What file prep looks like

I prepped a file for a client this afternoon. I thought it instructive to show what goes into file prep for publication.

The image the client wanted was a slice of a panoramic. So the first thing I did is go back to the original files that composed the pan (which I shot using a pan base that rotates the camera around the lens nodal point), and recombine them at a higher resolution (the piece would run as a double page spread) using PTGui. This program can make layered psd files, so I was able to make some image overlap corrections in the masks.

The next step I typically take is a levels layer to set my white and black points. I use the Threshold command (Image—Adjustment--Threshold, though I’ve made a shortcut key) to find the blackest and whitest points, and put sample points at those points. In a Levels adjustment layer I set those as my black and white points.

In this case, my problem was too much dynamic range, which I knew would be a problem when I shot this. I wanted to see if my HDR filter would help. I made a copy of the background layer, and used a Photomatix Tone Mapping filter on it. I usually think that HDR filters are too aggressive, but with the filter applied on a duplicate layer, I can adjust the opacity until it looks right. I also masked back areas where it went too far, like the sky.

Since I had shot into the sun, I knew I would have some pixel bloom issues at the high contrast edges. Sure enough, at the edges of the buildings and in the trees I had a blue bloom (why blue? That was new.) My trick for this is this: I zoom into the problem area, usually at 200%. I use Color Picker to choose a color that the bloom should be (like the grey of the building.) I use the brush tool, set the Mode to Color, and then paint over the bloom with a small brush. The bloom magically changes to the color you want.

The bloom in the backlit tree was a harder fix, however. Brushing it changed the color of the trees too much, and the color bloom was too complex to treat this way. Nothing else in the image was blue. I used Select-Color Range and zoomed in and picked a bright blue pixel, and set the fuzziness bar pretty high. Then I made a Hue Adjustment layer and played with the Saturation and Lightness levels until the color matched the surroundings. Voila—blue edged tree leaves gone.

I did the same treatment for a red color bloom around the backlit fallen leaves. I was careful to make sure this did not affect any reds elsewhere in the image that I cared about, which I would mask out if necessary.

I didn’t need to make a global contrast correction with a curve layer. But there were specific image areas that needed attention. I wanted to increase the contrast of the tree’s shadow in the grass, so I made a curve until that looked right (ignoring the effect on the rest of the image), and then used a big brush on the mask layer to erase the effect on any part of the image I didn’t want the look. I did another curve layer for the building faces in shadow that I felt were too flat.

I then made a dodge and burn layer. This I do with virtually all my images, and it’s worth making it a keyboard shortcut. The sequence is Layer—New—Layer, then change the Mode to Overlay, and check the box beneath that says "Fill With Overlay-Neutral Color (50% gray)". You then set your brush to around 10% opacity, make sure your foreground and background colors are black and white (press D). Paint in the layer. Black is a burn, white is a dodge. Pressing X switches the colors.

I still had a problem with the sidewalk, which reflected the sun and was burned out. None of my other corrections solved that area. I had bracketed this image when I shot it, so I grabbed one of those images, and copied the entire image over as another layer. I masked out all but what I needed. I was hoping I could use the tree portion of that image too, but the alignment wasn’t accurate enough for that to work.

I save this layered .psd file in my master file folder. For the client I make a duplicate file (checking the Duplicate Merged Layers Only box). I make a duplicate layer to sharpen, then a levels adjustment layer to change the output to 3 and 252 (you don’t want to give a file with pure black or white to a printer). If everything looks good I merge the layers, and upload the file. Job done.

 
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