|
| |
Post processing and printing can become a very technical discussion. There are literally thousands of aspects of the "post" process that have been written about and discussed for many years now.
|
SHOOT RAW
Leave the JPEGs for snapshots and start shooting raw images. The amount of post processing correction possible on a raw image far surpasses what can be accomplished with a JPEG file. If your camera doesn't shoot raw, choose the highest JPEG resolution available with the finest detail available.
Why raw? A JPEG files holds 8 bits of colour resolution in each of the red, green, and blue channels. 8 bits of data equals 256 values - from 0 through 255. So, a JPEG image contains an absolute maximum of 256 x 256 x 256 = 16,777,216 colours.
The same image as a 12 bit raw image contains 68,719,476,736 colours, and a 14 bit raw image contains 4,398,046,511,104 colours. Would you rather record 16.7 million colours, or 68 billion (or 4 trillion)? If you want to "tease out" the absolute maximum detail in the image, raw is certainly the way to go.
|
PICK YOUR SOFTWARE
Post software can be a simple as none at all, to multi-thousand dollar pieces of highly specialized (and technical) programs. For family snapshots, there's no need for post processing. Simply take the images (on a memory card or CD/DVD) to almost any photo centre and plug it to a self-serve machine. The machine can do simple image editing (such as rotation, cropping,, and basic lighting correction) and will produce snapshot sized prints for you and your family to store in a shoe box for many years to come.
Once you get a little more serious about photography, you'll find the local photo centre lacking. You'll most likely want to prepare your image on your own computer before printing. Depending on the hardware you've chosen for your personal computer, there are many different photo editing and management pieces of software available to you. Some of these can be a free download off of the Internet (such as Google Picasa), up to the "grand daddy" of photo editing software: Adobe Photoshop. My favourite post editing software is Adobe LightRoom.
My advice on software is to start small & simple. I prefer to do 99% of my work in the camera and 1% of my work in post. If the camera contains a good image, there's very little post work to be done. In many cases a slight crop, rotate, and colour cast (or white balance) correction is all that's required.
Many digital cameras include software from the manufacturer than can interpret the cameras' raw files and allow you to make basic corrections to the captured images. This software is a great starting point since it's effectively free - it's been paid for with the initial camera purchase.
|
CALIBRATE YOUR MONITOR
Regardless of the personal computer hardware you have chosen, how do you know that your monitor shows correct colours? Is blue really blue, or is it slightly green (or aqua)? Is red really red, or is it orange? Is white truly white? Is grey truly grey? How do you know?
A colour target can be displayed on your monitor and you can adjust all of the buttons & dials provided on the monitor to get the display close to accurate, but how close? The only scientific way of calibrating your monitor is to use an external piece of equipment called a colourimeter. A colourimeter (along with appropriate software) can be used to accurately calibrate the colours displayed on your computer monitor. There are several manufacturers of these devices. I use one by X-Rite.
Once your monitor is calibrated, you can be reasonably certain that the colours you see will closely match the colours in the final print.
|
PRINTING
Almost all of today's photo printing is done on ink-jet printers. Epson, HP, and Canon all have excellent photo printers that can produce exhibition quality prints. Whatever your choice of printer, beware that your printer should come with something called a "profile" - actually multiple profiles - one for each type of paper you wish to use. The printer profile is simply a file that instructs your personal computer to print out correct colours. Note that the printer profiles usually change when the type of paper changes (different papers absorb & reflect inks/colours differently). Look for the profile that matches your printer (and the type of paper) being used. By using a colourimeter to calibrate your monitor, and the correct printer profile (for the printer model and paper type), the colours, contrast, and tonality of your prints should match from camera, to monitor, to print.
There's much, much more to learn about when it comes to post processing and printing photographs. There have been many excellent reference books written on the subject. Search the Internet, and your local library and/or bookstores for more material.
