The Post Processing System/Pathway

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Hi All,

Relatively new to Photography and this website,

I'm curious to know what peoples usual pathways are to all things PP. Do you have a system you work too.

I've tried Aperture, Lightroom 5, PS CS6, All the Canon software etc however what i would like to know is whats your typical route to take and what programmes are used;

Shoot in RAW/JPEG?
Then use a RAW Converter?, If so what?
Then what's the next step,
Then the next, and so on till the final outcome.]

Any help would be amazing, I want to devise my own system however at the moment I'm editing in all sorts of programmes to test them out but want a specific route.


Thanks in advance!
 
Hi, Well first shoot in RAW if you wish to get the best possible results from an image file.
RAW converter and more in Lightroom. Remember and someone will correct me if I am wrong! Photoshop CS 6 or CC is not just for photographers there are many other professions that use Photoshop and the cost for every day to day photography is now hard IMO to justify.
Photosop Elements does have the advantage of (1) costings less and (2) Layers.
Now Lightroom 5 and before 5 has/was produced with photographers in mind with Lightroom 5 if you are willing to sit and learn how it works is again IMO the better option to start out with.
Also do have a look at OnOne software they offer free software with no restriction on time of use.
For more in depth information and learning have a look at the following.
http://www.lightroomforums.net/forum.php?s=142a3806544bb239c730915e2a7f97e0

http://www.jkost.com/lightroom.html

http://laurashoe.com/

http://www.ononesoftware.com/

Hope that helps
Russ
 
For me, on a landscape shoot:

1) Shoot in raw
2) Import raw files into Capture One Pro which also adds copyright info.
3) Geotag using HoudahGEO
4) Raw conversion, white balance, exposure, contrast, clarity, lens correction etc in Capture One
5) Export from C1 in full size TIFF into CS6 for pixel level editing, sharpening, noise reduction etc
6) Export from CS6 as full size TIFF
7) Back into C1 for keywording, IPTC tags etc
8) Export for web etc from C1
9) Add file from C1 into Media Pro for cataloging.
 
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I shoot only in RAW.

I use Photoshop CS6, and the Adobe Bridge plugin to set copyright for all images, and to sort out the good and the bad. The good ones I think can benefit from processing, I open using Adobe Camera Raw. Once edited most are saved as Jpegs. Occasionally I open up the processed file in Photoshop for further editing, though less and less as time has gone on, as ACR does almost all I need as its features have improved over the years.

I could use Lightroom instead of Bridge and ACR, and in many ways it is a better combination, but I'm used to Bridge and ACR. And although the the underlying processing engine of ACR and Lightroom are the same, though with a different interfaces, one thing that is not the same is the way to straighten an image. In ACR you can zoom into an image and use the straighten tool, which you can't do (afaik) in Lightroom. LR5 (and the ACR v8 that comes with Photoshop CC) have the Upright option which can straighten an image most of the time.

I tried Capture One, but being of an Adobe mindset, didn't get on with it.
 
1) I shoot Jpeg+Raw. Raws are only used if the picture has exposure or colour extremes that need recovering.
2) Tweak the Histogram if necessary: Brightness/Contrast/Gamma/Curve/Highlight/Shadow
4) Local Exposure: Adjust areas or corners of the picture if required
3) Check Sharpness/Noise Reduction/High pass/Clarity
5) Keyword/Tag
6) Upload

Programs used: Digikam, Raw Therapee, Gimp.
 
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If you are new to photography, step away from raw... Learn how to compose your photographs, learn how to get the best out your camera and functions; learn how to read your histogram - I take more notice of my histogram than I do of the preview image.

I'm an advocate for getting it right in camera and using post to polish the final image... I am however not an advocate of the 'fix in post' mentality, it teaches you nothing.

I shot for many years using jpg only, albeit with filters etc.

Once you have a full grasp of your camera's function, how various situations will affect your exposure, how to compose a image correctly then move to raw; that way, you'll have a much better understanding and your final images will be way better - you'll also then be able to relate various functions in LR etc and how then affect your image.
 
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untiedshoes said:
If you are new to photography, step away from raw... Learn how to compose your photographs, learn how to get the best out your camera and functions; learn how to read your histogram - I take more notice of my histogram than I do of the preview image.

I'm an advocate for getting it right in camera and using post to polish the final image... I am however not an advocate of the 'fix in post' mentality, it teaches you nothing.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but I don't agree, shooting in RAW doesn't mean you disregard shooting things properly and getting everything as good as you can in camera. Whereas some people see people who shoot RAW as being lax and not getting things correctly in camera, that view is also lazy too imho. Not necessarily saying this is you, but anytime RAW/ Jpeg is mentioned, and it is mentioned a lot, ;) someone will imply that using RAW will somehow be done by / lead to, being a lazy Photographer. :rolleyes: That is normally put forward by people who don't shoot in RAW.

untiedshoes said:
Once you have a full grasp of your camera's function, how various situations will affect your exposure, how to compose a image correctly then move to raw; that way, you'll have a much better understanding and your final images will be way better - you'll also then be able to relate various functions in LR etc and how then affect your image.
Click to expand...

Shooting RAW doesn't mean you don't learn how to use the camera properly, compose well and expose correctly.

