Sunday, January 24, 2010

It's all about workflow

The last post was about using a 50% gray layer to Dodge and Burn. Which is GREAT! Just never do it first, my bad. Every adjustment layer you make will effect how all the adjustments below it will ultimately change the base image. That being said here is my workflow 101. Some of these steps you may not know, but I will reference this in future posts.

First:
Assess the image
Zoom to 100% and scan the whole image, making note of the adjustments that will be needed.

Second:
Retouching layer
I'll do a post on non-destructive retouching layers, suffice to say, now is when you would be doing that.

Third:
Global adjustments
Starting with luminosity & contrast then color & saturation
Contrast will effect how you see your color and saturation

Last:
Selective adjustments
Layer adjustments that are masked off, again, luminosity first then color.

So there you have it. If you stick to this guideline, as you build bigger and more complex image files, you won't be creating adjustment layers that counteract each other. That would be extra work and can cause noise and banding.

Good luck and happy pixel pushing
As always please comment if this was helpful or not, if there is something you need clarified or questions needing answers.

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