Week#4: 9/22/11 Color Management Workflow

"Sitting over a hot computer ain't my idea of fun. My creativity goes almost completely into picture taking. (But) I suppose if I ever retired, I would enjoy learning the Photoshop craft far more than playing golf." - Herbert Keppler - On going digital. (Popular Photography & Imaging, January 2005)

" Focus on content.. be color blind." - Lakshman Iyer

Today we'll be talking about proper color management workflows and how to take an image from monitor to print with as much color accuracy as possible.

Colors on a monitor are displayed using a combination of RGB light, while printed colors are typically created using a combination of 4 inks CMYK.  Because the RGB and CMYK color models use different methods to display colors, each produces a different gamut, or range of colors. 

The color space for a device is defined by the gamut it can produce. And an ICC profile is a description of a device’s color space.  The profiles are used to help ICC systems communicate properly and translate your color gamut from device to device accurately.

Proper Color Management Workflow diagram:

Color Management Workflow:

STEP 1:  Calibrate your monitor

STEP 2:  Set up the Photoshop Color Management Environment

STEP 3:  Assign a Profile to the image

STEP 4:  Soft Proof your image on screen

STEP 5:  Print your Color-Managed image using ICC Printer Profiles

Below is a handout detailing the proper color management workflow steps for printing to an Epson inkjet printer. 

 

Great links for additional Color Management information:

Digital Photography Best Practices Workflow website

digitalphotopro.com magazine article

A1: Time of Day Composite

Assigned: Week #3 9/15/11

Due Date: Week #5 9/29/11

Images Due:  One 11”x14” (minimum) Print

The purpose of this assignment is to understand a proper color management workflow while experimenting and utilizing advanced layer mask techniques.  You are to photograph the same scene throughout the day (or multiple days!?) and combine at least 6 files together in a seamless composition.  This assignment is inspired by the work of Stephen Wilkes (among others), so I suggest familiarizing yourself with this technique before starting.  I would also advise you to use a tripod and choose a location that is not only interesting, but a location that you have the ability to easily go back to on multiple occasions. 

Details regarding the assignment: 

• Always Shoot Raw!
• Composite in Photoshop using the techniques discussed in class
• Output a Digital C-Print or Inkjet Print on Photo Quality Paper (surface of your choice)
• Utilize a proper color management workflow with correctly assigned profiles

Be Creative and have fun!

Week #3: 9/15/11 More Raw, Bridge, + Layer Masks

"A toast to film? You bet. But don't forget the Photoshop chaser." 

- Herbert Keppler - Film vs. Photoshop. (Popular Photography & Imaging, March 2006)

© Stephen Wilkes

  

Stephen Wilkes article on pdnonline

Today's class involves diving into more advance Adobe Camera Raw processing skills as well as understanding how to process multiple images with the same settings.  We will also be delving into Adobe Bridge file browsing and management software.  Finally we will be combining multiple raw conversions into one seamless image as an in class project.


Among the tools you be learning are Spot Tool, Chromatic Aberration correction, opening raw files as Smart Objects, Layer Masks, Clipping Masks, among others.


Homework includes a shooting and compositing assignment inspired by the work of Stephen Wilkes.

Week #2: 9/8/11 Understanding Color + Tone

Understanding the Digital RGB #s 

"As an artist, I work to gain technical skill in order to become more fluid, more expressive and more creative in my craft. Technique is always at the service of creativity". - Evan Chong

As explained last week, most of the color images you will be working on in PS are 8bits/channel.  And you learned that your images have 3 total channels -- Red, Green, and Blue, which can be viewed independently in the channels palette and in the info palette. And 8 bits when multiplied by the 3 channels gives you a total of 24bits of information per pixel, or 16.7 million colors.  This is known as the bit depth, or color depth, of your image and describes how many colors each individual pixel can have!


Back to 8bits/channel though, which is to say 256 tones/channel.  This gives you a tonal scale of 0 to 255 for each channel (RGB).  When all channels are set to 0 and turned off, you have a black pixel.  All turned on to 255, you have a white pixel.  And as long as the RGB numbers are equal, you are looking at a neutral gray pixel (darker if the numbers are closer to 0 and lighter if they are closer to 255).  

The RGB numbers for each pixel in your image can be viewed in the Info Palette and the information can be used in Levels or Curves to properly balance the color and tone in your image.  In fact, having an understanding of these numbers is one of the most useful things I can teach you in this class.  With this knowledge, you can almost guarantee yourself proper printing results with most of your images.


Please take a look at the below handout for more information on RGB numbers:

Adobe Camera Raw:

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/software-cinema-for-photographers/adobe-camera-raw-basics

0:00-1:47(Raw)  4:50-7:05(Tools/WB)  12-21(Exposure)  35:35-42:20(Sharpen)