Damien Symonds

Yes, but you have to be REALLY sure you're only doing good, not damage, to every part of the photo. The reason we wait until Photoshop isn't because Photoshop is better at strong contrast, to use your example. It's because you don't add strong contrast until after you've completely manipulated the photo so it's PERFECTLY lit. Every inch of it, top to bottom, left to right. If you add strong contrast to a photo that's not quite ready for it, disaster happens. For example, a photo of three people ... two of them are well lit, but the third is standing in a tiny bit of shadow. If you add the strong contrast before you've brightened that person to match the other two, he or she suddenly goes from being a bit too dark to a LOT too dark. Hope this makes sense. It'll make a LOT more sense once you've taken the Levels Class.

This is what the Levels Class is for, Emma. Please don't wait any longer. In the meantime, can you post this one in the Raw Class so I can check your edit?

Very important reading: https://www.damiensymonds.net/2010/03/bit-about-soft-proofing.html https://www.damiensymonds.net/2014/07/proof-setup-working-cmyk-not-really.html

Oh gee, no, that's really bad. Press Cmd Y to turn proof colors off.

Yes, that's what I saw too. And it means that those files are completely useless. How disappointing!!!! Use your own photos.

All photos are RGB. Do you mean Adobe RGB? Or even ProPhoto RGB? https://www.damiensymonds.net/2010/11/colour-modes-vs-colour-spaces.html

Hmmm ... something doesn't add up here. Why do these file have a grey border around them?

Yep, that seems to work.

Great! Have you considered putting a border around the photos? Layer>Layer Style>Stroke Once you've added Stroke to one of the photos, you'll see it listed below the layer in the Layers panel. To copy it to the others, Option-drag it to the next layer, and the next, and so on. I don't know of a way to apply it to all layers at once, I'm sorry.

Hi Roleen, do you mind posting the photos you mentioned?

No, copy my numbers EXACTLY.

May I have a screenshot, showing your layers panel and the channel mixer window?

Yes, that's correct.

Good. Now walk away. It won't get any better than this.

May I see a 100% crop of the areas?

Yes, the banding would seem very likely to be the fault of the album designer. But the magenta problem you mentioned - I don't see how that can be related. That just sounds like a printing error. Have you discussed these issues with the lab?

I think just replace it with a gradient. Download the PSD file

Oh, gee, I thought the other way would have been better - match the bottom to the top.

Is it the same printer you've always used?

Hmmm ... do you think maybe the bottom lip needs to be more like the top lip colour?

Try this: https://www.damiensymonds.net/2015/06/the-wonderful-dust-scratches-filter.html

Maybe another little Levels layer, with the middle slider on the red channel on 1.25, and the middle slider on the blue channel on 0.90.

You're totally welcome. I enjoyed it.

Sorry about my delayed reply. I hope you'll find this worth the wait ... 1. Make your blank file, and add your Solid Color layer for the surround colour: 2. There will, of course, be a normal pixel mask attached to the layer. But for this, we need a vector mask. So just hit the "Add mask" button: 3. This will add a vector mask to the layer (1). If you haven't ever seen this before, it will look weird, I know - having two masks on a layer seems strange. You can right-click and delete the first mask if it suits you, but I didn't bother for this demonstration. Now choose the elliptical shape tool (2) then make sure it's set to "Subtract from shape area" in the Options Bar (3). This will look different depending on your version of Photoshop - if it's not a little icon like mine, it might be a little drop-down menu instead. Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll find it ok. 4. At this point, it might be useful to turn on grids. Then draw your first big circle with the shape tool. If you have the "subtract" setting selected properly, it will create a hole in the middle of the layer, revealing the white Background layer underneath: 5. With the same tool selected, draw an ear-shaped oval: 6. Now choose the Direct Selection Tool or the Path Selection Tool. Either will work in this case, I think. The shortcut should be A. 7. Click on the oval you just drew to select it. (If you have the Path Selection Tool, simply clicking on it should be enough. If you have the Direct Selection Tool, you might need to Option-click.) Then, Cmd T to transform it. Rotate it, move it, and resize it as needed, until it's just where you want it: 8. After transforming you'll press Enter/Return to get rid of the transform handles, then Option-drag the ear across to copy it: 9. Then Edit>Transform Path>Flip Horizontal: 10. Then move it into place: 11. Then, if you're like me, you'll find that Mickey is looking good, but he's not positioned correctly within the image. To move him as a whole, just choose the Move Tool as normal, and move him to where you want him: 12. Finally, you can return to the Background layer, and start dragging images in from Bridge to commence building your design:

Well, you're doing two things wrong. The first is using a cable. https://ask.damiensymonds.net/topic/8647-why-use-a-card-reader/ The second is importing. https://www.damiensymonds.net/importing-video