|
Technique Color Theory | Exposure | Editing | Workflow | Adjustment Looking for answers? Want to expand your knowledge? Try these techniques! I use them every day. The content in these downloads is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without prior written permission. Inquire here. Most of these articles are Free. Some are for workshop Alumni Only. Some are for Members Only. Not a member? Become one. It's easy. Just sign-up for my free enews Insights. Then you’ll find out what new resources are added each month and get even more useful information. Tell your friends and become eligible to win a free workshop!
Recommended Reading / Read/Buy These are the books I read when I'm looking for answers. Color Theory 1. Color Theory (9/06) | Free Here are the essentials on which you can base your conceptual foundation of color. 2. An Artist's Palette (6/07) | Free One of the most distinctive things about an artist’s work is his or her use of color. 3. B&W Palettes (12/07) | Free Here are a few examples of black and white palettes drawn from the history of photographic practice both past and present. 4. B&W Expanding the Definition (12/07) | Free Twenty-first century processes are significantly different than our predecessors and beg a reconsideration of this division. 5. If you Can See It, It's Color (4/05) | Free Color is a complex phenomenon that involves physics, biology, and psychology. 6. Exercise File - Memory (6/07) | Members Only 7. Exercise File - After Image (6/07) | Members Only 8. Exercise File - Transparency (6/07) | Members Only 9. Exercise File - Intervals (6/07) | Members Only 10. Exercise File - Simultaneous Contrast 3=4 (6/07) | Members Only 11. Exercise File - Simultaneous Contrast 4=2 (6/07) | Members Only 12. Exercise File - Optically Neutral (6/07) | Members Only 13. Exercise File - Analysis (6/07) | Members Only Exposure 1. Automatically Embed Your Name in Your Camera Files (9/05) | Free Make sure people know your files are yours by including your name in your files’ metadata. Here's how. 2. Setting Digital Camera Color Space and Format (9/05) | Free Get the most out of your camera with custom settings. 3. Monitor Histograms | Coming Soon 4. Lens Correction Filter | Coming Soon 5. Test - Camera Calibration (Fors Script) | Coming Soon 6. Test - Chromatic Aberration | Coming Soon 7. Test - Dust | Coming Soon 8. Test - Monitor Histogram | Coming Soon
9. Test - Noise | Coming Soon 10. Test - Sharpest Aperture | Coming Soon 11. Test - Vignetting | Coming Soon 12. Test - White Balance | Coming Soon Editing 1. Slideshows in Adobe Bridge (12/06) | Free How to set up a Slideshow using Bridge. 2. See Techniques for Reviewing | Go To Creativity Dominant Impression, Train of Thought, Finding Your Best Work, Singular Images, Body of Work, and more ... Color Management 1. 6 Simple Steps to Good Color Management / Coming Soon 2. Step 1 - Make Profiled Conversions /Coming Soon 3. Step 2 - Calibrate and Characterize Your Monitor / Coming Soon 4. Step 3 - Photoshop Color Settings / Coming Soon 5. Step 4 - Softproof / Coming Soon 6. Step 5 - Navigate Your Printer Driver /Free7. Step 6 - Control Your Environment / Coming Soon 8. 16 Bit / Coming Soon 9. Editing Spaces Compared / Coming Soon 10. What to Do with Color Management Dialogs / Coming Soon 11. Rendering Intents Compared / Coming Soon Workflow 1. Fine Art Workflow (10/06) | Free Create the highest quality master file with this fine art printing workflow. 2. Creating a Master File (9/06) | Free How to perform global, local corrections and soft proof your files. 3. File Editing Strategy (8/05) | Free How to adjust an image file. 4. Frame Loose, Don't Crop (4/07) | Free Here's a technique to fine-tune the cropping of your image without using the crop tool. 5. Preflight Checklist (4/06) | Free A preflight checklist designed to help you avoid common mistakes before committing to final output. 6. Flexibility (4/08) | Free Keep your options open and preserve the flexibilty of your files. Adjustment 1. B&W Conversions Simple 1 - B&W Adjustment Layer (11/07) | Free There’s an easy way to make color to black and white conversions (new in Adobe Photoshop CS3). 2. B&W Conversions Simple 2 - Dual Adjustment Layers (11/07) | Free The dual adjustment layers method is a tried and true technique that is almost as easy as the Black and White adjustment layer. 3. B&W Conversions Complex - Channels as Layers (2/04) | Free Advanced color to black-and-white conversion that offers the most control and flexibility. 4. B&W Adding Color (12/07) | Free Adding color to a neutral image can enhance the expression of any image. 5. Custom Icons (1/05) | Free Customizing icons is particularly useful for documents that contain image content such as your PDF slideshows or Photoshop automated webpages. 6. High Pass Contrast (3/07) | Free Using High Pass Contrast you can target contrast to affect contours more than other image areas. 7. Noise - Reduce Color Noise (2/06) | Free Using the blend mode to reduce color noise. 8. Noise - Reduce Banding (4/06) | Free You can use noise to reduce banding. Here's how. Masking 1. Mask Key Commands (10/06) | Free Here are a number of key commands that make masking and selections faster and easier. 