Industrial Retouch and Color

My Bio

My name is Matt Anderson, and welcome to my digital retouching and color blog. I didn't realize how long I had been doing digital art until I reflected back on some dates. When I was...

9 Shooting tropical sunsets with my first camera
11 Programming on a Commodore VIC-20
13 Playing PacMan & Defender on a Atari 5200
14 Writing "Basic" on a Tandy 1000
15 Creating digital art on a Mac (MacPaint-FullPaint)
21 Color Manipulation using Photoshop
25 HDR compositing via mutltiple drum scans

In nearly twenty photoshop years later, a dozen computers, a dozen video game systems, a dozen cameras, a dozen drum scanners, and a dozen versions of Photoshop. I'll show you some advanced color retouching, color manipulation, air brushing, color correction, RAW image processing, and so on. Do you have a something you would like to have me tackle? Send it my way and I'll que it up for consideration. You can folow me on twitter at PhotoshopColor.

Meanwhile, sitdown and hang on, this ride moves quite fast ...

Mac - Apple OS X 10.6.4 Adobe Photoshop CS4 CS5 and Crashes by Matt Anderson

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 by Matt Anderson

Have you been crashing quite frequently, and your using Apple's Mac OS X 10.6.4 system software with Adobe Photoshop CS4 or CS5?

Apparently Apple introduced updated video graphics - card drivers with the 10.6.4 update. This update may have bugs that lead to display artifacts like fractal looking patterns, intermittent flashes, scrolling, and random vertical or horizontal black lines.

There are a couple of proposed solutions that seem to help.

One, is to run photoshop in 32 bit mode. Select the application, get info and select open in 32 bit mode. (CS5) The good part is, your third party filters will run in this mode as well. The bad news is you just lost a fair amount of speed increase. (If your memory is decent +4Gb or more)

Matt Anderson Premedia pre-media Adobe PHotoshop CS5 CS4

This fix alone seems to help most users (according to forum feedback).

Another fix that appears to work is adjusting the Open GL settings.
Under Photoshop/Preferences/General or Command-K
De-Select the Enable OpenGL drawing function. But wait!
Doing this also limits certain neat functions and GUI options. I suggest first setting it to "Basic". If your still crashing, disable it. But just so you know, your going to lose some functionality as well as "handling traits". See Adobe supplied list below.

Matt Anderson Pre-Media premedia Adobe Photoshop CS5 CS4 Mac OSX 10.6.4 Crash

GPU Accelerated Features in Photoshop and Bridge CS5 and CS4

New Open GL/GPU features in Adobe Photoshop CS5:

Scrubby Zoom
HUD color picker
Color sampler ring
Brush dynamic resize and hardness control
Bristle Brush flotilla
Crop with Rule of Thirds grid
Adobe Repousse
3D overlays, including ground plane, widget, light widget, bounding box for mesh and materials.

OpenGL/GPU features in Adobe Photoshop CS5 and CS4:

Smooth Display at All Zoom Levels
Animated Zoom Tool
Animated Transitions
Hand Toss Image
Birdseye View
Rotate Canvas
Smooth Display of Non Square Pixel Images
Pixel Grid
Move Color Matching to the GPU
Draw Brush Tip Editing Feedback via GPU
3D GPU features include:
- 3D Acceleration
- 3D Axis
- 3D Lights Widget
- Accelerated 3D Interaction via Direct To Screen
- 3D Ground Plane
- 3D Selections via a Hi-light Overlay

GPU features in Bridge CS4 are:

Preview Panel
Full-screen preview
Slideshow
Review Mode

Another proposed fix is to revert back to 10.6.3, and wait for the fix. Are you serious ?
One would have to re-install system software, starting from the most recent complete version you happen to have. For most, that would be going back to 10.6 or 10.6.1, 10.6.2, 10.6.3. Then re-install all the updated print drivers, applications, cha cha cha. No friggin' way. (Unless you have infinite time on your hands, and like to watch progress bars)

If your crashing quite frequently, I suggest you follow this course.
If your running third party filters, such as Nik's silver efex Pro, you'll need to be in 32 bit mode. From what I can tell, those in 32 bit mode are crashing less. If your still crashing, set the OpenGL mode to Basic. Still crashing, disable. Still crashing, go back to 10.6.3 and wait for an update. (I'd rather throw my computer out the window)

If your not running third party filters, keep running in 64 bit mode. Set OpenGL to basic. Still crashing too frequently, disable OpenGL. Still crashing run in 32 bit mode with OpenGL on basic. Still crashing 32 bit mode with OpenGL disabled. Still crashing, go back to 10.6.3.

I was in Photoshop CS5 for 12 hours yesterday. I was running in 64 bit mode with OpenGL on Normal setting. I crashed 3 times. Usually I got one flicker as a warning, knowing it was time to save quickly, but not always. More often then not I had a few files open.

