Photoshop Layers for Beginners – What, When and How to Use them Best

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Photoshop, Wide Angle, Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Raw format, JPG format, Lightroom, Outdoor Photography, Portrait Photography, Printing and Framing, Nikon, Travel Photography, How to avoid photography problems, bad mistakes, photography, video. Photography tutorial for beginners, photography, photography tips,

By: Nisha Ramroop  

This introduction to Photoshop Layers for beginners will help you learn a great editing habit. So, what exactly is a Photoshop layer? Quite simply put, if you imagine a stack of transparent paper, each sheet is equivalent to a Photoshop layer. When you add/change/remove any of the layers, what you see at the top of the stack forms your entire image.
The first time you open Photoshop, by default, the layers panel is on the right side of your screen and your image opens as a layer named “Background”. Keep this in mind as you read on.

Why use Photoshop Layers?

Now that you have an idea of what a layer is, here is why you should use them:

1. It is a way to work non-destructively

Destructive editing occurs when you move and change the pixels directly in your original image. This happens if you edit your original image/background layer when working in Photoshop. While you can undo your changes, if you exceed the number of “undos” you can apply, those changes commit. Also, you may like some changes, but not others, and there is no way to go back to just that change without undoing other changes you have made too.
Alternatively, when you edit your image on separate layers, both the edited image and the original save (they are saved to a .psd file and this maintains all your layers). This allows you to go back to your original image at any time, simply by hiding layers, or deleting them entirely.  This is a form of non-destructive editing.
One thing to remember, however, is that if you resize your entire document (via menu->image->image resize) at any point, that is a form of destructive editing, and you will lose image quality if you try to resize it back to the original size later.
As your editing style evolves, you will appreciate the option of going back to original images at a later date.

Easily add text without affecting your original image

2. It allows organized and flexible editing

Photoshop is usually a great option when you want more control over your editing process. While you start off with a certain end result in mind, you may change your mind, during (or even at the completion of) your process. Surely there are better ways than undoing multiple changes or starting over from scratch right?
Enter, layers.

Since your original image is unaffected, you can change the text at a later date

Layers allow you to work with your vision without affecting/destroying the original. Since you can work on each layer separately, you have major flexibility. With layers, you can also combine several images into one (composite), These include (but is not limited to), swapping out elements from your image, changing color, tones, and lighting, adding text and resizing, replacing or rotating an object independent of everything else in your image.

You can use layers to replace a plain sky

This non-destructive editing style allows you to undo a change at any point in time, and you have control over each individual layer. This means you can work with different objects and elements of your image without affecting anything else.

How to use Photoshop Layers

If you do not see the Layers Panel on the right-hand of your screen, you need to turn it on. To do so, go to Menu->Window->Layers.
As mentioned before, when you open an image in Photoshop, it opens as a background layer. You will notice that there is a small lock icon on the right side of the background layer. This lock is intended to prevent inadvertent changes.
The first step is usually to duplicate this layer. That way, the background layer remains untouched (original).

To start, duplicate your background layer:

1. Open an image in Photoshop
2. Right-click on the thumbnail image in your layers panel named “Background,” and choose the duplicate layer option
3. Click OK. A new layer will appear above your original layer with the default name “Background Copy” – you can rename it to anything you want. I suggest renaming it to something that relates to the changes you are making. This makes it easier to find later if you have many layers. 

As you become comfortable working with layers, you will find yourself making new layers for each change you want to make e.g. if you are retouching an image or replacing a sky. This comes with the knowledge that, later on, you can adjust the intensity of any of those changes independently.

I used Layers for Sky Replacement, with a Layer Mask to recover the top branches

Adjustment Layers

Photoshop also has another layer type called Adjustment Layers. These layers are not a duplicate of other layers; instead, they adjust the information of the layer directly beneath it. Thus you can simply use an Adjustment Layer to effect change on the image without changing the original layer image. For example, you can increase/decrease the contrast or brightness of your layer.

Notice how adjustment layers look different from other layer types. These adjust the layer below them.

