oliver28
journeyman
Reged: 30/01/2007
Posts: 63
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I've had my K10D for several weeks now and am absolutely loving it  I've been taking a mixture of jpeg and RAW files and want to ask what your approach to processing them is, as I really haven't any knowledge of the technical side, I just go by eye. I use dng exclusively as I found fine detail is slightly better than using the silkipix programme and pef's. Photoshop is faster too!
To start with, I'm using ACR CS3. I almost always alter the green/magenta* slider a little bit first and maybe the blue/yellow too. Then I sometimes twiddle the fill light and recovery sliders. Contrast rarely needs touching I find. After these "basic" tweaks, I go straight to sharpening and rack it up to between 30 and 50 on the scale, then save a high quality jpeg. I have used the other tabs like tint and curves, but judge them not to be needed for most shots. Does this seem familar? Or am I missing a magic ingredient? I'd be very interested to hear your way of doing it and any advice for getting the best from K10D RAW files if you think I may not be already!
I have discovered that if you hit 'enter' you can go straight into Photoshop's normal workspace (as you would with jpegs) and save images from there. Does this result in lower image quality compared to saving from ACR?
*I have had to 'fine tune' the WB in camera as all presets had a slight green cast at the default settings (has anyone experienced this??)
Many thanks in advance!
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johnriley1uk
addict
Reged: 08/06/2006
Posts: 414
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You're having a good time with your camera so that's a great start. Keep experimenting. I agree that the DNG route gives a slight improvement over the PEF, although this might be different using the full version of Silkypix.
The only thing I would add is that theere is a slight contradiction in your process when you save as a JPEG. You have retained all the information in your file by using RAW capture, but at the very end you compress the file using a "lossy" format. I would suggest the final save should always be the lossless TIFF and you can make smaller JPEG images for web from that as needed.
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Best regards
John Riley
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El Sid
Going potty
Reged: 14/04/2003
Posts: 9095
Loc: Sussex-by-the-Sea
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Are you saving the adjusted JPEG files as 'ready-for-printing' or do you work further on them in CS3? If the former then fine but if you are doing further work in CS3 then I see two major flaws. One, as John as has already said, is that JPEG files are only 8 bit and compressed which means that you have already discarded half your image data converting to 8-bit (standard JPEG can't handle 16-bit image data) and then you lose further image data with a lossy compression format. Remember also that each time you open a JPEG file the PC has to recalculate (guesstimate) the lost data and then each time you close the file again you lose a bit more image data. Even at minimal compression ratios this can add up over a period of time... If you wish to work further on an image in CS3 then either export the image directly to CS3 or save in a 16 bit lossless or uncompressed format such as TIFF or PhotoShops own PSD format. I also presume that ACR is like most other RAW converters in that adjustments to the RAW file can be 'saved' to the RAW file (actually they are held in a linked file known as a 'sidecar' file) which the program will apply next time ACR opens the adjusted RAW file - NOTE the original RAW file has not changed and the shot settings can be recalled at any time.
The other is that images should only be sharpened before printing. With any file that is intended for further work sharpening should not normally be applied. Some adjustments, eg cloning or the healing brush, can show up quite strongly if applied to a sharpened image but blend far more seamlessly if the image is in it's native soft state. I also strongly recommend not sharpening the original image but create a duplicate layer and sharpen that. This has the advantage that if you overdo the sharpening you can back it off by reducing the opacity of the sharpened layer allowing some of the softer image to show through - this can even be done selectively if using a layer mask.
It's unlikely to matter whether you save from ACR or CS3 as the compression routines are specific to the file format rather than the programme used though I wouldn't take that as an absolute - another software producers programme may vary slightly.
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Nigel
Completely BSRIPN 
ElSid Gallery
A camera in the hand is better than one in the cupboard........
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Monobod
'Phantom' of the forum!
Reged: 03/04/2003
Posts: 5672
Loc: Just West of Norwich, Norfolk
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I do not find it necessary to adjust the colours, but I take my photos in AdobeRGB and have a calibrated monitor that displays 90% of the AdobeRGB colour space.
If you are taking in ARGB and displaying on an sRGB monitor, this may explain your problem, possibly. The main thing is to ensure you calibrate it and be consistent.
I turn sharpening and colour noise reduction to zero in CS3 raw and sharpen as a last action using routines that employ Unsharp mask.
You could buy 'Real World Image sharpening in Adobe CS2' by Bruce Fraser. It is a truely interesting book devoted entirely to the art of sharpening images. It can be found on Amazon for about £17, a great buy. It applies to CS3 as well.
I also save to 16 bit tif files with no compression. I print from tif and only use jpeg for 1024x768 projected digital images or for Flickr and for here.
If you really want to get the best from your images and I assume you do as you are using raw, another great book is:
Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Photographers by Martin Evening. Martin and Bruce were collegues and think along similar lines, so both books compliment each other. This is also available on Amazon for about £17.00. An invaluable resource and very helpful with all aspects of CS3 clearly explained. Comes with a CD full of video tutorials. Can you tell, I'm a fan!!
The sharpening routines can be saved as 'Actions' simplifying their application. If you add pauses in the right places, you can tweak the settings for each image.
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David.
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Photos hosted by Flickr.
www.flickr.com/photos/monobod/
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I see the world thro' a viewfinder, but the world watches me via CCTV!
Edited by Monobod (13/05/2008 19:26)
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oliver28
journeyman
Reged: 30/01/2007
Posts: 63
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Many thanks team, that's excellent advice. The reason I have been saving as HQ jpegs is, to be honest, mostly to do with memory limitations currently, but I also find that for real world situations, the quality of a level 12 jpeg from a RAW file is absolutely fine for most applications. Of course for anything important it would be tiff/psd.
Quote:
The sharpening routines can be saved as 'Actions' simplifying their application. If you add pauses in the right places, you can tweak the settings for each image.
How does one do this? it sounds useful.
I am having great fun with the camera and the results I'm getting blow me away. Your good advice will add to that I'm sure!
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Monobod
'Phantom' of the forum!
Reged: 03/04/2003
Posts: 5672
Loc: Just West of Norwich, Norfolk
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Photoshop actions:
SEE HERE
For more info, see Adobe HELP or the two books.
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David.
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Photos hosted by Flickr.
www.flickr.com/photos/monobod/
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I see the world thro' a viewfinder, but the world watches me via CCTV!
Edited by Monobod (14/05/2008 02:30)
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oliver28
journeyman
Reged: 30/01/2007
Posts: 63
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Oh brilliant, I'll give it a try!
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