREEN, you idiot! d) The Libyan flag e) All of the above.... The answer of course is "e". Duh. Anytime you are given a choice of "all of the above", take it. This thought process never steered me wrong on multiple guess quizzes at John Marshall Senior High School. And I don't know if there is any truth to the rumor that the guy who designed the logo on the Cleveland Browns football helmets also designed the Libyan flag.
"The color green is everywhere in nature, satisfying our spirits and filling us with neutrality and peace. Green comes alive in clover fields, rolling hills, and the leaves of a tall aspen forest. Easy on the eyes and naturally calming, green symbolizes life, harmony and wealth. Soothing as green tea, or invigorating as fresh mint, green will create a restful environment and promote well-being in any home... "
No, I didn't write that last paragraph, thank you very much. It was written by some copywriter in the marketing department of the Pittsburgh Paint company. They want you to buy some green paint to put on your bathroom walls because it's better than that dull taupe color you have in there right now. What are you thinking? That Taupe doesn't even come close to matching the new soap dispenser and tooth brush caddy you bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond last month...
Green is the color of nature, trees and grass. Green is the color of spring and new life. Green is the color of Kermit the Frog who often crooned about the difficulty of being green. Green is the color of money and greed. Green is the color of envy and jealousy. Green is the name of the room that Lady Ga Ga waits in before she comes out on Leno. Green is the color of ecology and conservation. Green is also the color of those canvas bags at the grocery store that the Prius drivers want me to use instead of paper or plastic. Who needs all that canvas in the landfills? That seems wasteful. I'm sticking with plastic. Green is the color of youth. Green is the color we say someone is if they are new to something. Green is the color of the Libyan flag. That's it. Just green. Really. Green is the color of the jacket that Tiger left in the hotel room. Green Day is a good band. Green Bay Packers are a good football team. Green is one of the colors of Christmas.
As my friend Kermit the Frog sings, it's not easy being green. So next time you find yourself 89C 10M 98Y 10K with envy, pour a tall frosty glass of 59R 138G 73B beer or a nice cup of 3b8a49 tea, and relax in the naturally calming PMS 356C room.
Dry version for the more technical: (scroll past this paragraph if your sleepy or hungover) If you have ever worked with lots of RAW files under tight deadlines you know how important it is to have a streamlined workflow. Repetitious tasks must be identified and engineered into quick and fast solutions. If not, your going to be up for a laborious all-nighter, and that cuts into late night fun time. Whatever your late night fun time may be ... Recently with the release of Photoshop CS4 (also an earlier beta DNG version) Adobe has finally created a bit of parity between manufacturers in-camera photo settings and ACR's Camera Calibration-Profiles Tab. What does this mean for you? Less grief and head scratching, and more time at the beach. Rewind back to CS3 and before. Unless you did some complicated ACR camera calibrations with Macbeth target measurement and validations, your camera JPEG files never matched your RAW files when imported into ACR for processing. Also, you might have struggled to properly color correct files because of gamut shifts in certain color hues. (Saturated reds and greens) Now Adobe has kindly done their homework and provided us consumers with pre-canned discrete camera profiles.
Short and sweet version: I have created some camera preset profiles for the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV.
You will find the downloads for each of these below.
Install: Download and decompress the .zip file. You will see the current preset Adobe is offering per the camera model. This preset has naming parity with the in-camera picture styles. (I also thru in a fun one with more to follow ...) Loading these files is easy. There are a few ways to load these into Photoshop CS4. The easiest is to go to the Camera Calibration tab in ACR and click on the little triangular arrow, select load. Navigate to the decompressed .zip file and select load. Now you should see the loaded presets in the ACR Settings tab (which is right next to the Camera Calibration tab. You can also load these presets into the latest version of Lightroom.
Loading Presets for ACR
Loading Presets for Lightroom: You can easily load the Lightroom presets by right clicking on the User Presets text
Or, for Mac users, copy the presets into the following directory
Side Note! These presets incorporate Adobes default ACR settings, except when choosing a camera calibration other than "Adobe Standard".
