What is your Post Processing Workflow?

[Emoto]

I see topics about specific products, but no thread about your overall workflow in post processing. Care to share? (Mods, feel free to nuke this thread if it is a dupe.)

The R5 is my first digital camera capable of producing really high quality images. So, I finally can have images potentially worth spending some time on, and am excited about learning from various sources, including social media groups and forums. I am using Windows machines with decently fast processors and extra RAM added, as well as some external drives with a fair amount of space. I am comfortable with the basics of file management from my professional life, so I will probably not misplace or accidentally overwrite my work.

I have old versions of Lightroom and Photoshop that I have managed to keep as I've upgraded machines over the years, and have grabbed Adobe DNG Converter to process cRAW files into DNG files that my old LR can handle. I have some experience with PS from past jobs where I have had to do logo work and button creation and that sort of thing, but am far from highly skilled. I have really only scratched the surface of LR, which I picked up when I was dating someone a few years ago who was using it, so I thought I would also do that, but haven't done much more than find the sliders for adjusting various image characteristics and played with them a few times.

I have only had the camera for a few days and won't be making any prints any time soon, but may eventually. Output will only be seen on screen for the time being.

Right now, my workflow looks like this:

Camera > PC > Adobe DNG Converter > LR > Output as jpeg

I am very interested in how other folks have their workflow set up, and what tasks they routinely perform within each stage.

 

[RedCobra]

Camera card (by reader)>LR>culling>DxO Pure Raw>LR (DNG)>PS (if necessary)>output (depends on where it's going)
I could delete the first LR, but I find it's just as easy to download the card to LR as it is to the computer, and doing it to LR puts it in the database with keywords. Also cropping/sharpening/ WB etc. as needed in LR (as a DNG) after Pure Raw. I do end up with a CR3 as well as a DNG of the keepers.

 

[GeraldHerd]

import cr3 files to LR

cull losers from keepers

for files still showing potential, open in Develop

in Develop module : Crop, brightness/contrast, gigapixel if required

Next sharpness and noise, usually by editing in Photoshop from the Develop module, often using topaz

Back to LR (with the image as a tif file)

Export as a jpg of desired longest edge dimension and resolution. My naming convention is a keyword and the raw file‘s number, so if the raw file was FP001234.cr3 and a picture of a red wing blackbird, the jpg will be RWBB-1234.jpg

 

[Frank Stellitano]

import cr3 files to LR

cull losers from keepers

for files still showing potential, open in Develop

in Develop module : Crop, brightness/contrast, gigapixel if required

Next sharpness and noise, usually by editing in Photoshop from the Develop module, often using topaz

Back to LR (with the image as a tif file)

Export as a jpg of desired longest edge dimension and resolution. My naming convention is a keyword and the raw file‘s number, so if the raw file was FP001234.cr3 and a picture of a red wing blackbird, the jpg will be RWBB-1234.jpg

What does "gigapixel if required" mean?

 

[Hali]

Import CR3 files to computer. Preview in Fast Raw Viewer and cull from there. (Although I have a fast computer I find LR is a turtle when it comes to previewing files. Fast Raw Viewer is quick and lets you view either the raw or the embedded jpg if you want). Import the rest into LR and change the file name to suit my naming convention. Do my initial edits in LR and continue culling as necessary. Take the ones I really like and do the final edits in Photoshop with a mixture of luminosity masks and plugins. Then resize and change the image color profile for web if that's where it will be going.

 

[Hali]

What does "gigapixel if required" mean?

That means Gigapixel AI a software from Topaz labs. It allows you to resize up images that may have been cropped to a very small size with very good results

 

[GeraldHerd]

What does "gigapixel if required" mean?

Use topaz Gigapixel AI to expand or upsize the cropped image.

 

[Frank Stellitano]

Thank you!

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

Import into Lightroom to cull and crop then open in Photoshop.
Invoke Topaz Denoise AI in a new layer.
Levels adjustment layer if necessary.
Invoke Camera Raw Filter in a new layer.
Dodge & Burn as needed.
Save, and in a flattened image copy resize, sharpen and watermark for posting.

 

[Frank Stellitano]

Camera set color space to Adobe RGB
Shoot raw of course
Load files into LR
Perform common tasks to all files like Tone Curve, Detail, Lens Corrections
Then edit each shot worth keeping using the Basic tab, I sort as I go
Files worth sharing online are Exported as jpeg and sRGB to a separate Folder
Print worthy files are printed from LR

 

[Jake Shoots Birds]

Camera set color space to Adobe RGB
Shoot raw of course

Just for others who read this, if you're shooting Raw then the color space makes no difference in-camera as the sensor is likely capable of capturing colors beyond either sRGB or Adobe RGB, and does in the raw file. Color space matters more when you create a JPEG for viewing or printing as monitors and printers may be limited as to the colors they can recreate so you want to make sure that what you're producing is what others will be able to see as you see it.

 

[Frank Stellitano]

Just for others who read this, if you're shooting Raw then the color space makes no difference in-camera as the sensor is likely capable of capturing colors beyond either sRGB or Adobe RGB, and does in the raw file. Color space matters more when you create a JPEG for viewing or printing as monitors and printers may be limited as to the colors they can recreate so you want to make sure that what you're producing is what others will be able to see as you see it.

Oops, been so long since discussing this topic, I forgot. Thank you for the correction.

