Varis PhotoMedia Tutorials 2006, Lee Varis Welcome This tutorial has been prepared for the photographer who is striving to learn digital imaging. I make an effort to supply current information about digital imaging techniques and general information about computer technology that is pertinent for today s professional photographer. This information is based on my personal experience down in the trenches at the front lines of the digital revolution that is sweeping the photographic industry. One thing is certain: all of the information contained herein will be obsolete in a fairly short time - how short, I can t say. Be forewarned that things are changing very rapidly and the only way to stay competitive is to keep learning. I devote a good percentage of my time learning new things and I am attempting to share what I learn with you but this information will go out of date so you should be flexible and not take this tutorial to be the ultimate statement on the subject. I consider the knowledge contained in any of my tutorials to be public domain but the form in which this knowledge is presented is copyrighted as are all the photographic images used as examples. Unless otherwise noted all imagery is copyrighted by Lee Varis and any use of these images without permission is forbidden. You are permitted to use this tutorial for your personal education - you are not permitted to sell or otherwise distribute this material. Please contact me for any other use. I maintain a web site where I post additional information, examples and tutorials. You are invited to browse various portfolios as well as download free material and purchase additional tutorials at: http://www.varis.com I hope you find the information contained in this tutorial helpful. Please let me know if you find any errors or omissions - I m always trying to improve these materials! You may contact me via E-mail at: varis@varis.com best regards, Lee Varis 2006
Digital Raw File Workflow Part A Production Photography using digital capture has been evolving into a more RAW file centered workflow for some time now. Raw files were used in the past only by high end single-pass capture systems typically in a tethered capture mode.. Of course, all cameras shoot RAW out of necessity but now we find more and more that can save the captured raw data to disk. Even certain point and shoot rangefinder cameras are now capable of shooting RAW. The advantages of saving the raw data are undisputable. The main disadvantage and the primary reason many photographers have been reluctant to shoot RAW is that a RAW file workflow has been confusing, clumsy, slow and, until recently, there has been no open standard RAW format that is universally supported. The DNG format has emerged to handle the latter issue but most shooters still find a RAW workflow clumsy at best. It doesn t have to be that way and this tutorial aims to provide some insight into methods that can streamline production in a Raw file workflow. The foundation for an efficient RAW file workflow is the establishment of good RAW processing defaults. I present a comprehensive testing procedure for determining these defaults in my Digital Camera Calibration tutorial you can purchase this 23 page PDF at: http://www.varis.com/navigation/steps.html The following pages deal with a basic production workflow that would typically be utilized during the photo shoot: Download image files from camera Rename files Apply metadata (copyright and ownership info) Duplicate files for backup Verify file integrity Apply default processing settings Reformat memory card for reuse. Most of the steps above can be fully automated on the computer requiring minimal intervention on the Photographer s part. Assuming that the files need no further tweaks past the defaults the images can be batch processed to multiple output sizes and formats also with minimal intervention. While a Raw workflow does require a bit more time than simply downloading Jpegs, it can be relatively painless and the flexibility and quality advantages usually more than make up for the lost time especially since that time does not require your personal attention. So how de we achieve this Holy Grail? Turn the page and find out...
Bridge File browsing The workflow we will be examining is based around Bridge, Adobe s new file browser application that is part of their Creative Suite. Once launched you simply select a folder of images in the Folders tab and Bridge will render size-adjustable thumbnails for that folder in the main window pane in the interface. A full elucidation of the Bridge interface is beyond the scope of this tutorial and we will assume that the reader knows the basic functions of Bridge. There are many ways to configure the Bridge interface and we won t cover all of them here. However, I would like to point out one configuration that I find useful and is not particularly obvious...
Nesting Tabs The panel at the left of the interface contains several tabs in three separate panes. These can be resized to suit personal preference. The Tabs can also be nested all into one pane by dragging one on top of the other. Start by dragging the Preview tab up into the upper pane. Continue dragging the remaining tabs up into the upper pane, letting go when the blue outline appears. The remaining panes will collapse...
Long List Panel The result will be one long panel at the left with all the tabs nested in it. I find this particularly useful for folder navigation as you can now see a longer list view. For the most part, you need to access the information in the other tabs one at a time anyway and the longer list view is especially handy for metadata and Keywords as well...
