Tutorial Adobe Photoshop
Preface
Back in the days before digital, when photographers shot film, few gave much thought to workflow. That's because the film-based workflow offered far fewer options than the digital workflow, and the way those options were executed was fairly straightforward. Even so, though most of them didn't realize it, all of these photographers had a two-part workflow. The first part began right after the shoot. It consisted of processing all of the rolls or sheets of film. In the case of negative film, automated proofs, such as 4 x 5's or contact sheets, were printed from the negatives — usually by a photolab. The point with these proofs was to quickly create tools to use for further evaluation by the photographer — or the photographer's clients. Every effort was made to manage tone and color, but the point was to create proofs quickly and cheaply because they were merely tools used to identify the best photos. After those few best photos were identified, they were moved into the second part of the two-part workflow.
This second part of the film-based workflow was focused on fine-tuning these special images and preparing them for output. Every effort, and oftentimes much expense, was put into managing the strengths and weaknesses of each image. This was usually accomplished through a custom print that was handcrafted by a highly skilled technician. Retouching and artwork were often thrown into the mix when required to fix problems. The resulting image was a one-of-a-kind print that had little resemblance to the proof that was used to pick it from the original group of photos. The modern digital photography workflow is much like the film-based workflow. It consists of the same two parts. The first part is focused on processing a group of photos from a shoot or event so that they can be used to identify the most important images from the group. One of the main differences is that digital photographers don't have to pay for every exposure, so they tend to generate lots of photos. These large numbers of digital files require software tools and procedures for using them that are streamlined and efficient. For that reason I call this first portion of the digital workflow the Production Workflow.
Like the film-based workflow, the second part of the digital workflow is all about the pursuit of perfection. This is accomplished by managing the strengths and weaknesses of the image. The same rules apply regarding what separates a good image from a great one. The difference is in the amazing amount of control possible with today's digital tools. Anything is possible for someone who understands how to use these new tools. Thousands of decisions can be made while editing a single image because the options are so open ended. That's why I call this second portion of the two-part digital workflow the Creative Workflow. The open-ended process allows the maker of the image to create a true personal expression of that image.
Photoshop has been the foremost tool for executing the Creative Workflow for many years. But it has never been a very good solution for photographers managing large numbers of images in their Production Workflows. Adobe, the maker of Photoshop, solved this problem when it introduced Adobe Lightroom. Now Lightroom and Photoshop can be combined to offer the complete digital post-production workflow solution. In this book, I explain how both of these programs are used individually, and together, to manage your own digital two-part workflow. By the end of this book you'll be ready to begin making your workflow work for you.
