PP in LR before PS

gerardo2068 · Feb 5, 2012

I often heard that the goal its too get the RAW photo file as perfect as you can in LR and ACR before exporting it to PS. it's this true?

So I was wondering if in I should also q the dodge and burn and gradients and vignette done in LR before exporting them to PS? assuming I know I will not crop the photo in PS.

What about Sharpening and noise reduction?

Would it be better for to do all that in the RAW file in Lightroom before exporting them to PS

Thanks in advance.

KmH · Feb 5, 2012

Yes, do what you can in Camera Raw/Lightroom.

Dodge and Burn in Camera Raw/Lightroom is pretty crude. The Gradient tool in Photoshop CS5 gives tons more options, and there are many more ways to vignette in CS5 than there are in Camera Raw/Lightroom.

Camera Raw/Lighrooms noise reduction controls are pretty good, but again there are many more sharpening options in CS5 than there are in Camera Raw/Lightroom. the sharpening in Camera Raw/Lightroom is designed for capture sharpening, not for local or output sharpening. Plus there are many noise reduction plug-ins for CS5 that are better than the noise reduction available in Camera Raw/Lightroom. For noise reduction I mostly use Imagenomics Noiseware Pro.

Since Lightroom's Develop module and Camera Raw are virtually the same - Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS5

And for the details regarding sharpening, these guys who wrote this book, and their company Pixel Genius LLC, designed the current Camera Raw/Lightroom sharpening/noise reduction tools: Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom (2nd Edition)

BRUCE FRASER was an internationally recognized authority on digital imaging and color image reproduction. He authored or coauthored several bestsellers, including Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop, Real World Adobe Photoshop, and Real World Color Management. Bruce was also a principal and founder of Pixel Genius, LLC, a collaboration of industry experts dedicated to creating leading-edge products and services for the photographic and digital imaging industries. JEFF SCHEWE is a pioneer in the field of digital imaging and an alpha tester and feature consultant for Adobe. An award-winning advertising photographer for over 25 years, Jeff teaches and consults with leading companies and is a principal and founder of Pixel Genius, LLC.

gerardo2068 · Feb 5, 2012

Thanks for the detail explanation.

I find sharpening and noise reduction confusing and hard.

Is it to certain point a personal choice?

I find it very hard to know when I have apply enough sharpening.

MTVision · Feb 5, 2012

gerardo2068 said:
Thanks for the detail explanation.

I find sharpening and noise reduction confusing and hard.

Is it to certain point a personal choice?

I find it very hard to know when I have apply enough sharpening.

I don't know much about the topic but...when sharpening in ACR (LR should be the same) hold down the alt (windows) key as you are sliding the different sliders.

gerardo2068 · Feb 5, 2012

Thanks.

Big Mike · Feb 6, 2012

gerardo2068 said:
I often heard that the goal its too get the RAW photo file as perfect as you can in LR and ACR before exporting it to PS. it's this true?

So I was wondering if in I should also q the dodge and burn and gradients and vignette done in LR before exporting them to PS? assuming I know I will not crop the photo in PS.

What about Sharpening and noise reduction?

Would it be better for to do all that in the RAW file in Lightroom before exporting them to PS

Thanks in advance.

Technically speaking, you can't open a Raw file in Photoshop. A Raw file isn't even really an image, it's just digital information from the camera. To open a Raw image into PS, you have to develop the file, and running it through LR or ACR are two options. (although, as mentioned above, LR uses the same 'engine' as ACR).

Sharpening and noise reduction tend to go hand in hand. That's one reason whey they are both found in the same section of the tool pallet in LR.
It can be a fairly complex subject. You should do some sharpening at the Raw stage, this is 'input' sharpening. You may want to do some specific sharpening for the details of the particular image (or just parts of it) and then you should do some 'output' sharpening that is customized for the specific output (large print/small print, screen etc.)

I've been watching a great tutorial from The Luminous Landscape that features Jeff Schewe and I have a much better understanding off all this stuff.

gerardo2068 · Feb 6, 2012

Big Mike said:
Technically speaking, you can't open a Raw file in Photoshop. A Raw file isn't even really an image, it's just digital information from the camera. To open a Raw image into PS, you have to develop the file, and running it through LR or ACR are two options. (although, as mentioned above, LR uses the same 'engine' as ACR).

Sharpening and noise reduction tend to go hand in hand. That's one reason whey they are both found in the same section of the tool pallet in LR.
It can be a fairly complex subject. You should do some sharpening at the Raw stage, this is 'input' sharpening. You may want to do some specific sharpening for the details of the particular image (or just parts of it) and then you should do some 'output' sharpening that is customized for the specific output (large print/small print, screen etc.)

I've been watching a great tutorial from The Luminous Landscape that features Jeff Schewe and I have a much better understanding off all this stuff.

Thanks. It's of great help! I will research those tutorials tonight.

KmH · Feb 6, 2012

Sharpening and noise reduction are 2 sides to the same coin.

A nice landscape photo of a forest has a ton of edges in it. That is know as a high frequency image and requires a different amount and type of sharpening than a low frequency image like the portrait of a high school senior girl.

Many young people don't seem to get that there really is no substitute for book learning. A lot of the information you need is on the internet, but it's scattered all over the web rather than being in one place. it could take you months to track it all down and compile it all.
No doubt, books now come in electronic form, but it's still something you have to borrow from a library or buy.

I have a 6 shelf bookcase filled with photography and image editing books. I use many of the books every day for reference.

If you don't want to be confused any more and you want it to be easy, I'll post this link again - Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom (2nd Edition)