Jpg workflow

(Started a new thread so the NEF/JPG was hi-jacked.)

For those that shoot jpg, what do you use to PP jpg images? I see one person uses Lightroom (haven't tried it yet). Anyone using ACR in CS3 Bridge? I'm new to ACR but I like the Basic sliders (Exposure, Recovery, Black, Brightness, Clarity, etc) in CS3 Bridge ACR. Anyone else using ACR in Bridge?

With a few images I've tried, making jpg changes in ACR using CS3 Bridge (Basic icon, Curves, Straightening, Cropping, etc) saving the image as a different name, opening the new file in PS, sharpening the photo, and saving as a 3rd name (or overwriting the 2nd name). Is this flow bad because I end up with a 3rd generation image (extra save and open)? Care to share a better jpg workflow?

Tim

Hi Tim

Just inquisitive. It seems as if you are doing fairly extensive PP on straight jpeg images. If this is so, why not shoot in Raw? I thought that jpeg shooters look to really earn quality IQ with good in-camera parameters set, and above all getting the shot right out of the cam. This way they can pass up all the time spent on PP.

Mike

Same here, why not just shoot raw? If I shoot all jpg, then I will at most adjust levels and sharpen in Photoshop. If I want to have plenty of latitude for PP, then I shoot raw.

carauction said:

Hi Tim

Just inquisitive. It seems as if you are doing fairly extensive PP
on straight jpeg images. If this is so, why not shoot in Raw? I
thought that jpeg shooters look to really earn quality IQ with good
in-camera parameters set, and above all getting the shot right out
of the cam. This way they can pass up all the time spent on PP.

Mike

Click to expand...

--
Scott A.

Tim Updegrove said:

For those that shoot jpg, what do you use to PP jpg images?

Click to expand...

Lightroom.

Tim Updegrove said:

With a few images I've tried, making jpg changes in ACR using CS3
Bridge (Basic icon, Curves, Straightening, Cropping, etc) saving the
image as a different name, opening the new file in PS, sharpening the
photo, and saving as a 3rd name (or overwriting the 2nd name). Is
this flow bad because I end up with a 3rd generation image (extra
save and open)? Care to share a better jpg workflow?

Click to expand...

Lightroom doesn't change your original JPG (or RAW) file. It keeps track of the adjustments. If you want to save the adjustments into the JPG, you need to export them, overwriting the originals. By the way, Lightroom uses ACR and the sliders are about the same. You can do everything you mentioned and more right in Lightroom. When you DO decide to make adjustments in PS, you can choose to adjust the original JPG or a copy. If you choose a copy, Lightroom stacks the two files in the UI.

As to the other comments about all or nothing, I just don't think this is the way it works for most. Just because someone tries to get it right in the camera doesn't mean they never make adjustments. And, it doesn't stand to reason that once you need any adjustments you Must have RAW. All of the adjustments that can be done to a RAW file can also be done to a JPG. You just have more latitude with RAW.

mesposito said:

As to the other comments about all or nothing, I just don't think
this is the way it works for most. Just because someone tries to get
it right in the camera doesn't mean they never make adjustments. And,
it doesn't stand to reason that once you need any adjustments you
Must have RAW. All of the adjustments that can be done to a RAW file
can also be done to a JPG. You just have more latitude with RAW.

Click to expand...

Exactly -- getting the exposure right on film doesn't mean you won't dodge and burn a print to get the best out of it. Likewise, you still need to tweak your image the best out of your specific output medium, be it slideshow, web, or print. I tune WB a lot to try and keep a consistent look on skin tones on a shoot especially with mixed lighting. Also while shooting, it's not always possible to get your WB bang on anyway -- I'm usually just checking that the overall exposure is within bounds using the histogram and know I may have to touch up the colour later.

I do think, with a D200, you are somewhat resigned to doing a bit of PP just because of the way it likes to expose.

There's other things to Lightroom like the non-destructive nature of edits that is super important to me. I have a workflow for importing pictures into LR, renaming files automatically to my desired naming convention. Then I make whatever edits and culls I want. I then archive the originals, happy in the knowledge that I won't accidentally modify one and overwrite an original no matter how much playing around I do in Lightroom. I don't really care if my particular edits to an image get lost as long as I have the original JPEG or RAW.

