Watts Digital Imaging Blog • Photoshop & LightJet Printing - Part 5

Color Management 101, Part 1: Monitor Profiles in Photoshop

Posted on June 24, 2008November 28, 2022 by John Watts

08/01/22 – This subject has been updated in a new post – WITH VIDEO: https://blog.main.wattsdigital.com/color-management-101-for-photographers/ By request, I am going to do a series of three posts over the next several days that should get you on the road to proper Color Management, allowing you to print with a great degree of consistency and repeatability, whether it is on your home inkjet printer or through a custom print lab. It allows you to print what you see on your monitor with a large degree of accuracy. The old adage, “WYSIWYG” (What You See Is What You Get) readily applies

We had a Blast “Talkin’ Photoshop” at the Fair…

Posted on June 17, 2008 by John Watts

WOW!! What a blast! Last Saturday, I gave two free seminars at the San Diego County Fair Exhibition of Photography. One was on Color Management in Photoshop and the other was on Photofinishing with Photoshop. Both were well-attended and productive, and we had a lot of fun. Not only did I meet someone that I made a print for about 15 years ago (she still loves it!), but I met someone whose work I admire, Tamandra Michaels, on the midway at the fair (I recognized her by her picture on her website). If you missed these seminars, here’s a schedule

The First Book Review for my Photoshop E-book…

Posted on June 9, 2008June 9, 2008 by John Watts

Here’s a link to the first Book Review for my Photoshop E-Book, “Photofinishing with Photoshop” – – enjoy! Click Here for the Book Review… By the way, be sure to support the fine folks at Apogee – – Click here or on their logo above to visit their site. Cheers, John 🙂

Judging Photo Contests can be interesting…

Posted on June 3, 2008September 1, 2021 by John Watts

Updated 09/01/21, and still relevant today … 06/03/2008 – A few weeks ago, I was again privileged to be a Judge at the San Diego County Fair Exhibition of Photography, always one of my favorite contests to judge (and one of the largest!). It is always lots of fun, and I get to spend time with other pros in the industry whom I haven’t seen all year. This year I judged in 2 categories: Nature (Plants) and Underwater Photography. My fellow judges in that category were two individuals; one that I’ve known for over 25 years,

The Photoshop E-Book is Available for Download…

Posted on May 29, 2008March 10, 2022 by John Watts

03/10/22 – This post has been updated: https://wattsdigital.com/photoshop-book-e-book My Photoshop E-Book, “Photofinishing with Photoshop”, is now available for purchase and immediate download. It is reasonably priced at $30. Click Here to Purchase and Download the E-Book… Have you ever wanted to learn how to make stunning photographic prints at your home or office? Have you tried, but not been happy with the results? Then this unique E-Book is for you. This is not just another Photoshop E-Book: It is unique because I focus on what makes a good color print, and I will show you how to

Free Photoshop And Color Management Seminars at the 2009 Fair

Posted on May 21, 2008May 25, 2010 by John Watts

Howdy, Last Sunday, I was privileged to be a Judge at the San Diego County Fair Exhibition of Photography. I’ll share my experiences and insights about the judging in a few days. I know some of you have been asking, so here is a ‘heads-up”: I will be giving free Photoshop and CoIor Management seminars at the Fair starting in a few weeks. In addition, I will be participating in a ‘Judge’s Roundtable”, an “Artist’s Reception” and a “Digital Dialogue with the Experts”. If you are in Southern California, I’d love to get a chance to meet you – besides,

Some of my Favorite Digital Imaging Websites ….

Posted on May 14, 2008May 21, 2008 by John Watts

Greetings, The title is self-explanatory, and they are in no particular order of importance, etc….. Apogee Photo.com – A good source for all things photographic, both traditional and digital. Tim Grey’s DDQ – The digital Darkroom Questions (DDQ) is a regular email providing answers to questions related to the digital darkroom. Chromix – One of the best sources for Color Management Hardware and Software. Solux – A great source for proper lighting for print-viewing. Fetch – FTP software for Mac – 15 day free trial, then $25. FTP Shell Client – FTP software for Windows – Personal version is free.

