Damien Symonds

Frequently asked questions about output: Q. Pretty much any question, ever, about selling digital files to clients. A. Here. Q. Pretty much any question, ever, about photos on websites. A. Here. Q. How big can I print my photo? A. As long as the focus and quality are great, as big as you like. As big as a house if you want. Read this article, and this one, and this one. Q. I saved my photos, then viewed them, and they look different! A. Not all programs are colour-managed. Windows Viewer will make your files look different from how they looked in Photoshop, and so will Google Chrome and Microsoft Internet Explorer. On your computer, browse your photos in a colour-managed program like Bridge. On the internet, use a colour-managed browser like Firefox. Furthermore, always make sure your files are in the correct colour space. Q. Can you recommend a print lab? A. We're gradually compiling a collection of lab reviews here. Hope it helps. Q. I'm uploading my photos to the lab for printing, and they look AWFUL on screen! A. Relax. It's just your lab's online ordering software (usually ROES), it does that to everyone. As long as your screen is calibrated and your files are in the correct colour space, you have nothing to worry about. Q. Why do my photos look bad on Facebook? A. Well, because it's Facebook. Read more here. Q. What's the procedure for sending my photos to the lab to be printed? A. First, flatten the layers of your master file. Then crop your photo as desired, to the exact size and resolution you'll be printing. Next, sharpen the photo appropriately. Finally, save as a Jpeg, then upload to your lab. Q. Why is part of my photo getting cut off when printing? A. It's the classic "8x10 problem", though it can happen with most print sizes. Read all about it here. Q. My client printed their images, and now they're complaining that they look bad. A. This can happen for a frightening number of reasons. First, they generally print them at cheap places like Snapfish or Walmart or wherever. Second, they often attempt to print the low res files you gave them to use on social media. Sometimes the files have been shrunk in the process of emailing them. Sometimes clients try to print them from their phones! Sometimes they've tried to add some kind of awful instagram-style filter and printed that. I don't want to say "I told you so", but ... I told you so. The first step in diagnosis is to ask the client to send you the file they had printed. If it looks different in size or colour to the file you sent to them, you know something has gone wrong at their end. If it looks the same as your file, then either you messed up the colour space (fix it and apologise profusely), or the lab messed up the print (encourage them to use a better lab). Q. I need to print a huge banner. How should I prepare the file? A. This is a question you'll need to ask the printer directly. They'll have specific requirements for colour, resolution, vector art, and so on. Q. I need to display my images on a projector at a meeting. What size should I make them? A. If possible, find out the resolution of the projector being used. If that's not possible, I think it's a good bet to go with the "HD" standard - 1920 pixels wide. Q. I'm printing business cards/flyers/or other marketing materials and my printer is asking for CMYK. What do I do? A. Read about CMYK here. Don't take any chances - post immediately if you need my help. Q. I have an iPhone picture that I want to print large. How big can I print? A. Modern phone pictures tend to have plenty of pixels, so your main concern is the focus and quality of the image, rather than its size. Examine the photo closely and critically. If the quality is good, print it as huge as you like. If you're not sure, post it for me to help you assess.

