Editing The Raw Files...Part 4

Continuing from the 'Editing The Raw Files' Part 3 post on Sunday June 17th :

11) Once you have completed your 1st edit of the images ( still in Raw Format ) and tagged the keepers, it's time to save the tagged files to your next Desktop Folder. Example: ABCorp_RawEdits. You are now ready to open the images in your Processing Software and see them as they really are, before any adjustments in color or exposure. Once you get familiar with your Raw Processing Software you won't have to keep referring to the Histogram display to judge proper exposure. It goes without saying that to judge color and exposure, you will have to have a high end color monitor that is color corrected with the proper software and screen sensor. I recommend using a LCD monitor for the best color accuracy, with the added benefit of Color Profiles that stay accurate far longer than CRT monitor technology.

Most Raw Conversion Software will allow you to click balance (color correct) your images by isolating an area of medium White or Grey. This will get you in the ballpark if you think the color of the imported images is a little off. Remember that accurate color is not always the best color! You can very easily take the Zing out of an image taken at sunset if you remove a warm color cast in favor of absolute 5000 degree Kelvin. Use your best judgement and apply the same color / exposure adjustment to all the images from the same setup.

More to come...

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Editing The Raw Files...Part 2

Continuing from the 'Editing The Raw Files' post on Monday, May 28th :

9) With the DCIM folders safely backed up on multiple drives or disks ( DVD, CD etc...), its time to create the 'Editing Folders' that will be the back-bone of our 'Workflow'. To keep things organized, their must be a designated place for each edited or processed file that can be quickly accessed from your editing software and in the final stage from Adobe Photoshop. I find it easiest to create 1- 4 folders on my Computer's Desktop to hold the edited selects, before and after the software ( Conversion to Tiff ) processing. Each folder can be given a name that clearly explains what is inside. Example: ABCorp_RawEdits, ABCorp_Tif, ABCorp_WIP ( Work in progress ) and ABCorp _Final. The final folder is obviously the 8 or 16 bit PSD's or Tiff files after all color correction and manipulation. If you do anything freaky to them after that, create a new folder off the desktop for them and label it appropriately. When the job is edited , processed and delivered to the client you can move the folders off the desktop to a final 'Work Folder' with just the clients name and date.

Continued ...

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Editing The Raw Files

Continuing from the 'Plan Ahead...Part Four' post on Sunday, May 27th:

8) Now that you have the DCIM folders copied to your Desktop, its time to back up all the folders to another Hard-Drive. This will guarantee that you won't get in a rush and delete any important images or lose the job due to a Hard-Drive failure. The likelihood that both of your computer's Hard Drives would fail at the same time is very slim, but it is certainly within the realm of possibility. Also remember, because you copied the files over, you still have the entire job ( back-up # 3 ) safely stored on your Card Media! This will make it nearly impossible to screw up and delete important files. And with digital, you don't always know what files will be needed until after you do your first edit and process the selects. Better to be safe than sorry!

To be continued...

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