Christina Keddie

This is exactly how I save my photos for FB. 2048 is the size that renders best on phones and tablets, so that's what I go with rather than 960. Be sure to sharpen properly for web, of course, and this is about the best you can do to get around FB's compression algorithms.

Not a larger file, but a 100% crop from the master file to show the texture of the blotchiness. http://www.damiensymonds.net/2013/09/grabbing-700x700px-100-crop.html

Damien will help you with the hair color, I promise! But you have GOT to do all your raw processing (including noise removal) before you ever bring this file into PS for edits like the hair color.

I'd say it's time to buy a monitor calibrator...

Can you post a 700x700px 100% crop of the chin, please?

Also, how are you taking files from LR to PS? And what are you doing to the file in PS prior to trying to run these actions? And when do you notice that the background layer name is Layer 0 -- immediately upon opening in PS, or after you've already done things to the file or tried running the actions?

Because your screen is wrong. Your prints are correct. You need to view your prints in good bright white light, and make your screen match those prints exactly.

Definitely safer to get a new card. This card will corrupt files again, and you don't want it to corrupt irreplaceable files. Also: DON'T IMPORT INTO PHOTOS!!! Please close that evil program down as soon as it ever opens, and import your files directly onto your hard drive where you maintain total control over them!

Also, if you ever forget the URL to Damien's site, there's a link at the very top of this Q&A site that says "Search Damien's resources," next to the search bar for the forums. That link will take you directly to Damien's website.

But they're not overprocessed. Leaving any noise means you can't sharpen for output properly, which necessarily means that your output files are, by definition, not as good as they could be. Just some food for thought for you: http://www.damiensymonds.net/2015/10/noise-reduction-and-sharpening-leap-of.html

Green? Are you 100% sure that you sent these files to print with the sRGB color space embedded?

You've got to show us the photo. There are a whole bunch of tutorials that Damien has written that I can think of off-hand, but the best method for you depends on what you're dealing with.

That red shows you where you've masked off a layer -- so as long as you're doing your work on a separate layer, and then you start masking that work off, this shortcut key will work for you. (And of course you should always do your cloning, painting, etc. on a separate layer!) It's the \ key for the shortcut.

Oh good! You talking about ordering new test prints, and ordering them *after* you calibrated, got me worried. Always keep your original test prints for exactly this reason. (And of course, you never need to order any new test prints, unless you're concerned that your lab has started printing things differently.)

Cmd + the minus key should do it -- just hit that key combo enough times to bring the zoom back down to 100%.

Also, the way you're talking about how you calibrated makes me think you aren't following Damien's instructions? http://www.damiensymonds.net/calibration.html

How does your screen compare to your old test prints? Have you ruled out a lab error on this current batch of prints?

The prints aren't too dark. Your screen is too bright. If the prints are from a reputable pro lab, and you're confident that they haven't messed up the order, then they're the standard by which you need to measure your screen. You need to run your calibration (following Damien's instructions), and confirm that calibration by comparing your screen to your prints. Once your screen is a perfect match to your prints (i.e., once it's showing you exactly the same too-dark images that the lab printed), then you can edit the files in total confidence, knowing that what you see on your screen will be exactly what you get when you order prints. Right now, you're editing your files to be too dark, because your screen is lying to you, making you think you've got the right brightness. Once your screen is properly calibrated, you'll see how dark the file is, and you'll edit it to make it the actual right brightness.

Have you tried actually running Bridge? You'll get an error message, because Bridge requires a qualifying parent program (i.e., Photoshop) in order to run properly.

Open the action to expand all its steps -- click the little arrow next to the title of the action in your actions palette.

Wait, you have PS CC? (Might want to update your profile sidebar info to reflect that! ) If you want to batch sync the timestamps on your files, you've got to download LR -- for whatever reason, Adobe built this function into LR but not into Bridge. Here's how you fix that in LR: http://www.damiensymonds.net/batch-adjust-timestamps-lightroom-sync-files

Are they disappearing, perchance, because your action includes a flatten step?

Your prints never change (unless you edit the file, or your lab messes up). It's your screen that drifts over time. That's why you have one set of test prints that you keep forever and ever, and that's why the print is the standard against which you compare your screen (not the other way around). That's also one reason why the internal calibration software is insufficient (it has no external reference point), and why Damien's instructions start with a requirement that you have test prints in hand before you start calibrating. So again -- how do your prints compare to your screen?

We actually talked about this in the FB Ask Damien a while back, and other group members had tested it -- the blue light filtered glasses definitely impact color perception. Here are a couple of the old threads: https://www.facebook.com/groups/195567190503489/permalink/940282226031978/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/195567190503489/permalink/939082452818622/

You're just trying to get them to display in order in your Finder folder? Just right-click on a white space in the folder and choose "arrange by > date captured." If you're wanting to rename the files so they're all in chronological order, that's going to be really hard for you, I'm afraid, since you have a Mac and PSE -- you need proper workflow management software to handle your files, and you don't have it right now. (No Bridge, and you can't get Faststone on a Mac.) You don't by chance have Lightroom, do you? Because that would at least give you workflow management options.