Step by step woprkflow with RAW

Hi folks
Could anyone please let me know how to work with RAW files from beginning to saving archive images...PLEASE
I run CS 2 and have all the plug ins I think I need so I can open them in cs2.
Advice on bit depths (8/16) and eventual further options and limitations??

Thanx

whoa! BIG queston there!

Basic steps are....

1) right click RAW file an select 'open with' then choose CS2 and tick the box at the bottom that says 'always do this sort of thing' (that way, cs2 will automaticaly open your raw files when you left click on them)

2) from there on in the options are pretty limitless, you can play around with the settings to get the look you're after, or leave them all on auto. Be wary of pushing the exposure too far as it's easy to introduce noise. The rest is just trial and error, but keep an eye on the histogram at the bottom to check for blown highlights and blocked out shadows.

3) Workflow options..... I always save as 16bit tiffs at the original resolution. you can save as jpegs but if you're going to be doing a lot of re-saving then it's not advisable. 8bit tiffs are fine, half the size but you will find that if you do any levels adjustment ater in CS2 itself you will get the 'comb' effect on the histogram where there isn't enough colour data. It's also easier to get posterization in areas of soft tonal graduations if you use 8 bit files. You can use raw editor to interpolate (make bigger) your images, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you need a bgger file to print larger sizes.

4) Further options and limitations..... you cant clone or heal, adjust levels or any of the fancy stuff you can do in cs2 proper, but it will let you get the best from the shots, you may want to try raw shooter essentials as an alternative, it's free and many find it easier to work with than cs2's raw plugin. As the plugin saves the adjustments as a side-car file they're non destructive and it remembers them so you can re-load the file and re-djust at a later stage.

Hope that helps? I did have a quick google but didn't turn anything up. The online manual is quite good for cs2 too.

Hey Ghandi
Thanx for quick response,also tried the Google approach first and ...well...

point 1:no prob ,sorted
point 2:will watch noise and histogram,thanx
point 3:what do I do in RAW and do I do subsequent editing in jpeg on same image? OR do I do all I want to do in RAW and only print the jpeg saved in the big archive file where the embedded original RAW sits?

ALSO:I understand it that you can only print jpeg(8 bit)Is this correct?

Yes I realize this is a big question,maybe I should just give it a go and ask one specific at a time??

Cheers

Best thing to do is get stuck in and fiddle about, you wont cause any damage to the original raw file as all the adjustments are saved elsewhere! The large jpeg is a seperate entity to the raw file and is really just there for ease of use and proofing afaik. if you make adjustments to the raw file and then print the jpeg it wont register any of the changes.

Within raw you can adjust the whitebalance, exposure, shadows & highlights, sharpening, noise reduction, colour balance, vignetting, straighten and crop. anything else needs to be done in cs proper.

My workflow tends to go......

open in image in raw (I use Rawshooter(free) or Capture NX for Nikon)
adjust exposure, straighten, whitebalance etc until i get what looks like a good image. then save as a 16bit tiff, open that in cs2, do any cloning, levels adjustments, sharpening, resizing etc and save back out as a 16bit tiff again so there is no loss in quality.

you can send any kind of file to your printer and the software should interpret into something the printer can cope with.

If you use a lab or online printer, most of them will only accept jpegs which are 8bit by nature. If that's the case then jst load the tiff into cs2 and re-save it as jpeg.


In summary...

Raw is a seperate file that contains the raw data from the camera sensor with no processing applied to it, what you're doing in cs2 raw is making decisions the camera would have made for you if you'd been shooting jpegs.

Gandhi said:

Raw is a seperate file that contains the raw data from the camera sensor with no processing applied to it, what you're doing in cs2 raw is making decisions the camera would have made for you if you'd been shooting jpegs.

Click to expand...

I think thats one of the most important things to keep in mind when working/shooting raw.

I shoot in RAW almost all the time now.

Basically like VeddieEdder says, you have to keep at the forefront of your mind, that your shots WILL need work doing on them, even if it's only a little bit of sharpening and tonal adjustment.

You see a RAW images, as the camera has recorded the data, and that's it.

Once you've got over that memory hurdle (which I sometimes still have problems with), then you're set.

I personally use RSP to convert my RAW files, for a number of reasons. It's not free (infact I don't think you can buy it anymore since Adobe bought it), but you can still download the 30 day trial, or download RawShooterEssentials, which is it's free sibling.

Anyway, I use RSP to browse and convert my RAW files.

RSP (and RSE) is set in such a way that the toolbar is in a logical order, and you work from top to bottom.

