Managing your photos

Nick-H · Mar 29th, 2007, 14:46

I wish I could make head or tail of Photoshop, but I can't and I think I'd need a one-to-one tutorial to get started.

A friend with whom I used to work in the art-publishing trade (litho printing) is now doing large-scale fine-art large-scale digital printing as his own business. He showed me a little colour correction in Photoshop and I was, as American teenagers put it, like wow! But he had a thorough understanding of these things in the world of physical repro and print long before touching a computer.

cyberhippie · Mar 29th, 2007, 14:50

Photoshop can do a lot of simple stuff as well. I like the variations button it displays 12 RGB variations of the photo you are working on. (a bit like Bracketing I suppose) You can pick one you like, then play with that until you get what you want!!
Auto levels and auto contrast are useful as is the Sharpen filter!!
Just play around Nick, that's how I realised my little knowledge of the program!!

Nick-H · Mar 29th, 2007, 15:09

As a computer systems manage a few years back I would have dreamt of having 1,500 Gb storage. Even the 200 or so I have on my PC now is more than we had on our 'big' servers. Astonishing how things change.

But a warning from an ex-pro: do not regard two discs on the same machine as backup! A disc controller failure or, even more likely, a power surge or nearby lightening could take them both out at the same time.

Nick-H · Mar 29th, 2007, 15:15

I do a bit in Fireworks, which is more of a web-designer's package. Just one of the things I 'rescued' from the old company.

The thing I use most often is JPEG Selective Masking --- for emailing or putting on the web something where you want people to see good detail in a limited area whilst reducing the overall size, it is very useful.

gertie · Mar 29th, 2007, 15:18

Thanks all for your help.

Kristin, thanks for your detailed post. I'm a newbie, so I did get a bit lost, but all good. If I decide to purchase photoshop, you might regret mentioning you are an expert!

Jenny, your post was especially useful, thank you. I have been carrying two 4G cards and it has worked well so far - a lot of work when you get home, but I'd prefer that to spending my travel time in an internet cafe somewhere.

I've always shot in jpeg, but was a bit confused by people telling me I should always shoot in RAW if I want to do any post production editing. If you edit a jpeg file using photoshop, do you compromise quality? How do I avoid this?

Cyberhippie, there are others a lot more qualified than me to answer your question, but I think a 28-300mm lens will cover you nicely. I travel with two lenses, an 18-55 and a 75-300 and there's rarely a time when I need anything else.

Gertie

Nick-H · Mar 29th, 2007, 16:11

28-300 sounds damn good to me CH

Congratulations on your splendid new toy: may you have many happy hours together; I'm sure you will

Maybe one of the best things about digital is the hundreds of pics you can take when the camera is brand new and you're just finding out about it --- without a penny wasted on film, or a day wasted waiting to see the results. Have fun!

Nick-H · Mar 29th, 2007, 16:15

JPEG query...

Isn't one of the problems with JPEG that it will be uncompressed and re-encoded whenever you edit and save the file. I think that the purists will say that this decompression/recompression causes a loss in quality each time.

Most consumer cameras don't give the choice, and for a snap-taker like myself who seldom does more than view the pics, I don't think it makes any difference.

gertie · Mar 29th, 2007, 16:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick-H

JPEG query...

Isn't one of the problems with JPEG that it will be uncompressed and re-encoded whenever you edit and save the file. I think that the purists will say that this decompression/recompression causes a loss in quality each time.

Yep Nick, thats the problem alright.

Gertie

cyberhippie · Mar 29th, 2007, 16:49

Indeed the magic of digital is you can just snap away. I've been using the camera in bracketing mode, three shots with one press of the trigger. On a film camera that costs money, on a digital no worries. So far I'm blown away by the results. I luckily had a decent sales guy. who steered me away from the D40 and also found that lens for me (which is about 4 inches long as well)

On the JPEG thing I've also read that there is some loss of quality as you edit a JPEG. But from what I've read above, people seem to be saying that the quality is still good enough for most of us. I must say I haven't noticed drastic loss in quality when working with JPEG.
Am I right in thinking saving as bitmaps is a good idea for editing purposes, seem to remember reading that somewhere!

Nick-H · Mar 29th, 2007, 16:50

I certainly would not want to do that with music, so I can understand people not wanting to do it to their pictures.

