10 Step start-to-finish guide.
Image processing tasks for preparing your photos for final output.
• Prepare Photos for the Web
• Scanning Information & Tips
• Digital Photography Tips
Whether you get your photos from a scanner, digital camera, or a third party,
they almost always require some form of manipulation before final output. Here's
a start-to-finish guide to common image processing tasks. Although not every
picture will require every one of these steps, they should be performed in the
order presented for best results.
Step 1: Save a Copy
Before anything else, it's always a good idea to save a copy of your image in
your software's native file format. By using your software native format, you
have the most flexibility in the editing process because it retains special
features such as layers, masks, undo history, and so on. This is commonly
referred to as your "working file." But don't throw out your original file,
either. By keeping it, you always have an emergency safety net and a reference
point of comparison.
• Native File Format
Step 2: Rotate
Not every image will require rotation, but if you often use your digital camera
in portrait orientation, if the camera was tilted, or if the images were scanned
at an odd angle, they will need to be rotated. This is also the time to correct
distorted perspective, using your software's skew, transformation, or distortion
tools.
• Rotating with the Crop Tool in Photoshop 6
• Correct Distorted Perspective in Photoshop 6 or 7
Step 3: Crop
Cropping is one of the simplest things you can do to enhance a photo, yet many
people neglect this step. By cropping your photos, you can remove unnecessary
and potentially distracting elements so viewers will be able to focus on the
important parts of your picture. In addition, cropping can significantly reduce
file size, which is important for photos you intend to post on the Web or send
via email. The order of this step isn't critical, but unless you have a good
reason not to, it makes sense to crop early in the process for a couple of
reasons: First, A smaller image requires less of your system's resources and can
cut down on processing time. Secondly, many problem areas in a picture can
simply be eliminated by cropping them out.
• Rotate & Crop in Photoshop
• Rotate & Crop in Photo-Paint
• Rotate & Crop in Paint Shop Pro
• Rotate & Crop in PhotoImpact
Step 4: Correct Color and Tone
Now is the time to examine the overall color and tone of your image and adjust
for color casts, underexposure, overexposure, and so on. It's important to get
color and tone corrected before moving on to restoration, retouching and other
types of image enhancements. This is best done through your software's levels,
curves, histogram, or tone map adjustment commands. Avoid using
brightness/contrast, and hue/saturation adjustments for these types of
corrections because they are "flat" adjustments that will destroy the overall
tonal range in your photos.
• Correct Color & Tone in Photoshop
• Correct Color & Tone in Paint Shop Pro
• Corel Photo-Paint Photo Fixes
• Ulead PhotoImpact Photo Fixes
Step 5: Repair and Restore
Now that you have accurate color and tone, you can focus on the flaws in the
image that may need to be repaired. This includes removing unwanted moiré
patterns, dust, scratches, tears, wrinkles, spots, and noise.
• Photoshop Image Repair & Restoration
• Paint Shop Pro Image Repair & Restoration
• Corel Photo-Paint Photo Fixes
• Ulead PhotoImpact Photo Fixes
Step: 6: Cosmetic Improvements
After all repairs have been made, you may discover other cosmetic flaws in the
image that need retouching. This can include removing distracting elements,
revealing obscured objects, smoothing skin tone, reducing red eye, removing
wrinkles and blemishes, perhaps even replacing entire objects.
• Improve Your Image
• Photoshop Retouching Techniques
• Paint Shop Pro Retouching Techniques
• Corel Photo-Paint Photo Fixes
• Ulead PhotoImpact Photo Fixes
Step 7: Save Your Working File
Now is a good time to do a final save of your corrected, restored, and retouched
photo. If you will be using the image in another project you can come back to
this file at a later time. The following steps are specific to the requirements
of final output and will be saved under a new file name in step 10.
Step 8: Resize or Resample
Chances are, your image is not going to be the ideal size for your final output.
You will need to use your software's resize or resample command to adjust the
size and resolution. If your image is going to be printed, you will need to set
the resolution somewhere between 150-300 ppi and enter the desired print
dimensions. If your image is intended for the Web or multimedia, you will want
to use a resolution of 72 ppi and enter the desired pixel dimensions.
• Image Size & Resolution
Step 9: Unsharp Mask
Many times, as you adjust the size of an image it will need to be resampled.
This resampling always results in some softness or blurriness. In addition,
other image processing tasks such as rotating and retouching can soften the
image. Therefore, you always want to apply Unsharp Mask as the last step before
saving for final output. This filter is standard in most popular image editors
and produces better results than the simpler Sharpen command. When sharpening,
be sure to view your image at 100% magnification or actual pixels. Other
magnifications will not give you an accurate preview of the results.
• Sharpening Photos & Using Unsharp Mask
• Photoshop Sharpening Tools
Step 10: Save a Copy for Final Output
At this point you are ready to save a copy of your file in the format required
for final output. For photos you'll be posting on the Web or sending by email,
you will probably want to use JPEG format. For photos being used in a printed
project, TIFF is commonly used. If storage space is a concern, you can use a
high-quality JPEG for a much smaller file size compared to TIFF. For images
intended for multimedia or other types of screen display, you may need GIF or
PNG although TIFF and JPEG may also be used.
Don't shake,
especially in low light conditions. 