Regardless of what format you shoot in, you will probably have to do some editing, as there is sometimes only so much you can do to get things as you want, even using filters. Depending on the situation, and to get the best end result possible from such situations, you can't 'get it right' in camera, only as best as you can. Why limit yourself when it comes to editing your images? :thinking: What happens if you take the image of a lifetime and some aspect of the image could be improved with it being shot in RAW? :rolleyes:

In this day and age, if you want to get the best you can out of the images you take, imho, you need Photography and Image editing skills. We are not in the days when the few had darkrooms thankfully. It is so easy to learn Photography, and image editing, that you can learn as much, or as little, of either quite easily from many different sources.
 
I don't think there is one true workflow. It depends on what I'm shooting and what the end results if for... all of the steps below bar the copy and LR import are optional
  1. Shoot in raw + jpeg (jpeg so I can do a quick preview on the ipad if required)
  2. Copy raw images to PC using Windows Explorer (rather than direct import)
  3. Filter out the dross using Faststone Image Viewer - it's much quicker than importing everything into Lightroom.
  4. Import into LR, using a preset which adds copyright info, my camera calibration profile and my preferred default noise / sharpness tweaks. Create new catalogue or collection if required.
  5. Tag in LR
  6. In LR tweak levels, white balance, etc
  7. Export to jpeg & dropbox to check levels on (e.g.) iPad or another monitor
  8. Presharpen using Nik Presharpener - as an alternative to using the import preset
  9. Denoise using Nik DFine - as an alternative to using the import preset
  10. Perform any edits in LR - gradient filters, minor spot removal, colour tweaks, etc
  11. Export to Photoshop as 16 bit ProPhoto RGB tiff and edit as required, using various plugins if warranted - this is where I'd do skin retouching and the like. This step has a whole sub-workflow of its own
  12. Apply any colour effects in PS (often using actions)
  13. Back to LR
  14. Light sharpen using Nik output sharpener (as an alternative to the next step)
  15. Use LR to export and resize to jpeg, doing size-specific sharpening
  16. Housekeeping - though this can occur at any stage in the process - delete any intermediate edit files and flatten any large layered images once I'm convinced I no longer need the layers.
Printing adds a bit more to the end of this and I'm not sufficiently settled in to a process to document it.

When I first started digital photography I used photoshop elements for cataloguing and editing, but it's a bit painful when it comes to working with raw files.

I'd agree with Craig's comment above that you could safely start with jpegs - and just use PSE. fwiw the Elements Plus 3rd party add-on adds back a some of the missing Photoshop functionality.

If you're working with jpegs and PSE then the workflow is much simpler and you don't need to understand noise reduction, camera calibration profiles, lens calibration & correction, pre- and output-sharpening, 8 vs 16 bits, colour spaces, or the differences between psd and tiff files for editing. (Though to be fair you could probably just use Lightrooms defaults and pick up those bits as you go along).

Raw gives much more editing latitude. If you ever feel the need to make the move then when you're ready you'll have a better idea what you want from a raw converter. As it happens Lightroom and PSE make an excellent and affordable pairing so that's one upgrade path.

You can than upgrade to full Photoshop once you perceive a need. For me that need was partly a desire to work with 16 bit images; very few editors allow that.
 
redhed17 said:
Sorry, but I don't agree, shooting in RAW doesn't mean you disregard shooting things properly and getting everything as good as you can in camera. Whereas some people see people who shoot RAW as being lax and not getting things correctly in camera, that view is also lazy too imho. Not necessarily saying this is you, but anytime RAW/ Jpeg is mentioned, and it is mentioned a lot, ;) someone will imply that using RAW will somehow be done by / lead to, being a lazy Photographer. :rolleyes: That is normally put forward by people who don't shoot in RAW.



Shooting RAW doesn't mean you don't learn how to use the camera properly, compose well and expose correctly.

Regardless of what format you shoot in, you will probably have to do some editing, as there is sometimes only so much you can do to get things as you want, even using filters. Depending on the situation, and to get the best end result possible from such situations, you can't 'get it right' in camera, only as best as you can. Why limit yourself when it comes to editing your images? :thinking: What happens if you take the image of a lifetime and some aspect of the image could be improved with it being shot in RAW? :rolleyes:

In this day and age, if you want to get the best you can out of the images you take, imho, you need Photography and Image editing skills. We are not in the days when the few had darkrooms thankfully. It is so easy to learn Photography, and image editing, that you can learn as much, or as little, of either quite easily from many different sources.
Click to expand...


I wasn't knocking Raw, or its capabilities - I shoot raw; All I was saying, was that from a 'noobs' point of view, they should be concentrating on learning the art of photography first, which in turn over time will give them a lot more knowledge when it comes round to shooting in raw, and processing them.

My issue is seeing so many people starting out in photography being told, shoot raw, you can fix your mistakes really easily.
 
LiamGTi said:
Shoot in RAW/JPEG?
Then use a RAW Converter?, If so what?
Then what's the next step,
Then the next, and so on till the final outcome.]
Click to expand...

I don't have one system. How can you? It depends what you are trying to achieve. I do different things with different images. Sometimes, it's just a bit of white balance in LR and nothing else, sometimes it's a massively retouched fashion portrait using Photoshop.

I can't understand how anyone could have one single working method for everything they do.
 
Yes, that was why he not asking for that. Many people do have "typical routes" depending on the situation. And sometimes use a particular raw converter or other program. And various adjustment sequences they use if needed, that may be useful for someone looking for possible improvements. And perhaps something completely new to the OP.

Actually, as you asked about "one system", that could easily be useful if it contains IFs. Where you check through a list aspects of the shot, exposure, colour balance, need to crop? Or reduce noise. If it doesn't need it, you go on to the next. But that is not what he asked.
 
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