Saving the Workspace Once you have configured the interface to your liking, you can save your configuration as a custom Workspace from the Window menu. Adobe has provided five different workspaces that you can use your custom workspaces appear at the bottom of the list below the divider.
Production Workflow When you are shooting digital there are certain essential tasks that you are faced with. As you shoot pictures you fill up your memory cards and you need to download the image files, verify their integrity and duplicate them to an additional location for insurance before you can re-use the card for new shots. In addition you need to rename the downloaded files to integrate them with your asset management system and/or your clients needs. You should also get in the habit of adding your copyright and ownership info into the file metadata. Ideally, these tasks should be automated as much as possible to streamline the workflow and prevent errors. Before establishing our automation it is necessary to create permanent locations for camera files during our work-in-progress phase. Create a receiving folder on your desktop. It is shown here as Camera_ Files. You will also need to create the backup folder, here named Camera_Backup. It is important that your backup folder be associated with a different hard drive. On the Macintosh platform you will need to first create the folder on the external hard drive, then make an Alias for that folder and drag the Alias to the desktop. This insures that the backup folder on the desktop references a folder on the external hard drive. In practice we will be copying files from the camera card to the Camera_Files folder, renaming these files, applying a metadata template and duplicating them to the Camera_Backup folder. The last step before designing the automation process is to save our metadata template. To make a template select any camera file in Bridge and then select: File-> File Info...
Metadata Template The File Info dialog allows you to add metadata to your image files. The areas that interest us at this point are: Description, IPTC Contact and IPTC Staus. Starting with description you should fill out Author: and Author Title:. Set the Copyright Status: to Copyrighted and type in the Copyright Notice: Enter the Copyright Info URL: with the full http://www... path for your website
IPTC Contact The IPTC Contact area is where you place your critical contact info. Make sure you write out your full URL, including the http://www... for your website.
Saving the Template The only thing you need to enter in the IPTC Status area is your Rights Usage Terms When you have entered everything that will be common to all image files you create you can save this info as a metadata template by selecting from the flyaway menu at the upper left corner. I name my templates for the year of copyright the saved templates can be accessed from the same menu and applied to multiple files all at once in Bridge. These templates can also be utilized in automated workflows as we shall see in the following pages...
Automation Scripts http://www.thedambook.com/pages/import_from_camera.zip The first step in our production workflow will be to download files from the camera. Most of the chores associated with this process can be automated using the Import from Camera script. The rest of this tutorial relies on this script which you can download from the link at the upper right. Bridge supports Javascript as an automation method and Adobe has developed this script with Peter Krogh to provide critical downloading functionality for digital camera users. Scripts need to be stored in the right place for accessibility inside Bridge. Fortunately Adobe has provided a simple method to locate the correct directory click on the Reveal button in the General Preferences and you will be taken to the appropriate directory. Place the 4 scripts: AdobeLibrary1, 2 & 3.jsx AND ImportCamera_ BR.jsx into the StartupScripts folder (replacing older versions) as shown in the Macintosh path below. Windows path names will be different but the reveal button will give you the correct location.
Import from Camera Once the scripts are installed you can setup for download automation. Select the Import from Camera script (hereafter referred to as IFC) from the Tools menu in Bridge. This will bring up a dialog where you can set various parameters and preferences for the process before clicking OK. First up is Sources - this box, at the top of the dialog, is where you select the folder for the files you wish to work on. This can be a folder on the desktop that you ve downloaded to manually or you can select the files from a mounted memory card directly. Click on the add button to locate Folders directly. The Configure button allows you to setup standard places to download from these can be folders on your computer or memory cards that you mount on the desktop once you have saved configurations you can click on the Re-Scan button to automatically add the location without having to navigate to it. Options has two choices Flatten Directory Structure is useful if you simply select a memory card that typically has a nested folder structure that you want to ignore, dumping all files into the same location. If you create multiple folders on your memory cards as a way to organize your shoot you can leave this check box unchecked to preserve your folder structure. Build Folder Caches will cause Bridge to start building the thumbnails for the downloaded files right away so its usually a good idea to leave this checked. We ll cover the next two areas in more detail on the next pages. For now, lets look at the Destination area here we can determine where the files will be downloaded to and we have the option to Save a Copy of Images to a secondary location as a back up. The Secondary Destination Copy Mode drop down determines if you want to Apply All Settings of the IFC dialog to the copy or you wish to leave the copy unmodified with Source File Backup this is useful if you want the backup to reflect the original state of the camera files before renaming and applying metadata...
