Rookie Questions

[gregcoad]

<p>So I have been at this digital photography thing for the past 5 years or so and more or less getting by with my very basic and limited understanding of digital workflow, file formats, and editing. I have always only shot raw from day 1 and used the various versions of PS Elements since v. 5. I am getting to the point where I think I need to sort out a bit more of a workflow. I am probably also going to move up to PS CS3. You're probably wondering why CS3 and not CS5. Its really just a matter of economics-- a friend is giving me a copy of CS3 no charge. (I'm not ready to spend $700 on the latest greatest)</p>

<p>So my current workflow kinda goes like this:</p>

<ol>

<li>Import raw images into folder named according to shot date</li>

<li>Cull the herd via Photoshop Elements Organizer</li>

<li>Open the raw image in Elements Raw editor</li>

<li>Tweak the raw images (white balance, exposure, recovery slider, clarity, vibrance, saturation, sharpening)</li>

<li>Open image in Elements editor as 16 bit file</li>

<li>Further tweaks (noise reduction, if needed, using Noise Ninja, cropping, unsharp mask)</li>

<li>Save as a TIFF in a new folder called "Work"</li>

<li>"Artistic" touches (burn the edges, colorize, skin softening, various effects, etc.)</li>

<li>Save final image as a TIFF</li>

<li>Size for printing/output</li>

<li>Save as JPEG in a folder called "JPEG"</li>

</ol>

<p>So what's the question?</p>

<p>Recently I was reading a review of the S90 on dpreview.com and the review included a comparison of raw images when processed in ACR vs. DPP. There was a very marked difference in sharpness and contrast that started me wondering if I should give DPP a chance for the raw editing step. Am I getting the wrong idea? The sample images were shown using the default settings for each of course. Will ACR yield the same results with the right settings or does DPP do a better job in some respects?</p>

<p>Also, any suggestions on how I could streamline/improve my workflow? Are there steps above that are perhaps not needed or should I seriously consider adding additional steps?</p>

<p>Oh yeah... the link to the dpreview and sample images:<br>

<a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons90/page7.asp">http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons90/page7.asp</a><br>

Thanks in advance.</p>

<p> </p>

[marc_rochkind]

Any comparison of defaul settings is meaningless. What matters is the final result you can achieve.

 

--Marc

[peter_mounier]

<p>Unless you're working with layers in PS, Lightroom or Aperture is probably a better choice for software acquisition. Either will give you a really good raw processor, and maybe more importantly, data base software so you don't have to keep your raw, tiffs, and jpegs in separate folders on your computer. <br>

Peter</p>

[chas_frady]

<p>Something to consider-- The Canon S90 is not supported by the version of ACR included with Photoshop CS3. (version 4.6) You'll have to take the additional step of converting your raw files to Adobe's DNG format before you can open them in ACR 4.6. Additionally, Bridge CS3 was quite buggy for many people. PS/Bridge CS4 and ACR 5.7 was a great improvement.</p>

<p>http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4624</p>

<p>Also, I didn't see whether you mentioned your OS or not, but if you're now using PS Elements 8 with Mac OS X, you have the full version of ACR 6.2 available when you open your raw files from Bridge.</p>

<p>Finally, IMHO, the latest version of DPP (3.8) is better for simple raw conversions than ACR 4.6.</p>

[kevin_b.2]

<p>throw out 7, 6 and 8 are really the same thing. consider cs4 if you have a 64bit computer. also i assume when you say save as tiff. you mean a master file with full layers and the ability to make readjustments.</p>

[manuel barrera houston,]

<p>DPP can be better for sharpening in many instances without the halo, it adds some time to the work flow but it is a very good program. The other thing is that once you sharpen in DPP you should save and convert either to jpg or tif as saving in raw or opening to photoshop directly does not seem to save the sharpening or in some case the noise removal. I have found that I like the noise reduction in DPP more so than in photoshop or noise ninja as to my 50D and 7D cameras.</p>