Photoshop workflow when using Smugmug for printing?

kpoore

Hi,
I am probably making this harder than it is, BUT

I am studying workflow for processing an image and currently use Photoshop and looking at Bibble ...

I understand when submitting a image to Smugmug that "auto color" is recommended (for most) and that brings to mind what other processing is done? I am looking at a 15 step workflow which has color correction as step four after Image Capture, Rough Crop & Straighten and Spotting.
So if color correction is bascially the first adjustment then does your online processing do auto processing for contrast, density and saturation? I assume that the final shapening is done too with a generic amount. Can we determine per image how much sharpening is needed?

I suppose after getting an image back from you that you could make adjustments and resubmit it. Can you submit an image with instructions to just print it and nothing else?

As far as I can tell, I can spot, crop, size in photoshop at home and I have to convert to SRGB 8 bit. Can I apply filters, special effects?

As you can tell I know a little about all of this (a little knowledge is dangerous) and want to know more on how to do I good image.
I just got a Epson 1900 that I am playing around with too.

I am overwhelmed ... I know a step at a time! (-:

Are you guys going to ever offer a wider selection (than matte, gloss and luster) of papers, art papers in the future?

Okay, I guess I should stop now ... thanks for your time,

Karen in Austin, Texas :bow

crockett

You do ask a whole lot here and I'm sure others will chime in with some helpful links and suggestions.
I don't have any links but as I grow, I'll give you a few lessons that I've learned and are helpful to me.
When I first started I looked at a lot of workflow lists and many of them contained cropping early (in ACR or now Lightroom).
However, I soon came to regret that. I NEVER crop now. I completely finish the image and save as a .psd with no sharpening or cropping.
This leaves me the ability to print an any image size without regretting that I've already cropped the original. Too many times I've wanted an 8x10 of an image yet early in the workflow I had cropped it as a 4x6.
Also, I always sharpen as a very last step, even after converting to 8 bit and sRGB and certainly after I have resized.
I know you mentioned "rough crop" but to me it's just an extra unnecessary step. As you become more and more familiar with editing images you'll begin to see how eliminating steps become very important. Croppping every image that I touch twice (even just a rough crop) adds valuable time to editing.

kpoore

Photoshop workflow when using Smugmug for printing?
Hi,
I do not think I made myself clear in my question and this is apparent since I only received one reply.
Thanks Crockett for your time and input. What I really wanted to know is what steps in the workflow may I do in Photoshop when submitting photos for processing through Smugmug where I do not double the step.
In my workflow for printing at home color correction is one of the first steps ...
That's okay though I will try to figure it out myself or maybe I am not asking a valid question so I will just end this post.
Best,
Karen in Austin

crockett wrote:

You do ask a whole lot here and I'm sure others will chime in with some helpful links and suggestions.
I don't have any links but as I grow, I'll give you a few lessons that I've learned and are helpful to me.
When I first started I looked at a lot of workflow lists and many of them contained cropping early (in ACR or now Lightroom).
However, I soon came to regret that. I NEVER crop now. I completely finish the image and save as a .psd with no sharpening or cropping.
This leaves me the ability to print an any image size without regretting that I've already cropped the original. Too many times I've wanted an 8x10 of an image yet early in the workflow I had cropped it as a 4x6.
Also, I always sharpen as a very last step, even after converting to 8 bit and sRGB and certainly after I have resized.
I know you mentioned "rough crop" but to me it's just an extra unnecessary step. As you become more and more familiar with editing images you'll begin to see how eliminating steps become very important. Croppping every image that I touch twice (even just a rough crop) adds valuable time to editing.

jfriend

Smugmug recommends have auto color correction ON because most images uploaded to Smugmug have not been color corrected on a calibrated monitor in color-managed software before uploading. When that's the case, auto color correction will generally help fix images that are off.

If, on the other hand, you are doing your own color correction on a color calibrated and managed system and you are pretty confident that you know how to get skin tones right in your own color correction, even in challenging light, then you probably would want to turn auto color correction OFF. I turn it off for images that I upload. For a non-profit site that I manage, but others upload images to, I turn it ON because their images are generally not properly color corrected before upload.

To the best of my knowledge, Smugmug doesn't do any other types of images enhancement automatically before printing. The smaller web-sizes that are used in the display of your web-site are created from the original that you upload and after downsizing to make those web sizes, some sharpening is added (which is generally desirable after downsizing).

I also imagine that the printing software that is part of the printing process at the lab may have to do some resizing of your image in order to match the exact resolution of the exact printer that is being used and that software will also do resizing and may do some minor sharpening. If your image contains colors that don't fit into the gamut of the printer, then the printing software will also have to map those colors into the gamut of the printer.

I am not aware of any automatic processing at Smugmug for contrast, density and saturation.

