My Photoshop default workflow
I process most images that I post to the web in Photoshop, and I have a simple workflow that does what I want with a minimum of fuss. The whole process only takes a minute or two. Allow me to demonstrate.
I’ve chosen an image more or less at random (except that it is one that I like, from this photoset). My vantage point was looking down at a river from overhead, with colorful leaves on the right. For the purpose of this demonstration the image has been resized to fit this space (435 pixels wide).
The first thing I do is to open an action I’ve saved under the name “open adjustments.” This opens three adjustment layers: levels, curves, and hue/saturation in that order, which is the order I make the adjustments.
First I look at levels. If they look well balanced I might leave them alone. Often they are weighted to either darks or lights, and I slide the midtone triangle to get a better balance. That often makes the image look worse but it puts it in position for the next adjustment, curves. Usually I find a midpoint that looks good and then generally make an ess-shaped curve in order to get a good range of darks and lights. Finally, I adjust hue/saturation. With my current camera this usually means just increasing the saturation a little bit.
Next I open an action I’ve saved under the name “hi-pass sharpen.” This sharpens the image using the duplicate layer – invert – blur – overlay – adjust transparency workflow that I have described previously. I don’t like oversharpening, so my default transparency is a modest 40 percent. It’s important to remember to select the background layer first or you will just be sharpening your hue/saturation adjustment. One nice thing about this way of sharpening is that it is size independent, so I can resize my image and do a save for web to reduce the file size without having to resharpen.
The entire process is done with adjustment layers and is completely nondestructive — no changes are made to the original image. Below the image as it came from the camera is on the left and the adjusted image on the right.
Posted: December 6th, 2007 under art and illustration, graphic design, photography, photoshop, software.
Comments: 5
Comments
Pingback from blog.rightreading.com » Tilt-shifting the Pioneer Monument
Time: January 31, 2008, 5:01 am
[...] Then I just adjust the levels, curves, and saturation, and apply a high-pass sharpening, as I’ve explained before. [...]
Pingback from blog.rightreading.com » Lens blur
Time: February 6, 2008, 5:01 am
[...] mask to select the figures and foreground rocks, then lens blurred the rest. (Of course I also did my usual adjustments.) Do you like this [...]
Pingback from blog.rightreading.com » Low vibrancy
Time: July 1, 2008, 5:06 am
[...] stand how murky and low contrast the original image was, so I couldn’t resist fixing it using my usual Photoshop adjustments technique. Notice the better detail in the shadow areas, such as the upper [...]
Pingback from blog.rightreading.com » Correcting color cast with Photoshop
Time: August 18, 2008, 5:01 am
[...] most images this technique really works well. Of course, normally you will still do your usual adjustments and sharpening if you’re really going for the best result. (I haven’t done that here.) The original [...]
Pingback from buried mirror: latest reflections » Francis Ford Coppola’s hotels in Belize and Guatemala
Time: December 10, 2007, 10:36 am
[...] from the Blancaneaux Lodge website (slightly modified). Conceivably Related PostsWedding Hotels in the Maya RivieraI wonder what it would be like to get [...]