Easy question but very useful hopefully

[*gold*]

Hello everyone, i have finally got my kit today and now i have taken some 'snaps' wanted to edit them
I have Gimp, the Nikon out of the box jobbie and Photoshop CS5.1 but the latter only on trial.
The big question which i would imagine has been asked before but would have been a sticky i would of thought is this:
Where do i start !!!
What i mean is, is there a particular order of actions that you clever people use, do you start with crop then contrast etc etc.
a guide of some sort would be great for us noooobs :bang:
I did see somewhere in a post recently someone explaining some sort of order but cannot find it,
any help much appreciated,
Many thanks and best wishes
Cliff

 

[robhullfury]

I just 'played' then youtubed wha each function does then edited as per image. I am still very much in the learning stage tho. White balance tho is usually my friend.

 

[Doog]

I'm using Nikon's NX2 Capture at the moment and my work flow (all steps if required) is

Exposure adjustment
Contrast
Highlight protection
Shadow protection
Levels and curves
Saturation
Level
Crop
Brush tools
Overlays
Noise reduction
Colour boost
High pass filter
Resize and interpolate
Unsharp mask
Save as Jpeg

Now I'm not sure if this is the right order but it works for me.

I should have said, I always shoot RAW now.

 

[jon ryan]

I'd start with just one system, and stick to that until you are comfortable with it. Then add others if you need them.

Start with the basics. You need to name the files and put them in folders for future retrieval. Also a good idea to make a copy at the start in case things go all runny.

In general, most images can benefit from:

Cropping
Levels
Sharpening

All images need saving (duh...).

Try starting with those techniques, and adding new skills slowly. Trying to swallow the whole lot in one go will just result in a nasty mess and things getting thrown around the room.

A good book (Scott Kelby?) is worth its weight, and see if your local college/photo club have anything to offer.

Good luck!

 

[*gold*]

Thank you for the input guys, very much appreciated, i hear and understand what you are saying Jon, walk run etc
@ Doog, exactly the kind of answer i was hoping for within the replies, thank you.
@Rob, i forgot about youtube, i will sure be checking out the tutorial videos,
Again, many thanks to all 3 of you,
Cliff

 

[Suvv]

If you are just starting I would suggest using View NX2 which probably came with your camera.
In the Edit pane simply start at the top of the editing steps and work your way down, so you start with Exposure, then White Balance etc etc. bearing in mind that you probably will not need all the steps.
If you shoot raw the file will be a NEF file and you just save it, if you are shooting JPEG then save as a NEF file, that will not make it a raw file but it will allow you to go back to the photo and change any of the editing steps without loss of quality.
Once you are used to editing you can change the order if you decide that you prefer to edit differently i.e. crop at the start so that you are working on the final composition etc.

 

[*gold*]

Ok thanks Kev, I have had a look but can't move the sliders for some reason, I'm on the road all week so will have a look in peace without the wife and kids on my case
Cliff

 

[Digifrog]

I think the best and most obvious place to start is in Adobe Canera RAW in Ps, learn ACR.

It's these first initial tweaks that are important before opening the image from ACR into Ps (as 16 Bit I may add).

Can't offer any advice on Gimp I'm afraid.

Regards