If you set "True" color for printing, then Smugmug won't mess with your image at all before printing.

If you set "Auto" color for printing, then Smugmug will do an automatic color correction on the image before printing.

As for all your other questions about what other types of processing you want to do on your photo before uploading, you can do anything you want to make the image into how you want it to look. My general workflow with RAW files in Adobe Lightroom) goes like this:

• Adjust overall brightness (tweak white point)
• Decide if I need to recover some highlights
• Crop for composition (note, I use Lightroom which doesn't do a permanent crop. If cropping in Photoshop, I save croppping until the very end)
• Adjust white balance for accurate and/or desirable color
• Decide if I need any adjustments in saturation
• Decide if I need to modify the black point for more contrast
• Decide if I need to do anything to improve visiblity of shadow detail
• Assess contrast and make any number of adjustments related to contrast (contrast slider, black point, curve, etc...)
• Tweak final overall brightness again, if necessary
• Crop for desired output size
• Sharpen for desired output
• Upload/Print/Etc...

kpoore

Photoshop workflow when using Smugmug for printing?
John,
Thank you so much for your time and information.
Between your help, SmugMug Help and clicking on Wiki I have a better understanding.
One thing I have learned which I feel is important is the native resolution of the printers EZprints uses. For images 10x15 and less they use Frontiers/Noritsu Pro with native res. of 302 dpi. For larger prints they use Durst Theta pinters (which I am not familiar with) with native res. of 254.
I have printed out a bit of information and I am still reading ...
I have just started putting images up so I am learning and hope to improve my photography.

Say "Hi" to California for me ... lived in LA for 32 years.

Best,
Karen in Austin, Texas
www.kpoore.smugmug.com

jfriend wrote:

Smugmug recommends have auto color correction ON because most images uploaded to Smugmug have not been color corrected on a calibrated monitor in color-managed software before uploading. When that's the case, auto color correction will generally help fix images that are off.

If, on the other hand, you are doing your own color correction on a color calibrated and managed system and you are pretty confident that you know how to get skin tones right in your own color correction, even in challenging light, then you probably would want to turn auto color correction OFF. I turn it off for images that I upload. For a non-profit site that I manage, but others upload images to, I turn it ON because their images are generally not properly color corrected before upload.

To the best of my knowledge, Smugmug doesn't do any other types of images enhancement automatically before printing. The smaller web-sizes that are used in the display of your web-site are created from the original that you upload and after downsizing to make those web sizes, some sharpening is added (which is generally desirable after downsizing).

I also imagine that the printing software that is part of the printing process at the lab may have to do some resizing of your image in order to match the exact resolution of the exact printer that is being used and that software will also do resizing and may do some minor sharpening. If your image contains colors that don't fit into the gamut of the printer, then the printing software will also have to map those colors into the gamut of the printer.

I am not aware of any automatic processing at Smugmug for contrast, density and saturation.

If you set "True" color for printing, then Smugmug won't mess with your image at all before printing.

If you set "Auto" color for printing, then Smugmug will do an automatic color correction on the image before printing.

As for all your other questions about what other types of processing you want to do on your photo before uploading, you can do anything you want to make the image into how you want it to look. My general workflow with RAW files in Adobe Lightroom) goes like this:

• Adjust overall brightness (tweak white point)
• Decide if I need to recover some highlights
• Crop for composition (note, I use Lightroom which doesn't do a permanent crop. If cropping in Photoshop, I save croppping until the very end)
• Adjust white balance for accurate and/or desirable color
• Decide if I need any adjustments in saturation
• Decide if I need to modify the black point for more contrast
• Decide if I need to do anything to improve visiblity of shadow detail
• Assess contrast and make any number of adjustments related to contrast (contrast slider, black point, curve, etc...)
• Tweak final overall brightness again, if necessary
• Crop for desired output size
• Sharpen for desired output
• Upload/Print/Etc...

kpoore

Print Auto
I found an article under Wike "Print Auto or True" and it states if choosing "Auto color" our images will be adjusted for "exposure", "color" and sharpening will be applied.
I have posted a reply/question to a cropping question too today.

kpoore wrote:

John,
Thank you so much for your time and information.
Between your help, SmugMug Help and clicking on Wiki I have a better understanding.
One thing I have learned which I feel is important is the native resolution of the printers EZprints uses. For images 10x15 and less they use Frontiers/Noritsu Pro with native res. of 302 dpi. For larger prints they use Durst Theta pinters (which I am not familiar with) with native res. of 254.
I have printed out a bit of information and I am still reading ...
I have just started putting images up so I am learning and hope to improve my photography.

Say "Hi" to California for me ... lived in LA for 32 years.

Best,
Karen in Austin, Texas
www.kpoore.smugmug.com