Nick-H · Mar 29th, 2007, 16:53

Quote:

Am I right in thinking saving as bitmaps is a good idea

If you mean .BMP format, I doubt it. That's just a format that Microsoft came up in the days when Windows Paint was the only graphics program most of us ever saw. It creates huge files and has little (I'm told) to recommend it.

But... In image editing... there's vector graphics and bitmap mode... But we've already established that you know more about this sort of software than I do!

Even taking on board that I'm unlikely to see the difference, I'd probably save as RAW, if I had the choice.

Cards for cameras are cheap; discs for computers are cheap; file sizes is not such a 'big' issue any longer --- why not!

cyberhippie · Mar 29th, 2007, 16:55

Photoshop is a real number cruncher Nick I think the beauty of the program is it's ability to edit without causing too much loss in quality.
Something to do with algorithms and the way it interacts with the compression program called JPEG.
Of course purists will alway go for perfection I can understand that but a few of the folks above seem to be really into this as a hobby/business and are pleased with the results so I guess for Joe ordinaries like me the loss in quality isn't too marked!

SteamBuff · Mar 29th, 2007, 17:11

I've just starting using Adobe Lightroom ... It is designed for photographers, it can do most of the adjustments you require. It cannot do everything Photoshop can do but then it is far cheaper.

You can download a free 30 day trial from Adobe.

As to backing up my photo's on the road, I use a Epson P2000, I copy my prints from my memory card everynight (The P2000 stores the pics on a hard-drive), it also has a LCD screen, so you can view the prints. I do not delete anything off the Memory Card, so I always have 2 copies of my picci's.

When I get home I copy them to my HD on both my PC's plus burn them onto a CD/DVD, and check everyone before deleting them from my memory card. (I have had the odd one or two that have not downloaded correctly)

I tend to shoot in the highest JPG setting, and when I get home and have worked on them, I save them as TIFF .... Never re-save them as JPG's (You loose quality ... OK for Web but not for printing)

cyberhippie · Mar 29th, 2007, 17:22

Thanks steambuff THAT was what I read about resaving in a bitmap format like TIFF

Seems there quite a few plug ins for resaving in Jpeg format as well, with minimum of loss!

Nick-H · Mar 29th, 2007, 17:47

Ahh... I see, so you may suffer a one-time degradation, but by saving uncompressed you can then avoid this in the future?

Mar 29th, 2007, 14:46	#16
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 27,710	I wish I could make head or tail of Photoshop, but I can't and I think I'd need a one-to-one tutorial to get started. A friend with whom I used to work in the art-publishing trade (litho printing) is now doing large-scale fine-art large-scale digital printing as his own business. He showed me a little colour correction in Photoshop and I was, as American teenagers put it, like wow! But he had a thorough understanding of these things in the world of physical repro and print long before touching a computer. __________________ . Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

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Mar 29th, 2007, 14:50	#17
cyberhippie Account Closed by User's Request Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: the Netherlands Posts: 6,012	Photoshop can do a lot of simple stuff as well. I like the variations button it displays 12 RGB variations of the photo you are working on. (a bit like Bracketing I suppose) You can pick one you like, then play with that until you get what you want!! Auto levels and auto contrast are useful as is the Sharpen filter!! Just play around Nick, that's how I realised my little knowledge of the program!!

Mar 29th, 2007, 15:09	#18
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 27,710	As a computer systems manage a few years back I would have dreamt of having 1,500 Gb storage. Even the 200 or so I have on my PC now is more than we had on our 'big' servers. Astonishing how things change. But a warning from an ex-pro: do not regard two discs on the same machine as backup! A disc controller failure or, even more likely, a power surge or nearby lightening could take them both out at the same time.

Mar 29th, 2007, 15:15	#19
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 27,710	I do a bit in Fireworks, which is more of a web-designer's package. Just one of the things I 'rescued' from the old company. The thing I use most often is JPEG Selective Masking --- for emailing or putting on the web something where you want people to see good detail in a limited area whilst reducing the overall size, it is very useful.