Adjustment layers do not actually contain any pixels but instead are a series of instructions for Photoshop on what changes you ask it to make. You can access the Adjustments Layer menu at the bottom of the Layers panel or choose Windows and check the Adjustments option.

Layer Masks

A Layer mask is another non-destructive editing technique in Photoshop, used to control the transparency of the layer you apply it to. An even simpler definition is that a layer mask can make a layer visible or invisible. This is done by painting either white (to make it visible) or black (to make it invisible).

Blending Modes

At the upper left corner of the Layers panel is the blend modes drop-down menu. These “modes” are set to Normal by default and control how pixels on the different layers interact with each other. An easy way to understand what the different blending modes do is to duplicate your image (as described above) and cycle through them.

An example of how different blend modes change the look and feel of your image: 1. Normal 

2. Multiply 3. Soft Light 4. Vivid Light 5. Hue 6. Luminosity

Important layering notes for beginners

When there are several layers, your changes only affect the layer that is active or selected. This is why it is a good practice to name your layer (Step 3 above) based on what you are using the layer for.
You can save the edits as a Photoshop (PSD) file, close it and open it at a later date to find all your layers (and changes) as you left it. Of note, saving it this way increases the size of your file. If you are finished with your edits and don’t need a large PSD file, you can merge all the layers (or flatten the file) and save it to a smaller, more compressed file type, such as a jpeg. Of course, in doing so, you will no longer have the ability to access those individual layers later.
Layers work in order. This means that the layer on top “covers” everything below it. You can, however, reorder your layers by moving them up or down by simply dragging them. Keep in mind that the layer on the top will be most visible.

The key thing to remember as a beginner is that Photoshop layers are a recommended non-destructive way to work. It is flexible, which allows you to organize your work, effect change in selected areas, and undo changes easily.
When you do not merge your layers, you can open your Photoshop file years later and make changes, all without affecting your original image.
I hope you can utilize these Photoshop Layers for Beginners tips, and if you have any tips on this topic, please share in the comments below.


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A Beginner’s Guide to Layer Masks in Photoshop

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Photoshop, Wide Angle, Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Raw format, JPG format, Lightroom, Outdoor Photography, Portrait Photography, Printing and Framing, Nikon, Travel Photography, How to avoid photography problems, bad mistakes, photography, video. Photography tutorial for beginners, photography, photography tips,

By: Simon Ringsmuth

Adobe Photoshop has so many buttons, tools, and options it can seem overwhelming and intimidating to beginner photo editors. Rather than diving into the deep end and trying to learn every possible tool all at once, I recommend a more measured approach. Pick one thing and learn that, and then move on to the next tool or technique. And learning Layer Masks in Photoshop is one of the most important and useful tools for any editor.

High school senior, class of 2017. There is no number 17 on his shirt. I added it in Photoshop with layer masking. Nikon D200, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/90 second, ISO 200.

In 1994, Photoshop Version 3 introduced a concept that blew the doors off the image editing industry: layers. This allowed editors to stack multiple image elements on top of each other to form a complete picture. This is all well and good, but what if you put one layer on top of another layer and still want to see something on the layer below?
You could use the Eraser tool to remove part of the top layer, which is what I used to do when I first started using Photoshop years ago.
A much better solution is to use a Layer Mask, which lets you show and hide any part of a layer. Instead of using the Eraser tool, you use the Paintbrush (or other tools) to make any part of a layer visible, invisible, or transparent.
As an example, here’s a picture of a truck on a farm. It’s alright, but the sky behind the truck isn’t very dramatic.

Nikon D750, 95mm, f/2.8, 1/3000 second, ISO 100

What if I replaced the boring blue sky with this dramatic sunset? Surely that would be a much more interesting photo, and maybe help the farmer sell his truck too.

Fuji X100f, 23mm, f/16, 30 seconds, ISO 200

If the pictures of the truck and sunset are stacked in Photoshop, the truck is visible but not the sky. This is where Layer Masks in Photoshop can save the day! You can use a mask on the truck layer and then edit it to remove the sky. This would leave the truck visible but the sunset showing through.