Here is aslightly posterized animated .gif example visually displaying the differences for your viewing pleasure. I have also included a fun version called "Pseudo HDR" that works quite nicely on certain photos.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV Example Beautiful Woman on Waile - Maui Beach Hawaii
Closing: I hope you find these presets helpful. Anyone can make these, the hard part is finding the time. If your like me, usually your in a hurry and process files from the seat of your pants. I try to slow myself down and hone my workflows for better asset management and processing. You will also find these presets handy for importing a large volume of files into Lightroom. Having the ability to quickly apply a preset on import to many files for fast previewing and cataloging is invaluable. Now, if only I could make presets for all the post processing and retouching that follows. I bet Adobe Photoshop CS5 will take care of that! Be the ball Danny ... LINK to ACR-Photoshop/Bridge Presets (.xmp) & Lightroom Presets (.lrtemplate) (.ZIP File)
This quick tutorial will show you how to make a film like edge on your selection / mask in photoshop. Film has an inherent grain, and if your trying to do some masking or digital asset retouching, a simple blur on a selection line won't cut it.
For our example I'm using a simple textile selection.
Here you can see a quick mask view of the selection, where green denotes the areas selected.
Next I applied a Gaussian blur, radius' of usually 5-10 pixles works well, depending on the size of the transition needed.
Hitting the "tilde"key, you will get a black and white representation of your quick mask selection.
Next we're going to apply the "film" effect to the selection. Goto Filter/Brush Strokes/Spatter
A setting I have foud that works well is a Spray Radius of 4 and a smoothness of 1. If your image has less/more grain/transition needed, feel free to tweak the radius value in conjuction with the prior gaussian blur.
Here is the resulting effect on our blurred selection.
Our next step is to take the edge off the grain, and create a subtle and more realstic film grain. Unless your initial image is overly sharpened, you'll want to soften the grain selection edges to match. Here I have used a value of .3 gaussian blur to take the hard edge off.
Lastly, hit Q for quick mask again, this will show the "crawling ants" selection, and proceed to save your alpha / mask.
If your creating a vignette effect, or just trying to make a gradient selection in photoshop; many times the selection will introduce “banding” because of the light to dark steps given a certain distance. Even with 16 bit files you can have issues with banding depending on the resolution of your file, and the size it maybe printed at. Here is an example. I have an image of a bland sky that I want to create some visual drama and weight towards the top. I first hit Q for quick mask, D for default colors, G for gradient, and carefully click and drag while holding down the shift key. Click and drag on the horizon (the area we want to darken to add visual weight). Note, if the selection appear reversed you can hit Command-i to inverse the selection. Now, next step is go to filter, noise, add noise. Select an amount between .5 - 1. If you hit tilde you will see a black and white representation of alpha channel quick mask is making. Hit Q and your selection will be active. From here you could copy the selection to a new layer and edit the sky. Another way would be to use this selection as an adjustment layer. Select Layer, New Adjustment Layers, Curves, and carefully add some visual weight to your image. If the sky is becoming a bit too colorful or garish, switch the adjustment layer blending mode to Luminosity. If you change your mind on the adjustment range, select the layer mask and transform the mask (Command-T) to the size you prefer.
Want to make a composited layer of everything currently visible without flattening the image ? Select your top layer and press Shift-Option-Command-E, and photoshop will create a new layer visibly “stamping” the lower layers all into one top composited layer.
As a followup to my previous blog post about Photoshop turning 20 years old, I wanted to pass along a cool link on the subject...
Adobe has a website dedicated to the indispensable image editing tool hitting 20,000 miles on the software odometer. This site contains an interactive time line of major Photoshop milestones going back to 1990. There is also a very cool video featuring a discussion with the creators of Photoshop - Thomas Knoll, John Knoll, Steve Guttman, and Russell Brown - as they discuss the evolution of Photoshop. The video begins with some vintage footage where we see Russell Brown placing a photo of himself behind President Regan and the first lady on an old Macintosh.
If you've used Photoshop as I have in the last 20 years, you may find this discussion of the brains behind the software interesting.
Whether you work as a creative mind, marketing, sales, inspiration is key!
Not getting enough inspiration?
What about... The great outdoors? A good book? Maybe your favorite music inspires greatness in you.... How about a road trip??
Here is a quick list of people, places, and things that inspire me to be me. Follow me on twitter @PremediaArts and let me know what inspires you.
Anthropolgie has a great blog and is a perfect place to start on our inspirational journey. They ask a simple question. What is Inspiration? and then try to define it... good stuff... go ahead click and see for yourselves.
The entry from David Eustace "IN SEARCH OF EUSTACE" is amazing and brought tears to my eyes. Maybe its because I just returned from traveling with my daughter and husband and long for life on the road maybe its just the idea of reconnecting with ones we love... either way it is truly inspirational.
