How much do you edit your photos and what software do you use?

Ben D Bus

RAW to Lightroom, then PSE11 if necessary for final touches on selected images.

Bellu

Recently got a PhotoSlideshow maker from Voilabits, it cool to make slideshows for keeping my baby's happy memories.

magicbastarder

i cull RAW files in faststone image viewer and convert to TIFF in camera raw.

Mister Vain

PS Elements 10, it has everything I need. Cropping, color correction, spot healing and cloning would be the main tools I use.

magicbastarder

so i recently signed up for the PS & LR deal for €12 a month. still haven't gotten my head around lightroom; it's much easier to open a file, tweak the exposure/colour balance in camera raw, and save out, than it is to use lightroom. i'm fully aware that's probably down to the LR learning curve.

Mister Vain

magicbastarder wrote: »

so i recently signed up for the PS & LR deal for €12 a month. still haven't gotten my head around lightroom; it's much easier to open a file, tweak the exposure/colour balance in camera raw, and save out, than it is to use lightroom. i'm fully aware that's probably down to the LR learning curve.

Yeah I just couldn't get used to the LR interface at all. ACR works just fine.

Kenny Logins

magicbastarder wrote: »

so i recently signed up for the PS & LR deal for €12 a month. still haven't gotten my head around lightroom; it's much easier to open a file, tweak the exposure/colour balance in camera raw, and save out, than it is to use lightroom. i'm fully aware that's probably down to the LR learning curve.

Yeah, at first I was trying to use LR like this - open, adjust and save. I didn't realise that it is designed to load full sets of photos for adjustment before output. Once I started using it on my entire library of photos, I never looked back. If you know exactly what you want from a single image, it may not suit, but when working with sets it is excellent. It's non-destructive too - you can step back through edits long after making them. Well worth the effort it takes to get used to it IMHO.

tom tit tot

I shoot in RAW and bring the pictures into Photoshop. My favorite thing about RAW is how much information in the picture you can recover if need be! Apart from all of the options on the RAW import tool, I'd use:
-Crop
-Curves
-Smart sharpen

LeoB

So what is the average time you would spend on editing an image?

I could not get my head around lightroom at all, mind you I am not very patient and I dont get much spare time even though I always promise myself to make more time!! Kids Kids Kids. I have been impressed with I have seen people do in lightroom. Really giving images a nice lift when used correctly.

I use picasa and find it does enough for me, crop, straighten, contrast, I dont shot in RAW at all

tom tit tot

For me it would be about 5 minutes per picture. I try to pick the shots carefully and I don't get that many keepers from an afternoons shooting!

fret_wimp2

How much:
As little as possible. I shoot raw so some processing is needed, but not sure if that really counts as editing. Processing usually entails:
-exposure, tone & contrast adjustment.
-Conversion to b&w if desired.
-Cropping.
-sharpening.

I dont clone or remove parts of photos anymore as Im one of those folks who thinks once you start manufacturing a new photo by cloning, merging, pasting etc, you no longer have a photo, you have an image loosely based on what you think you saw, but an idealized version, not the actual verison. I like my photos to remind me of what i actually saw, not what i think i wanted to see.

Software:
-Lightroom. If i really messed up exposure and dont have any good frames to work from, i may open elements to use its masking features to do selective exposure control, but usually il just throw the picture away if it requires too much manipulation. if it really requires that much work to make right, its wrong to begin with.

Mister Vain

LeoB wrote: »

So what is the average time you would spend on editing an image?

It depends on the type of image. Generally between 10 and 20 minutes. If its a beauty headshot it could take anything up to an hour.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

I downloaded the Lightroom trial and I find it good for adjusting exposure and colour/light settings but I think I'd still need to use Photoshop for some of the finer editing.

Out of interest, does anyone use a graphics tablet for their editing and how useful are they?

Mister Vain

Dennis Sour Melon wrote: »

Out of interest, does anyone use a graphics tablet for their editing and how useful are they?

I tried one before in a studio I rented. It's a good device and it gives you more precise control, but unless you're a hardcore PS user or graphics artist I don't think its really worth the extra expense.

Ben D Bus

Dennis Sour Melon wrote: »

Out of interest, does anyone use a graphics tablet for their editing and how useful are they?

I use an Intuos Pen and Touch. It took a couple of hours to get used to but I love it. They're less than €100. I think they're great value.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

I was eyeing up the Intuos alright Has anyone used it with Windows 8? I've heard it can be fairly glitchy with Windows 7.

Splinters

I'm using an Intuos 4 with Windows 8 and it works a treat.

As far as how much editing......as much or as little as needed to get the look I want to get. Some images might take 10 - 15 mins, some can take 4 or 5 hours. Depends on a whole heap of factors.