Layers are fundamental to the image editing process in Photoshop. Layers are on top are visible, whereas layers underneath cannot be seen unless some parts of the layers on top are visible.

To add a Layer Mask, click the top layer (in this case, the truck) and choose Layer>Layer Mask>Reveal All.
Alternatively, click the Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.

The rectangle with a circle icon will add a layer mask to the selected layer.

At this point, nothing in the picture has changed because the entire layer is still visible, and nothing has actually been masked out. This is why the menu command is “Reveal All.”
The layer mask shows the entire layer to which it is applied. At this point, you can use any number of methods to remove portions of the layer you are working on.

The white rectangle is your layer mask. Click on it to select the mask, and then you can start hiding portions of the layer which it is attached to (in this case, the Truck layer).

My preferred method to show and hide Layer Masks in Photoshop is to use the Brush tool. Press the ‘B’ key on your keyboard or click the Brush tool icon on the left-side toolbar. Then start brushing the portions of the layer that you want to make invisible, just as though you were using an eraser.

Brushing the layer mask will reveal whatever is beneath the layer. Here you can see how, after a few brushstrokes, the sunset layer is starting to show through.

Notice how any part of the mask that you erase is also reflected in the thumbnail. Black portions are where the mask has been eliminated, which is a subtle but useful indicator of the work you are doing on the mask.

As you apply the brush to portions of the mask, the mask thumbnail is updated accordingly.

To completely remove the sky behind the truck, I used the Quick Selection tool to select the sky. Then I switched back to the Brush tool and brushed over the entire selected area.

It worked! The original sky is gone, replaced with a dramatic sunset. But there are some errors that I still need to fix.

At this point, a Layer Mask probably seems much more complicated than just using the Eraser tool. If you want to erase part of an image, why over-complicate the matter with masks and brushes and selections? Layer Masks provide an enormous advantage in that you can un-erase whatever you want just as easily.
With the Brush tool selected, press the ‘X’ key to invert your brush, and you can now put everything you erased back. Use the ‘[‘ and ‘]’ keys to change the size of the brush, and the ‘Z’ key to zoom in on portions of the image to get the finer details.

Invert the brush tool by pressing the X key to un-erase any part of the layer.

All the normal controls for brushes can be used when working with layer masks – opacity, smoothing, etc. This makes Layer Masks in Photoshop incredibly powerful and exponentially more useful than just using the eraser tool.

It still needs some touch-ups, but it’s a lot better than before thanks to the flexibility of layer masks.

Layer Masks can do so much more than replacing the sky. They can be used to combine any number of images, layers, and effects.
I created the picture at the top of this article with Layer Masks in Photoshop in just a few minutes. It started with the picture below of a high school senior wearing a blue shirt. Since this young man graduated in 2017, I wanted to put a 17 on his shirt. Photoshop made it easy.

A high school senior, Class of 2017. A nice big 17 would look good on his shirt.

I started by using the Fyra font for the number 17. I set the color to white and used the Soft Light blend mode to make the number look like it was part of the shirt, not just sitting on top of it. The young man’s crossed arms presented a challenge, but one that was easily solved in seconds thanks to layer masks.

What to do about his arms? Layer Masks to the rescue!

With the base layer selected, I chose the Lasso tool and selected the portion of the picture containing the arms. Then with that selection active, I right-clicked on the image and chose “New Layer via Copy.” This created a new layer in my Layers panel, which I moved to the top of the list by clicking and dragging.

With the new layer selected in my Layers panel, I went to the Layer menu and selected Layer Mask>Reveal All. This created a new masking layer, much like the truck and sunset example, that I could use to show and hide whatever portions of the arms I wanted to.

Click the white box next to Layer 1 to edit the layer mask for the top layer.

With the new Layer Mask in place, the rest of the operation was fairly simple.
I zoomed in on the image to get a closer view by pressing ‘Z’ and then clicked on the arms. Then I pressed the ‘B’ key to select my Brush tool and used the [ and ] keys to get the right size. As I brushed out the part of the top layer I did not want, I pressed the ‘X’ key to switch back and forth between erasing and un-erasing. This makes it very simple to perform fine adjustments to your layer mask.

