Standard Photoshop adjustments?

[chelle]

I'm curious to know if others have standard adjustments that they make in photoshop to all (or almost all) of their photos as standard practice (apart from cropping or re-sizing). For example, do you always use a noise filter/sharpen/color correct etc or do you only do it if the individual photo needs it?

I'm just trying to work out what is necessary to learn in photoshop without getting a degree in graphic design

Cheers

Michelle

[Jason25]

I would say a fairly universal adjustment most people would make would be applying unsharp mask. Personally, I like to use a high pass sharpening layer on most images

[Robert Besen]

I always adjust contrast with levels if needed, and always apply a slight "S" curve in curves. I do both with adjustment layers. I always sharpen, since I keep the in camera sharpening at a minimum. I either use a high pass filter sharpening layer, or smart sharpen.

[Fred]

Always do (check) levels adjustment and final sharpening via USM. Depending upon picture content, will do slight hue/saturation adj. or use one of the blend modes.

[FLiPMaRC]

I mostly use PSPX (Paint Shop Pro X) for PP before sending my pictures for printing.

I do the following:

1. High Pass Sharpen (If I don't like the results, I use Unsharp Mask)
2. Clarify
3. Smart Photo Fix (I manaully adjust Overall, Shadows, Highlights, Saturation, and Focus to the best possible combination)
4. Noise Removal (only if needed)

It usually takes less than 5 mins for each photo. More if the shot is overexposed. I find it harder to adjust than an underexposed shot.

[Sinister 6]

I keep the in camera sharpening at a minimum.

Why do you keep the sharpening at a minimum? Just curious.

[D Thompson]

Why do you keep the sharpening at a minimum? Just curious.

Generally, if you are doing post processing then it should be applied as the last step and not "in camera". Levels/curves/etc can enhance some of the sharpening effects. I only shoot RAW, so there is no sharpening added in camera. If you are shooting jpeg & do no post then you should add a little sharpening in camera. You can set it too high which makes the photo look unnatural. Just my .02.

[Sinister 6]

Generally, if you are doing post processing then it should be applied as the last step and not "in camera". Levels/curves/etc can enhance some of the sharpening effects. I only shoot RAW, so there is no sharpening added in camera. If you are shooting jpeg & do no post then you should add a little sharpening in camera. You can set it too high which makes the photo look unnatural. Just my .02.

So, if you are shooting RAW, are you saying that the sharpening setting doesn't even matter.

Also, What if you shoot RAW + JPEG, will the sharpening setting effect both formats?

[Robert Besen]

I keep the sharpening at a minimum because then I have more control over the sharpening process. My old Nikon 5700 tended to oversharpen when set on auto, so I just turned it down. My KM 5D seems to do a better job of not oversharpening, but I just got in the habit of doing it myself.

However, I have started shooting mostly in raw, and I just thought of a reason to turn up the sharpening: It won't matter to the raw image, but the image shown on the lcd of the camera will be sharper, making it easier to judge focus and blur.

[D Thompson]

So, if you are shooting RAW, are you saying that the sharpening setting doesn't even matter.

Also, What if you shoot RAW + JPEG, will the sharpening setting effect both formats?

That's the way I understand it. RAW is the raw data of the image. It doesn't matter if you shoot RAW + jpeg - the sharpening will be applied to the jpeg, not the RAW file.