Renaming Options Checking Rename on Import allows you to rename the camera files to you liking. Click the Rename Options button to configure your renaming preferences. Rename Options appear as <var> character strings in the text box. The Add Element drop down is where you select different variables to add to your file name. In the example shown here I ve typed my name Varis with an underscore as the first element in the string followed by the Modification Date, Filename - Substring and Extension. The Filename substring brackets show the first character numbers you wish to delete and the last number you wish to keep from the original file name here I m dropping WK6D and keeping the last 4 digits of the unique file identifier. I also type a dash between the date and filename substring. The Preview area gives you an idea what your file name will look like. The Preserve Original Name in Metadata checkbox copies the old file name to the XMP Media Management field. This is perhaps most useful for forensics applications where you might need to trace a renamed file back to its original version. Lastly we have Rename files as a linked Set. This checkbox is helpful if you like to shoot RAW + JPEG as it insures that the same naming is applied to both. The Master and Linked Extensions fields confirm the files to link. You should play around with the various variables until you find a configuration that works for you. For instance, Creation Date may work better than Modification Date for your particular camera. Once you have something that works save it as a template by clicking the Save button. You can save different naming conventions for different cameras and switch between them with the Rename using Template drop down.
Applying Metadata The Apply Metadata on Import allows you to select a metadata template to apply to your camera files as you download them. Using Append for the Mode insures that all the camera specific metadata (camera model, exposure, creation date, etc..) remains intact. If you want to eliminate this info for some reason you can select Replace for the Mode. IFC will skip files with the extensions listed in the Skip Files field. The choices set up in the IFC dialog are sticky meaning that they will remain where you set them for the next time you enter the dialog. This way you don t have to keep re-setting everything when you want to run the script. If you have saved a source configuration, IFC will re-scan for source files automatically when the dialog is opened. If everything is configured properly you simply need to invoke the script (Tools-> Import from Camera) and click on the OK button. The only time you d need to change anything is when you download from a different camera as that would involve changing the naming convention and source. Make sure you target the Camera_Files folder for your destination and Camera_Backup for your copy. When you re ready, click OK and the script will run. The first time it runs you will see the Help Note at right. Check the Do not show this message again box and click OK. There is no real progress report as the script runs but you will see a completed message when its finished. Several seconds may be more like several minutes depending on how many image files you are downloading. You also won t see any thumbnails until the process is fully complete then the thumbnails will be instantly available as the cache built by the script.
Post Production Once you have downloaded all your camera files you can move your main copy to your job folder for further editing. Post production tasks can include: Sorting - Editing - Rating Additional Metadata Keywording Adjusting for Processing Processing to DNG Processing to Tiff - Psd Creative Adjustments Multipurpose Copies (print, web, etc...) Catalog & Archive DNG & Finals These tasks do not necessarily have to be done in any particular order. Usually you want to edit the shoot, remove any outtakes, rate the shots, etc... first to cut down on the number of files you will do further work with. Bridge has a 5-star rating system that can be applied with simple keystrokes. You can also use colored labels to further refine your ratings. I find it most convenient to apply ratings with the slideshow feature (Cmd or Cntl- L ) as images flash by simply hit the number keys (no need for the modifier key). Once files are rated you can filter out the less important images using the Filter drop down at the upper right of the Bridge window. You can go on to adding any metadata that would apply to all shots for this batch in the example here I ve selected all the images in Bridge, switched to the Metadata tab and entered Yosemite, California, USA for the location. This updates the metadata for all the images selected. You can also do this for Keywords select multiple files and enter keyword info in the Keywords tab. I encourage everyone to at least start experimenting with keywording as this will become more important in the future for commercial applications.