American Institute of Graphic Arts has an inspiring and informative web presence that can help you take your skills and career to new heights. I like to visit my local chapter site (http://wisconsin.aiga.org) at least once a week to find out about upcoming events and see member portfolios. Need a job? Find you local aiga and check out the recent job postings! Sweet. You can also follow you chapter on twitter or friend them on facebook.
I'd follow you anywhere!
Some of my favorite tweeters to follow...
@Lowepro Name: Derrick Story Location: Sebastopol, CA Bio: I'm the Photography Evangelist for Lowepro and have lots to share.
@SusanAkaSARK Name: SARK Location: San Francisco, CA Bio: SARK is a best-selling author & artist, with over 15 titles in print and well over 2 million books sold.
@NAPP_news Name: Photoshop User Location: Worldwide Bio: We are the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (led by Scott Kelby), the leading world-wide resource for Photoshop training.
One of the lists I follow is @GOOD/photographers - a list of photographers they have worked with and a blog... cool!
Well that's my list... I am inspired to make music, make art, and live life on the road... ok so maybe life on the road is not realistic but it is inspirational and inspiration is not about reality its about what defies reality.
Adobe Photoshop turns 20 years old this month. It seems like only yesterday that little 6 year-old Photoshop 4.0 discovered nondestructive image editing with Layers. Or when he was 8 years old and impressed you with his multiple undo History Palette. But at the same time you wanted to send him to bed without dinner for the horrible way he mismanaged color in 1998. We all watched as Photoshop went from the pimply pre-teen years of 6.0 to when he began developing facial hair with CS2's Bridge and Smart Objects. And now he's off in college... sniff...
Ah, memories. I recall the first time I played with Photoshop. I was a young kid with a dream. Well, okay, I was a 20-something working on a Scitex Prisma workstation. Scitex was what all the cool imaging people were working on in 1990. Then along came this program called Photoshop 1.0 from Adobe. Some of my coworkers at Quad Graphics knew it as a funny program with the creepy bitmapped eyeball icon running on that little beige box called the Macintosh over in the corner. Back then it was not so much of a photo editor as it was a paint program with a few image correction and optimization capabilities.
By 1993 I was weened off the Scitex system, and had my own speedy Quadra 950 running Photoshop 2.0. Back then, Photoshop was no replacement for a high-end CEPS system. The Mac, running at a speedy 33MHz, was dreadfully slow (by today's standards), RAM was very limited and expensive, and the tools in Photoshop did not compare to a $200,000 workstation like the Scitex Prismax. What a difference 17 years makes.
Today, with Photoshop 11 (CS4), Adobe has created a something that has transcended proper grammar, as the noun "Photoshop" has morphed into a verb in many circles. The phrase "We can photoshop that out." is as popular as "Please hand me a kleenex." or, "Can you make me a xerox?".
Did the Knoll brothers ever imagine what would become of Barneyscan XP (Photoshop 0.87) back in 1988? I don't think it's making too much of a leap to say that Orville and Wilbur Wright are to air travel, what Thomas and John Knoll are to digital imaging. Okay, I'll give Russell Brown some props as well.
The Photoshop 1.0 Splash screen with the spooky eyeball logo.
Photoshop evolved into the tool it is today because the digital imaging and desktop publishing markets around it flourished at the same time. First it was low-cost desktop scanners, then digital photography. This digital revolution helped define what Photoshop has become today.
It is impossible to imagine any image you see in a magazine, newspaper, catalog, billboard or a website that hasn't been touched by Photoshop. Sure, you can do a lot of color correction and image enhancement in RAW processors like Apple Aperture or Adobe Lightroom, but for full feature image editing, Photoshop what you need.
Over the years, there were many programs that came and went that were supposed to kill Photoshop, or at least compete with it. There was software like Live Picture (anyone remember FITS files?), and in 1995 Quark announced plans for Xposure, the Photoshop killer that never made it to market.
When I was in art school in 1984 (yikes!) I can recall my instructors trying to put aside our fears by saying the computer would only be another tool for an artist to use. They used to say things like, "You could take a computer programmer and ask them to create art on a computer and they couldn't do it. But train an artist how to use a computer, and it becomes another tool in their arsenal.".
Who could forget this little bit of photo retouching from 1994? Time Inc. turned OJ's mug shot into an illustration with a little help from Photoshop. See more of these famous manipulated photos here.
