The 72 dpi myth was something that had me scratching my head years ago.  I was wanting to use some high end compositing packages to edit photos, but I was concerned about the fact that they deal in video “speak” and 72dpi was/is the norm.  So I was wondering how I could get an image I was working on in 300 dpi, there and back and not lose resolution.  I felt so dumb when I found out about the whole DPI myth and how it was/is tied to legacy printers, etc.

I still get people losing sleep over this stuff so I’m going to link a site with a ton of info on it.  There are a TON of other sites online.  If you want more opinions, just google:

72 dpi
72 dpi myth
The DPI Myth

…etc.

All About Digital Photos
http://www.rideau-info.com/photos/index.html

The Myth About DPI
http://www.rideau-info.com/photos/mythdpi.html

How to Properly Change DPI
http://www.rideau-info.com/photos/changedpi.html

I hope this helps clarify.

HDR tutorial requests about my high dynamic range imaging workflow have come in via email (my photography site email) for a couple of years now. Again a couple more last night, but this time through the form on this site that I finally “fixed”.

So my question is… what do you need help with the most? Use the Contact Me page to send me what area you need help in the most whether it be HDR Capture (camera settings), choosing a camera for HDR Capture, HDR Post Production like HDR in Photoshop or HDR in other apps, Tonemapping, or otherwise.

In 2006 when I first heard about HDR there was very scarce information online to work off of.  HDR Tutorials were geared towards grunge looks and I was seeking to provide my clients nearly photo realistic looks for real estate work. Back then there were very few players in the market for applications and I decided to just use Photoshop from Merge to HDR – to tonemapping – to final tweaks.

Late last year weather turned bad here for weeks so I took some time to peek around the net and even some books at Barnes and Noble just to see what was out there in terms of HDR Tutorials and HDR Training.  I was amazed to see so many “gurus” or folks posting tutorials either slamming Photoshop for HDR work or quickly moving folks on to Photomatix because the sliders are easier to work with for beginners.  The slider issue I understand totally, but the steering away from Photoshop for HDR work I don’t get at all.

For example, one of the many things I like about using Photoshop for HDR is it is a complete high dynamic range pipeline from raw to final output.  That and you can view the entire exposure range in pieces simply by opening up multiple windows of the same view.  You navigate to the top menu to WINDOW>ARRANGE>NEW WINDOW and presto, another window of the same file you are working on opens in a new window.  If you just merged to HDR here in 32 bit space in Photoshop, then this second window has another exposure slider at the bottom to change at will that has no impact on the file, it is simply for viewing purposes.  You use the slider at the bottom of that new window to adjust the exposure range of the image you want to view in that one window.

That slider  is NOT some kind of adjustment layer, it is just for viewing purposes.  So you can open multiple windows, place the exposure slider to various under/over exposed settings so that as you make changes to the document here in 32 bit space, those changes update in each window.  This way, you can make local or global changes using various adjustment levels over either parts of the image or the entire image and see the results across the ENTIRE exposure range via viewing the multiple windows you’ve opened.

Here is a screen capture to understand what I’m talking about.  What you see is nine windows opened and I’ve adjusted the exposure slider at the bottom of each window.  I took that screen capture after I had merged to HDR and before I made my tweaks in Photoshop in 32 bit space.  Once I finished my adjustments and then tonemapped out to a 16 bit TIFF, I made some final tweaks right there in photoshop and the image on the bottom was the result.

Photoshop is VERY capable at creating photo real images as a single application pipeline – from Merge to HDR to final output right in Photoshop.  I would say if Photoshop’s pipeline has a major fault it is that it is TOO GOOD at keeping saturation levels under control and makes creating grunge and technicolor images a more difficult process because it doesn’t over saturate colors and it doesn’t create wacky artifacts like other applications do.

It blows me away when I see “gurus” poo pooing photoshop as being lacking for editing HDR images.  There are so many things you can do right there after merging to HDR waaaaaaaay before you ever go to the menu to choose IMAGE>MODE>16 bit to tonemap it down.  And you can work in layers in 32 bit mode just as you can in any other mode so if you know photoshop well already, then why are you taking your HDR images to other applications, then bringing them back to photoshop when you could just do everything right there in Photoshop?

Give it a chance.

