Free Photoshop And Color Management Seminars at the 2009 Fair

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,

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Outsourcing your Photoshop Images to a Print Lab

  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

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Clipping and Gamut Warnings in Photoshop and RAW

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

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Color Management in Photoshop: What are you REALLY seeing?

  08/01/22 – This post has been updated – WITH VIDEO: https://blog.main.wattsdigital.com/color-management-101-for-photographers/   Howdy folks… It has been my experience that of the three steps to proper Color Management in Photoshop the most overlooked is #3: Assure that you have the proper Lighting Conditions and Perception. I want to prove my point on Perception. Have you ever walked inside a building after being outside in bright sunlight, and had to wait for your eyes to adjust to the inside lighting conditions? Our eyes adjust to the environment around us, which is why, when you are working on your images on

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Thoughts From A Photo Contest

  09/01/2021 – Updated, and still relevant today …   _____________     02/12/-2008 – Last summer, I was 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. While the fair was running, we held a “Digital Dialog Discussion” for the public – there were seven experts from the digital realm, including myself, talking about the present and future of digital imaging.   A client of mine recently reminded me of how much he was able to glean from that

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Test Targets for Digital Printing Evaluation

Howdy to all! Here are links to pages where you can download test targets – I’m very partial to the Photodisc Target myself… These are great for evaluating your printer’s output and how it compares to your monitor, among other things – Enjoy! Inkjetart.com Dry Creek Photo Colormanagement.com So, do you know of others you like? Let me know! Cheers, John 🙂

I need your help – I’ve just gotta know!!!

Hello to all! I’d sure appreciate your input on this… I’m in the process of putting the finishing touches on an E-book and Video Series called “Photofinishing with Photoshop”. What instructional method works best for you – – An E-Book, A Video Series, or both? [poll=2] Thanks for your Vote! Cheers, John

Color Management on a Budget for Photographers

  06/22/21 – – The answer to this post is still relevant, but has been further updated – WITH VIDEO: https://blog.main.wattsdigital.com/color-management-101-for-photographers/   Hello to all… OK, OK, you WANT to use proper Color Management techniques so that you are printing for consistency and repeatability, but you’re on a budget – – here are some suggestions from an email I sent out recently to one of my clients. Let me preface what you are going to read by saying that you will ALWAYS get the best results by investing in the proper gear, software, custom printer profiles, etc – an investment of about $275,

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Printer and Monitor don’t match? Try this …

  02-01-23 – The answer to this post is still relevant, but has been further updated – https://blog.main.wattsdigital.com/color-management-101-for-photographers/Click here __________ Here’s another excellent email from Rachel, a client, which clarifies the previous post: My prints are consistently darker than they appear on my monitor and I have been using lumens 140, 6500 Kelvin and 2.2 gamma settings. I use an LCD monitor. What settings do you suggest I try when I calibrate with the Gretag Macbeth Eye One? And my answer… I would recommend a “starting” setting of 5500K, 110 Lumens, and 2.2 gamma .. I say “starting” because each system is

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Printer and Monitor don’t match? Try this …

    05/01/22 – This post has been updated: https://blog.main.wattsdigital.com/color-management-101-for-photographers/ _____________   One of my clients had a question that brought up a common scenario – – Your prints are lighter/darker/ warmer/cooler (pick one) than your monitor. Although one of the services I offer is the creation of custom printer profiles (ALWAYS better than “canned” profiles, and essential for critical work), perhaps the only thing that needs to be done is to properly calibrate and profile your monitor with a colorimeter such as the Gretag-Macbeth Eye-One Display 2 (my favorite)…   Here’s an email from Peter Nagainis (www.panartphoto) in San

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