[Topaz]

Having taken some photographs with my new Canon 1000d SLR I am now confused as to what is the best method to view and correct them before printing. Previously I have always shot to jpeg with my old Fuji but now I am a bit lost on all the apps I have got on my Mac. I now wish to shoot to raw and make modifications and possibly save to jpeg if I need to save a copy. Then to print. I have always printed using Epson Photo Print, as my printer is an Epson Photo R360 and the results have been excellent so I would want to keep this quality. The apps I have are,

iPhoto
Photoshop CS4
Bridge CS4
Lightroom 2
Canon Image Browser
Digital Photo Pro
Epson Photo Print

Could anyone advise me as to a work flow that I can handle as a novice and the best apps to use for importing raw files, then for conversion and correction prior to printing. At the moment I am very confused! It should be said that I have printed a test image direct from Lightroom and was not impressed with the quality as it did not compare with Epson.

[OreoCookie]

Typically, seeing as you have Lightroom, you would import your photos into your Lightroom library and pre-edit them there. If you want to make more extensive edits, you use the `roundtripping feature' of Lightroom to edit the photos in Photoshop. As soon as you hit save (not Save As!), the object in your Lightroom library is updated accordingly.

That's it.

[Topaz]

I understand that more extensive edits are done in Photoshop but what do you mean by "roundtripping feature", or is this just a euphomism for opening Photoshop?

After a bit of trial and error I find "convert to DNG". Is this what you would do then open it in Photoshop to edit?

[Topaz]

Well I tried some more but .....
Photoshop saved tiff shows ok in LR but when I go to print ...
1 Image does not show in print preview window
2 I cannot save my print settings for required colour management
3 My print keeps coming out with a white border when I am selecting NO BORDER.
4 I am testing a 6x4in but in print window the size shows as 5.9 x 3.9 why is this?

[OreoCookie]

No, roundtripping is just a fancy name for telling Lightroom to tell Photoshop to open the file and keep track of the changes. (Aperture has the same feature.) You can change the file format which is used to exchange the data.

[mduell]

Why not shoot JPEG and use your old workflow? At such a small print size can you see any difference in your printed work?

[Veltliner]

Definitely shoot RAW.

Use the Canon DPP software that is included with your camera. It's on a separate CD.

There is a Pdf that explains everything. Any other questions you can post here.


Install the whole software package from the disc that came with you camera.

Get an external card reader. Using your camera to download images is a pain in the a****** (apricot, what else).

The downloader has preferences. Choose the way you want you images named, and choose 1 folder per day and with the date of that day. That's easy for a start.

Eject the card. 1. Select card. 2. Press apple and the E-key. Only then pull card out of reader.

Plug the card reader in an usb port. Whenever you put a card in, the downloader will show up. You click "download". It will download, and automatically load the images into the image browser.

Now, and important: do not use the image browser. It's a piece of junk. Just close it. (it always opens, as it's connected to the downloader)

Open Canon DPP (get its symbol down to the dock. The symbol shows an iMac and a Canon EOS 1D).

Click on the folder of that day.

DPP will show up and display your images.

For further processing get Photoshop, or, if you're on a budget, Photoshop Elements.

You can export to Photoshop with one key combination. Set your color space to either Adobe RGB or Wide Gamut RGB in both Photoshop (as working space) and DPP. You can always go sRGB, which is a step down in quality.

It's really easy. Good luck, and have fun with your new camera.

[Veltliner]

Just saw "lightroom 2" on you list.

You don't need it, and for Canon cameras DPP will do a MUCH better job.

[OreoCookie]

@Veltiner
I don't think your suggestions are very good pieces of advice to a beginner. Shooting RAW makes things more complicated and unless (s)he has experience shooting RAW, I would suggest to start with jpgs. Add complexity bit-by-bit.

As for card readers, I haven't found those necessary ever since switching to my D80 (up from a D70 and an E-20 before that only supported USB 1.1), even though I have managed to fill all 3.5 GB of memory a few times. The speed is usually fast enough. Again, complexity should be added step-by-step and not all at once. Especially if it's not really necessary.

@OP
Don't make things more complicated than they are, photography should be fun. Try out Lightroom + Photoshop, in all likelihood you'll find that this suffices your needs. If you think that Lightroom is too complicated, don't be afraid to try iPhoto.

Most people very much prefer work with apps like Lightroom and Aperture if they want to have more control and functions than what simple apps have to offer. You have to try out yourself whether you need them/want them. IMO it's a huge step up from old-school photo/media library apps (I've used iView Media Pro before switching to Aperture).

Since I'm no Lightroom expert, I cannot help you troubleshoot. But it's a pro app, make no mistake about it. If you feel overwhelmed, you can also try to shoot jpg and use iPhoto. iPhoto also plays nice with Photoshop or similar software, but don't expect the wealth of options you have in Aperture or Lightroom.

[design219]

You have all the bells and whistles, but I would strongly suggest keeping it VERY simple. The more redundant applications you use, the more confusing it will be. There are a dozen different ways to do what you want, but here is all I do... (I work in a graphic design studio)

I use only Photoshop and Bridge, and I've found the controls and options to complete. I have my cameras set to name every image file uniquely, that way I can dump all the RAW images into folders based on the client, location, subject, whatever. In our studio, we keep the unique number/name from the raw file with every later version of the image (high res print, low res web, etc.) so we can always track any image back to the high-resolution RAW file.

As for RAW vs. Jpeg, I see points to both. If you are learning photography, shooting jpegs is a little like shooting slides back in the film days. It forces you to be maybe just a bit more precise and get it exactly right, as, like slide film, you are working with a limited range. Of course, in the film days, you learned faster with slides because of the expense and lack of immediate feedback you now have with digital. And of course you can store a lot more images on a card. But that's about the only advantages I could see to shooting Jpeg.

RAW will give you much greater options to correct and enhance an image after it is captured. And by enhance, I mean making it the way your eye and mind saw the image. Your mind adjusts color balance and tonal range on the fly, and sometimes you need to flexibility of RAW files to get an image into that state. If Ansel Adams were alive today, he would see his "zone system" very clearly in the Camera RAW format.

When I shoot and dump the image into the computer, I do a quick edit and basic adjustments to all the files so others in the studio can access the images through Bridge. They will make low resolution files with the identifying numbers still in their file names and work with them. When it is time for final production on a job, I will get the image and make final adjustments for use in the final production documents.

The quick initial adjustments I make are easy with Bridge because I can adjust one image, and then copy and paste those settings to all the similar images.

[Veltliner]

Many RAW converters have presets that makes shooting RAW as easy as shooting JPEGs, but you keep flexibility.

It is true that higher end cameras give you excellent output right out of the box, possibly better than a RAW converter with a preset. But those cameras are e.g. the Canon EOS 1D. Don't know if the OP's entry level Rebel 1000D does a good job. It's a lot about on-board processing power, and it may not be available to lower end cameras. I have not shot JPEGs since I bought my first digital SLR (where I tried it out the first few days and found it too limiting), so I'll just throw this into the discussion as an (likely) inspiration.