I hope this helps until we get an update from Apple. If you have a fix or some input, drop me a note or comment. Happy Photoshopping.

*Update. I've switched my Photoshop to CS5 to 64bit OpenGL on Basic, knock on wood, I have yet to crash today, and I'm 10 hours in...

Canon 5DMKII Banding at Base ISO

Tuesday, June 8, 2010 by Matt Anderson

Does the Canon 5D Mark II have banding issues at or near base ISO?
The RAW converter of files sometimes makes all the difference in the world.

What I have seen is a problem with RAW converters interpreting the data correctly.
IMHO the demosaicing of the 5D2 files is a finicky task.

It's a double edge sword extracting every last bit of data, adding sharpness, and avoiding the demosaicing artifacts associated with the bayer pattern and sensor read noise.

Canon 5DMKII 5D2 5D MK II EOS Banding at Base ISO test with ACR 5.7 6.1 Hasselblad Phocus 2.5 DPP 3.8.2

Enlarged version and cropped to fit the dang 600 pixel maximum.

You can download the original .cr2 RAW file here ...

In summary be carefull of your settings and RAW converter of choice. Sometimes the manufactures know best...

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Beta Testing • Tips Tricks Report by Matt Anderson

Monday, March 29, 2010 by Matt Anderson

Ok, I, like many others, have been secretly and quietly testing the new Adobe Photoshop CS5 Beta. We finally got the go ahead to share SOME information, er, images that showcase some features that may or may not exist or ship in the final version. Until April 12, 8am PST/11am EST, then we can really shout it from the Mountain Top, I think.

To follow the proper protocol....

(Stands Up)
I am a beta (prelease) tester for Photoshop CS5, I like to wear womens underwear ... (Bad Monty Python insert)

I can't be specific.
I can't explain how things work and what their name is.
I can't show you screen shots.
I can't talk about that one night I blacked out in college.
I won't admit if those 1998 underwear model shots for Hanes was me.

I'm not a program/computer tech analyst so take all this with a grain of salt.

I can say on my Mac 2 x 3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 10 Gb 800 MHz DDR2 1 TB WD Caviar Black OSX 10.6.2 64bit that...

I had fewer crashes in the CS5 Beta then I do with CS4! (exempting known features of CS5 Beta that are/were known to crash the program) Yes, I just said fewer crashes!

The program was noticeably quicker in almost all operations. The new features I found to be quite ... hey, what a minute, I can't say that.

Remember this is a Beta and things could change.

Ok, how about some imagery that can tell some sort of story. I think I can put some dialouge that will make a little sense of what your seeing without Adobe KGB coming to visit.

Note, clicking on the images will open a new window with a larger version for your inspection.

I like to print big. Much of my fine art gets printed to a 42" (on the long end) print. Nailing the details and settings in post processing is just as important as nailing it in camera. Details makes daddy happy. Fractal formulas are so ... 1990ish. Twice I cut myself on images, while working on Canon 5D Mark II image files in CS5.

image by matt anderson fine art photography

Flat Photos are so boring to look at. Free time these days seems so hard to come by. I wish I could get non-flat looking photos faster, quicker, and more consistently. Sometimes I think ten seconds is all it should take to make a photo look how I want it too...

Matt Anderson fine art landscape photography

Canon, Nikon, etc. They always seem to know things about their files that others don't. Proprietary types of things. Knowing things is smart.

Some kids don't play well with others. I have some puzzles that I can't seem to get solved... too many pieces. I don't even have the box to reference. I may not even like the puzzle when it's together, but sure seems like a lot of work to find out if I like the final puzzle picture in the first place. That is, If I had the skill to do the puzzle. I'm gettin better at solving puzzles though. Some of my puzzles are missing pieces too.
I wish I had more free time.

matt anderson fine art gallery photography

It's Friday at 4:59:50. One file left to post process and I can start the weekend. Man I wish I could have this file finished and hit the road by 5:00:00 p.m. I don't want to miss Happy Hour. Nothing says weekend like a New Glarus Spotted Cow cold one at Happy Hour...

I call this picture "Future Disclaimers"...

I think you have a little bit to chew on here.
Many of you want to know what are the new features. Well, you'll find out soon enough.
Many of you want to know is it worth the new/upgrade price. Well, you 'll find out soon enough.
Many of you want to know was the Photoshop CS5 Beta fun to play with. Look close, you can see me grinning ear to ear...

More coming soon...

Digital Asset Retouching & Masking • Removing a Glass Shower Door • By Matt Anderson

Friday, March 19, 2010 by Matt Anderson

Todays color manipulation involves removing a glass shower door.

