Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Workflow Printing - Am I doing it Right?  (Read 896 times)

rabanito

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1577
Workflow Printing - Am I doing it Right?
« on: February 07, 2019, 09:28:01 am »

When preparing a picture for printing I do the following

- I do all the tweaking in PS and/or LR until I'm satisfied.
- Resize
- Sharpen

THEN

- Duplicate this image
- "Do" the softproofing - try to match (some more tweaking) the copy under the printer profile to the (resized and sharpened)
original
- Print

Am I doing it right?
Or there is no right or wrong?
Or is it not right?


Thanks  :)
Logged

Garnick

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1229
Re: Workflow Printing - Am I doing it Right?
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2019, 10:27:01 am »

When preparing a picture for printing I do the following

- I do all the tweaking in PS and/or LR until I'm satisfied.
- Resize
- Sharpen

THEN

- Duplicate this image
- "Do" the softproofing - try to match (some more tweaking) the copy under the printer profile to the (resized and sharpened)
original
- Print

Am I doing it right?
Or there is no right or wrong?
Or is it not right?


Thanks  :)


In my opinion there is no absolute "Right" or "Wrong" way to process an image for printing, although there will of course be other opinions voiced as well.  It eventually becomes a matter of how you work and what sort of workflow is most productive for your needs.  Unless it's a scanned image, which I do a lot of for various jobs, I seldom embed any sort of sharpening.  If it is absolutely necessary I would usually convert the image layer to a "Smart Object" once all cosmetic edits are done.  Then any sharpening would be totally editable.  For my own images or those I print for customers I almost always use the "PhotoKit Output Sharpener", which works at or close to the resolution of the image.  It is also editable by simply reducing the opacity of the sharpening layer if necessary, and of course adding a layer mask to perhaps brush out areas that do not require sharpening.  Once the image has been printed I delete the sharpening layer and leave a note on the image file as a reminder of what I have done.  The only downside of a Smart Object is the inability to do direct cosmetic edits such as using the Stamp Tool or the Healing Brush for example.  However, adding a new layer above the Smart Object will accommodate such edits.  Otherwise I think your workflow seems to be quite adequate.

Gary       
 
Logged
Gary N.
"My memory isn't what it used to be. As a matter of fact it never was." (gan)

digitaldog

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Online Online
  • Posts: 20630
  • Andrew Rodney
    • http://www.digitaldog.net/
Re: Workflow Printing - Am I doing it Right?
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2019, 10:39:17 am »

Sounds just fine to me.


As for Photoshop:

You can soft proof on the original instead of making a copy. Then if you want to make output specific edits based on that soft proof, you can build adjustment layers and save them in a Layer Set. Name the set with the profile name and rendering intent. Then you can turn this set on or off. On for printing of course. You could build multiple layer sets per profile/paper/rendering intent. And you can drag and drop the layer set to other images to transfer those edits which may work as is or just need a slight tweak per layer.
Make the sharpening on a layer too!


All this is SO much easier in Lightroom IF you do a lot of this kind of work using Proof Copies (virtual copies with soft proof info and output specific edits) and print templates.
Logged
http://www.digitaldog.net/
Author "Color Management for Photographers".

Rand47

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1882
Re: Workflow Printing - Am I doing it Right?
« Reply #3 on: February 07, 2019, 02:22:41 pm »

Sounds just fine to me.


As for Photoshop:

You can soft proof on the original instead of making a copy. Then if you want to make output specific edits based on that soft proof, you can build adjustment layers and save them in a Layer Set. Name the set with the profile name and rendering intent. Then you can turn this set on or off. On for printing of course. You could build multiple layer sets per profile/paper/rendering intent. And you can drag and drop the layer set to other images to transfer those edits which may work as is or just need a slight tweak per layer.
Make the sharpening on a layer too!


All this is SO much easier in Lightroom IF you do a lot of this kind of work using Proof Copies (virtual copies with soft proof info and output specific edits) and print templates.

Andrew,

I do all my soft proofing and printing in LR, but am intrigued by your soft-proof-layer(s) approach in Photoshop.  Is there a way to get a side by side view (for comparison while soft proofing) w/o duplicating the image? 

NOTE:  It just occurred to me that one could toggle the layer on and off... but as Jeff might say, that seems like a sub-optimal approach. :-)

Rand
« Last Edit: February 07, 2019, 02:28:07 pm by Rand47 »
Logged
Rand Scott Adams

digitaldog

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Online Online
  • Posts: 20630
  • Andrew Rodney
    • http://www.digitaldog.net/
Re: Workflow Printing - Am I doing it Right?
« Reply #4 on: February 07, 2019, 02:28:11 pm »

Andrew,
Is there a way to get a side by side view w/o duplicating the image? 
You can make a new window (Window>Arrange>New Window...) but that's not as effective as duplicating when you need a before and after because it doesn't remain in the 'before' condition.  Update the first, the new window updates too. Be nice if there were an option not to update (I think I'll make a feature request).
Logged
http://www.digitaldog.net/
Author "Color Management for Photographers".

Rand47

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1882
Re: Workflow Printing - Am I doing it Right?
« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2019, 06:24:27 pm »

You can make a new window (Window>Arrange>New Window...) but that's not as effective as duplicating when you need a before and after because it doesn't remain in the 'before' condition.  Update the first, the new window updates too. Be nice if there were an option not to update (I think I'll make a feature request).

Thanks for the further information.  It would be great if it could be toggled not to update.

Rand
Logged
Rand Scott Adams

rabanito

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1577
Re: Workflow Printing - Am I doing it Right?
« Reply #6 on: February 08, 2019, 06:04:09 am »

Thanks to all for the information and suggestions. I can make good use of them.
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up