OR Chapter 13-Digital Darkroom Basics
What can you do with a digital darkroom? You can do the same things that you could do in a traditional darkroom but: (42) Do it faster Do it more efficiently Do it with less waste Images are taken from the camera and improved using the computer. Images are not just stored as files on a computer, they are worked on and made better.
The film darkroom
The old method The film was processed into a set of negatives (a difficult process in itself) (video) You found the negative you wanted to print (this was sometimes hard to do) Using a darkened room, you would put the negative in an enlarger Make the print on special light sensitive photo paper Dip the paper in at least 3 chemicals to get a final wet print Let it dry and hope it did not curl too much Between the processing and printing steps it could take you about 6-8 minutes per print and up to 20 minutes per print for color. (This is by hand not using a machine)
Advantages of the digital darkroom Speed-images are ready as soon as you get them from your camera media card No chemicals-you do not need to go through the processing steps to get a negative and then make a print Less waste-images you do not like or want can simply be deleted Storage-Easier to find the original image-do not need to look through the negatives to find your print Print-Can actually print directly from the media card in good quality
Getting the images to your computer (43) Directly from the camera Most digital cameras can be connected directly to the computer using a USB cable. Using a media reader You can connect a card reader to a computer with the USB connections provided on most computers today. Many computers have the readers built into the computer. Using the Cloud Using the built-in WiFi upload them to the cloud or your computer
Moving files from your camera or card to your computer (44) It is best to do this with Windows so that you have more control over where the files go on your hard drive. Here are the steps to follow: 1. Create a folder on your hard drive for your images (put it in you re My Pictures folder). Be sure to use the date the images were taken in the folder name. 2. Open the new folder 3. Open the camera folder on your memory card and select all of the images in the folder. 4. Drag all of the images to the new folder on your hard drive. This starts the process of copying them from the media to the folder on your hard drive. 5. Be sure to not remove the camera or media from the connection until all images have been copies to the new folder on your computer.
Organizing your photos (45-46) Storing files on your hard drive is like storing negatives and prints in a file cabinet. Use a folder system to store your images by date and topic. Here are some pointers: Create a master folder called Digital Photos or something similar. Use you name in the folder name. Ex.-Digital Images J Conant 2017 Set up new folders inside the master folder by date and topic. Ex.-06-24-17 Dayton Air Show Create new sub folders in that by types of images or time of day you take the images. Ex.- 06-24-17 Dayton Air Show Blue Angles The better organized you have your folders the easier it will be to find images you need later. Be sure to backup your main image folder on a regular basis. Remember you do not have negatives to fall back on, only the digital files.
Example of folder setup for yearbook images from last year Main folder Sub folders with date and subject Images by file name inside of the sub folder
Storage and backup Photo files have always been vulnerable to loss, but with all of your image files in a single hard drive, you are really asking a lot. Hard drive failer can take place at any time and if you do not backup your files you will loose them. You may also run out of storage space on your computer hard drive so you need to be able to store your images somewhere else.
Types of storage and backup systems Optical disk storage (CD, DVD, etc.): This is the best and most permanent type of storage since it is in optical format and cannot be erased by magnetic fields. CD s only hold 700 mb and DVD s hold 4.7 gb so they are better. External hard drives: These are a good temporary storage option because they are still magnetic and can fail. You can use these to store images in different locations. RAID systems: (Redundant Array of Independent Drives) Several hard drives that are connected to each other. They are very fast but are still magnetic. (47) Backup software: Software that is designed to automatically backup your files as needed. This can be great if you forget to back up the files on your own.
Backup devices and software External DVD Burner External Hard Drive Media Burner DVD better than CD because it holds more data 1 TB-External Hard Drive only $59
Talk about storage!
The Cloud
Digital Workflow This is the process between a beginning and an ending that defines how you work with an image. What do you do after you take the image? This will help you to become the best digital photographer you can be. What you do after you take the image is very important in the life of that image.