Here is our original file. The new version of this digital asset required I remove some componets.
Versioning is quite common in our premedia industry.

Prepress Services Color Retouching Catalog Production Services Premedia Management

The client asked that I remove all the metal frame work as well as the textured shower door.
Thus leaving a completely exposed tiled shower and all the accompanied hardware.

My first step was to do all the appropriate masking required to color correct,
digial retouch, and digital image manipulation.

Once the image was masked I used Adobe Photoshops Content Aware Scaling, Vanishing Point, Object Transform,
Delicate Airbrushing via a Wacom Intuos Tablet, and selective layers with precise masking.

Here is the final image with all premedia color retouch and digital manipulation applied:

Animated view showing different steps of the process:

Catatlog production services, color retouching, and robust prepress experience go into each and every one of these little gems.

Photoshop Background Extension Example #3 • Premedia Services • Color Retouching by Matt Anderson

Friday, March 19, 2010 by Matt Anderson

Many of my premedia / prepress clients have digital assets that require image extensions based on different uses. Their photo studio might have shot a certain scene in horizontal format, and the image is now needed in vertical for a different purpose. Another scenario may be a picture box in a page layout program ( Quark / InDesign ) is expanded by a graphic designer. The newly formed "white space" needs image data created. As is the case below. My client had a very nice legacy image that was retrieved from the image management system. This image needed to be versioned for a new purpose. My job was to use my high end Adobe Photoshop retouching and color correction skills to expand the bounds of the digital image, filling the new required space. The extension of this room scene wasn't as difficult as the image I posted in the prior blog. The wooden floor boards were easily stepped and repeated as necessary. You can see I did some selective masking and color correction on our clients amazing products.

Before

After Color Correction and Extending the Lower Floor Boards

Background Extension Example #2 • Premedia Services • Color Retouching by Matt Anderson

Friday, March 19, 2010 by Matt Anderson

Many of my premedia / prepress clients have digital assets that require image extensions based on different uses. Their photo studio might have shot a certain scene in horizontal format, and the image is now needed in vertical for a different purpose. Another scenario may be a picture box in a page layout program ( Quark / InDesign ) is expanded by a graphic designer. The newly formed "white space" needs image data created. As is the case below. My client had a very nice legacy image that was retrieved from the image management system. This image needed to be versioned for a new purpose. My job was to use my high end Adobe Photoshop retouching and color correction skills to expand the bounds of the digital image, filling the new required space. This particular image may have been the "trickiest" background extension this post processor has ever tackled. Using tricks such as vanishing point, content aware scaling, healing brush, and good ole' fashion cloning. The contour of the tile, light fall-off, and scene elements made this image fierce competitor, but in the end, the results were superb.

Before

Digital Sampling Color Retouching Production Digital Asset Manipulation Prepress Services

New Image with Background Extension and Additional Color Corrections Applied

Background Extension Example #1 • Premedia Services • Color Retouching by Matt Anderson

Friday, March 19, 2010 by Matt Anderson

Many of my premedia / prepress clients have digital assets that require image extensions based on different uses. Their photo studio might have shot a certain scene in horizontal format, and the image is now needed in vertical for a different purpose. Another scenario may be a picture box in a page layout program ( Quark / InDesign ) is expanded by a graphic designer. The newly formed "white space" needs image data created. As is the case below. My client had a very nice legacy image that was retrieved from the image management system. This image needed to be versioned for a new purpose. My job was to use my high end Adobe Photoshop retouching and color correction skills to expand the bounds of the digital image, filling the new required space. This was on of the more tricky images I have worked. Using tricks such as vanishing point, content aware scaling, healing brush, and good ole' fashion cloning.

Original Image

Digital Asset Photo Composition Color Retouching Image Prepress Services

New Image with Background Extension and Additional Color Corrections Applied

Careful selections, masking, and photo composition skills made this image possible. We now have a new media asset repurposed via high end prepress production.

Using Lab mode in Photoshop to add Saturation to your Digital Image Management & Retouching by Matt Anderson

Friday, March 19, 2010 by Matt Anderson

Todays tip will involve using Lab color space in Adobe's Photoshop CS4. We'll make a curves adjustment layer, tweak the a / b channels, adjust the layer opacity, and BAM! Your photo just got more color than a new 64 pack of Crayola's ! Prepress color management and color manipulation done fast.

Step one, open your image and under "Edit" menu, use the Convert to Profile command, and choose Lab.

Step Two go to Layer, New Adjustment Layer, Curves

Digital Image Management DAM Software Photoshop Processing and Retouching by Matt Anderson Photographer and Advanced Photoshop Retoucher and Color Corrector

Next Select the a channel, click on the curve (straight line) and put a point right at 50,50

Next Select the b channel, click on the curve (straight line) and put a point right at 50,50

Now take the endpoint shown below in the a channel, and drag it over to a point just to the left side of the histogram. In this particular image, the data starts around the 0,30 point.

