Digital Photo Editing Workflow

N. David King
There was a workflow in the film world but it was rarely thought of as such since if you
did things out of sequence it simply did not work. You could not, for example, put the
film or the paper in the fixer first and expect anything to happen when you placed it next
in the developer. You could not print a negative until it was developed. It was pretty
straightforward.
But in the digital world using computers to process! you images, you will find that a
result of some kind can be obtained almost regardless of the sequence of steps take. This
misleads many to think it does not matter how you approach it. But it does matter. That
is why you hear so much about the issue of "workflow.# There are two basic steps
somewhat analogous to processing film and then making prints. They are $onverting the
file from a %&' format into a workable one and then editing it. (ach has an ideal
workflow sequence.
In RAW converter ( if shooting in a RAW format )
). *ake any white balance corrections needed.
+. If necessary correct any noticeable exposure errors or ma,or tonal imbalances
however the final image will be better if you shot it correctly in the first place.
-o not think of %&' as a way to get sloppy at the shooting stage. If overexposed
use the exposure control to ad,ust. If underexposed use the brightness control to
avoid blowing out highlights with the exposure control.
.. -o /0T use the converter to sharpen the image
1. -o /0T use the converter to enlarge the image
2. 3se the naming function to help organi4e your shots as they are converted
5. $onvert them to TI66, )5 Bit images. If you have not shot using &dobe %7B
then also output them in &dobe %7B or 8ro8hoto %7B for editing in
8hotoshop9. :et the converter to produce a resolution appropriate to your
printer; .5< ppi for (pson and .<< for =8 and $anon. >Yes you may need to bring
them back to ?@bit s%7B and a smaller resolution for printing or other output but
at least you can work on them with the greatest color gamut and tonal increments
available to you.A It 'IBB make a difference in the final file.
C. If you have shot in D8(7, immediately open the files and :&E( &: a Tiff file to
work on. -o /0T open, close, re@open, etc. the D8(7 file since it recompresses
every time and artifacts build up very fast. If you need a D8(7 file for your final
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output, convert to that format following step F in the editing steps in the next
section.
Steps following conversion from RAW format.
8hotoshop does not care in what order you take these steps, but the results will vary. You
may hear some say the sequence of steps does not matter but that is not precisely
accurate. You will get some result no matter what sequence you follow, that much is true.
But the results will in fact be different, sometimes subtly, sometimes quite noticeably.
&nd in many cases you end up having to go back and forth over old ground as a step that
should have been done first changes what you did before and it now has to be corrected a
second time. This sequence builds edit on edit and generally does not require going back
to read,ust previous steps. 6or consistency, especially as you are learning, do these steps
in this order. 0nce you are getting what you want every time, then you can play with
sequencing to alter specific results.
). :(T %(:0B3TI0/. :et to the best resolution for your printer >.5< for (pson,
.<< for othersA or double that if you will have to enlarge greatly.
+. $%08 if it is clear that you need to do so. 0therwise wait till later.
.. 7B0B&B T0/&B G -Y/&*I$ %&/7( $0%%($TI0/:
a. /eutrali4e if standard gray area exists in photo.
b. B(E(B: >do in B&B $olor to only affect tonalitiesA
This is to set the black and white points of the image.
c. $3%E(: >-o in B&B $olor to only affect contrastA
This is to ad,ust the overall contrast of the scene.
d. :creen or *ultiply layers for exposure corrections
1. 7B0B&B $0B0% $0%%($TI0/
a. 8hoto 6ilters
b. :aturationG=ue
c. $olor Balance.
2. 8(%60%* :8($I6I$ &%(& T0/&B $0%%($TI0/: 3:I/7 B&Y(%:
5. 8(%60%* :8($I6I$ &%(& $0B0% $0%%($TI0/: 3:I/7 B&Y(%:
C. 8(%60%* any small area burning and dodging needed
?. 60% 80%T%&IT: 0% 6&:=I0/ perform any retouching needed
F. 60% $0/E(%:I0/: T0 BH' now make the conversion using $hannel *ixer.
)<. :ave *aster $opy
Digital Editing Workflow for Consistent Results- Instructor: David King Page 2
)). (nlarge to printing si4e if necessary using increments in 8hotoshop or .
rd
party
software.
)+. 8erform edge sharpening. >6or best results increase si4e by )<I beyond final si4e,
then sharpen, then reduce back to printing si4e. This will make any sharpening
artifacts that much smaller and therefore that much harder to see in the final
output or print.
).. *odify resolution or color space for best output on your printer.
)1. :ave as printing file
)2. 8%I/T
:teps ) through 1 can be done using ad,ustment layers or as individual steps. &d,ustment
layers are terrific when you are out of sequence because they allow re@ad,ustment of
previous steps in a simple manner. But if you do the steps correctly, and in the correct
order, you rarely ever have to return to a step.
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