greymule wrote:
Another question- when is the best time to use Topaz noise reduction? I just purchased Denise, sharpen and upsize from Topaz- all for $99.
Thanks for the replies. They all make perfect sense. My workflow has been
open in ps raw
make obvious adjustments
open in ps
make final adjustments, including reopening raw where I can.
Please feel free to correct me.
Try applying noise reduction at different points in your workflow. I think you'll find that applying it first provides the cleanest images. I don't use Topaz anymore, but this works with On1 NoNoise and DXO PhotoPlan Prime, though Prime really only addresses noise, not sharpening.
So, my workflow is simple.
1. Transfer all images to a temporary folder for culling, using FastStone Image Viewer.
2. Once I've deleted the "beyond any hope of being useful" images I use Lightroom to import all the remaining files into they final destination in my Pics master folder. I have an import present that applies lens profiles, Auto tone settings, mild sharpening, camera profile, etc, and changes the file names to one that adds camera identification, a new sequence number starting at 0001 for the set. I also build 1:1 previews for all of the images. Once imported I add a top level keyword, identifying the name of the shoot/trip/event/etc. to the entire set.
3. I go make myself a latte, or a cocktail, enjoy it and come back to the computer after all the images have been ingested and tagged and renamed, and all previews are built.
4. Next comes raw editing. If an image needs the help of noise reduction and sharpening it goes through either DXO PhotoPlan or On1 NoNoise before any actual editing is concerned. This can be redundant, because each of the programs will revert to the raw "image as captured" version of the shot and apply noise reduction (Prime) or noise reduction and sharpening (NoNoise) and exports them back to LR as dng. At this point I use all the tools available to make the best images possible while still in raw, then I convert the dng or raw file to psd, 16 bit with ProPhoto color space and export to Photoshop using the edit in command, and the default external processor which is Photoshop - for more advanced editing if necessary.
5. When done in Photoshop, saving the image will place an edited psd file alongside the original in the catalog. I can choose from among 12 export presets to create a jpeg for distribution based on the requirements of the specific destination.
For smaller "jobs" I will modify the above, importing directly into LR, skipping the cull step in FastStone. Smaller sets of images can be processed just as fast or faster that way.
This almost took longer to write than it does to execute, BTW.