Is there an order that should be used when processing a file

[Whaler]

I'm new so NO dissing. . . Please.

Is there an order in the steps that should be used when processing a file/photo. I usualy sharpen first. From what I've read that should be the last step.

thanx
Mike

[CyberDyneSystems]

Indeed,. sharpening should allways be the LAST step,. (or at least some sharpening should be applied as the last step,. some people will sharpen twice)

It is hard to lay out an order as we don't know what your tools are... but here's how I usually do it.

Starting with a RAW file,. in Adobe ACR with PS 7.01

I make my adjustments in the RAW plugin,. exposure, white balkance, with perhaps some contrast, saturation, shadow, and in fact I will often use a little sharpening in the RAW plug-in (so I guess I sharpen twice some times)

Once in Photoshop,. the first thing I usually do is go straight to "levels" (after cropping if needed)

Usually that is all I will need,. so then I will apply UnSharp Mask as the last step before saving as a .psd file.

Som efiles I may tweek saturation, color balance etc.. in PS,...

But the last step of any image I process is allways an aplication of USM.

[ssim]

Welcome to the forum Mike

This subject has been debated at length before so I would suggest that you do a search on workflow.

I have always followed the general rule of applying USM as the last step in my processing.

[Whaler]

Search? What a concept. . . . Thanx. That's what I will do. :D

[Vegas Poboy]

I use a workflow close to CDS and the following website
http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/workflow1.shtml
I've also purchased a book by Scott Kelby called PS CS for digital photographers it will help.

[4walls]

Take a look at PHOTOLIFE magazine for this month. There is a good article on sharpening (why and when). www.photolife.com


I use Photoshop CS

If the file is RAW, I bring it in with Adobe's RAW converter. Usually very little adjustment here.

Then I will crop the picture and do a quick levels adjustment.

Now I clean up any unwanted noise or blemishes with the healing brush or clone tool (although the new color replacement tool is quite useful here as well for noise).

Next I will convert to B&W and run a soft focus action (if I am going B&W).

Then I will sharpen with USM (100-200%, 0.3, 0-1).

My favorite soft focus action (adjustable)
Soft Focus action 1: http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/coolato/Softfocuslook.atn
Here is my B&W and softfocus... (edges from Photo/Graphic Edges program, PS plugin) http://www.autofx.com/detail_pages/pgedetail.html

http://www3.telus.net/fourwalls/images/0031_brd_sft_bw_web.jpg
My beautiful daughter.

[Jesper]

I have a 10D and I use CaptureOne DSLR LE (http://www.c1dslr.com) to convert and adjust my RAW images.

CaptureOne has a number of tab sheets to do adjustments. I just follow the order of the tab sheets:

1. Gray Balance: set white balance, correct color cast if necessary
2. Exposure: exposure compensation, contrast, levels, curve, color saturation (I wonder why saturation is on this tabsheet...?)
3. Focus: sharpening
4. Develop: convert RAW image to TIFF

I try to adjust as much as possible in CaptureOne. If necessary, I do detailed adjustments and editing in Photoshop Elements.