Now take the endpoint shown below in the b channel, and drag it over to a point just to the left side of the histogram. In this particular image, the data starts around the 0,30 point.

Our final step is to adjust the layer opacity. The curve layer adjustment at 100% is a bit too saturated. I'm going to set the opacity to 60% as you can see below. This produces a nice looking colorful image, which should standout from the rest of your digital - image assets. This simple color correction technique takes less then one minute, and you can easily automate the process for a group of photos!

*Tip for advanced users. If you select the midpoints we anchored (50,50), use the arrow keys to subtley offest the points position. In doing this you can add / remove color casts to images. Use the a channel for red / green, b channel for blue / yellow. DAM! Color Retouching isn't that difficult after all.

RAW Presets for Photoshop CS4 & Lightroom: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV by Matt Anderson CS5

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 by Matt Anderson

RAW presets are helpful little buddies ...

Dry version for the more technical: (scroll past this paragraph if your sleepy or hungover)
If you have ever worked with lots of RAW files under tight deadlines you know how important it is to have a streamlined workflow. Repetitious tasks must be identified and engineered into quick and fast solutions. If not, your going to be up for a laborious all-nighter, and that cuts into late night fun time. Whatever your late night fun time may be ... Recently with the release of Photoshop CS4 (also an earlier beta DNG version) Adobe has finally created a bit of parity between manufacturers in-camera photo settings and ACR's Camera Calibration-Profiles Tab. What does this mean for you? Less grief and head scratching, and more time at the beach. Rewind back to CS3 and before. Unless you did some complicated ACR camera calibrations with Macbeth target measurement and validations, your camera JPEG files never matched your RAW files when imported into ACR for processing. Also, you might have struggled to properly color correct files because of gamut shifts in certain color hues. (Saturated reds and greens) Now Adobe has kindly done their homework and provided us consumers with pre-canned discrete camera profiles.

Short and sweet version:
I have created some camera preset profiles for the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV.

You will find the downloads for each of these below.

Install:
Download and decompress the .zip file. You will see the current preset Adobe is offering per the camera model. This preset has naming parity with the in-camera picture styles. (I also thru in a fun one with more to follow ...) Loading these files is easy. There are a few ways to load these into Photoshop CS4. The easiest is to go to the Camera Calibration tab in ACR and click on the little triangular arrow, select load. Navigate to the decompressed .zip file and select load. Now you should see the loaded presets in the ACR Settings tab (which is right next to the Camera Calibration tab. You can also load these presets into the latest version of Lightroom.

Loading Presets for ACR

Loading Presets for Lightroom:
You can easily load the Lightroom presets by right clicking on the User Presets text

Or, for Mac users, copy the presets into the following directory

Side Note!
These presets incorporate Adobes default ACR settings, except when choosing a camera calibration other than "Adobe Standard".

Here is aslightly posterized animated .gif example visually displaying the differences for your viewing pleasure. I have also included a fun version called "Pseudo HDR" that works quite nicely on certain photos.

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV Example
Beautiful Woman on Waile - Maui Beach Hawaii

Photo of a Bikin Clad woman at the Waile Beach Maui Hawaii by Matt Anderson Photography

Closing:
I hope you find these presets helpful. Anyone can make these, the hard part is finding the time. If your like me, usually your in a hurry and process files from the seat of your pants. I try to slow myself down and hone my workflows for better asset management and processing. You will also find these presets handy for importing a large volume of files into Lightroom. Having the ability to quickly apply a preset on import to many files for fast previewing and cataloging is invaluable. Now, if only I could make presets for all the post processing and retouching that follows. I bet Adobe Photoshop CS5 will take care of that! Be the ball Danny ...

LINK to ACR-Photoshop/Bridge Presets (.xmp) & Lightroom Presets (.lrtemplate) (.ZIP File)

Film like Selections in Photoshop • Better Masks for your Digital Assets by Matt Anderson

Saturday, March 13, 2010 by Matt Anderson

This quick tutorial will show you how to make a film like edge on your selection / mask in photoshop. Film has an inherent grain, and if your trying to do some masking or digital asset retouching, a simple blur on a selection line won't cut it.

For our example I'm using a simple textile selection.

Here you can see a quick mask view of the selection, where green denotes the areas selected.

Next I applied a Gaussian blur, radius' of usually 5-10 pixles works well, depending on the size of the transition needed.

Hitting the "tilde"key, you will get a black and white representation of your quick mask selection.

Next we're going to apply the "film" effect to the selection.
Goto Filter/Brush Strokes/Spatter

A setting I have foud that works well is a Spray Radius of 4 and a smoothness of 1.
If your image has less/more grain/transition needed, feel free to tweak the radius value in conjuction with the prior gaussian blur.