Digital Workflow (48) Get the images on your computer from the camera or card. (This is a very important step) 1. Import: Open the photo in your image processing program such as Adobe Photoshop. 2. Save As: If you are using JPEG, immediately save your opened photo as a new file. If you plan to edit it in Adobe Photoshop save it as a PSD and as a JPEG. This will protect the original image file if you need it later. 3. Crop and Rotate: Remove what you do not want of the edges first and rotate the image if you need to do that. 4. Adjust Blacks and Whites: Use levels for this. You will learn to do this in detail when we cover Adobe Photoshop next semester.
Digital Workflow (48) 5. Clarify Midtones: Midtones make an image come alive and give a scene a feeling of luminosity. 6. Color Correction: A wrong white balance or a scene with a strange overall color cast should be fixed at this stage. 7. Try a work print: Prints may look very different from the way the image appears on the monitor. 8. Make local adjustment: Using burn and dodge to fix parts of the image. 9. Cleanup: Fix problems in the image, such as flare, noise, or other unwanted picture elements.
Digital Workflow (48) 10.Save a Master: Save your unsharpened and layered file as its own, separate file. This is the file you will use to make larger or smaller images; you can have problems changing image size with a sharpened file. 11.Size and Sharpen: Make and save a printing file for each major print size you need. Put it in a separate folder for printing images. 12.Start printing: If you plan to print on your own printer, then start printing. Or put the file on a CD for printing at a photo lab. Remember with the workflow, you can customize it for your own style and how you like to work.
Using Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop software is without question the premiere image processing software on the market. You will learn to use Photoshop by using it. Second semester will be devoted to Adobe Photoshop as a class. Remember the following when you start working with Adobe Photoshop: Always work on copies of the original file so that you can go back to the original if you need to.
Using Adobe Photoshop (49) 1. Do not be afraid: You can always undo or reset everything. Feel free to use Ctrl+Z, the undo key in Photoshop. 2. Crop and rotate: Do this early in the process to get rid of the parts of the image you do not want. 3. Check your blacks and white: Use levels for this step. 4. Adjust he midtones: Use curves to do this. 5. Correct overall color: Levels 6. Adjust color: Hue and saturation 7. Select and isolate: Look for small areas of the photo that need work. 8. Spot and problem removal: Look for noise and dust to remove. You can use the clone tool to cover these up. 9. Size the photo: Set the dpi or dots per inch for printing. 10. Sharpen: Use the unsharp mask to do this.
Layers 101 Learning to work with Photoshop layers will be very important to you in the future Layers act like of stack of print that can be adjusted separately. Layers in Adobe Photoshop that can be adjust separately.
Adjustment Layer An adjustment layer adds a layer of instructions that affects what is below it, but no changes are actually made to the items below. It acts like a filter. You will learn about adjustment layers when we study Adobe Photoshop next semester. Adjustment layer used to effect the exposure of the layers below.
Basic steps to printing (50) Calibrate your monitor: You do not always get on the printer what you saw on the monitor. Know the difference between a monitor and a printer Check your blacks and whites Color and the Good print Use the right image resolution Adjust the ppi in an image correctly Choose the right paper Set the correct printer driver for the printer you are using Test your print Try adjustment layers Try having the print made by a photo lab
Printing
The paper! There is a wide variety of paper available for the current Inkjet printers today. It is best to purchase the brand that is sold by the manufacturer of the printer you have purchased. There are some brands that are made to work with any inkjet printer.
Weight-related to thickness is stated in grams per square meter Thickness-how thick the paper is, usually compared to photo paper used for prints Opacity-this is usually stated in terms of a percent like 97% Brightness-also stated in a percent and usually about 92%
Typical Inkjet photo paper label 44 lb 9 mil 94% Opacity 97% ISO Brightness
It is actually cheaper to have your images printed by a professional than to print them yourself on your inkjet printer.