Photo Editing

Taking pics is half the battle. Getting everything looking good is the other half. Started this thread for tips and advice on post-production.

 

So I'm having issues with screen calibration currently. Photos will look great on my screen, but then will appear a bit off displayed on my phone. What do you guys do for calibration?

System Specs:
computer - Mac Mini 2018
OS - MacOS Mojave
software - Pixelmator Pro
Monitor - LG FLATIRON IPS236
Camera - Nikon J4

 

Calibration hardware/software - Spyder. I have a fancy photography monitor from NEC but honestly just get the Spyder device and calibrate it.

IPS monitors are better for editing. One mistake lots of folks make in the beginning is having the monitor brightness way too high.

For photo editing, I use Lightroom 90% of the time. Easy to use and organize things.

 

I use X-Rite i1 Display PRO. Been more consistent than the Spyder 4 I had before. Apparently the calibration start to drift with the Spyders.

 

Lightroom is great, just going with Pixelmator Pro for budget. I was trying to avoid a hardware calibration tool, but it seems inevitable.

 

Hardware calibration isn't always necessary (though I did get a Spyder5 cos nervosa), and might not be much use for your goal if your phone's screen isn't calibrated the same way too. If your monitor's RGB coverage is lower than your phone's (or vice versa), then there's not much that calibration can do either.

 

This is all solid advice. I've been using Spyder devices for years without complaints. I've also been a subscriber to the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan. At $9.99 its not too bad for Lightroom and Photoshop. Just food for thought!

 

I also use Spyder and have the Adobe Photography plan. I use Lightroom for the majority of stuff, PS for heavy correction, face swaps, or esoteric layering stuff.

I think calibration tools are invaluable regardless of what other people’s screens look like. Once I started calibrating monitors years back my photos honestly looked better on all displays. I’ve been told that i1 is better for some reason but I already have the Spyder and I’m happy with it.

For mobile I mostly use Lightroom on my iPad. I also use Photoshop Mix for basic layering and Affinity Photo for power editing. Affinity can do so much.

Some of the ways I got better at editing were giving myself personal projects, practicing a lot, trying to keep a light touch on everything and trying to be as self-critical as possible. Speaking as someone who had a photography business for 5 years (closed shop because I moved overseas) editing can save yo ass when things go bad with a shoot. I always tried to get it as good as possible in camera but stuff happens.. oh does stuff happen.

 

I have been using a NEC Spectraview 2690 since about 10 years. Hardware calibrated inside the monitor (LUT) + profile with the help of a X-Rite i1. Would not mind a newer top NEC or Eizo upgrade one day. Some have hardware calibration with measuring system completely integrated now.

However, you don´t really need a screen where you can calibrate the hardware inside if you are not a professional or dedicated amateur, but you should get a good wide gamut screen and a measuring device so you can make a profile. Read about hardware, software, calibration and workflow before you make your choices if possible.
Get a monitor which is good for photowork. In german language there is an excellent website www.prad.de who have been doing in depth monitor tests since years. Nec and Eizo tend to be top, followed by some models from LG, Viewsonic and BenQ. Here is a link to their list of recommended screens for graphic design and photography. Even if you don´t understand the text you can see the models.
Like @msommers was saying, keeping moderate brightness and lower contrast do a lot to start with. Good software for measuring devices shoud guide you through this.

If you wat to take this half serious and want to go for best results and deepen your understanding, here a suggestion for a possible good workflow, which has become my way of working with photo files:

The better your photo is technically, the lesser limitations you will be confronted with in the editing. In general use RAW photofiles and a good RAW editor where you can do basic editing with minimal loss to start with. Now convert/save your RAW photos for further work in Photoshop or your preferred software in the largest colour gamut which makes sense for your camera, screen, and purpose (Prophoto RGB, L-star RGB, Adobe RGB or alternatively work in LAB; I will swap between Prophoto and LAB depending on what I want to correct in Photoshop). Keep maximum resolution and avoid JPEG at this stage. Don´t oversharpen or boost saturation and contrast too much for this base file during this whole first process. Save this file as your base file, which will give you a maximum of flexibility for further use or future projects.