Here is the resulting effect on our blurred selection.

Our next step is to take the edge off the grain, and create a subtle and more realstic film grain. Unless your initial image is overly sharpened, you'll want to soften the grain selection edges to match. Here I have used a value of .3 gaussian blur to take the hard edge off.

Lastly, hit Q for quick mask again, this will show the "crawling ants" selection, and proceed to save your alpha / mask.

Matt Anderson Photography how to create a film like selection in your images

Keywords: Digital, Asset, Retouching, Film, Selections, Images, Matt, Anderson, Spatter, Gaussian, Blur, Selection, Soften, Photoshop, CS4, Filter, Effects, Workflow, Digital Asset Management Workflow, Image Asset Management

Photoshop Tips, Tricks, & Retouching to Your Digital Assets • Creating Smooth Gradients in Skys or Selections

Saturday, March 13, 2010 by Matt Anderson

If your creating a vignette effect, or just trying to make a gradient selection in photoshop; many times the selection will introduce “banding” because of the light to dark steps given a certain distance. Even with 16 bit files you can have issues with banding depending on the resolution of your file, and the size it maybe printed at. Here is an example. I have an image of a bland sky that I want to create some visual drama and weight towards the top. I first hit Q for quick mask, D for default colors, G for gradient, and carefully click and drag while holding down the shift key. Click and drag on the horizon (the area we want to darken to add visual weight). Note, if the selection appear reversed you can hit Command-i to inverse the selection. Now, next step is go to filter, noise, add noise. Select an amount between .5 - 1. If you hit tilde you will see a black and white representation of alpha channel quick mask is making. Hit Q and your selection will be active. From here you could copy the selection to a new layer and edit the sky. Another way would be to use this selection as an adjustment layer. Select Layer, New Adjustment Layers, Curves, and carefully add some visual weight to your image. If the sky is becoming a bit too colorful or garish, switch the adjustment layer blending mode to Luminosity. If you change your mind on the adjustment range, select the layer mask and transform the mask (Command-T) to the size you prefer.

Keywords: Photoshop, Retouching, Banding, Digital, Asset, Retouch, Noise, Gradient, Fix

Photoshop Tips, Tricks, & Retouching to Your Digital Assets • Stamp Visible

Saturday, March 13, 2010 by Matt Anderson

Want to make a composited layer of everything currently visible without flattening the image ? Select your top layer and press Shift-Option-Command-E, and photoshop will create a new layer visibly “stamping” the lower layers all into one top composited layer.

Keywords: Photoshop, Retouching, Digital, Asset, Stamp, Visible, Layers

Digital Asset Notes 5D Mark ii Raw File Processed in Canon DPP Adobe Photoshop ACR 5.6 Capture One Pro 5 Post Processing by Matt Anderson

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 by Matt Anderson

Lately, there has been much discussion in the forums about noise lurking in the shadows of Canon 5D Mark II images. Images that are shot at or near base ISO. Noise that appears under normal exposures with ISO settings that should be clean and free of any such artifacts.

Why are so many individuals identifying a poor trait?... A shortcoming that should never be an issue given the evolution of camera sensors and the perfect competition that exists. Surely there must be some mistake on a users part or on Canon's.

I normally use my own files for investigation, but this time I went to http://www.imaging-resource.com/ and downloaded a widely recognized RAW file (ISO 100) for interrogation. A well composed, technically perfect setup, and properly lit scene. I processed the RAW file thru three popular converters with some default settings.

Adobe Photoshop / Lightroom via ACR 5.6 (I believe to be the most popular)
Canon’s own DPP 3.7.2
Capture One Pro 5.0.1

I applied a levels adjustment to the middle pane, to over illustrate the slight chroma noise that lurks in the shadows.

Here is an animated gif file showing the differences. Not the best illustration given the implicit diffusion noise with gif files, but enough where I think visually it's relevant.

When looking at the differences, you can clearly see the different type of RAW processing decisions being applied. The ACR files clearly show more chroma noise. DPP and C1v5 show considerably less chroma noise. Also, the C1v5 file shows a much smoother tonal transition. I saw the greatest amount of detail in the C1v5 files. This could also be attributed to the default sharpening values in the RAW converters being different (as well as the chroma / lumi noise parameters).

What to take from this? Camera manufacturers know the limitations and shortcomings of their hardware. When you decide to forgo the proprietary software solutions, you also forgo any robust processing and decision making the R&D teams have chosen to implement on post processing. For example, I use to make a big stink about the Nikon D300 files having too much noise. I would take a properly exposed file at base ISO (200) and post process in Photoshop via ACR. Once processed I would visibly see chroma and lumi noise in the blue skies. Why? Take that same file, and process it thru Nikon’s own NX software and BAM! Visible sky noise gone. Also, the colors seem to be a bit more accurate. Proprietary de-mosaicing algorithms (formulas that remove that maze like pattern from the color filter array) seem to produce less artifacts in trouble zones (choppy intricate water, converging fine lines, detailed and intersecting thin tree branches).