Over the last 20 years, Photoshop has become that indispensable, omnipresent tool for every artist. In the right hands, amazing, original works of art can be created. In journalist or marketing hands, it can even be used to slant the news or make the unreal seem real to support an accompanying story. See the OJ photos above. It can do something simple like subdue a red cast from your child's face. Or clone the barf stains off the carpet from the 20 year old Photoshop's all night kegger at the fraternity last night.
Here's to another 20 years. There is still so much for that Photoshop kid to learn...
The worst-kept secret in consumer electronics history was finally made public last week as Apple introduced us to the iPad. Yeah, it's a funny name, but the iPod sounded a bit strange back in 2001 too. Now that name is woven into the fabric of our technological lives.
And just like the iPod changed the way that many of us listen to music over the last decade, the iPad will change the way many of us read books, newspapers, magazines and maybe even catalogs in the decade to come.
As I covered in the blog I wrote last July called, Pulp Fiction: Is Print Dead? the e-reader concept is absolutely in our future. Amazon's Kindle was not really the first e-reader to the market. E-readers were introduced about ten years ago, but the timing wasn't right for a number of reasons. So they never took off. Speaking about the Apple iBooks application during his speech, Steve Jobs showed a photo of the Kindle and said, "Were going to stand on [Amazon's] shoulders and go a bit further here."
Apple didn't invent the personal computer, they just made it a lot better with the Macintosh. Apple didn't invent the cell phone, they just made it better and a whole lot more useful with the iPhone. And the iPad will do the same thing with e-readers.
I believe the introduction of the iPad is on scale with the introduction of color in magazines and catalogs. Back in the 60's and 70's, the body of most magazines were in black and white. Most newspapers did not use much color in their production. The desktop publishing and digital prepress revolution of the 1980's made color in publications as common as sequins and feathers on Lady GaGa. And the brilliant, colorful display of the iPad will make dull black and white readers like the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader show up on eBay faster than you can say "16 shades of gray."
It is not a stretch to imagine that in the not-too-distant future, the heavy backpacks filled with textbooks that our kids tote around will become as odd-looking as a CRT monitor. Five of the worlds biggest book publishers are already online, and as Jobs put it, "We're going to open up the floodgates for the rest of the publishers in the world, starting this afternoon... We're very excited about this."
I'll tell you some that aren't very excited about this... Book printers. Book binders. Magazine printers. Barnes and Noble. Borders. Look at the music industry. Certainly there are many people that still purchase CDs and DVDs. But lots of record stores that were around in 1990, are no longer in business because so many people download their music from sites like iTunes. When was the last time you walked into a Musicland or Sam Goody's? Traditional paper back and hard-cover books, textbooks, and glossy magazines will have a market for some time to come. But each year more people feel right at home downloading electrons in front of a glowing screen instead of buying atoms at a brick and mortar store. Perhaps because they literally are right at home.
Of course let's not forget that this device is not just for reading. It is a true multimedia player (albeit without support for Flash right now)... It's a web browser, a photo viewer, an email device, a video player, a gaming device, a music player, a calendar, an art canvas, and a lot of other things not yet realized. The iPhone has over 140,000 apps available to download. And it's only been about a year and a half since the SDK release. Expect lots of apps created specifically to take advantage of the iPad.
But it's the iPad as an e-reader that is perhaps most important from the standpoint of changing cultural habits. When was the last time you touched a photo in a book and something amazing happened? Like a digital equivalent of a pop-up book. Or imagine this... You receive a digital catalog in your inbox, and as you flip through the glowing pages and touch a photo of a model wearing a jacket, a window opens and a video begins playing with the model wearing that jacket in some cool location. A voice-over describes the jacket's details as music plays in the background. It's a mini infomercial that came to life on the pages of a digital catalog. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing...
Years ago, in the early days of electronic pre press, we lived among spendy Scitex systems and huge drum scanners with 40,000 buttons, switches, dials, levers, foot pedals, pull cords and miles of rainbow-colored SCSI ribbons. We scanned in transparencies, and worked all the images in a CMYK color space (the four colors we print with - cyan, magenta, yellow and black). Although it was possible to scan into RGB (red, green, blue), almost everyone allowed the computer within the scanner to convert the image into CMYK.
Two important technological revolutions changed all that. The Internet and digital photography. The Internet introduced us to e-commerce. There was no longer a need to have all those images converted to CMYK if they were destined for a web site (RGB display) and ultimatley due to reside in a digital asset management system. And the explosion of digital cameras over the last 15 years has made the drum scanner all but obsolete. All of this means we have digital images that begin their journey as RGB (technically RAW RGB, but more on that in a future blog), not CMYK. RGB workflows are much more commonplace. But if an image is eventually going to be reproduced as ink on paper, at some point it must be converted to CMYK. Where, when and how that conversion happens is often the topic for discussion.
