Really basic question, but...

I shoot in RAW for best results and being able to tweak everything.

My simple question is this:

How do you resize your RAW files in CS4 to JPEG without losing the IQ you first see when you open the RAW file.

Do you know what I mean?

What I have been doing at the moment is opening the RAW file with CS4, make any adjustments that I feel are necessary, and then simply click on Image > Image Size> and type in anything from 800 to 1200 in the width (and let the height sort itself out).

After that I click on Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen. And that's it.

So I'm wondering what else I can do to make my photos look AS GOOD as they did when opening the RAW file.
And.
What is the 'best' size/resolution for uploading to blogs/flickr etc.


Many thanks

So, if I'm understanding you, you want to know how to get from the raw file to a JPG that is sized and edited for posting to the web?

I first open the raw file in ACR, and do all adjustments possible from within ACR. I then send the file to Photoshop (16bit, ProPhoto RGB or Adobe RGB, 300PPI), where I save it as a 16bit TIF. Perform any more basic tonal or color edits that you couldn't do in ACR and save again. You now have a "master" image file which you can resize, crop, do creative editing, etc. and save the final output as a JPG.

When resizing for the web, you want to hold off on heavy sharpening until the very end. You also need to convert your colorspace to sRGB, and bit mode to 8bit. Many people use PS's Save for Web and Devices function to compress and resize for web posting.

In addition to what ChasP505 said, I would suggest that you sharp BEFORE you resize the image.

Well, for the first question I don't have original ideas -- I do my conversions for the Web straight out of Lightroom and am satisfied with the results for that purpose.

For the image size, a lot depends on the site/host you are working with. I know that Flickr allows multiple views -- you could find out more from them, but it wouldn't hurt to upload a fairly large size image and then check out how they handle compressing for the smaller views. But different sites handle large files in different ways and you want to know what different sites will do to your pics.

My host is PBase and for a paid account you can upload an Original size that they will keep if you desire. I upload pics at the POTN max size of 1024 pixels at the widest. PBase then creates a Large, Medium and Small (thumbnail) size for viewing at whatever size you wish.

When I post to here or another Web site (FaceBook or whatever) I choose between the Original if I want a good size display or Large (800x600 or so) if I'm doing more casual posting. You can do the same thing with Flickr -- go to an image and right-click on it and you can choose the size you want to view, and then you use the linking options to post a link to another site.

Thank you for that.

If you wanted to print files onto large sizes, do you adjust the size of your .jpeg to match the size of paper you are printing on, or simply keep the largest size (resolution) possible?


It begs the question, why resize at all? Is it just for uploading to the web?

Probably.

gabers99 wrote in post #11383508
After that I click on Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen. And that's it.

I've never used this sharpening process. You would be better off using Smart Sharpen or Unsharp Mask from the same menu item. If I use Photoshop for sharpening I do it using the LAB color mode method (google, there's lots of info on the net). I also have a plug in from Nik for sharpening that I use. Honestly, I have never heard of anyone using the Sharpen command.

There is no reason why your end result should not look even better than what your RAW file looked like. I would spend some time hunting down workflow procedures of others (been discussed here alot) and see how some of those fit with yours. I try to do as much as I can in the RAW converter and you don't say what you are using for that, ACR I assume.

After exporting a TIF from C1Pro (my RAW converter) I will tweak whatever is necessary in Photoshop and then crop if necessary, reduce the ppi, then the size and do sharpening based on that result. I don't believe in global sharpening as each image is unique in this respect.

Not really sure what PPI is and I think a lot of this is over my head.
Can you recommend some reading for a novice CS4 user?

All I want to use CS4 for is the odd retouch, RESIZE for web and save as a format which doesn't take up the most file space on my Hard Drive.


Thanks again

gabers99 wrote in post #11383843
Not really sure what PPI is and I think a lot of this is over my head.
Can you recommend some reading for a novice CS4 user?

Start with the Stickies. They are there for your benefit and education.

gabers99 wrote in post #11383843
Not really sure what PPI is and I think a lot of this is over my head.
Can you recommend some reading for a novice CS4 user?

All I want to use CS4 for is the odd retouch, RESIZE for web and save as a format which doesn't take up the most file space on my Hard Drive.


