Sharing DPP tips

There are many ways to skin this particular cat. This is only how I do it.

I set my cameras to the "Standard" picture style. It's nice and neutral. I turn all in-camera sharpening and noise reduction OFF (I leave Long-exposure NR on since it uses dark-frame subtraction). DPP then uses these settings as a starting point (this trait can be changed in the menu if desired).

I insert my (Sandisk Extreme Pro) SD card in my reader (Kingston USB 3.0) and copy/paste the images into a new folder on my "Photos" drive (folders are sorted by camera and year). I name the new folder with the date, lens, and shoot/subject material.

Open DPP and browse to the new folder. Hit "Select All" and click "Quick Check."

Use the right and left arrow keys to scroll through the images, and the " x " key to mark any "Rejects." The number keys can assign stars to any of the images, and double-clicking can magnify in/out. This is an extremely efficient way to vet photos!

Note: if you use any of the tools in the right-hand "Quick Check" pane (like "Rotate," "Clear" etc), you'll have to click in the image window in order to get the keyboard to work again. Allowing you to use the arrows etc again.

When done marking all of the images, exit the "Quick Check" screen. Select all of the "Rejects" by pressing CTRL-Shift-X (or drill into the "Edit Menu"), and then delete them.

Now select the images you'd like to edit. For instance I'll select all of the "3-star or higher" rated images (CTRL-Shift-3, or use the "Edit Menu"). Click "Edit Image."

I keep the tool pane on the right side. I adjust everything to taste (by eye). I try to get everything as close as possible to how I want it to ultimately look. As mentioned previously, the copy/paste "Recipe" feature is very fast and powerful.

If the lens (or shot) requires it, I'll use the "Image Lens Correction" tool. Works well to correct distortions, CA, etc.

I don't apply any Unsharp Mask or noise reduction here either. I do however apply a small amount of "Sharpness" (level 3) to combat the blurring effects of the AA filter. Any more and those edges start to look funky (avoid this).

Exit the image editor.

Select all of the images you want to convert (several ways of doing so).

Press CTRL-B (or use the "File Menu") to invoke the Batch Process converter.

Browse/create a folder to drop these in.

I save as TIFF 16bit, and embed the ICC profile (color space). Hit "Execute" and go get some coffee.

Now if any of the images need noise reduction, I'll run them through my stand-alone copy of Noise Ninja (here I like to selectively reduce noise in differing amounts, and in certain areas). If an image needs some very precise selection though, I'll save NR for Photoshop and its very powerful selection tools.

When done, I open images in Photoshop and finish up any additional editing (still no Unsharp Mask). Then save this image as a "master" PSD (never to be edited again).

When I want to output an image I'll open up the PSD and resize (to whatever scale is required). As a final editing step I'll use the Unsharp Mask filter now. Why save sharpening until the very end? Because the amount of sharpening necessary is dependent on the output requirements.

I save this as another (renamed) PSD.

If emailing, posting to the Web, or displaying on a screen, I'll convert to an 8-bit sRGB and save as a jPEG.

I know this whole process sounds a bit complicated, but once you do it a few times it becomes very quick and easy (esp the DPP part ).

Thanks to the OP for starting this thread. Interested in seeing what others do!

Happy shooting!

R2