Working with Adobe Photoshop

Overview

10 Minute Read

Diagram showing digital photography workflow from image capture to Photoshop to printing.

Once a digital photograph has been captured in the camera, it will be necessary to make the necessary digital imaging manipulations in Adobe Photoshop to optimize the the digital photographic image in order to make a digital photographic print. The process of basic image optimization includes:

Transfer Photographs from Camera to OneDrive or External Hard Drive.
Create Folder on Computer Desktop to Transfer Photographs from OneDrive, Camera Card or External Hard Drive to Computer.
Create and Print Digital Contact Sheet of Photographs.
Select Photograph(s) of Interest and Open in Adobe Photoshop to do Initial Optimizations in Adobe Camera Raw
Make Image Adjustments, including Image Sizing/Crop, Exposure (how Light or Dark), Contrast (difference between Light and Dark), Color | Grayscale Tonal Adjustments, and Hue/Saturation.
Open in Photoshop for any additional Adjustments, including Retouching Dust Marks and Image Imperfections.
Enhance Image Sharpness and Image Size for Digital Photographic Printing.

Connection

Understanding and applying the technical concepts of working with Adobe Photoshop will be helpful towards successfully completing the various Graded Image-Making Assignments.

Transferring Digital Photograph Files

OneDrive

Click on Icon in Menu on Course Home Page

Digital photography files can be Transferred and Saved as follows:

Saved on Student Microsoft OneDrive Account provided by College (Recommended)
or External Hard Drive / Flash Drive

Microsoft OneDrive Interface

Recommend Creating Two Folders as follows:
- Capture
- Photoshop Print

Adobe Photoshop Settings

Before working with images in Adobe Photoshop, it will be necessary to establish the Settings for how the software interface will work for you, including Camera Preferences and Units & Rulers.

Photoshop Settings Menu

Camera Raw Preferences for File Handling

Camera Raw Preferences for Workflow

Making Contact Sheet(s) from Digital Photo Files

It will be necessary to set-up a folder to automatically-generate the images for the contact sheet.

It is important to make sure the images are right-reading so that all of the images can be seen in the Same Orientation on an 8.5" (width) x 11″ (height) print.

Photoshop Contact Sheet Menu

Photoshop Contact Sheet Settings

In Photoshop, click on File, scroll down to Automate, and scroll over to Contact Sheet.
Set Document Dimensions at 8″ x 10″ at 300 ppi and in Adobe RGB (1998) mode.

For a 12-Image Contact Sheet, it will be necessary to set-up the document so that the Thumbnails are placed in Columns of 3 and Rows of 4 with Auto-Spacing.

For a 6-Image Contact Sheet, it will be necessary to set-up the document so that the Thumbnails are placed in Columns of 2 and Rows of 3 with Auto-Spacing.

The Filename As Caption can be checked so that the file name is printed below each image on the contact sheet to identify original digital files.
Once you’ve selected all of the Contact Sheet Document Parameters, click OK to generate the Contact Sheet.
After the Contact Sheet has been created, it can be Printed and then Saved as its own Photoshop file.

Scanning Film

Epson Flatbed Scanner

Open cover of flatbed scanner and place reflective material face-down on scanner bed and close top or carefully remove accessory for scanning negatives/transparencies and place Film Negative Page or Film Adapter with negatives/transparencies Emulsion-Side Down (dull) / Base-Side Up (shiny) on scanner bed and close top.

Move Mouse Down to Desktop Dock and Click on Epson Scan 2 Icon to Open

Set Scanner Settings in Panel as follows:

Contact Sheet

NOTE: Set Document Source: Transparency Unit (with Film Area Guide)

NOTE: Set Resolution at 300 dpi for an Image that will be 8 x 10 inches @ 300 dpi.

Individual Negatives

Medium-Format

NOTE: Use 120 Film Holder, Place Film Emulsion-Down (Shiny-Side Up) and Align with White Triangles on Scanner

NOTE: Set Document Source: Transparency Unit

NOTE: Set Resolution at 2400 dpi for an Image that will be approximately 15 x 15 inches @ 300 dpi.

35mm

NOTE: Use 35mm Film Holder, Place Film Emulsion-Down (Shiny-Side Up) and Align with White Triangles on Scanner

NOTE: Set Document Source: Transparency Unit

NOTE: Set Resolution at 4800 dpi for an Image that will be approximately 13.5 x 21.75 inches @ 300 dpi.

NOTE: Rotation and/or Flipping (Right-Reading) of Image can be done in the Epson Preview Panel or later, in Photoshop.

NOTE: For Color Film, it will necessary to change the following settings:

- Film Type: Color Negative or Transparency
- Image Type: 24-bit Color

Saving Scan

Save As .TIF File

Camera Raw

Adobe Camera Raw Window

The Adobe Camera Plug-In / Filter in Photoshop allows the photographer to perform a considerable amount of image adjustments before doing additional edits in Photoshop:

Exposure (overall density - how light and dark the image is)

Contrast (difference between the light and dark areas of the image)

Highlights (brightest areas of image)

Shadows (darkest areas of image)

Whites and Blacks (occurs when the color values of a pixel are higher than the highest value or lower than the lowest value that can be represented in the image - Overly bright values are clipped to output white, and overly dark values are clipped to output black which can result in a loss of image detail)

White Balance (color temperature and tint - to compensate for a green or magenta color cast)

Vibrance (adjusts the saturation so that clipping is minimized as colors approach full saturation and changes the saturation of all lower-saturated colors with less effect on the higher-saturated colors)

Saturation (adjusts the saturation of all image colors equally)

Color Mixer:

Hue (adjusts the specific color itself)
Saturation (adjusts how vivid or pure specific color is)
Luminance (adjusts the brightness / darkness of a specific color)

Workflow Options for Image Sizing

Camera Raw Image Sizing Preferences

In the Camera Raw Preferences, the Image Sizing can be adjusted for Resizing to Enlarge.