Quick Adjustments At this point, unless you are exceptionally lucky, you will want to do some fine tuning image adjustments using your Raw Processing software. Bridge integrates well with Adobe Camera Raw and if you ve saved some Camera Raw settings you can apply them directly in Bridge without opening them into Camera Raw by going to: Edit-> Apply Camera Raw Settings... If you have done your prep work and developed a good raw file calibration* most of the image adjustments will be taken care of by applying white balance settings for your lighting situation. I also save settings subsets for plus exposure adjustments that I can apply to selected files very quickly These quick adjustment settings should be simple subsets for exposure, contrast or basic color temperature only. More complicated adjustments are best worked in ACR directly. A good strategy is to review your images in a large thumbnail view, select all files and apply a saved white balance setting for the overall color. This works well with controlled studio lighting where the color of the lights is consistent from shoot to shoot. Once you ve established the basic color you can single out files that are off slightly in exposure or contrast and apply a settings subset that adjusts from your base calibration. Do a slideshow review to decide if you need to do further work in ACR. * I have a tutorial for Digital Camera Calibration using Adobe Camera Raw at: http://www.varis.com/navigation/steps.html
Creating DNGs After you ve finalized all your RAW file adjustments you are ready to convert to DNG (Digital Negative Format). This new open RAW file format ensures that your adjustments travel with the RAW file and will be available for any application in the future*. Though you can process you RAW files into DNGs using ACR it is usually better to use the DNG Converter. The DNG Converter can process files from subfolders so if you ve organized a shoot this way you can batch the whole thing in one step. The main advantage to using the Converter is that the application runs independently from Bridge and Photoshop leaving you free to work in those applications while the conversions happen in the background. Launch the DNG Converter by opening it or simply dragging a folder of RAW files onto it. In step (1) if you have files in subfolders make sure you check the Include checkbox as well as selecting the main folder. Step (2) if you Save the files in the same location you will not overwrite the originals so its probably better to select a new location. If you are including subfolders in step (1) you can transfer them to the new location by checking Preserve Subfolders here. Step (3) You can change the name if you like but mostly it makes sense to keep the names the same. Step (4) preferences are pretty straightforward - I see no reason not to accept lossless compression - you definitely want to keep your adjustments by Preserve Raw Image and its unnecessary to embed the original RAW file as the DNG has all the same information anyway! Once you ve set everything click convert the process begins and you ll see a Conversion Status dialog. The Extract button is used to extract the original RAW file from DNGs that have been processed with embedded originals - you don t have to worry about this if you never embed the original RAWs. *To learn more about the DNG format go to: http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/ps_pro_primers.html
Batch Process for Multiple Uses So far we have been working exclusively with RAW files but at some point you have to deliver regular images files for different purposes. You may not need to take your images into Photoshop to do more creative work but you will probably have to prepare files for print or create web galleries. The task of generating these different files at different sizes can be automated very easily using Adobe s Image Processor script. Select the files you want to process in Bridge, then go to: Tools-> Photoshop-> Image Processor... You will be taken to Photoshop and the Image Processor dialog will open. Step (1) If you have selected files in Bridge you will see the dialog as it is to the right, otherwise you will have to click the select folder button to navigate to the folder of images you want to process. You have the option to open the first image to apply RAW file adjustments these adjustments will be used for the remaining images so its better to do your individualized adjustments earlier inside ACR. Step (2) Select the location for processed files. Each file type that you check in the following step will generate a subfolder in the destination. Step (3) Check the file types you need you have the option to re-size and in the case of JPEG you can convert to srgb for web use. Each version of the processed images can be a different size in the example at right I have JPEGs sized for web, a full size PSD and TIFFs sized for 8x10 at 300 ppi. Step (4) Preferences allow you to run an action and include copyright notification as well as the ICC Profile. Click Run and Photoshop will batch all the files to the chosen destination.