Brush options such as Opacity and Smoothing can be used to perform edits to your layer mask with surgical precision.

With one hand on your mouse and another hand on the X key, you can quickly show and hide whatever part of your layer that you want.

Using layer masking instead of just erasing portions of an image means you can continue to manipulate your image as separate layers even after you have made your edits. Watch how the number 17 can be moved and resized without any additional editing or erasing. This is possible because the arms are a separate layer in front of the number, and the blue part of the arms layer has been erased or masked out.

Reading through all these steps to learn Layer Masks in Photoshop might seem kind of overwhelming. If you follow along step by step, it’s a lot easier than it seems. Also, there are hundreds of ways to edit layer masks to create compositions you probably thought were previously unattainable.
If you have never tried using layer masks in Photoshop, I recommend giving it a try, and see where your creativity takes you. You might find that it opens up a door to entirely new types of artistic expression and editing possibilities.
Share your results with us in the comments below!  Share this article.


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Tokina 12-24mm f/4 AT-X Pro DX II LENS – bargain ultra-wide?

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Wide Angle, Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Raw format, JPG format, Lightroom, Outdoor Photography, Portrait Photography, Printing and Framing, Nikon, Travel Photography, How to avoid photography problems, bad mistakes, photography, video. Photography tutorial for beginners, photography, photography tips,

 

By: Kim Brebach

If you’re looking for an affordable ultra-wide angle lens for your APS-C cropped sensor Canon, Nikon, Sony or Pentax DSLR in 2010, you have quite a few choices. In the last year or two, most lens makers have updated their ultra-wide offerings: Tamron replaced its 11-18mm model with a new 10-24mm (available for Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Sony), Sigma produced a new, faster 10-20mm (Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Sony), Nikon replaced its 12-24 with a 10-24mm and Olympus added a more affordable 9-18mm model to the existing 7-14 mm f/4.0.
Canon didn’t do anything but, by all accounts, the current EF-S 10-22mm is a great lens worth every dollar of its reasonable asking price. Even Ken Rockwell says it’s better than Nikon’s dearer ultra-wide. This is an EF-S lens and will only fit on APS-C (cropped) sensor Canons. All the lenses listed below are designed for cropped sensors. The list includes recently updated/replaced lenses which are still on the market:

• Canon EF-S 10mm – 22mm f/3.5-4.5 AF USM – $720
• AF-S Nikkor 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G DX ED– $850
• Sony SAL-1118 DT 11-18mm f4.5-5.6 – $650
• Olympus Zuiko ED 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 – $500
• Pentax 12-24mm f/4 ED AL IF DA – $700
• Tamron 11-18mm f/4.5-5.6 Di II Asp IF – $550
• Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II Asp IF – $500
• Tokina AT-X 124 Pro 12-24mm f/4 DX – $400/$500
• Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX, 11-16mm f/2.8 DX – $650
• Sigma 10mm – 20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM – $480
• Sigma 10-20 f/3.5 EX DC HSM – $650

Notes:
1)     The Tamron 10-24mm is available with an inbuilt AF motor for small Nikon DSLRs – D40/60/3000/5000.
2)     The Tokina 124 AT-X Pro 12-24mm is the obvious bargain here at US$400, but the inbuilt AF-motor for small Nikon DSLRs costs another $100.
3)     The Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX is faster but dearer and offers no inbuilt AF motor for Nikon.
4)     The new Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 takes the lens diameter from 77mm to 82mm. That’s a pain if you’ve invested in 77mm filters.
5)     The Pentax lens listed here looks like a Tokina 12-24mm in a different suit. It is indeed a close relative as Pentax and Tokina are both owned by Hoya. There’s no Pentax version of this Tokina.