Outsourcing your Photoshop Images to a Print Lab

Posted on May 9, 2008August 31, 2021 by John Watts

Updated 08/30/21, & still relevant today … 05/09/08 – So you need a print bigger than your inkjet printer can handle, or you need a print on a specialty surface like FujiFlex Super Gloss – that means you’re going to have to outsource your printing. How do you know what Print Lab to use? Recently one of my clients, Duane Chevalier (www.duanesphotogaphy.net), was having problems with the prints he was receiving from 2 different Photo Labs. They were way too dark and not even close to what the images looked like on his monitor. To say

Working with Palettes in Photoshop

Posted on May 3, 2008January 16, 2024 by John Watts

07/01/21 – although this info is generally still accurate, this post has been further updated in a new post, WITH VIDEO: https://blog.main.wattsdigital.com/photoshop-cs6cc-setting-up-your-workspace-with-panels-with-video/ _________ Hello to all….What are Palettes? Think of Palettes as miniature workspaces, each accomplishing a different function. There are almost two dozen different palettes available to you. If you are new to Photoshop, then I would suggest, in the spirit of K.I.S.S. (Keep It Super Simple), that you start with just seven, and add those you deem necessary as you gain more experience. Below is a representation of the palettes I would suggest that

The Power of Adjustment Layers in Photoshop, Part II

Posted on April 29, 2008April 2, 2020 by John Watts

04/02/20 Updated here: https://blog.main.wattsdigital.com/?p=2283 ___________________ Here is a continuation of Part I concerning Adjustment Layers in Photoshop – – If you did not read the first post, I’d encourage you to do so. Two Ways to Create a New Layer: You can create a new Adjustment Layer by clicking on the “Create a New Adjustment Layer” button. An Adjustment Layer comes “pre–loaded” with a tool or function, as well as a Layer Mask (see this post and this post for more on Layer Masks). You will create your new layers with this button most of the

The Power of Adjustment Layers in Photoshop, Part I

Posted on April 27, 2008October 13, 2022 by John Watts

03/30/20 – this post has been updated: https://blog.main.wattsdigital.com/?p=2283 ________________________ Adjustment Layers are one of the more powerful features of Photoshop. The purpose of Adjustment Layers is to allow you to make adjustments to your image, both globally and locally, in a non-destructive manner. By the way, I define “destructive” as causing pixelization and posterization to your digital image, resulting in bad prints. Think of Adjustment Layers as “clear plastic overlays” over your original image, with each layer giving you the ability to control a particular aspect of your final image, such as contrast, color correction, and so on. In addition

My Photoshop E-Book and Video Series are Behind Schedule…

Posted on April 12, 2008April 27, 2008 by John Watts

UPDATE 04-27-08: Yup, I’m still behind schedule – – Bear with me, I should have the E-Book ready in a few days…Thanks for your patience, and for all of the interest!! _________________________________________ My apologies to those waiting for the release of my upcoming E-Book and Video Series entitled, “Photofinishing with Photoshop” (More info and a sample chapter & video here). As many of you know, I teach Photoshop “one-on-one” to clients all over the United States, but this is my first venture into education-based literature and videos available for all. I have been consulting with a few people more

How to Improve your Images by Cropping in Photoshop

Posted on April 11, 2008December 23, 2021 by John Watts

10/01/21 – This post has been updated: https://blog.main.wattsdigital.com/?p=3561 So you’ve been out taking pictures and you’ve captured the killer image: Your exposure is spot-on, your lighting is right, but it’s missing something. How can you easily focus more on the main subject of your shot and eliminate unwanted objects? The answer is to experiment with cropping. In Photoshop, cropping is accomplished with the Crop Tool. You can find it in the Toolbox. In the Options Bar, you can select your desired width, height, and DPI. To start, put your mouse cursor in the upper left portion of

Testing, 1, 2, 3 ……. AARRGGHH!!!