First off, I make sure the White Balance is right. More often than not, now I have the 30D it gets it right, but occasionally it needs a little tweak.
I then adjust the exposure compensation. I'f I've meted the shot correctly, I shouldnt really need to touch this, but at the moment I do. I'm personally getting it correct, at the shutter time, more times now as I progress, but the option is still there for the tweaking to adjust the overall exposure of the shot.

I then adjust the shadows and higlights contrast sliders to intensify or lesson the contrast of either the shadows or the highlights respectively. Normally only a little tweak here.

I then adjust the levels and the curves, and maybe adjust the colour stauration or intensity(vividness).

Once that's done, I set the conversion going, (which only takes a few seconds).
I have the conversion set to 16 bit TIFF, which then opens into Photoshop.
The first thing I do in Photoshop is save a copy of the freshly opened TIFF, into a backup folder.

This means that if I lose the image Ive been working on, I don't need to go back to RawShooter to reconvert the RAW file.

Once the backup is saved, I rotate and crop the image first. Then save it for the first time with its new name. (making sure it's saving a new file and not over the backup )
I then work on it, saving it along the way, and keeping any adjustments to layers, so I can go back at any time in the future and undo most parts of my work.

I then save that fully processed file as a layered TIFF, (so it can run over 100 meg occasionally, depending on how much work / layers have been done / created).
I then use a script to save a small, resized, sharpened and bordered JPEG from that.
I then move the processed TIFF to another folder ready for burning to disc.

So therefore I have 4 versions of my files

1. The original RAW
2. A backup TIFF of the converted RAW
3. A TIFF which has been converted from RAW, edited and processed and resaved, fullsize, with layers.
4. A 700px JPEG for the web (bordered, sharpened, and with my signature tag on it).

So I basically have 3 backups of the same image.
Some may say my method is overkill, especially with regards to how much space I use. Personally I say storage is cheap nowadays, super cheap, I'd rather save as much as I can full size, so I don't have to worry about compression, should my skills improve in the future and i need to redo some of my shots, or reprocess them etc, which would mean resaving a file (and therefore I don't need to worry about image degradation each time I save).

Hope this helps

Marcel

sorry to dredge this - but we were talking about it earlier on chat.

Marcel - From your original folder how many other folders do you have? eg backup tiff, altered tiff, and web ? or is there more? How do you rename them - I keep getting in a mess with workflow

No need to be sorry

I have four folders.....sort of

Here is a screenshot of my photography HD


I copy all my images from the card into its own folder, preceded by a four digit date (as you can see the ones there from july and august etc)

If I'm short on time, I'll copy them to the folder "Copied from card reader" to be sorted later, but that's by the by.

Anyway, once in there, I rename them using CKRename to the following format.. for example, for the folder 09.30 TP Meet at Chester Zoo, the files in there will be like this, instead of IMG_3324.CR2, I'll rename them to 060930_3324.CR2, so its 6 figure date, and image number as given by the camera.

I then go through them in RawShooter, converting the ones I like....to a 16 bit TIFF.

These 16 bit TIFFS, go into 01 - Working.
I then go through them one by one. I'll open it in photoshop, and press a key to save a copy of the TIFF (with no adjustments, straight out of raw), to "04 - Master TIFFS".
I then work on it, using adjustment layers etc.
When it's finished, I save it and move it to 02 - Processed.
I then run a script to resize, border and signature it, and save an 800 pix version to 03 - Web.

So the dated folder has all the raws in.
01 - Working has all the processed raws as TIFF, but not worked on yet in photoshop.
02 - Processed has the full processed layered version
03 - Web has a web sized and bordered version
04 - Has an unprocessed TIFF, straight out of Rawshooter

Hope that makes sense. The way I explained it, its probably as clear as mud though...lol

it makes sense... but - does that not mean that 01.working - 04.Master Tiffs is a mix of processed pics from different shoots? or do you find this don't matter because the image has the date in the filename? or do you copy them all back into eg the chester zoo folder when you have finished processing?

Nope, the chester zoo folder, only contains the raw files....

When I convert them to tiffs, they go into 01, ready for straightening, cloning, levels, layers, etc etc......But before I continue, I quickly save a copy into 04. So basically if I every mess up or lose the fully processed version, then I dont have to convert the raw ever again.
This I find is a bit of a help especially since I'm using Rawshooter, and it's been bought out and moved onto Adobe...so Im not sure if the raw settings will be valid in the future, without having to load up RSE, which eventually will be old software.