Choosing and buying – second time around

I owned the cheaper Sigma (10-20mm f/4-5.6) not long ago but sold it on eBay a while back, mostly because it turned out fewer keepers than all the other lenses I’ve used. Still, I missed not having an ultra-wide and decided to buy the Tokina since all the reviews said that it was the sharpest and the best built, and the 12-24mm comes with an inbuilt AF motor for my trusty old Nikon D40.
The Sigma goes to 10mm, which gives almost 10 degrees more Angle of View (roughly 100 vs 110°), so it’s well worth considering if 12mm is wide enough for you. It’s 50% wider than a kit zoom, to be sure, and bear in mind that more width brings more distortion. With ultra-wide lenses, that’s the nature of the beast.
With the Sigma, sharpness was often difficult to achieve without a lot of post-processing, which I tend to avoid. Still, every once in a while, the Sigma would produce a stunning shot like this one:

These lenses need a fair bit of concentration and good technique to get the best out of, something I’ll explore in a future article. Their optics are stretched to the ragged edge and it shows when you work on the super-wide end of their zoom range. Away from the centre of the images, things tend to go a bit squishy, and the Tokina is no different from the Sigma in that regard.

Construction

The Tokina AT-X 124 Pro uses a chrome-plated brass mount plate and features an all-metal zoom unit, with polycarbonate covering the outer lens barrels. The optics include 13 elements in 11 groups, including 2 aspherical elements and an SD element. The minimum focus distance is 0.30m, and the lens features 9 aperture blades.
The lens does not extend during zooming and the non-rotating 77mm filter threads mean that filters are not affected by changing focus. It’s possible to change filters without removing the petal shaped hood. The lens uses an inbuilt micro-motor for auto-focusing, which is fast and not noisy.
Switching between auto-focus and manual is a simple matter of sliding the focus ring back and forth, which can be done in any focus position. A constant f/4 across the zoom range makes the lens useful in imperfect light conditions. Tokina offers the 11-16mm f/2.8 if you need a faster lens. A flimsy user guide that comes in Japanese, Japanese or Japanese is the only letdown.

Handling

The AT-X 124 Pro looks like pro lens costing two or three times as much, with a subtle, classy-looking crinkle finish and a quality lens cap. It feels nice as well, with none of that cheap plastic stickiness. If you dropped the 570g AT-X 124 Pro on your foot, I suspect that your toes would break before the lens. It feels a bit hefty on a small Nikon or Canon body but the barrel is only 8cm long without the hood.
Tokina’s one-touch focus clutch mechanism is pretty slick, and there is a distance scale for manual focusing. Both the zoom and focus rings move smoothly with just the right degree of resistance. Getting the lens hood on and off takes a bit of effort, as the slot is very positive. The hood is pretty substantial too and won’t come loose once it’s locked in.

Image Quality

The biggest issue with ultra-wide lenses is flare, the white-out caused by bright light in the frame. Their wide angles catch a lot more light than normal lenses, and the Tokina performs no better in this area than the Sigma despite claims of improvements for this DX II version of the lens.  You’ll see what I mean about the light in the next image – and the sun’s a long way to the left here.

On the positive side, AF is accurate and colours are realistic. The Tokina is a little sharper than the Sigma, but not to the extent the reviews suggest. The problem is worst at the 12mm end but, even at 18mm the Tokina isn’t as sharp as my Nikon kit lens. Not in a long shot, any way.
Getting right in close to the subject is often a better idea with these lenses than trying to grab an armful of landscape, and then sharpness is not such an issue.

If you want to get technical, there’s a fair amount of barrel distortion at the wide end, and a some vignetting (darkening of the image corners) but these problems are not hard to solve with a good editor. Colour fringing is much harder to correct but happens less often. The most frequent problem is flare, and it rears its head as soon as you aim the lens anywhere near bright light (the hood makes little difference).
I’ve posted a gallery of more test shot on my blog. There are some decent shots but I threw out more than ten for every I kept.
http://briard.typepad.com/get_the_picture/tokina-1224mm-f4-test-shots.html

Summing up

I’m a bit disappointed by the Tokina, mostly because so many positive reviews led me to expect more. Yes, the build quality is tremendous for the money (or any money) and yes, the price is great, but the performance is not convincing where it counts most: at the wide end of the spectrum. Lenses like this really have few other uses.
The Tokina is good for dramatic shots when you’re right in the middle of things, or in cities or buildings or rooms as long as you watch the light. And it’s good for motorbikes and cars, of course, as long as you lie on the ground.

