My Post Processing Workflow

[benjikan]

benjikan, do you work in RGB Tiffs?

I traditionally think of Tiffs as CMYK in print

And you don't use JPEG because of the way it compresses the image? Hence the uncompressed tiff?

I generally save in PSD as of late. No degradation what so ever.

 

[Johnboy2978]

that's a nice effect for the right image. I saved it as an action for future use. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Cristy]

Thank you - this process has really improved many of my pictures! I have also saved it as an action in PS.

 

[guitarmy]

Quick question:

Would this be your last step in the PP workflow? Do you still need to apply curves/levels adjustments, or is this basically doing the same thing in a different fashion?

 

[usayit]

I usually recommend sharpening as the last step before print. The size of the print and viewing distance will determine the amount of shapening required. I've been playing around with my workflow to include the technique above... but I do the duplicate layer step before the sharpening.

One thing I picked up from one of my professors in college is to localize the unsharpen mask to a smaller area for a more subtle effect. In this case, we want to focus on edges:

) Create a new channel
) Copy the entire photo to the new channel ( Select all , Copy , Paste )
) Apply Filter->Stylize->Find edges
) Adjust Levels on the channel. The black area of the photo will be the areas where unsharpen mask filter will be applied.
) Select -> Load selection -> Alpha 1 (inverse selection if necessary - select edges)
) Apply unsharp mask -> .2 at 500% (experiment with these values)
) Apply unsharp mask -> .8 at 200%
) Deselect

 

[The_Traveler]

I have been trying the unsharpen technique descibed the the OP and, if you intend to reduce the image for posting on the web, the results are much better when this 'surface sharpening' is done on the full-size image before reduction in size.

 

[benjikan]

Hi Everyone;

Get your pen and checkbook and write in the number one with six zero's after it. Sign the check and send it to me via Express Mail. You won't believe the effect that will have on you and probably your photos...

But seriously folks. Another approach I use and am doing on the "Diva" story is this..

When the Raw image has been imported in to Camera Raw, I Sharpen at between 25-30 on the slider and 50 on Color Noise Reduction, Luminance Smoothing at Zero. Click OK.

When in Photoshop, go to Layers and make a Duplicate Layer. Now Desaturate the image. Go to the Layers Menu and click on Soft Light. Now, because you didn't use the Contrast Unsharp move, i.e. 10-15 percent at 40-60 pixels you can push the Opacity and Fill sliders much harder. 60 to 90 percent. When back in PS you can now push up your overall Saturation if so desired by +5 to +10 to compensate in the loss of Saturation produced by adding the B&W layer. I don't, I like that Desaturated look. It's a matter of taste..

Ben