Damien Symonds

One thing I realise I haven't asked - how do you feel about the natural shadows that appear below some of these fabrics? Stay or go?

Yeah, it's a REALLY tricky one, all right. I guess you'll have to leave the raw edit a bit darker; but then you're condemning yourself to VERY painstaking masking of the white Solid Color layer around those threads.

Well yes, I realise it isn't very comforting But I figure it's important for you to be fore-warned. Make sure you post back if I can help further.

Well yes, I guessed that was the case, but I warn you that it doesn't mean you're entirely out of the woods. Have you read this article? https://www.damiensymonds.net/2015/02/moire.html

Gosh. Was it any more visible than this SOOC? I wonder if it might be necessary to change the raw processing a little?

Are you still there, @Chantal?

Holy moley. That's a different matter. May I see a closeup of those threads?

Um ... ok.

Well, we need to clarify the difference between the file itself, and how you're viewing it. I have no doubt that your 16-bit file is as perfect and smooth as you'd expect it should be. But no matter whether your file is 16-bit, 20-bit, 100-bit, or even a thousand-bit, you're still only viewing it on your screen. And your screen, unless you've spent big money on one of those 10-bit jobs, is 8-bit at most. (Some older screens were even lower!). I don't profess any great technical expertise in this matter. But my guess is that you're right, in a roundabout way, about the dither on the 8-bit file. The dither is helping your screen, as much as the file itself. Does this seem plausible?

Yes, you'd better do that. It might, but let's not re-invent the wheel. You've already done that photo, so post another one for me.

It's funny, I've actually been having this exact same conversation in another thread, but it's in the Premium Area, which is why you didn't find it in your search. You are absolutely right to be skeptical about this bracketing business. It's rarely necessary. Generally, you'd just use the middle-weight one (the left-hand one in your set of three above). PLEASE post them in class when you start to edit them.

Actually, it is the other photo that needs the Solid Color method. I could have suggested an alternative method for this one, but at the end of the day, the Solid Color method works for any image with hard edges.

Hi Chantal, I'll need to see 100% crops of the problems.

Yes, we can discuss this one. Go ahead and do the raw processing, then post the SOOR.

Probably not related to the problem, but 22GB is well short of the minimum 1/3rd free space that Brian always recommends. You definitely must run Glary or similar - such an old machine will have a LOT of clutter on it. Also, taking the time to run this will be very beneficial. We need to explore this. These old files you tried opening - were they very similar to this one? That is, black with very faint colour painted on them? No other sample image will do. This problem is VERY specific to this kind of file. Which brings me, of course, to another question - how often do you do this kind of work? I mean, black with other colours painted on faintly? I'm trying to glean how certain you are that this is a new problem.

Oh, phew. Nothing else I can think of.

@lacogada?

Gee, the HP shouldn't be at 150%, should it?

It seems that you don't understand that the painting is done on the mask, not on the image itself? In any case, I suspect it might be a moot point at the moment, because your floral photo looks like it needs a different method for whitening its background. That's why I need to see its SOOR.

No, I don't think so. My wife has a GoPro and I've never noticed the problem. It's more likely a problem in your workflow. Not outside of class, sorry This is fundamental stuff.

By the way, I noticed that your photo is untagged. This is really bad. Always make sure your images have their profile attached when saving.

There are really no "tricks" to this editing, I promise. It's just good clean raw processing followed by good clean Levels editing. Student gallery

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