Mar 29th, 2007, 15:18	#20
gertie Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Chennai Posts: 156	Thanks all for your help. Kristin, thanks for your detailed post. I'm a newbie, so I did get a bit lost, but all good. If I decide to purchase photoshop, you might regret mentioning you are an expert! Jenny, your post was especially useful, thank you. I have been carrying two 4G cards and it has worked well so far - a lot of work when you get home, but I'd prefer that to spending my travel time in an internet cafe somewhere. I've always shot in jpeg, but was a bit confused by people telling me I should always shoot in RAW if I want to do any post production editing. If you edit a jpeg file using photoshop, do you compromise quality? How do I avoid this? Cyberhippie, there are others a lot more qualified than me to answer your question, but I think a 28-300mm lens will cover you nicely. I travel with two lenses, an 18-55 and a 75-300 and there's rarely a time when I need anything else. Gertie

Mar 29th, 2007, 16:11	#21
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 27,710	28-300 sounds damn good to me CH Congratulations on your splendid new toy: may you have many happy hours together; I'm sure you will Maybe one of the best things about digital is the hundreds of pics you can take when the camera is brand new and you're just finding out about it --- without a penny wasted on film, or a day wasted waiting to see the results. Have fun!

Mar 29th, 2007, 16:15	#22
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 27,710	JPEG query... Isn't one of the problems with JPEG that it will be uncompressed and re-encoded whenever you edit and save the file. I think that the purists will say that this decompression/recompression causes a loss in quality each time. Most consumer cameras don't give the choice, and for a snap-taker like myself who seldom does more than view the pics, I don't think it makes any difference.

Mar 29th, 2007, 16:49	#24
cyberhippie Account Closed by User's Request Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: the Netherlands Posts: 6,012	Indeed the magic of digital is you can just snap away. I've been using the camera in bracketing mode, three shots with one press of the trigger. On a film camera that costs money, on a digital no worries. So far I'm blown away by the results. I luckily had a decent sales guy. who steered me away from the D40 and also found that lens for me (which is about 4 inches long as well) On the JPEG thing I've also read that there is some loss of quality as you edit a JPEG. But from what I've read above, people seem to be saying that the quality is still good enough for most of us. I must say I haven't noticed drastic loss in quality when working with JPEG. Am I right in thinking saving as bitmaps is a good idea for editing purposes, seem to remember reading that somewhere!

Mar 29th, 2007, 16:50	#25
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 27,710	I certainly would not want to do that with music, so I can understand people not wanting to do it to their pictures.

Mar 29th, 2007, 16:55	#27
cyberhippie Account Closed by User's Request Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: the Netherlands Posts: 6,012	Photoshop is a real number cruncher Nick I think the beauty of the program is it's ability to edit without causing too much loss in quality. Something to do with algorithms and the way it interacts with the compression program called JPEG. Of course purists will alway go for perfection I can understand that but a few of the folks above seem to be really into this as a hobby/business and are pleased with the results so I guess for Joe ordinaries like me the loss in quality isn't too marked!

Mar 29th, 2007, 17:11	#28
SteamBuff Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Essex, Endland Posts: 370	I've just starting using Adobe Lightroom ... It is designed for photographers, it can do most of the adjustments you require. It cannot do everything Photoshop can do but then it is far cheaper. You can download a free 30 day trial from Adobe. As to backing up my photo's on the road, I use a Epson P2000, I copy my prints from my memory card everynight (The P2000 stores the pics on a hard-drive), it also has a LCD screen, so you can view the prints. I do not delete anything off the Memory Card, so I always have 2 copies of my picci's. When I get home I copy them to my HD on both my PC's plus burn them onto a CD/DVD, and check everyone before deleting them from my memory card. (I have had the odd one or two that have not downloaded correctly) I tend to shoot in the highest JPG setting, and when I get home and have worked on them, I save them as TIFF .... Never re-save them as JPG's (You loose quality ... OK for Web but not for printing)

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Mar 29th, 2007, 17:22	#29
cyberhippie Account Closed by User's Request Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: the Netherlands Posts: 6,012	Thanks steambuff THAT was what I read about resaving in a bitmap format like TIFF Seems there quite a few plug ins for resaving in Jpeg format as well, with minimum of loss!

Mar 29th, 2007, 17:47	#30
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 27,710	Ahh... I see, so you may suffer a one-time degradation, but by saving uncompressed you can then avoid this in the future?