Digital Paper Sizes

8.5 x 11

11 x 17

13 x 19

17 x 22

2 : 3 Aspect Ratio (35mm and Full Frame DSLR)

6 x 9

8 x 12

10 x 15

12 x 18

13.5 x 20.25

16 x 24

3 : 4 Aspect Ratio (Smart Phone)

6 x 8

9 x 12

12 x 16

15 x 20

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop Interface

Once the image has been initially optimized in Adobe Camera Raw, it can then be opened in Adobe Photoshop for any additional Image Adjustments and Retouching if necessary for Printing.

It may be necessary to adjust the overall Density (brightness/darkness), Contrast (difference between lightest and darkest areas), Color Balance, Saturation level as well as Black & White conversion of the image. This can be accomplished by going to the Photoshop Menu at the top:

Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels | Curves | Color Balance | Hue/Saturation | Black & White

In utilizing New Adjustment Layers for Levels | Curves | Color Balance | Hue/Saturation | Black & White, you can go back to the specific Adjustment Layer and make additional adjustments without any image deterioration, though the file size will increase when saving the image with Adjustment Layers.

Levels

Adobe Photoshop Levels Icon

Levels is used to adjust overall density (lightness/darkness) in an image.

The Left Slider controls the Dark Values / Black Point, while the Right Slider controls the Light Values / White Point.

The Middle Slider controls the Middle Values.

Curves

Curves is used to adjust not only the overall density (lightness/darkness) of an image, but also contrast (difference between lightest and darkest areas).

Begin by setting the highlights and shadows, and then adjust the shape of the curve to modify contrast.

In order to maintain a “natural” look to the images, it is essential to keep the curve smooth while preserving the angle of ascent at all times.

If a point to the right is lower than a point to the left, the image will begin to solarize.

Color Balance

Adobe Photoshop Color Balance Icon

Color Balance is used to adjust the overall color of an image.

When the Color Balance adjustment window is opened, three sliders will appear. The sliders are relative and work just like the subtractive color process with analog color printing. When cyan is removed, red is added and so forth with the other colors.

Each of the sliders can be used to affect color in the shadows, midtones and highlights of an image. Learning how to color balance is subjective and intuitive.

Changes in color balance can also be made with Levels or Curves and/or by using the different Channels (red, green and blue).

Hue / Saturation

Adobe Photoshop Saturation Icon

Hue / Saturation is used to transform color as well as affect the overall purity of a color.

It is not used to correct color balance, but rather enhance the appearance of color. When selectively adjusting the saturation or hue of certain color ranges of an image, it is important to understand that this will affect the overall color balance and dynamic range of the image.

Black & White

Adobe Photoshop Black & White Icon

Black & White provides for grayscale conversion of a color image as a separate adjustment, allowing for a single file to be used | printed as both color and grayscale.

Sliders for individual color channels can be mixed for refined black and white tonal adjustments.

Retouching

Retouching can be done with the Clone Stamp Tool or Spot Healing Brush as there can be imperfections and dust marks in your digital image

While retouching can be done on the Background Layer, it is recommended that a Duplicate Background Layer is created from the Background Layer. You will want to be on the Background Layer, and then go to the Adobe Photoshop Menu and click on Layer > Duplicate Layer > Name Layer - "Background Copy - Retouch" to begin retouching.

If you have utilized Adjustment Layers, it will be necessary to utilize the Retouching Tool on the Background Layer or preferably on a separate Duplicate Background Layer.

Select a Brush from the Tool Menu.
In the Tool Option Menu, insure that the Mode is set at Normal, the Opacity is set at 100% and that the Aligned box is checked.
Make adjustments with the Brush Size and it may be necessary to adjust the Flow % (100% is recommended).

To use the Cloning Tool, place the Cloning Tool in an area of similar tone that you want to duplicate. Hold the down the Option Key and click once with the mouse. The Cloning Tool is now activated to duplicate that tone. Move to the area of the image being retouched and click the mouse. The + symbol marks the area being duplicated.

Digital Photographic Printing

Epson P5000 Inkjet Printer

Photographic prints and traditional fine-art printmaking have been considered as separate types of prints due to the practitioners of each (photographers, painters, printmakers) and the language (techniques) of each practice. There are photographic prints (black and white, color, and alternative process) which utilize sensitized emulsions and surfaces to form the image on paper or other media. Black and white prints are commonly referred as silver-gelatin prints, while color prints, depending on the chemical process, are referred as chromogenic prints or dye-transfers. Alternative process prints include cyanotypes, albumen prints, platinum and palladium prints, as well as chemically toned prints.

Traditional fine art prints or prints on paper, including relief prints, intaglio prints, lithography, screenprints and monoprints.

Inkjet prints provide the opportunity to make prints from digital files.

NOTE: Resolution for Printing = 300 dpi.