And one place you can find a bunch of color geeks having that conversation is at the PIA Color Management Conference. The 11th annual conference just wrapped up last month in Phoenix. One of the sessions called "Obstacles to RGB Workflows" addressed the issue of RGB and CMYK workflows. Among the speakers on the panel was Tom Collins from Quad Graphics. He went over the pros and cons of an RGB workflow and what they were doing at Quad Graphics.
Collins began by outlining the reasons why RGB is the preferred workflow over CMYK:
RGB allows for greatest repurposing
RGB allows more latitude for color manipulation
RGB allows easier and more consistent gray balance
RGB gives you the ability to utilize L*a*b* for even greater control
RGB allows for consistency of separations for press when converted
Things like GCR and Total Ink are no longer issues at the color correction level
Then Collins outlined some Challenges with RGB workflows:
Untagged RGB images
Forces the arbitrary assignment of an ICC profile
He referred to this as "shopping" for the right profile
Issues with some vintage CMYK color technicians adapting
Many feel the need to 'move the black' - counters separation consistency
Color corrections are different, retouching is the same
Black-only drop shadows require work arounds
Workflow consistency - Requires automation
Collins discussed his experience with RGB specifically at Quad Graphics
Quad began full RGB workflows in 2001
They were forced to create custom automation for workflow consistency - hands off color management
Color technicians focus on image manipulation and quality, not color settings, profiles, BPC, and rendering intent
Quad customers demanded separation consistency, and had higher demands for color quality
Collins talked about the different RGB workflow strategies in regard to when the RGB file is converted to CMYK
Early-binding
Files coming in are converted to CMYK early in the workflow - color correction and retouching is done in CMYK - CEPS model
Mid-binding
Color correction and retouching is completed in RGB - files are converted to CMYK during an automated conversion before page assembly
Late-binding
RGB files are placed in pages and converted to CMYK in the RIP - PDF/X-3 or PDF/X-4
Collins said that the majority of the workflows at Quad Graphics are a mid-binding, with color corrections completed in RGB, and CMYK being placed in the pages with PDF/X-1a being used. "If there are any color alterations, we go back to the RGB file and reconvert." Collins added.
Collins said that we need to raise the awareness of the concept of color managed pages in a late binding workflow.
Rips and color engines are improving - behaving more consistently
They are realizing benefits
More efficient than early or mid-binding workflows
Improved color reproduction
Offers the ultimate quality and flexibility with repurposing
Collins said that there are some challenges to late-binding workflows
There are transparency and overprint issues with PDF/X-4
Inconsistencies among PDF versions and RIPs
Most prep suppliers are still learning and may be reluctant
To sum up, Collins said that CMYK has served it's purpose (and in some cases still does), but early-binding workflows are very limiting. "RGB (and L*a*b*) imaging provides the best quality, and is preferred to CMYK for the benefit of our customers and the end product." Collins stated.
Let's take a look at what Camera Raw can do for your digital assets. Search around on your digital asset library or corporate image library and maybe you'll find a few lost images. This super simple tequnique will help you bring new life to these lost treasures.
Color Manipulation and Retouching in Camera Raw
I love a vignette... and really who doesn't? Ok, well not everyone and thats fine. Art is meant to be subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I find beauty in imperfections. I love grain, rusty metal, scratches, etc... the list is long but you get the idea.
I thought for the new year I would create a quick little art piece out of a photo I took back in November.
I started out in camera raw and clicked Auto. Don't be scared! The Auto button today is fantastic! Well ok maybe not fantastic, but its pretty darn great.
Then I boosted the clarity (a note on clarity: this is an amazing little slider... it can give your wedding photography the look of misty far of romance and then swing it the other way for hard grainy hi pass grunge all in about FIVE SECONDS!) You must try it! Now add a bit in the vibrance then over to the vignette tab...
ohhh ahhh oooo LOVE the vignette feature in camera raw! Makes quick work of getting that old school feel...
Next open to Photoshop and tweek tweek tweek... I added a bit more sharpening and some more contrast... then its all done! What did that take like 10 minutes tops! Here's the final look... SWEET!
A look at 2010
Lets make fabulous images for the world to see! Images that inspire greatness in others. Not an easy assignment but we can make it happen.... Here's my first shot of 2010. My hubby in the woods wearing the winter crown he made with our daughter.