The exception to the rule IMHO is Capture One Pro (v5). Anyone who has used a high end medium format camera in the last decade is very familiar with their software. They have done their homework. Some of the best and quickest results can be achieved using their robust software and workflows. At a price of $399 for an additional outboard RAW processing solution it should work quite well! Canon’s DPP produces excellent results as well. Albeit a clunkier and less elegant interface. Don't get me wrong. I use ACR 5.6 all the time. It’s my status quo tool of choice. But, if you want to go the extra mile to squeeze every bit of detail and quality out of a file in post production, I recommend using the camera manufacturers RAW processing software. You will spend a lot less time retouching out tricky and tedious noise and artifacts.

Final thought.... It's interesting to see the color differences that occur as well!

Some Additional Thoughts:

With DPP your limited to sRGB, Adobe RGB, Wide Gamut RGB, Apple RGB, ColorMatch RGB. If your a real gunslinger, you could go with Wide Gamut RGB. Personally, for DPP, I am using Adobe for conversions. If I have a file with a large gamut, I may convert to profile to ProPhotoRGB prior to final post processing.

Also, finally snow leopard users can go to DPP 3.7.3 preferences (now without crashing) and change the color match settings for display to Monitor Profile. (sRGB is default). You’ll notice if you go with the default, and change color space modes, the preview changes not only in slight color variations, but in luminosity. (given the differences in white points and gamma) The afore mentioned preference will fix that visual annoyance.

Finally, check out the new processing engine in LR3 Beta. Looks to be absolutely spectacular for those who print large. I hate how acr has used a fractal looking de-mosaicing algorithm in the past. The new option, under Settings, has a granular and less mathematical look. Funny how the new goal is a direction that C1 has been going towards since inception. (more film like)

If you haven't, you should definitely download the LR3 beta from Adobe labs and give it a try. Also, give C1v5 Pro a 30 day free trial as well. The new lens correction features are quite nice.

Keywords: Digital, Asset, Retouching, Photoshop, DPP, Capture One Pro, ACR, Noise, Chroma, Luminosity, Lumi, RAW, Post, Processing, Matt, Anderson, Photography, Canon, 5D, Mark, II

Are Canon’s Colors Mushy and Nikons Not? by Matt Anderson, Premedia Guru

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 by Matt Anderson

Mushy Colors or Not?

By Matt Anderson, Landscape Photographer & Premedia Guru
Image Specs: Canon 5DMII 70-200mm f/4 L IS at 165mm ISO 50 3.2 Seconds

Pewitt's Nest Baraboo Wisconsin by Matt Anderson Scenic Landscape Photography

I think there is a bit of a brand misconception that has brewed for years. I’m not here to say one is less mushy than the other. I think the proof is in the pudding. Even more so, I dare say a global statement like “Nikon’s colors are this or Canon’s colors are that” is a bit ... ah, um, well, ignorant. How can you summarize a whole brand of various product and technology in one quick categorization? That’s like saying “all GM cars are slow gas guzzlers” or “everyone from California is a pretty movie star.”

In my humble opinion, the mushiness stems from lack of skill from camera to output. Sure Canon or Nikon might have weakend the CFA for better transmissiveness. A less dense CFA means possibly having less separation between hue and less defined chroma details. If you have ever worked in prepress or premedia, most of the time you don’t have the luxury of controlling the capture stage. All too often you’re handed a digital file that has suffered from bad decision making from the start. No matter. Get this file into the hands of a skilled color production artist and stand back! Like the Army, a savvy color correction specialist knows how to let the file “be all it can be.” Gazillions of tricks have been created to solve every image problem possible. This is the part where I typically insert before and after images of various wars and miracles I have courageously battled thru. Well, not today mister. No Sir, Today I’m going to give you a RAW file you can do your own R&D with. Today I let you, this here blog reader, download one of my precious RAW files to examine for yourself. (Just don't take credit for the shot and distribute it please!) Today you can process the file however you deem appropriate and make your own assessment(s).

Does Canon have mushy colors?

I would recommend you process the file in DPP, Canon’s proprietary RAW processor. In doing so, you will have honored all the integrity of the file and the decisions I made at capture time. Yes I know, not everyone has DPP, unless you bought a camera from Canon, you won’t have access. That’s why I also am providing you a full res JPEG to boot! A JPEG that has been exported from DPP with all the nifty decisions I made. (Hopefully I didn’t select the mushy color button!) And, just so you know, I also shoot with a Nikon D3, D300, D200, and medium format. I’m no fan boy. My loyalty is not to some camera making company. So for those of you who want to dig and find out, “Does Canon have mushy colors”, feel free to download the zip file located at the end of this rambling, and make your own assessment. Good-day-mate!