Also the Clarity (local contrast enhancement) slider is pretty addictive!

Martin

Ah, but the disadvantage with JPGs is that they are compressed - hence the small file size.

Therefore PP manipulation, such as dodge and burn can introduce artifacts much sooner than with RAW images. Also there isn't the exposure latitude.
--
JMS
http://www.photovue.co.uk

Tim Updegrove said:

(Started a new thread so the NEF/JPG was hi-jacked.)

For those that shoot jpg, what do you use to PP jpg images? I see
one person uses Lightroom (haven't tried it yet). Anyone using ACR
in CS3 Bridge? I'm new to ACR but I like the Basic sliders
(Exposure, Recovery, Black, Brightness, Clarity, etc) in CS3 Bridge
ACR. Anyone else using ACR in Bridge?

With a few images I've tried, making jpg changes in ACR using CS3
Bridge (Basic icon, Curves, Straightening, Cropping, etc) saving the
image as a different name, opening the new file in PS, sharpening the
photo, and saving as a 3rd name (or overwriting the 2nd name). Is
this flow bad because I end up with a 3rd generation image (extra
save and open)? Care to share a better jpg workflow?

Click to expand...

I agree with some of the other posters that shooting RAW gives you more latitude and better results after PP (16-bit gives smoother PP results vs. 8-bit).

But that was not what you asked.

I like ACR for tiff and JPEG processing in CS3. I just reprocessed an old .jpg and got a very improved results to the old processing done without the ACR capabilities for JPEGS in CS3. It was an indoor group photo intended to be shot with flash but unfortunately the flash batteries were dead, so the image was underexposed and had terrible mixed lighting and bad shadows in faces. It was very easy to find the best WB in ACR and the curves adjustments made the shadows acceptable. The result was not as smooth as it would have been on a RAW image but it made the shot completely acceptable despite the fairly heavy processing.

I think you are on the right track for JPEGs; the initial adjustments in ACR and then the final steps in CS3. Works OK even with JPEGs if you do not do strong adjustments.

--
Kind regards
Kaj
http://www.pbase.com/kaj_e
WSSA member

Thank-you for all the replies so far.

Here is some background info which fills in the context. Pictures posted for-sale on the web are just sharpened with JAlbum. For the few pictures that are sold, before sending file to the lab, I used PS Elements 3, doing levels and sharpening on jpgs. Recently, bought CS3 and the Kelby book where I learned ACR can be used by jpgs. There are a lot more controls in the ACR Basic tab compared to PSE Levels (no Curves in v3) so for the extra couple of minutes or less, I like the results much better with ACR Basic tab and Curves than just a levels/Curves adjustment (still learning Curves). If ACR had the same PS Unsharpen Mask, I wouldn't even need to go into PS.

On top of this, just bought an Eye-One Display 2 and having trouble with the brightness setup (posted a question in the Pro forum and may try posting here for more help). My one successful pass has dimmed my monitor so photos are looking darker than I'm used to (but maybe more accurate). Coming up the learning curve (no pun intended)...

Tim

I've had a D200 for about 10 months and in the past week have found how to produce JPEGs that require minimum pp. I now use the following in-camera settings for eveyday situations with pleasing results. SHOOTING MENU/OPTIMIZEIMAGE = CUSTOM, IMAGE SHARPENING +2, TONE CMPENSATION = + (More Contrast), COLOUR MODE = 111, SATURATION MODE = + (Enhanced) I leave the Hue Adjustment at 0. I do not have Nikons expensive Capture NX and the Picture Project is a slow process to use but the D lighting is a useful PP tool if I under expose or I need to brighten dark areas of an image. Thankfully I also have some Fujifilm kit and their 'Finepix Viewer' is a quick and effective tool that enhances sharpening and applies auto corrections for most situations. The D200 leaves the factory with Nikon's hope that you will purchase Capture NX and has you believe that NEF is the way to shoot. Have a try with customising in this way - not the best for portraits but there are other settings that will probably be a lot better than default settings. Pete.