John an idiots guide,that's me then
John have a look at this page aswell if you can
http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content...2_17&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter
I'll differ mate in that this is all I have,PS will come,but every image you see of mine is only processed in DPP,my work flow I guess will change in time with this addition.But very basically here's what I do.
1 make sure you are in adobe RGB to process at the end via the adjust tab I convert to sRGB, before converting to jpeg....each image mate tis clunky,but again tis all I have and no second stage
2 WB eye dropper for some images,but more and more I lean to colour temp and set WB in kelvin. eye dropper can be real hit and miss for me colour temp seems more reliable for me frankly more logical tis in the pull down WB tab
3 picture style,I shoot in standard,but invariably move to fine detail...remember I can't selectively sharpen so i'm trying to max what DPP can do for me on it's own...very different to where I'll go later on. fine detail appears to utilize an unsharp mask of 4.1..1
4 Gamma tweek white and black points and move mid point...most times highlight side remains unmoved,I try to ETTR to should have little leeway on the highlight side
5 colour pallette I don't always use this,but am finding I use it more and more as I learn
6 NR,subtle this I tend to notch both sliders slightly, from default set by iso......but am influenced by some great togs have recently become aware that luminance might not be used so much as I progress into PS due to the effect it MIGHT have on details within the image
7 stamp tool to remove dust bunnies if neeed
8 I never boost contrast with the contrast slider might reduce,but never other way,following this shadows hilights colour sat and tone............colour sat incredibly rarely used VERY POWERFUL colour tone never more than plus or minus one. John essentailly I use this in situations where say the greens in a hare image are almost overwhelming the colour of te hare ,all light will be tainted green so I notch overal tone to the red side
9 crop if needed
10 sharpen,Mate I don't have the next step so i'm trying to produce an image that will be looked on and presented on web as sharp refer to Mike above here,but me a push this to 9....so far so good not one person has mentioned halos (maybe they are being nice maybe don't care,what ever,but so far I can't see sharpening halos and no one else has put me right
)
11 convert to sRGB
12 convert and size to jpeg.... in the file tab top left I believe
13 be aware of batch process and also under the edit tab top left copy and paste reciepe. i'f I've taken 20shots under similar conditions and same shot settings i'll use this to edit one and then bring all that "set" to the same level of editing.Mate in some cases I want to pick through those twenty with a fine tooth comb I want to represent them to their best as I'm frankly struggling to know which is the best or are the best one/ones to keep so this dodge gets them all at their best and saves me time
John caviat!!! I am me learning da ropes,the guy above is an astounding tog, Mike's methods really might be the ones for you here,hell he helps me move forwards.....bless him!! Some of my steps might be wrong or counter productive i'll be educatated which is cool. i'm not hiding nowt.
My pov is very simple,canon make DPP canon make all those jiggery pockery ones and noughts algorythm thingies that make our images. Adobe try to copy all this but that's all they are just copying ??? So simply canons DPP will always be my to go to RAW converter. In time I might be able to add in another step where selective sharpening NR and god knows what else might be really useful.BUT this programme made by the guys that made my camera and lens will always be that first step.Frankly it's always amazed me everybody doesn't use DPP that uses canon gear,but I am learning so maybe haven't worked out the why's just yet. The steps above are a base set of what I do to show an image and I really feel I have way more to learn just about DPP let alone anything else. But the feedback I get from honest folks tells me i'm moving towards my goals,not there yet,so maybe they are of use to you or even the next guy following me . Being a skint old git gave me no choice but to use DPP,but lay that aside the 4th version is a superb tool IMHO,maybe because it's free it sort of gets overlooked instead of light room etc
How ever you are being forced to use this ,do dig at it John it's a cool little editing tool non destructive probably a bit clunky to guys with PS etc,but it just works. when I see what guys like Arash and Artie produce from this base start to their work flow it make my heart sing. It's free it gives an incredible platform to lift off from,gotta be worth digging at
As I say mate you are way more knowledgeable on all things togging than moi so I don't know if anything here is of use,as you'll want to utilize the next stages in post that you already know, gotta be worth a punt though even if this helps a much newer guy not your good self
good tools are what they are John...they do a job and do it well
belucky mate
stu