Download: Zip file containing the RAW Canon 5D Mark II Image and Jpeg Exported from DPP

Keywords: Photography, Color Manipulation, Correction, Retouch, RAW, Processing, Digital Image Management, Image Distribution, Canon, Nikon, Digital, Photo, Professional

Photoshop Color Retouching and Manipulation of Layer Effects on a Digital Asset Part 2 by Matt Anderson

Monday, September 21, 2009 by Matt Anderson

For this example I will show you how to create some cool chrome effects on a digital asset. A high end furniture store wanted a nice looking catchy banner created for display. My direction was a certain color palette along with a neat chrome effect. To accomplish this task I used the powerful possibilites of Photoshops layer effects. At the end of this blog entry I will actually let you download the final .psd digital asset. (It has been resized.)

Here is the final image.

Achieving this effect required just about every trick that layer effects offers.

Here is a screen shot of the layers palette on the final photoshop file.

Step 1 - I type set both lines of copy
Step 2 - I created an upper and lower bar with the path tool
Step 3 - I created a midnight blue background with an inner shadow effect
Step 4 - I applied a drop shadow, inner shadow, inner glow, bevel and emboss, color overlay, gradient overlay, satin and stroke to the text and bar layers
Step 5 - I also applied a Hue/Saturation and Curve adjustment layer to each of the type layers for additional color correction and contrast.
Step 6 - Using an air brush that fades, I painted white strokes for a nice catch light

Here is an animation of the layer effects settings I used.

*Hint* an easy way to copy and paste layer effects between layers is to control(Mac) click on the layer effects you want to copy (in the layer palette) and select copy layer style. Next, select the layer(s) you want to apply the layer effects too, control(Mac) click and select paste from the layer style option. Now your layer style is quickly applied to the new layer.

Click here to download the layered Photoshop file.

Keywords: Color Retouching, Color Manipulation, Color Management, Brand Recognition, Photoshop, Creative Software, Layer Effects, Chrome

Photoshop Color Retouching and Manipulation of Layer Effects on a Digital Asset Part 1 by Matt Anderson

Monday, September 21, 2009 by Matt Anderson

For this next example I am going to use layer effects to recreate a mirrored look on some expensive trendy glass tiles. My client provided me a digital asset of mirror glass tiles that reflected a dark room. The ambient room lighting provided a dark and unattractive reflection. To create a more appealing and marketable appearance I recreated a traditional mirror reflection using Photoshops layer effects.

Step One - Using the pen tool I masked off all in interior contents of each fragment.
Step Two - Using the pen tool I masked off all the glass tile from the grout.
Step Three - I made a selection from my glass tile path to mask off the layer effects.
Step Four - I made a selection of the grout and with color manipulation I neutralized the warm cast of the grout.

Here is the before, mask of tile, and final look of the expensive glass tile digital asset.

To accomplish this layer effect I did the following:
(Tiles are masked on their own layer)

Created a Drop Shadow
Created an Inner Shadow
Created an Inner Glow
Created a Color Overlay
Created a Stroke

Using these settings in tandom provides a reflection more in line with what consumers are use to seeing in brand marketing of reflective pieces. (The soft white neutral cloudy nature.)

Here is an animation of the layer effects settings.

My final step was to use the grout selection and desaturate the warm casted grout.

Keywords: Color Retouching, Color Manipulation, Color Management, Brand recognition, Photoshop, Creative Software

Using Photoshop Layer Opacity to Create a Sense of Motion for your Digital Assets by Matt Anderson

Monday, September 21, 2009 by Matt Anderson

Here is one of my clients high quality pieces of furniture. My task was to take this digital asset and create a sense of motion for the self closing door feature. Accomplishing this task required digital media management of three separate exposures. The door is strategically placed in various positions. Using photoshop, I digitally sampled the opacities to 55%. Color correction and color retouching had to be performed identically to each layer.

The first layer represents the slightly open door at 100%.
The second layer I have added a slight ghost of the door in it's closed position.
The third layer I have placed the door in it's 2/3 closed position at 55% opacity.
The fourth layer I have placed the door in it's 1/3 closed position at 55% opacity.
The final layer I masked off the door in it's original position, allowing the motion portion to be seen underneath. When done correctly, the color manipulation will yield a natural looking temporal scenario for the auto close feature.

