There's always two camps on this, those that do and those that don't. I'm one that does, and does a lot.

I actually started with this many years ago... actually let me back up and confess something... Many many years ago, there were a few groups of imaging experts who took on the job of taking magazine photos, scanning them, removing text, fixed them and releasing them. I'm sure many of you have seen the results... an image with a nice border and someone's name in the corner. Well I was one of these guys, one of the earliest ones in fact and I scanned under the name of Risk2. Back then, it was a multi hour process working on one photo, and over time, I hed developed a process with each scan that yielded pretty amazing results... (example: http://www.drew.org/albums//Sexy/Risk2_430_Drew_Barrymore.jpg)

So I dropped out of the scene and went on to be an IT dork, but moved into photography as well. What I found was that a lot of the processes that I used for magazine scans worked wonders on digital photos. I went to the far extreme of editing. As Adobe moved from version 4, 5, 6, etc, the tools became more powerful and it became easier.

So I wanted to discuss what people do to their photos. And the steps they take to do it. I consider myself an amateur photographer and and an expert image manipulator... on the level of magazine editors.

An example follows in the next post.

I'd like to add that I use two commercial tools on a regular basis. Neat Image, which is excellent at clearing out noise, Kai's power tools which I use only for soft focusing look, and White Balance, by "The Imaging Factory" which is great for fixing white balance.

So here's a prime example.

Before...

http://www.rickvestal.com/RVestal_079 original.jpg

And after...

http://www.rickvestal.com/RVestal_079.jpg

The original has some obvious problems, and probably would be deleted in it's original state by 99.9% of people... But it's fixable! Here's what I did (sorry, I don't have photos of each step, if someone wants me to put together something more detailed, I can...)

The first thing I teach people with Photoshop is that your image is going to look like garbage until the very end. You have to fix things in order or else it will look like garbage when you're done.

Step one: fix the white balance using the plugin mentioned above. Don't mess with brightness or contrast yet. Just get the color close to where it needs to be.DO NOT resize the image... EVER! Work large. It will tighten up when you resize at the end.

Step Two: NeatImage. All you want to do is clean up the noise. Sample a large clear area (like her arm) and sample small areas in the shadows for fine tune. Make sure that details like hair and textures stay intact.

Step Three: Clone out or heal blemishes. Create an area that is clear (like her leg which is heavily blurred) and use that as your source for healing. If you're trying to recreate or fix a shadow, use an area that's similar as your source.

At this point your photo is going to look like complete ass. You'll have areas that are super smooth like plastic and other with light texture... that's ok and expected.

Step Four: Lightly sharpen details like eyes, teeth and hair. What I do is use the sharpening tool at 25% and squiggle around hair. Couple touches to eyes. You're only creating the IMPRESSION of sharpness, Pick a pattern and give it detail (like the corset on her breast, the strands of hair near her face and the highlights in her eyes...)

Step Five: Fix color. Either use channels or color balance. Most people's biggest mistake is making flesh too yellow. In this case I hit the shadows with lots of blue and cyan, and brought it back with a little yellow and red on the midtones.

Go find reference photos to compare as you do this. It'll help a lot.

At this point, I duplicate the layer. We're done editing details so I resize down to my finished size.

Now, working on the top layer, I use Kai's power tools and add a blur to the entire image. 25/25 on the Gaussian Blur. Then I sharpen edges on the same layer. It will look like ass. that's good. Sharpen the edges (or smart sharpen... but not too much! We'll be doing more in a bit...)

Now select that layer and change the transparency to 50%. Select the lower layer and work from that for now.

Do any final color correction on the bottom layer and fix brightness/contrast. And sharpen it again SELECTIVELY! You don't need every bit in focus, remember, we're going for the illusion that it's crystal clear. Eyes are important, work hard on those. Use a small brush and hit parts of hair, teeth, clothing, nipples and groin (if nude) hair on arms, freckles, etc.