Now depending on further usage make an sRGB copy as a JPEG in lower resolution + sharpening + maybe giving some extra saturation and contrast for screen use and sharing over the www. Almost every screen and most software nowadays will handle sRGB fine. For printing and/or publications convert your base file appropriately (especially CMYK printing is a whole chapter in itself).

Sounds complicated but once you are used to it, there is a lot of repetiton and you will be able to proceed quite fast.
People who work regularly with large amounts of photos tend to like Lightroom or other professional software. Editing wise using a Raw editor (like Adobe Camera RAW) + Photoshop (or comparable) will give you similar editing possibilties but very limited organizing capabilities.
If you just want nice family and holiday shots a lot of what I said is probably overkill... of course there are simpler ways which will yield reasonable and pleasing results.

 

I have used. Lightroom, Photoshop, Capture One Pro, Luminar 4 and Exposure (Alien Skin). They all actually do some things better than others. My main software for paid jobs is the Adobe Package though. The others are for fun.

Capture One is the best "All in one" as it will do layers as well as have culling tools in it. It's like a Lightroom / Photoshop Lite hybrid. Some say it has the best Raw converter of all of them.

Luminar has some of the best AI stuff, it has a sky replacement tool that is amazing!

Exposure x4 / Alien skin has some of the best film presets broken down by film type, it's also a decent over all "all in one" but no where near as powerful as Capture One.

 

Just wanted to mention this while still valid

https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/2/21204243/nikon-free-photography-classes-april

 

I would love to try Capture One, but I ditched Windows quite a few years ago and really don't want to go back.

I mostly use GIMP, and, yes, I mostly just stick with jpegs. I shoot raw-&-jpeg, because I have been caught out with impossible venue colour temperatures in the past. That happens less now, because, of course, I learnt to adjust the colour temperature in the camera. But still, raw is the insurance. (It's also insurance against screwing up the jpeg: its a pity, occasionally, that GIMP is destructive editing).

My raw software, at least as of now, is RawTherapee, but I can still, in GIMP, be in, straighten/crop, adjust levels, maybe a touch of dodge/burn and out pretty quick for most pics, if I'm fairly happy with the out-of-camera jpeg, which I usually am.

I keep revisiting raw. If I ever get quick and good, or find my perfect software (that runs on Linux) then I'll switch. But a heap of pics, I am happy with no editing at all.

 

I used paint.net to make a certain photo that won a competition on here. Added those he4xx to that nice man...

 

I do most of my bulk work in Lightroom. I have multiple layers of presets for my raw stuff. I have a very basic set that gets applied to everything. Then once I have selected the good photos, I will then edit one and then copy those edits to as many other photos with a close exposure. Even if it's a little different it gives a starting point. Depending on the type of job it is I may only have to really make manual adjustments to maybe 10 - 20% of the photos. While just copying those adjustments to the others.

Even if it's a job where there needs to be dodge and burning and some skin stuff, that gives you a starting point to then export into photo shop to do those bigger edits.

Not sure about that software you are using but, most software can copy adjustments. Might be something to look into if you want to speed up your raw processing.

 

I did mention it: RawTherapee. There is another, more like Lightroom, free package called Darktable, but I find it more (or rather, even) more daunting. Yes, RawTherapee can copy edits to other pictures, or you can start with your own profile. I would use that for an evening of pics that all need roughly the same temperature/tone adjustment.

GIMP is the free-software equivalent of Photoshop. It does way, way more than I use. I have not even much ventured into layers and masking.

I find it sometimes works very well and I get nice results, with more detail and subtelty than jpeg. Plus being able to rescue some blown-out highlights. And sometimes... I can't even handle the noise.

 

Y'all too rich, get used to darktable or Raw Therapee, they are utterly capable. For profiling use DisplayCAL, a front-end to ArgylCMS which is better than most bundled profiling software.
Best colorimeters come from X-Rite, you can even find cheaper OEM versions with no software bundled.

 

Lol.
It wasn't a financial decision that led me to drive MS from the house, although free software certainly helps. True, Linux people get all too used to free, but some of us are prepared to pay for software that suits. What I would not do, though, is climb on board the Adobe subscription train.

And available for Widows too for those that want an alternative or need to reduce costs.