| 4.
Introduction to Digital Image Editing
Article
4 of 100
Editing the image - there seems to be absolutely
no dispute, Adobe Photoshop CS2 is the leader in this field.
Editing an image can be as simple as resizing and cropping
an image or as complicated as creating a fantasy world out
of hundreds of original image files.
| |
| Adobe
Photoshop CS2 Editing |
I
am trying to be careful about what I say in this introductory
article, because any time that you tell someone that they
have no choice but to buy a $600 USD software package to play
on the same field with the professionals, you are going to
make some enemies.
Having
said that, I have to say that you have no choice. You could
buy the much less expensive (under $100 USD) Adobe Photoshop
Elements instead but if you have more than a few thousand
dollars invested in your camera gear and want to get the most
out of your images, you should invest in the full version
of Adobe Photoshop.
Like
most photographers I rarely use most of the features found
in Photoshop CS2 but I feel a lot better knowing they are
there in case I need them.
On
the most basic level - all you really do in the editing
process is open an image, rotate if necessary, crop if necessary,
darken or lighten, adjust contrast, adjust luminance, resize
to fit the output desired, use the unsharpen tool, and save
to whatever format is required for the final output. I have
of course left out quite a few steps in my normal editing
workflow but we will discuss them each, one at a time, later
in this series.
I
like to think that good digital photo editing (like darkroom
work in the old days) is more art than science, if you want
to get results that are unique and will make your images stand
out from the rest (or just to get a personal sense of satisfaction
from your work). Therefore I believe that there are no right
or wrong techniques and methods to achieve the desired end
results, but it does pay to know the rules before you start
to break them.
I
should say a few words about RAW - Most advanced
photographers are now aware that RAW image files contain more
exposure information than JPEG image files. Most camera manufacturers
provide (sometimes at an additional fee) a RAW image file
editor that produces good results for their cameras. Adobe
is the standard in this field and the only solution for multiple
brand camera owners. In most cases the Adobe RAW image processing
solution found in Photoshop CS2 is superior to that found
in the manufacturer's software. I will even go out on a limb
and bet that in the future most digital camera manufacturers
will abandon their RAW software editing development efforts,
in favor of working directly with Adobe to provide photographers
with the best results possible.
P.S.
Please do not get upset if your personal experience
and views are different from my own. These opinions are mine
exclusively and do not reflect the views or policies of any
of the manufacturers mentioned in this article...... George
Mann |
