Sharing DPP tips

Some months ago, I asked a question Canon 550D, time to replace?I received quite a few nice suggestions. I have made my mind up to ask for a Christmas present

On the other hand, as a by-product, I learned of the DPP from Lightgreen and its LSO from AnthonyL. I tried the old 550D and I found DPP4 is really useful.

I'd like to share some limited experience here for those who, just like me, do not like editing photos.

1. First of all, as long as a photo is shot with a Canon lens, always apply LSO. Don't forget set sharpness as 0.

2. Always apply Gamma Auto, then do manual adjustment. Gamma Auto will indicate which way to go

3. Of course, adjust Histogram

The above #1 and #2 can be built into a "recipe" file, and the then, do the Ctrl+A to "Select All" and at the "Edit" tab, choose "Read and paste recipe from file ..."

There is a link that is useful Digital Photo Professional (DPP) 4 Tutorial Videos There are many DDP4 videos.

Do you have anything to share?

Thanks for this! I'm looking at moving back to DPP more and haven't used it in several years.

Wave forest wrote:

I learned of the DPP from Lightgreen and its LSO from AnthonyL.

LSO?

OP means Canons Digital Lens Optimizer:

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/dlo/howto/index.html

This is a better link to start at than the one I posted above. This is a great tool.

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/dlo/factor/index.html

My brain must have stopped working

Wave forest wrote:

Some months ago, I asked a question Canon 550D, time to replace?I received quite a few nice suggestions. I have made my mind up to ask for a Christmas present

On the other hand, as a by-product, I learned of the DPP from Lightgreen and its DLO from AnthonyL. I tried the old 550D and I found DPP4 is really useful.

I'd like to share some limited experience here for those who, just like me, do not like editing photos.

1. First of all, as long as a photo is shot with a Canon lens, always apply DLO. Don't forget set sharpness as 0.

2. Always apply Gamma Auto, then do manual adjustment. Gamma Auto will indicate which way to go

3. Of course, adjust Histogram

The above #1 and #2 can be built into a "recipe" file, and the then, do the Ctrl+A to "Select All" and at the "Edit" tab, choose "Read and paste recipe from file ..."

There is a link that is useful Digital Photo Professional (DPP) 4 Tutorial Videos There are many DDP4 videos.

Do you have anything to share?

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

Well, I've learned a few new tricks thanks to this post. I might add that the HDR tool works pretty well on single images. Art Standard is a favorite.

I quit using Unsharp Mask. Depending on the lens I will tweak the Sharpness. That provides Deconvolution which makes the EFS 10-18 as good as any prime.

OzarkAggie wrote:

I quit using Unsharp Mask. Depending on the lens I will tweak the Sharpness. That provides Deconvolution

Good point. Before DPP I used to apply a small amount of "Capture Sharpening" before saving as a TIFF in order to combat the blurring effects of the AA filter. Now the functions are much more sophisticated (incl Deconvolution by particular lens model in DPP).  As a note: Lightroom and DXO use Deconvolution functions too for those who use those programs.

Where and when and how much do you apply your "Sharpness?"

I do use a strength of 3 in DPP's "Image lens correction" tool as a default to all images (forgot to mention this earlier). As you mention, DLO (DPP's image lens correction tool) can work wonders with certain lenses, (and I've found the effects to be minimal with other lenses like my beloved 400).

Great that you brought this up. A very important and powerful tool!

R2

Never more than 3, usually 1-2.

I zoom to 200% and check the most critical edge. I have Topaz Detail so I just true the edge and make sure to avoid the crunchiness.

Maybe we need a user group, or more videos. I'm bookmarking this thread.

I started coming to this group because I am planning to get a SL2 after Xmas.

OzarkAggie wrote:

I just true the edge and make sure to avoid the crunchiness.

"Crunchiness."  I like that!

Maybe we need a user group, or more videos. I'm bookmarking this thread.

I started coming to this group because I am planning to get a SL2 after Xmas.

SL2 brings lots of bang for the buck.  I'd consider it if I didn't already have the diminutive M5, and 70D (for birds).

Cheers,

R2

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Wave forest wrote:

Some months ago, I asked a question Canon 550D, time to replace?I received quite a few nice suggestions. I have made my mind up to ask for a Christmas present

On the other hand, as a by-product, I learned of the DPP from Lightgreen and its DLO from AnthonyL. I tried the old 550D and I found DPP4 is really useful.

I'd like to share some limited experience here for those who, just like me, do not like editing photos.

1. First of all, as long as a photo is shot with a Canon lens, always apply DLO. Don't forget set sharpness as 0.

2. Always apply Gamma Auto, then do manual adjustment. Gamma Auto will indicate which way to go

3. Of course, adjust Histogram

The above #1 and #2 can be built into a "recipe" file, and the then, do the Ctrl+A to "Select All" and at the "Edit" tab, choose "Read and paste recipe from file ..."

There is a link that is useful Digital Photo Professional (DPP) 4 Tutorial Videos There are many DDP4 videos.

Do you have anything to share?

This has been a while of this thread. I recently did a "unscientific" test on DLO and I'd like share it with you. I hope it is useful.

When I buy a lens, I always test it at wide open with the closest distance to the subject to check its AF. The closest distance is to make sure DOF to approximate to 0

Thanks to the wide open and the closest distance, vignetting, chromatic aberration and barrel distortion are at their worst,

DLO is designed to solve them for the Canon lenses.

The test performed as follows:

1. Camera on tripod and timed in 2 seconds, to avoid shaking.

2, The Sigma 35mm f1.4 Art is used as a benchmark. Its image was produced with DPP's sharpness turned off. All parameters were set to 0.

3. Images from the two Canon lenses, EF-S 24mm f2.8 STM and EF 50mm f1.8 STM were produced with DLO off and sharpness off. The DLO00_ files.

4. DLO50_ files are those DLO was set 50.

5. DLO70_ files are those DLO was set 70.

5. DLO100_ files are those DLO was set 100.

All these images are list below:

35mm_Sigma_Art_f1.4

DLO00_24mmEFS_f2.8

DLO00_50mmEF_f1.8

DLO50_24mmEFS_f2.8

DLO50_50mmEF_F1.8

DLO70_24mmEFS_f2.8

DLO70_50mmEF_F1.8

DLO100_24mmEFS_f2.8

DLO100_50mmEF_F1.8

Some conclusions can be made below:

1. DLO is very useful.

2. The difference between DLO50 and DLO70 are not significant, but either of them improves the image quality significantly.

Any comments?

• Ray UK wrote:

Wave forest wrote:

2. Always apply Gamma Auto, then do manual adjustment. Gamma Auto will indicate which way to go

I have been using DPP for years and have never used Auto Gamma, I just made all corrections manually. After your suggestion I tried the Auto and WOW what a fantastic tip that is ...... thankyou very much.

I do the same, and then I push the midtone slider to the right to recover highlights especially in the skies. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Ray UK wrote:

R2D2 wrote:

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.

Download "Digital Image Mover", it's a freebie you'll find with a google search. It can do all the above for you automatically.

Thanks.  But I create different folders from the same SD card download anyways (break images up into categories).

R2