Keywords: Color Retouching, Color Manipulation, Color Management, Digital Media Management

Digital Asset Solutions • Adding Micro Contrast and Detail to Digital Images by Matt Anderson

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 by Matt Anderson

Here's a quick tutorial on how to create better detail in your images. It's similar to the clarity function in the ACR RAW dialogue, without enhancing unwanted noise. This is a technique on how to do this type of effect on a fully editable layer in photoshop. The key is using a blending technique called "Linear Light". Linear Light Burns or dodges the colors by decreasing or increasing the brightness, depending on the blend color. If the blend color (light source) is lighter than 50% gray, the digital asset is lightened by increasing the brightness. If the blend color is darker than 50% gray, the digital asset is darkened by decreasing the brightness.Let me know if you find this helpful. I may share more goodies.

Here are a few examples
mattanderson.zenfolio.com/

Final Notes:
a) If you inverse the final effect, you will have created a perfect skin tone fixer.
Gauss blur radius will hold the actual skin pore. Highpass will control the radius of the "blemish" removed. Typically .2-1.0 for blur, 5-25 pixel for High Pass blemish size.
b) If you use the above effect on skin (without inversing), you can create a similar effect to that of the incredible Andrej Dragan.

Keywords: Digital Asset Optimization, Digital Image Management, Sharpening in Photoshop, Adding Detail and Retouching in Photostop, Micro Contrast, Digital Media Enhancement, Digital Asset Retouch, Brand Retouch, Digital Media Services, Premedia Services, Matt Anderson

Panorama 101 • A quick and simple guide to making a panoramic photo in Photoshop

Friday, June 19, 2009 by Matt Anderson

Making a panoramic photo in Adobe Photoshop has never been easier. For this example I used four supplied digital asset files from one of my clients, the Madison Mallards baseball team. The images were taken from a high point of view. I’m not sure if a tripod was used, my guess was that these images were hand held. A conservative, but consistent, exposure was used.

Step 1: When shooting your panoramic try to keep the horizon level, a tripod is recommended.

Step 2: “Lobotomize the camera”. Shoot with your camera on manual mode if possible. Assign the focus, exposure and White Balance so each image is consistent with the next.

Step 3: If shooting RAW, process the files with identical settings.

Step 4: Load the files into photoshop. Menu:file:automate:photomerge...

Step 5: For most images the “Auto” setting works with great success. Select “Blend Images Together” for a seamless composition. If your digital image files have dark corners, select “Vignette Removal”. Photoshop CS4 will automatically lighten those dark corners. If your photo has some lens distortions (barrel, pincushion, fish eye) select the “Geometric Distortion Correction” option. Photoshop will manipulate the images automatically.

Step 6: Click “Ok”.

The time it takes to generate the panoramic image is dependent on the number, size, and content of your host files, the options you select, your computer, etc... Most images are processed within minutes, if not faster.

When completed your panoramic image will be in a blended but rough format. From this point you will want to crop your file to a pleasing rectangle. You may also need to clone a bit in the corners to add image for a complete composition. Lastly, the image is now in a perfect state for any final post processing, color correction, digital manipulation, and artistic flare.

Keywords: Photoshop, CS4, Panoramic, Blending, Automation, Digital, Asset, Image, Alignment, Auto, Color Correction, Madison, Mallards, Color Retouching, Photography, Pano, Creative Software, Corporate Image Library, Digital Sampling, Digital Media Management

Industrial Retouch and Color

My Bio

Mac - Apple OS X 10.6.4 Adobe Photoshop CS4 CS5 and Crashes by Matt Anderson

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Photoshop Background Extension Example #3 • Premedia Services • Color Retouching by Matt Anderson

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Background Extension Example #1 • Premedia Services • Color Retouching by Matt Anderson

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RAW Presets for Photoshop CS4 & Lightroom: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV by Matt Anderson CS5

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Photoshop Tips, Tricks, & Retouching to Your Digital Assets • Creating Smooth Gradients in Skys or Selections

Photoshop Tips, Tricks, & Retouching to Your Digital Assets • Stamp Visible

Digital Asset Notes 5D Mark ii Raw File Processed in Canon DPP Adobe Photoshop ACR 5.6 Capture One Pro 5 Post Processing by Matt Anderson

Are Canon’s Colors Mushy and Nikons Not? by Matt Anderson, Premedia Guru

Photoshop Color Retouching and Manipulation of Layer Effects on a Digital Asset Part 2 by Matt Anderson

Photoshop Color Retouching and Manipulation of Layer Effects on a Digital Asset Part 1 by Matt Anderson

Using Photoshop Layer Opacity to Create a Sense of Motion for your Digital Assets by Matt Anderson

Digital Asset Solutions • Adding Micro Contrast and Detail to Digital Images by Matt Anderson

Panorama 101 • A quick and simple guide to making a panoramic photo in Photoshop

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