I can’t provide a link to an online tutorial showing how to take advantage of the full capabilities of Photoshop’s HDR workflow because I never found anyone else using it like I do.  I’m sure others use it this way and they are either too busy shooting to create tutorials (I can relate to that) or such tutorials do exist and I never found them.

Like I said, with nobody to turn to in 2006, I just starting farting around in Photoshop and eventually figured stuff out on my own.  Even Photoshop CS4 still has ZERO help files for working this way in 32 bit space, which is probably why so many folks use Photomatix Pro and the like.

Recently I tutored a photographer and while in Photoshop he mentioned that I’m a Photoshop Speed Demon. I’m not so sure I’m the fastest one out there, but I’ll tell you one thing that changed my life. It’s not a photoshop tip per se, it is a device that I use to speed up my workflow in photoshop (and other apps).

A brief run through history of how I got to this point. Like others (possibly yourself), I wanted to increase my productivity by converting repetitive tasks into actions that I could play back with keyboard short cuts.  So I created a dozen or so actions, associated keyboard shortcuts to those actions and for awhile I was content.

Then one night it dawned on me. Rather than keyboard shortcuts which take two or three keys pressed to activate, how could I dumb it down to one key.  More importantly, how could I get those one key strokes in one place on the keyboard, but also gather things like the “[" and "]” keys which control the brush size for when I want to paint on a mask or work with the stamp tool, clone tool, etc, etc.

I took a peak around sometime around 2008 and I settled on the Nostromo n52 (pictured below). The belkin nostromo n52 product link is HERE

As you can see, it has a keypad and a thumb joystick and various other buttons.  Now I’m not going to bore you with the details of each button and what I assigned it to, but when I am working in Photoshop I only need my mouse and that nostromo n52 gaming pad.  I don’t even touch my keyboard, but once or twice an hour when using Photoshop.  I’ll share a few vital keystrokes and anyone that does work with layers will relate to how easy this is for me now.

With my left hand on the pad, my left index finger sits on the top right key which I mapped as the “B” key to toggle on the BRUSH tool.  The key to the left of it is my middle finger and I’ve mapped that to the “X” key to switch back and forth between foreground/background colors which I usually have at White/Black for when dealing with masks.  The thumb joystick is where I mapped the “[" and "]” keys.  So if I press higher (top key on joystick) it bumps the size of the brush up a notch, pressing down makes the size of the brush lower.

As you can see with that index finger, one tap I get the brush tool and my thumb controls the size up or down and my middle finger switches the foreground/background color of the brush white/black so I can easily paint on masks very quickly.  I of course have another key stroke equal to command+Z for undo.   Also, that big red button above the joystick control I have set to command+shift+F which brings up the fade dialogue box.  So no matter if I just laid down a stroke or ANYTHING else in photoshop and want to fade that effect by 1-100%, that big red button brings up that dialogue.  For a final comment I have that key below the joystick for the thumb set to the spacebar for when I want to grab the canvas and pan, etc.

There are actually 14 keys on the pad plus a scroll wheel that can be pressed down like a key press and scrolled in either direction for additional commands.  Many of the keys on that keypad I have mapped to shortcuts to actions in the action panel.  Some of those actions are very intense 3-10 step actions that I used to do repetitively over and over using the mouse, keyboard and menu system.  Now they are just one key presses and my left hand doesn’t have to play “twister” all over the main keyboard as it used to.

Now here is the mind blowing part.  There are actually 3 “states” the keypad can be in so that technically the pad can be put in quickly so that you actually can map all those keys three times over.  That is information overload for me and I thought it would actually defeat my goal of one click key pressing so I ignored it.  The n52 works on Mac and PC, but I bought it two years ago so check the specs before you purchase.

Now did this take me a little while to play with and to get used to? Yes.  It took me a week before it stopped costing me more time to recall what each keystroke was equal to, but I have saved countless hours since by speeding up my edit sessions for portraits, landscapes and real estate shoots.  And photoshop is not the only application I use it in.

And when I want to switch to my PC I just unplug the USB connection and then go plug it in my PC and work with the PC apps I use.  Of course this means keystrokes for that new app are different, but I was surprised at how well I could compartmentalize things from app to app (your mileage may vary).

There may be better devices on the market than the n52, but it works for me and my hand sits comfortably on the hand cradle so that I can use it for many hours a day without strain. I also have a Wacom Intuos 6×8 tablet which I use when those rare edits benefit from from time to time as well, but I’ve found I’m far faster with a mouse and the n52.