Frequently asked questions about Photoshop and Photoshop Elements: (For FAQs about Bridge and ACR, scroll down to the next post.) Q. Any questions involving colour spaces, colour profiles, or colour modes. A. The answer is almost always sRGB. Sort it out here. Q. A tool is misbehaving! (eg Brush Tool not painting properly, Clone Tool not showing the cloned area properly, Marquee Tool not selecting properly, etc) A. Try resetting the tool first. Q. I'm editing a layer, but I can't see my adjustments! A. This usually means there's another layer (a pixel layer) above the layer you're trying to edit, hiding your edits from view. Try turning off all the layers above your layer, to see if your adjustments are visible. More information about layer order here, here and here. Q. I'm trying to paint on a layer or a mask, but it's really weak! A. Check the Options Bar - make sure your Brush Tool is on "Normal" mode, and the Opacity is at 100% (also the Flow, if your version has it). Also, check the colour swatch in the toolbar - sometimes you're not painting with the colour you think you are. If all else fails, reset the tool. Q. My image has random boxes appearing all over it! A. Try these solutions first. If that fails, fill this out then start a new thread. Q. My Brush Tool cursor looks like a tiny crosshair! A. Sometimes this is because your brush size is very big, and you're zoomed in very close to your image. But more often it's because you've got caps lock on. Q. All my tools and panels have disappeared! A. First, try pressing the Tab key. If that doesn't work, try pressing the F key a number of times. If that still doesn't work, go to Window>Workspace>Reset workspace. More information here. Q. I pressed something and now my whole image is black-and-white! A. Often this means you're accidentally viewing one channel only. Press Ctrl/Cmd 2 to view the RGB again. Q. I just launched Photoshop and all my actions have disappeared! A. This happens to everybody occasionally, and a few unfortunate people frequently. Make sure your actions are saved in the dedicated Actions folder that was created on your hard drive when you installed Photoshop, then reload them into Photoshop. If the problem persists, fill this out and start a thread about it. Q. My images look different in colour between Photoshop and other programs. A. This is a colour space issue relating to output. See the FAQs in the Output forum. Q. I'm trying to edit or save an image and Photoshop is giving me a "Scratch Disk" or "RAM" error. A. This usually means your computer is too full. Check Adobe's website to find the minimum recommended amount of RAM to run your software, and check your hard drive to make sure it has at least one third of free space. If you're still having trouble, fill this out and start a new thread.

Frequently asked questions about monitor calibration: Q: I've just calibrated and my screen looks a lot different. Did something go wrong? A: Maybe something went wrong, or maybe something went right! Maybe your screen is correct for the first time ever. Either way, you can't know until you compare it to pro lab prints. Please follow my calibration instructions to the letter. Q: I've just calibrated and my screen doesn't look different at all. Did something go wrong? A: Maybe something went wrong, or maybe your screen was very accurate already. The only way to know is by comparing to prints from a pro lab. Q: I've just recalibrated, or bought a new screen. Do I need new prints? A: No, not at all. The prints you already have are fine. Your lab doesn't change the way it prints just because one of their customers has newly calibrated. Compare the prints you have to the screen, to see if the calibration was successful. Q: How many prints should I have, and what size should they be, for verifying my monitor calibration? A: Half a dozen should be plenty - enough to show a range of tones. And they don't need to be very big - 5x7 or 8x10 is ample. More info here. Q: My prints look horrible. I think something went wrong with my calibration. A: The purpose of monitor calibration is to make your screen match your prints. Not just your favourite prints - ALL your prints. So if your prints look horrible, your screen should look exactly the same shade of horrible. Then you can confidently re-edit your photos, knowing that you won't make them look horrible again. Q: My screen's brightness won't go low enough to match my prints. A: In most cases, this means that the light in your room isn't bright enough. But in some very rare cases, you might have to do this. Q: My screen's brightness won't go high enough to match my prints. A: This is exceedingly rare, and quite worrying. Please make a new post immediately and we'll see what we can figure out. Q: My laptop's screen changes brightness depending on its angle. A: This is a BIG problem, of course. If at all possible, invest in a good desktop monitor to plug in to your laptop, and edit on that instead. If that's not possible for you at this stage, this device might be a useful solution in the meantime. Q: Can I use prints from my home printer to verify calibration? A: No. Not even if it's the fanciest, most expensive printer money can buy. Not even if you'll never ever use a lab for the rest of your life. You still need prints from a pro lab to verify your monitor calibration. If you use your own prints to verify your own screen, you're working in what's called a "closed-loop" environment. Your screen might match your printer perfectly, but if they both don't match the rest of the world's standards, every photo you post on the internet will look wrong to everyone else. Q: Can I share my calibrator with a friend? A: Technically, yes, it will work. Legally, it might not be permissible. Check the manufacturer's website for more information before doing so. Q: Can I calibrate a TV? A: If it's connected to a computer, and acting as a monitor, then yes, you should be able to. But remember that TVs are not meant to be monitors. They're certainly not meant to be edited on. So make sure you're using the TV for a legitimate reason. Q: I have an desktop screen plugged in to my laptop. Can I calibrate both screens? A: Base-level calibrators such as the Spyder Express won't allow you to calibrate dual screens, but all good calibrators can do so. It's usually a simple matter of moving the calibration software window onto the screen you wish to calibrate. Q: Further to the previous question, do I need to calibrate both screens? A: If you're only ever going to be editing on one of them, then no, you don't need to calibrate the other one if you don't feel like it. But I've found that if one screen is calibrated and the other one isn't, the difference in colour can be noticeable to the point of distraction. So it might be a good idea to take a few minutes to do the other one. Q: I've calibrated both screens, and they don't match! A: Alas, this is very common. It's almost impossible to make them look exactly the same as each other. See which one matches your prints best, and use that one as the main editing screen; while leaving the other one for your windows, emails, etc. Q: My screen doesn't look sharp! A: Check the control panel to make sure it's set to the correct resolution. Also, check that you're using the best cable to connect the screen to the computer (HDMI and DVI are good, VGA usually not so good, although this isn't a set-in-stone rule). Q: The Apple salesperson said Macs don't need calibrating. A: Yeah, they often say that. It's baloney. All screens need calibrating, if you wish to edit photos on them.