2. Viewing Masks(2/07) | Free It helps to see what you’re doing. If you can see a mask better, you can make it better. You can see a mask in a number of ways. 3. Fine Tuning Gradients (2/07) | Free Fine tune your gradiants with masking techniques. Painting 1. Wacom Intuos Controls (1/07) | Free Screen captures of setting up Wacom Intuos Controls, 2. Zooming and Panning (1/07) | Free The Wacom Intuos pen and tablet make zooming and panning easy. 3. Overpaint (1/07) | Free Resist the temptation to use a lot of strokes to fill in a large area. Overpaint it. Here's how. 4. Cutting Into Corners (6/07) | Free Painting into tight corners can be challenging. Zooming in and using lots of strokes with increasingly small brushes is tedious. Here's an easier way. 5. Blocking In Contours (6/07) | Free Show you how in pictures. 6. Determine Precise Opacity Visually (6/07) | Free Determining opacity precisely can be challenging. Rather than guessing at numbers, determine it visually. Here's how. 7. Making Manual Gradients (6/07) | Free Gradients can be used to accentuate the recession of planes and the volume of objects within an image. 8. Start Hard, Soften Later (6/07) | Free Determining a precise Hardness for a brush can be challenging. Rather than guessing at numbers, determine it visually. Here's how. 9. Expand and Contract Precisely (6/07) | Free You can expand or contract a painted area very precisely. Once an area is painted, filter it using the filters Maximum and Minimum. Here's how. Sharpening 1. Sharpen - Edge (4/05) | Back Issue 2. Sharpen - High Pass (2/05) | Back Issue 3. Sharpen - Layers (4/05) | Back Issue 4. Sharpen - Luminance (3/05) | Back Issue Printing
1. Aesthetics of Printing (5/08) | Free 2. Evaluating Substrates (10/07) | Free Choose media wisely. Your choice of material has a profound impact on your prints. Here are some considerations. 3. Epson - Print / File Size Chart (5/07) | Free These charts display the relationship between print size, file resolution, and bit depth for Epson printers. 4. Epson Driver - Navigating in CS3; Advanced B&W Photo (10/07) | Free 5. Epson Driver - Navigating in CS3 (10/07) | Free 6. Epson Driver - Navigating in CS3; Double or Nothing (10/07) | Free 7. Epson Driver - Ink Limit (11/06) | Free 8. Epson - Delete and Reload Printer (10/07) | Free 9. Printer Points of Control (5/07) | Free You have a number of points of control with digital printers. It helps to know what these are so that you can achieve optimum quality and isolate the problem when you don’t get it. 10. Preflight Checklist (4/06) | Free One good habit will help you avoid many bad habits – create a preflight checklist designed to help you avoid common mistakes before committing to final output. Proofing 1. Proof - The Art of Proofing (7/06) | Free If you’re not doing proofing, it’s highly likely that you could make even better prints. If you are proofing , 2. Proof - BAT (10/06) | Free BAT, bon a tiré, it’s French for the good pull. Classically, it’s used to refer to a final proof print. 3. Proof - Bracket Proofing (12/05) | Free If you implement bracket proofing you will find that the efficiency and accuracy of your proofing process will be g reatly improved . 4. Proof - Compensate for Scale (2/06) | Free Larger images appear lighter than smaller images. It’s an optical effect, not a physical effect. It can’t be measured with an instrument, but nonetheless it affects the way we see images. 5. Proof - Correcting for Viewing Light (2/06) | Free The vast majority of output profiles are optimized for a viewing light temperature of 5000K. Yet, the final viewing light temperature for most prints is not 5000K. (this is a .zip file with PDF and Photoshop action file.) 6. Proof - Full Scale (3/06) | Free 7. Proof - Light Temperature (2/06) | Free Light temperature has a significant effect on exposure, calibration, printing, and display. It can be helpful to know the ratings for various light sources. Here's a chart of light temperatures. 8. Proof - Notes (3/06) | Free Are you having trouble remembering exactly what print settings you used to make a print? Here’s an easy way to take notes so that you can always retrace your steps precisely. 9. Proof - Prevent Overinking (11/06) | Free One of the keys to making a fine inkjet print is to achieve the proper ink limit for a given substrate. 10. Proof - Proof Template PSD File (5/08) | Free 11. Proof - A Step-by Step Guide to Using the Proof Template (5/08) | Free Set up all of your proofs Quickly with this Photoshop template Test Files 1. Using Gray Gradient Test Files (1/07) | Free A little testing up front can ensure that you get the finest results possible with the equipment you’re using or help you decide whether you want to replace the equipment you’re using. 2. Test File - Gray Gradient Smooth (5/07) | Members Only 3. Test File - Gray Gradient 10% Steps(5/07) | Members Only 4. Test File - Gray Gradient 5% Steps(5/07) | Members Only 5. Test File - Gray Gradient 1% Steps (5/07) | Members Only 6. Test File - Spectrum Gradients(5/07) | Members Only 7. Test File - RGBCMY (5/07) | Members Only 8. Test File - RGBCMY to Black Smooth (5/07) | Members Only 9. Test File - RGBCMY to Black Posterized (5/07) | Members Only 10. Test File - RGBCMY to White Smooth (5/07) | Members Only 11. Test File - RGBCMY to White Posterized (5/07) | Members Only 12. Test File - Line Pairs | Coming for Members Only |