Posted on April 8, 2008August 19, 2021 by John Watts

A thousand pardons if you’ve had challenges accessing my site in the last week, such as getting a text-only version, or you couldn’t get the RSS feed to work – – I was hit by some very malicious code last week – – I’m STILL having challenges with the RSS feed …. Hackers should be drawn and quartered, forced to listen to Lawrence Welk Polka music 24 hours a day, and then – – ? I hope to be back up 100% very soon – Thanks for your patience and patronage! Cheers, John 🙂

Clipping and Gamut Warnings in Photoshop and RAW

Posted on April 4, 2008October 31, 2023 by John Watts

12/01/22 – although this post is generally still accurate, it’s been further updated in a new post: https://blog.main.wattsdigital.com/photoshop-cc-soft-proofing-plus-rgb-color-spaces/ • Further info on RAW files can be found in these 2 posts: https://blog.main.wattsdigital.com/the-philosophy-of-raw/ https://blog.main.wattsdigital.com/video-camera-raw-12-3-radical-changes-to-the-user-interface/ ___________ 04/04/2008 – Here’s a great question from one of my clients, Adam Orr: John, I have worked with the CS3 Raw Converter, but couldn’t find a way to run the Color Gamut Warning until finishing with the Raw Converter and opening in Photoshop. Am I missing something? When I click on a Raw file, the converter opens and allows me to use all of the

Here Comes the Judge – Photo Judge, That Is…

Posted on April 4, 2008April 4, 2008 by John Watts

This summer, I am again honored and privileged to be a Judge and Speaker at one of the most prestigious photographic contests on the West Coast – the San Diego County Fair International Exhibition of Photography. I will probably be judging one of the “Nature” categories or the “Scenic-Landscape” category. I will also be giving two free seminars every Saturday that the Fair is open – One on Photoshop in general, and one on Color Management. I’ll let you know when I have a definite schedule on those – I’d love to see you there. If you like the challenge

K.I.S.S your Images While Using Photoshop

Posted on March 25, 2008June 14, 2010 by John Watts

What is one of the best things about Photoshop? The amount of functions available to you, the user. What is one of the worst things about Photoshop? The amount of functions available to you, the user! If you are new or fairly new to Photoshop, one of the challenges of using the program is its overall complexity. Most of the time, you will only need to use 10% to 15% of Photoshop’s functionality to achieve the results you want. I’d suggest employing the K.I.S.S. method. K.I.S.S stands for “Keep It Super Simple”. Start with the basics of Photoshop, and grow

A Better Way to Sharpen in Photoshop – Part I

Posted on March 17, 2008August 23, 2022 by John Watts

October 29, 2019 – Updated – although the info is still accurate, it’s been further updated here: https://blog.main.wattsdigital.com/a-better-way-to-sharpen-in-photoshop-2/ _____________ Having challenges getting your image sharpened properly in Photoshop? Try using this technique rather than the generic Sharpening tools, which are not as effective and prone to over-sharpening. In my opinion, Over-sharpening is one of the two most abused tools in Photoshop (see this post). Give yourself an edge and try this method – it is much harder to accidentally over-sharpen your image. This is a non-destructive technique. Without getting into total “techno-geek propeller-head” mode, it sharpens just

You Can Chat LIVE with Me about Photoshop and Digital Imaging…

Posted on March 17, 2008May 11, 2008 by John Watts

UPDATE 05-11-08: Sorry, this widget really slowed down my blog – – I’ll look for an alternative – – If you know of something to replace this, please let me know… I’ve got a new “toy” on my blog – – Live Chat via AIM’s WIMZI Widget (See the sidebar). It is not unusual for me to spend 4 to 6 hours a day in front of my computer, so I thought I’d experiment to see if this gadget is useful for all of us. You don’t need an AIM account to use it – If it says that I’m

Three ways to “FTP” your Photoshop and Digital Files…

Posted on March 13, 2008November 1, 2023 by John Watts

Do you need to send a Photoshop file or another type of digital file to someone electronically, and it is bigger than your email provider can handle? Then you need to “FTP” it! FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. Generally, when your file is larger than 10 MB, you will need to FTP it rather than email it. For those times when you need to send larger files over the internet, such as to a potential client (with a proper watermark, of course!) or a photo lab, you generally have 3 FTP choices: Use the client or lab’s user-friendly FTP