Overlay blend mode is the key here, as you'll see. The warming filter I added afterwards (but put it under the Hue/Sat layers) because the rock and the skin looked incongruous. Download the file here.

This might be useful from time to time ... I guess ... Download the file here.

Yet another variation of the matte style. As always, midtone contrast first, followed by the Levels layer to kill the blacks. In this case, there is also a vignette layer in between. Download the file here.

Self-explanatory, I guess. Download the file here.

Because purple makes everything prettier ... NOT! Download the file here.

Another VSCO-ish one. Download the file here.

An attempt at a VSCO-style edit. Download the file here.

Turning day into night. My masking is a bit clumsy on this one, but you'll get the idea. The first layer is based on this method. Download the file here.

Probably the most grotesque thing I've ever created. Still, somebody liked it. Download the file here.

For those times when you can't actually wait until the sun is setting. Download the file here.

Why oh why won't this awful style go away? Download the file here.

I think we were on drugs when we did this one. Download the file here.

Going for that rich orange look that people love as winter approaches. Download the file here.

An inverted High Pass layer to give that softer look, then an aggressive vignette and just a hint of purple - not enough to make me throw up, but just enough to put me off my lunch. Note: If working from a raw file, it would be much better to use the Clarity slider (to the left) than the High Pass layer. But if you want to use High Pass, you simply duplicate the background layer and change its blend mode, then use Filter>Other>High Pass, then invert the layer. Download the file here.

Pretty self-explanatory. Download the file here.

A high pass layer for extra "grunge", then a layer to add warmth, followed by an aggressive darkening layer. Download the file here.

A blur layer first, then a few layers manipulating the light, then that awful purple again. Download the file here.

A hazy golden hour thing going on. Download the file here.

This one is all sorts of weird. I don't know what we were thinking. Download the file here.

Red haze followed by near-white haze. Download the file here.

On this one, I did the Levels layer first. Then I added the D&B layer below it, when I realised I wanted a bit more darkness in that area. Normally you'd add new layers on top of other layers, but that's not necessarily the case when adding artistic effects. Generally the artistic layer/s remain on top. Download the file here.

First, a Levels layer using the Output sliders to add a bit of colour haze; then a plain layer on Soft Light mode, painted with various colours. Download the file here.