Last Steps Now we have gone through most of the image processing tasks for our RAW file workflow. The last stage of the workflow is backing up, archiving and cataloging your images. This process can include: Keywording (if not already done) Cataloging Proof Sheets - Web Galleries Duplicating- Back up- Archiving Building a complete digital asset management system is a bit beyond the scope of this tutorial but I would like to leave you with a few thoughts: Its never too late to start organizing your collection of digital image files. Figure out how you are going to store them and start making your copies. You want to have at least two copies of everything - more copies of really important images BUT you may not want to save every iteration of every image you take and process. Try to get your image collection duplicated in two different locations. Storage media will go bad at some point - have a plan for migrating files from one media to another - I went through a long and painful process of migrating files from DAT tape to CD/DVD and many older images were lost. Build your catalog to reference your storage media and plan on pruning your collection of images that loose their value over time (do you really need to keep those shots of widgets you did for a client in 1989?). Also, make sure you have some way of confirming the integrity of your catalog - re-scan or re-build thumbnails periodically to confirm the integrity of stored files and make sure that you haven t lost anything by moving files around. Any software that you use today may not work with future operating systems or future hardware. Companies come and go- even big companies! Make sure that your catalog can be exported in some sort of standard format. Think about what you want to keep and consider building multiple catalogs for different categories of images. I maintain catalogs for: Client Jobs- DNG & derivative DNG personal creative work PSD layered master files for personal work Portfolio Family Snaps Book Projects Personal work, Portfolio and Book projects are archived on hard drives for constant access. Client jobs are stored on local hard drives for 1 year, after which they are moved to DVDs and shelved. Family Snaps are treated much like Client jobs - after 1 year they are moved to DVD, however, multiple copies are saved and distributed to my children. Sometimes certain images exist in multiple catalogs if they have application in the different categories. I try to prune catalogs of useless images but I m not terribly aggressive about it - you never know what might become important 100 years from now and I d like my heirs to be able to utilize my work in the future!
Conclusion A RAW Path to the Future The contemporary photographer has to seriously consider adapting to a RAW file workflow. The benefits of saving and working with the raw captured data far outweigh the inconvenience associated with a RAW file workflow. If you ve implemented an efficient working process the transition from all JPEG to all RAW can be painless. While you are learning and establishing new working methods you may consider maintaining some use of JPEG shooting for certain applications until you can get everything completely push button simple. Some shooting situations may simply be impossible without using JPEG fast breaking news photography for instance. If you need to keep using JPEGs you probably already know this but there will come a time when you want to capture the absolute best possible quality and then you simply must shoot RAW! The workflow outlined here is just that, an outline. You need to test and adapt procedures to work with your specific circumstances and personal preferences. Software is always changing so by next year, at the latest, some things are going to have to be adapted to new options and better techniques. Apple and Adobe have recently introduced new software designed for RAW file workflow and new versions will be better able to address the needs of the professional. The following links will help you stay on top of the latest developments in RAW file workflow: http://www.thedambook.com http://www.controlledvocabulary.com http://www.russellbrown.com/tips_tech.html http://www.updig.org/ http://www.openraw.org/ http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/ps_pro_primers.html http://www.varis.com/navigation/steps.html You should pick up a copy of the DAM Book by Peter Krogh - the first link above will take you to the book s web site - this is an essential text for digital asset management for the digital photographer and much of my material is adapted from Peters work. You can download the Import from Camera script here as well as other useful scripts for rating and adjusting images in Bridge.
Varis PhotoMedia Tutorials 2006, Lee Varis Thank you I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. The techniques outlined here represent just the tip of the iceberg. Photoshop is a very deep application - a person could spend years studying it and there will always be more to learn. If all this seems a little overwhelming, take a break, do what you feel comfortable doing in Photoshop and return to this tutorial again later on. Often, it takes several weeks for a particular technique to sink in so give it time. I have other tutorials available online (navigate to the methods section), some are free and some are available for a modest charge. See tutorials and some examples of my work at: http://www.varis.com There are many learning resourses available on the web - here are a few other sites with good information: http://www.russellbrown.com http://www.creativepro.com http://luminous-landscape.com/ http://www.imaging-resource.com/howto.htm http://www.photoworkshop.com/ http://www.adobe.com/misc/training.html http://studio.adobe.com/expertcenter/photoshop/ http://www.ledet.com/margulis/articles.html main.html http://www.steves-digicams.com/ http://www.photoshopuser.com/ http://www.handson.nu/ http://photoshopgurus.info/ These last two links are typical of the majority of Photoshop tutorial sites - they are focused on cool graphics effects not photography. You might want to look over this material anyway - sometimes you can learn a lot about basic functions in Photoshop. I m always trying to improve these materials and I m always open to your feedback. You may contatct me via email at: varis@varis.com best regards, Lee Varis 2006