Damien Symonds

Good.

Try these: https://www.damiensymonds.net/2015/09/black-boxes-and-other-weird-behaviour.html

That is very weird. I've never seen it before.

103%

Screenshot please.

Only while the transform handles are active. As soon as you hit Enter, they go away, yes?

Oh shit, duh! Never straighten with the crop tool. https://www.damiensymonds.net/2010/01/straightening-horizons.html

Also, with Content Aware turned off? Also, with no values at all in the options bar?

Does it do this if you crop the WHOLE photo? I mean, draw the crop marquee so it reaches every edge, thereby not actually cropping at all?

Ok, there are a few things wrong here. The first is that you're viewing at 111%. Only view at 100% when judging stuff like edges, noise, sharpness, etc. The second is that you're cropping at 2:3 shape. I can't think of a single reason why you'd do that. Can you explain your purpose for doing so? The third is that you don't have "Delete Cropped Pixels" checked in the Crop Tool options bar. That must always be checked. The fourth is that you don't have Document Profile turned on. https://www.damiensymonds.net/art_tscs000.html

I think you need to add some broad soft shadowing to the child's back, because I reckon the light would be dimmer inside the helmet.

Yeah, much better.

It sure does. Why is there such a white glow? It looks like your masking was nowhere near precise enough.

Ok, this sounds promising. Maybe calibrate again at 90? I need you to describe the problem. First, complete this sentence for me: "The screen is _______________ (cooler/warmer) than the prints".

ALL prints need sharpening, not just big ones. You'll learn about that in the sharpening class. Sharpness has NOTHING to do with calibration. Put it out of your mind.

Yeah, I find shadows really difficult too. May I see the "before"? I mean, the photo with the Hue/Sat layer turned off?

The fact that you had to play with Gamma and Brightness so aggressively tells us that the brightness was NOT right. Yes, please start over.

To ask the question another way ... at the bottom of this page, under "How is your calibration?", which link did you choose?

Let's break this down to simpler terms. After normal calibration (before you messed with SpyderTune) your screen was brighter than your prints?

Ok, but it seems that 80 was not a good match for your prints?

During the normal calibration process, what was your Brightness target?

Gosh Kim, I don't know, I'm so sorry. Are your photos on your internal drive?

The first thing to do is unclip that layer. Clipping is not necessary here. Then it's time to add some shadow for realism. In between the two layers you have there, add a Hue/Saturation layer, and lower the Lightness slider to about -60. Then invert its mask, then start painting on some shadows under the arm and hand, with a very low opacity brush.

Please please PLEASE find the emails. If they went to junk, mark them as not junk so you don't miss any more. Yep, you've done the layers perfectly, well done.

What about the ones in February, about the Sharpening Class?