Lately, there has been much discussion in the forums about noise lurking in the shadows of Canon 5D Mark II images. Images that are shot at or near base ISO. Noise that appears under normal exposures with ISO settings that should be clean and free of any such artifacts.
Why are so many individuals identifying a poor trait?... A shortcoming that should never be an issue given the evolution of camera sensors and the perfect competition that exists. Surely there must be some mistake on a users part or on Canon's.
I normally use my own files for investigation, but this time I went to http://www.imaging-resource.com/ and downloaded a widely recognized RAW file (ISO 100) for interrogation. A well composed, technically perfect setup, and properly lit scene. I processed the RAW file thru three popular converters with some default settings.
Adobe Photoshop / Lightroom via ACR 5.6 (I believe to be the most popular) Canon’s own DPP 3.7.2 Capture One Pro 5.0.1
I applied a levels adjustment to the middle pane, to over illustrate the slight chroma noise that lurks in the shadows.
Here is an animated gif file showing the differences. Not the best illustration given the implicit diffusion noise with gif files, but enough where I think visually it's relevant.
When looking at the differences, you can clearly see the different type of RAW processing decisions being applied. The ACR files clearly show more chroma noise. DPP and C1v5 show considerably less chroma noise. Also, the C1v5 file shows a much smoother tonal transition. I saw the greatest amount of detail in the C1v5 files. This could also be attributed to the default sharpening values in the RAW converters being different (as well as the chroma / lumi noise parameters).
What to take from this? Camera manufacturers know the limitations and shortcomings of their hardware. When you decide to forgo the proprietary software solutions, you also forgo any robust processing and decision making the R&D teams have chosen to implement on post processing. For example, I use to make a big stink about the Nikon D300 files having too much noise. I would take a properly exposed file at base ISO (200) and post process in Photoshop via ACR. Once processed I would visibly see chroma and lumi noise in the blue skies. Why? Take that same file, and process it thru Nikon’s own NX software and BAM! Visible sky noise gone. Also, the colors seem to be a bit more accurate. Proprietary de-mosaicing algorithms (formulas that remove that maze like pattern from the color filter array) seem to produce less artifacts in trouble zones (choppy intricate water, converging fine lines, detailed and intersecting thin tree branches).
The exception to the rule IMHO is Capture One Pro (v5). Anyone who has used a high end medium format camera in the last decade is very familiar with their software. They have done their homework. Some of the best and quickest results can be achieved using their robust software and workflows. At a price of $399 for an additional outboard RAW processing solution it should work quite well! Canon’s DPP produces excellent results as well. Albeit a clunkier and less elegant interface. Don't get me wrong. I use ACR 5.6 all the time. It’s my status quo tool of choice. But, if you want to go the extra mile to squeeze every bit of detail and quality out of a file in post production, I recommend using the camera manufacturers RAW processing software. You will spend a lot less time retouching out tricky and tedious noise and artifacts.
Final thought.... It's interesting to see the color differences that occur as well!
Some Additional Thoughts:
With DPP your limited to sRGB, Adobe RGB, Wide Gamut RGB, Apple RGB, ColorMatch RGB. If your a real gunslinger, you could go with Wide Gamut RGB. Personally, for DPP, I am using Adobe for conversions. If I have a file with a large gamut, I may convert to profile to ProPhotoRGB prior to final post processing.
Also, finally snow leopard users can go to DPP 3.7.3 preferences (now without crashing) and change the color match settings for display to Monitor Profile. (sRGB is default). You’ll notice if you go with the default, and change color space modes, the preview changes not only in slight color variations, but in luminosity. (given the differences in white points and gamma) The afore mentioned preference will fix that visual annoyance.
Finally, check out the new processing engine in LR3 Beta. Looks to be absolutely spectacular for those who print large. I hate how acr has used a fractal looking de-mosaicing algorithm in the past. The new option, under Settings, has a granular and less mathematical look. Funny how the new goal is a direction that C1 has been going towards since inception. (more film like)
If you haven't, you should definitely download the LR3 beta from Adobe labs and give it a try. Also, give C1v5 Pro a 30 day free trial as well. The new lens correction features are quite nice.
Keywords: Digital, Asset, Retouching, Photoshop, DPP, Capture One Pro, ACR, Noise, Chroma, Luminosity, Lumi, RAW, Post, Processing, Matt, Anderson, Photography, Canon, 5D, Mark, II
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