Perfecting My Portrait Retouch Workflow

[smoke665]

Do you find that your file storage system works well for you? I have always just imported into Lightroom in the traditional hierarchy where everything is organized by year, then month, then day.

Ask me again in a few months as it's still a work in progress. I keep two main files one private and one commercial. I tend to use categories on the private side. On the commercial side I use Year as the first folder > Project Name > then additional folders as needed. Using the three numbered sub folders under the final folder keeps them in the correct order. The contents of all three are visible in the top folder, but if I want to only see my PSD files I can click on the 2nd sub folder and only see PSD files, click on finished subfolder and only finished JPEGS are shown. Drilling down on a search is easier also.

have never found any personal success in applying a preset to all photos to then make the selection from there. I think that your success with that must be a testament to your consistency in shooting. I'm guessing all of the adjustments must be quite subtle,

I have certain camera/shot specific presets that apply certain basic settings that I've learned I generally use anyhow, so it's easier and quicker to do it at import. As to consistency I try, though don't always succeed.

 

[therealalexsays]

Ok - so I have been playing around with Portrait Pro for a while now - much advanced in its ability to "get it right" the first time over everything else that I've used.

For you, how has this impacted your retouching process?
What do you still do manually?
Also, do you find there are certain settings that it consistently overdoes that you have to reign in? Or is it different on every photo?
Do you use a preset and then tweak from there, or have you built your own preset based on what you've found to work?

Additionally, it's been giving me some issues - I posted this in a new topic since it's not really related to workflow design.

Portrait Pro Issues