 

[Ferenc MÓGOR]

Send RAW files from camera to PC via wi-fi using EOS Utility. Open and convert RAW files in Adobe ACR, import to Photoshop. Save final images as JPG in a sub-folder to the same folder where RAWs reside.

 

[Chris Summers]

Everything I shoot is perfect right out of the camera!

OK, just kidding. I import into my lightroom catalog from the card or cards via a reader. I made the decision some years ago to create DNG files and delete the RAW ones afterwards. I then cull the folder from within Lightroom to remove obvious bad shots but I am not overly critical.... sometimes shots have potential with all the new software out there. And sometimes I bracket exposures that I may do something with later so only the mistake shots get x'd and deleted. I then flick through them and hit the 1 star for all the shots I want to work on, go back and work on them and if I am satisfied I hit the P key which flags them. Sometimes I use 3rd party software like Topaz or Luminar Neo but not always. If I am sharing my picks on social media or to an album on Flickr I typically save as a jpeg with the longest side at 2000 px and 100PPI which is fine for that. If I am printing of course a higher res file is saved.

I'd add that I am big into renaming images pretty much once they are in Lightroom. Goes back to when I ran my studio and was shooting film. I still use a naming system that I used with my business based on the year, job or project number, sequence number and brief description. When you have 100,000 images or more it helps to be organized.

The important thing is to build a workflow that works for you and be consistent. What others do or the "experts" say is irrelevant.

 

[PKM-UK]

I am an enthusiastic hobbyist, so have no-one to please but myself (and, of course, Karen ). I do all of our processing.

My typical workflow (it can vary) is - we shoot raw -> Import to Lightroom Classic (renaming/ group key-wording/ weeding etc...) -> 'keeper' raws via plug-in -> DxO PhotoLab Elite (initial basic processing, inc. colour rendering, lens profile, noise reduction and other adjustments as needed) -> export as DNG -> Lightroom Classic (tweaks) -> [* Anything Else] -> Lightroom Classic (image specific key-wording/ export as jpg).

[* Anything Else can be 'nothing', but may involve: DxO FIlmPack/ ViewPoint/ Nik Collection, Adobe Photoshop (including Tony Kuyper TK8), Topaz Labs DeNoise AI/ Sharpen AI/ Gigapixel AI/ Photo AI, Studio 2. It depends on where I take things creatively]

All keeper raws and final jpgs are retained, non-keeper raws and most interim DNG/ TIFF files are deleted. My data back-up strategy can be found Here.

Phil

 

[Only RF]

Cull files using Canon's DPP to delete unwanted files. Import into Lightroom Classic while using an ISO adaptive preset specific for each camera. Texture, Clarity, Dehaze, Sharpening, Detail, Masking and Noise reduction automatically apply for each files ISO. Then in LrC depending on edits required.

Event editing. I don't shoot for cash anymore so a larger amount of files to edit for a charity, etc. I select all the files, flip the sync switch to Auto Sync and press Auto. Each file is analyzed independently. I then I go through each file and pick a profile, level, crop verify exposures, etc and then export.

Hobby editing. Decide on which file I want to work on. Does it need to go to a 3rd party app? If no then I go to a) - If yes then I go to b)

a) Press Auto and go over it to make sure I'm happy. Select a colour profile further fine tune in far more detail than I would for an event edit.

b) Send the file one file to Topaz Photo AI and one to DXO PureRaw. Back in LrC the best app gets the job. No two files are the same so sometimes PAI does better and sometimes PR does. Then follow step a).

 

[Only RF]

An edit after Adobe Denoise was released. Changes for hobby editing, I removed PureRaw off my OS and don't really see the need for Topaz Photo AI anymore.

Cull files using Canon's DPP to delete unwanted files. Import into Lightroom Classic while using an ISO adaptive preset specific for each camera. Texture, Clarity, Dehaze, Sharpening, Detail, Masking and Noise reduction automatically apply for each files ISO. Then in LrC depending on edits required.

Event editing. I don't shoot for cash anymore so a larger amount of files to edit for a charity, etc. I select all the files, flip the sync switch to Auto Sync and press Auto. Each file is analyzed independently. I then I go through each file and pick a profile, level, crop verify exposures, etc and then export.

Hobby editing. Decide on which file I want to work on and I run the file through Denoise. Press Auto and go over it to make sure I'm happy. Select a colour profile further fine tune in far more detail than I would for an event edit.

If it needs some de-blurring then I send it to Topaz Sharpen AI. I don't use that often as I delete most of the OOF files when I do the first cull.

 

[ACEkin]

I have been using Lightroom as the intake engine for many years now. I have prepared import presets for each camera I use so their images go into specific camera folders. As part of the import preset, a brief copyright notice is added to the metadata. I try to add keywords as the first step, if they were of the same type, I add the keyword or words in the import stage.

I move from global to local adjustments, starting with the white balance, tonal structure, angle, and perspective correction, cropping, sharpening, and slight noise reduction if necessary. Then as necessary, I make local adjustments using masks. In the past, that step required a roundtrip to Photoshop but after the new masking feature in Lightroom, I try to do it there. I only export an image to JPEG if I have a specific use for it, like publishing on my site. I do the printing from Lightroom if I need to print.

I keep a calibrated monitor and pay attention to my editing environment. I believe the environment in which we edit our work is quite important. I have written on these subjects on my Web site which I have been maintaining for about 20 years. Warning: It can be a time-sink with close to 700 articles! I am not putting links here, but if there are specific questions or topics of interest, I will be glad to point in that direction.