Thanks again

If you have CS4, you have Smart Sharpen. It gives you a lot more control over the sharpening.

As for resizing, in CS4 go to File, then down to Scripts, then Image Processor. From there you can select the Who, What, Where and How....which is all you need. For example, if you want to resize a lot of images, just open all of them in CS4, follow the steps to the Image Processor, then choose 'Use Open Images' in step 1. Select the location where you want the resized images to be saved in step 2. Select File Type, Quality, and Size in step 3. Then click Run, and you are good to go. It will resize all of the open images and save the resized images to a new folder.

TGrundvig wrote in post #11383883
If you have CS4, you have Smart Sharpen. It gives you a lot more control over the sharpening.

As for resizing, in CS4 go to File, then down to Scripts, then Image Processor. From there you can select the Who, What, Where and How....which is all you need. For example, if you want to resize a lot of images, just open all of them in CS4, follow the steps to the Image Processor, then choose 'Use Open Images' in step 1. Select the location where you want the resized images to be saved in step 2. Select File Type, Quality, and Size in step 3. Then click Run, and you are good to go. It will resize all of the open images and save the resized images to a new folder.

Fantastic.
Thanks a lot.

This is still a hobby for me at the moment. Thank you to all who replied. There is ALWAYS something new to learn, which I like.

I will try these out shortly (and maybe come back with an even simpler/dumber question!).

Thanks again

gabers99 wrote in post #11383917
...This is still a hobby for me at the moment....

Using a 5D mkII and L glass, you certainly are starting out on the right foot. Visit the photography section of your local bookstore and you'll find shelves of books for every subject and experience level.

ssim wrote in post #11383798
I try to do as much as I can in the RAW converter and you don't say what you are using for that, ACR I assume.

Well, I open the .CR2 with CS4 and the program that opens is ACR 5.6
Then I click Open Image.

Sorry this is so basic a question but what better place to start?

gabers99 wrote in post #11383949
Well, I open the .CR2 with CS4 and the program that opens is ACR 5.6
Then I click Open Image.

Sorry this is so basic a question but what better place to start?

When it opens in ACR you can use the sliders on the side to adjust the image. There are tabs for different things to adjust. You can do a lot of editing right there in ACR. When you are done with one image, go to the next one. When you get them all done, then Open Image and resize. You will find that if you adjust in ACR you have a lot of options.

You might want to search for tutorials on how to use ACR. The more you use it the better you will understand it.

PS- don't worry about the basic questions....NONE of us knew what we were doing the first time we loaded Photoshop. We all had to learn it. Some took classes, some did trial and error, some bought books, some looked for online tutorials, some did all of the above. Every on had to 'learn' how to use it.

is a TIFF a better quality than a JPEG?

Let's say I've done all the work I want to on my RAW file.
I've resized it to upload to a blog.
I've touched it up, i've sharpened.

Now I want to add it to my Collection of photos in say iPhoto.
What will look better, a jpeg or tiff? or something else?

gabers99 wrote in post #11384018
is a TIFF a better quality than a JPEG?

Let's say I've done all the work I want to on my RAW file.
I've resized it to upload to a blog.
I've touched it up, i've sharpened.

Now I want to add it to my Collection of photos in say iPhoto.
What will look better, a jpeg or tiff? or something else?

The deal with TIFF vs JPEG can get really deep for a beginner. So, I will cover some of the basics. TIFF files can be saved as 16 bit (and 32 bit), where as JPEG files are 8 bit. If you take a RAW image and save the image as a TIFF and then save it as a JPEG you will notice the JPEG is much smaller in size (in terms of megabytes). Both images can be 3000 x 2000 in image size, the tiff file contains more data and therefore will take up more memory.

What does that mean? It means jpegs are compressed files. The programs removes data from the image to compress it. Every time you open, edit, and save a jpeg you lose more data because it is being compressed every time you save it. This does not happen with tiff files. They take up more memory in your computer because they are not compressed like jpegs are.

As a rule of thumb, you either want to create a DNG file, which is a digital negative of the RAW file, or a tiff file to keep as your 'master'. This image doesn't get changed. When you make changes, save those changes as a new tiff or as a jpeg, but keep the master. Some people will keep the RAW image, the DNG and the edited images. It just depends on what you want to do.