PP question and putting on Web

Quick question

When you get your RAW files (or original images) and opening them up to start editing

Do you save your finished edit as a PSD / TIFF /DNG image etc, then if you want to put the image on the web or email do you then resize and save as jpg to send/upload

Ive done a few edits of some images for a friend and I only saved the final image as 800 x 600 for the web so they were small enough to email, but now she wants them printed out and blown up

I know Im going to have to go back and re-edit the images so she can then get prints done, as the copies she has will be far to small to blow up

Do you save your finished edit as...
What I do is first copy the RAW files into a folder that names it's category. For instance, "Water Park" folder. Then I create a folder in "Water Park" named "Originals" and I move the RAW files in the "Originals" folder. From within that folder I open the RAW file and do my editing that I can in Camera Raw. When I finish with it I open it in Photoshop (the edits in camera raw automatically save after I click open in ps, it saves under an .xmp file in the "Originals" folder) and do the rest of my editing in Photoshop.

I save the finished edit as a JPG under a new folder called "Processed" (which is in the "Water Park" folder next to the "Originals" folder). The JPG gets saved under 800x600, with quality at 10. I sometimes save it less than 800x600...That's when I upload the files in the "Processed" folder.

This is what I do, and the edits I do to my photos are really simple. I just run a quick action and that finishes my editing. The action even saves my file under a folder called "Processes."

If you know that you're photos are going to be printed in a large size, you should always save your finished version as a psd without any resizes. Then, if you want to show it on the web just open the finished edit .psd, and resize it to 800x600, and save as a JPG. When you close out of the document in Photoshop it'll ask you to Save, and make sure you hit No (so the resizing isn't saved in the .psd you opened, so you still have the large version which is finished in editing). Now you have a web sized jpg, original processed psd, and the original raw.

Once I've finished my editing, I save the image as .psd with all the layers intact. This allows me to come back later to see how I've achieved a particualr effect, and also allows me to easily do any further editing if required.

If I need to print/load to the web/burn to disc for friends I also flatten the image and save as a jpeg.

Thanks Swift for the comprehensive workflow, sounds like I need to get something like that in place quickly

Another question, when editing using layers, how do you get round the problem of some things not being available unless you flatten the image

What things are you talking about? It can help if you let us know =P.

Sorry, there wasnt anything in particular (im still new to CS3) I just noticed when having more than one layer, quite a few options are greyed out, so started wondering how people complete their images and leave everything in layers without having to flatten the image

I never flatten my layers, at all...What are you trying to do where it grays what out?

I think it might be my naivity in CS3, if I highlight the 'original background' layer all options are availble,

I created an adjustment layer and a lot of the colour / hue saturation options are all greyed out

meant to add,

I think I need a crash course in layers

I currently use them to brighten eyes, and the occasional spot sharpening, but I do have scripts that create the layers for that (TLR Sharpening Toolkit)

Sorarse wrote in post #6210688
If I need to print/load to the web/burn to disc for friends I also flatten the image and save as a jpeg.

Just as a footnote FYI -- a lot of people don't seem to know this -- when you save a layered .psd file as a jpeg, you don't have to flatten it first.

Double click the background layer thumbnail, then hit OK. This will unlock the background layer.

Thanks for the tips

I am learning all the time when it comes to PS, although I do have Scott Kelbys book, I dont think he goes into layers too much

It could also be the mode you are in. Go to Image > Mode and make sure you are in RGB.

Ahh I have started to forget that, as I sometimes switch to LAB to do some curves adjustments

Just wondering, what is the advantage of being in LAB to do curve adjustments?