And the last step, is add a little bit of noise. Gaussian at 2.03. NOw you have a consistently textured awesome photo and your friends will be jealous...

P.S. I'm quite sure I missed a step or two. I'll look at it again when I'm less tired and fix it...

Sure but I use Picture Window Pro. A bit more Photo friendly then Photoshop which after all is a Graphic arts program.
An example:
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h217/UJ78/Julie.jpg

I just do the basic contrast, color adjustment and sharpening to my pics. I like my shots to show what my eye saw. Once in a great while I'll do some photoshop manipulation.

I mainly go nuts with filters and in-camera processing - doesn't feel like cheating getting a wild sunset that way compared to photoshopping (i.e. I'm too cheap to buy photoshop and too lazy too learn how to use it effectively :D)

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u135/poohsan_2007/DSC_1160.jpg

This thread got me to googling processing programs - corel paint shop pro photo looks interesting for $40 - anyone use it?

.....if you buy one of these photoshop downloads, is it hard to figure out how to use the thing?.....

I mainly go nuts with filters and in-camera processing - doesn't feel like cheating getting a wild sunset that way compared to photoshopping (i.e. I'm too cheap to buy photoshop and too lazy too learn how to use it effectively :D)



This thread got me to googling processing programs - corel paint shop pro photo looks interesting for $40 - anyone use it?

.....if you buy one of these photoshop downloads, is it hard to figure out how to use the thing?.....

Paint Shop Pro is a very good program. A lot easier to use than Photoshop. It is aimed towards the amateur photographer, but has all the features you will ever need. I would say it's worth the money. I have it, Photoshop and about 4 other photo editing programs.
If you want, you can try out this free program, Faststone Image Viewer. It will let you crop, resize, sharpen, adjust color and contrast and a few other things. It is pretty easy to use and has one of the best sharpening programs that I have ever used. I've tried a lot of the other free programs like Picasa, but found this one to be the easiest to use and still give exellent results.
Download the very 1st one at the top of the programs shown.

http://www.faststone.org/

A lot of Photoshop plugins will work with PaintShop Pro. Corel photopaint is very good too. For the budget minded Gimp is a no brainer and gives you most of the functionality of Photoshop with the pricetag of free.

Paint Shop Pro is a very good program. A lot easier to use than Photoshop. It is aimed towards the amateur photographer, but has all the features you will ever need. I would say it's worth the money. I have it, Photoshop and about 4 other photo editing programs.
If you want, you can try out this free program, Faststone Image Viewer. It will let you crop, resize, sharpen, adjust color and contrast and a few other things. It is pretty easy to use and has one of the best sharpening programs that I have ever used. I've tried a lot of the other free programs like Picasa, but found this one to be the easiest to use and still give excellent results.
Download the very 1st one at the top of the programs shown.

http://www.faststone.org/.....thanks, ChillWolf, but I feel like a calf staring at a new gate....will try, though.....

.....thanks for starting this thread, Rick Vestal.....

Thanks, chillwolf. I've been looking for a good and free editor.

... I hed developed a process with each scan that yielded pretty amazing results... (example: http://www.drew.org/albums//Sexy/Risk2_430_Drew_Barrymore.jpg)



No kidding.

Kuni scans. When I first surfed the web I tapped into the Japanese doing this exact thing. I thought it was cool and used it as an influence.

Except for a very limited number of shots specifically intended for a certain look pchop is time and money I have to pass on to the client. So I must keep it simple, quick and effective. And only 1-3 shots per gig. So I am not against pchopping images. I think with digital you only hurt yourself if you DON'T. I just can't afford to immerse myself fully...

Having said that... the shots in my AK album are heavily pchopped and reveal my amateur pchopping skill level. A combination of b/w and color layers.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/album.php?albumid=398

Here is a traditional high key shot mixed with the soft look you perfected with your scans. It's mostly done in the lens. Discard color. Add a tiny amount of diffused glow. That's it. oh yah, Adobe Photoshop CS.