Spending more money may not improve things – Ken Rockwell who is no fan of third-party lenses says there’s little difference in Image Quality between the Nikon 12-24mm and the Tokina (the older version without the in-built motor).

Get a Price on the Tokina 12-24mm f/4 AT-X Pro DX II LENS

• Tokina 12-24/4.0 Pro II Zoom Lens for Digital Canon EOS SLR Cameras
• Tokina 12-24MM F4 Pro II Zoom Lens for Digital Nikon SLR Cameras

Ultra-wide lenses aren’t easy beasts to use or live with and, as I hinted above, I’m planning an article on how to get the best out of them in the near future. Meanwhile, here some other views and resources:

• http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/272-tokina-af-12-24mm-f4-at-x-pro-dx-canon-lens-test-report–review?start=1
• http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/tokina_12-24_4_n15/
• http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/tokina_12-24_f4_review.html

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Introducing FE 12-24mm F2.8 GM | Sony | Lens

Sony Announces Brand-New, Ultra-Wide, 12-24mm f/2.8 Lens

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Sony, Cameras, Raw format, JPG format, Lightroom, Outdoor Photography, Portrait Photography, Printing and Framing, Nikon, Travel Photography, How to avoid photography problems, bad mistakes, photography, video. Photography tutorial for beginners, photography, photography tips,

 

By: Jaymes Dempsey July 2020

Sony has officially announced its FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM lens, which is impressively wide, and offers a very fast aperture for such a wide-angle zoom.
While Sony did release a 12-24mm zoom back in 2017, it packed an f/4 maximum aperture, which just doesn’t offer the same low-light utility as a wide-angle f/2.8.
But now, with the new 12-24mm f/2.8, Sony shooters have the opportunity to work with an ultra-fast wide-angle lens, which is perfect for any sort of night photography, and astrophotography in particular.

In terms of the lens’s specs:
A lens offering a maximum f/2.8 aperture is bound to be somewhat large, but Sony has kept both the size and the weight fairly reasonable:
5.5 in (137mm) long, 29.9 oz (847 g) heavy.
This means that landscape photographers and travel shooters won’t have too much trouble carrying the 12-24mm f/2.8 around in their bag.
The lens comes with a permanent hood, and the front element is unsurprisingly big, which means you won’t be able to use standard filters. However, Sony has designed the lens with a rear filter mount, which allows photographers to work with cut gel filters.
As for the optics:
Given that this is a GM lens, you can expect quite a lot, and early reviews seem to bear this out. The Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 is incredibly sharp, in the centers to the corners, both wide-open and stopped down.

Now, if you’re in need of a fast wide-angle zoom, you have two main options:
The new Sony 12-24mm f/2.8.
Or the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM, which is a very impressive lens in its own right.
Ultimately, picking between these lenses will come down to personal choice, but the extra 2 mm on the wide end can be pretty significant, especially for landscape and astrophotographers.
That said, while the Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 is a truly excellent new piece of glass, the cost ensures that only the most serious of photographers will be able to add it to their bags.
It’ll ship in mid-August with a starting price of around $3000 USD.
Bottom line:
If you’re looking for a pro-level, fast, wide-angle lens for landscape photography, then this is going to be a good option, assuming you can afford the price.

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RAW Versus JPG – Why You Might Want to Shoot in RAW Format

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Raw format, JPG format, Lightroom, Outdoor Photography, Portrait Photography, Printing and Framing, Nikon, Travel Photography, How to avoid photography problems, bad mistakes, photography, video. Photography tutorial for beginners, photography, photography tips,

 

By: Simon Ringsmuth

If you have ever shared a photo by email, or posted one online, you might have seen a three or four-letter extension at the end of the file name that looked like “.jpg” or “.jpeg”. Almost every camera – from cell phones to point and shoots to expensive DSLRs takes pictures in this format – with good reason. You can fit thousands of JPG photos on a memory card, and they are generally good quality and easy to view on a computer or mobile device. You don’t need any special software to open a JPG file, and if you do want to edit one, almost any application from iPhoto to Photoshop can do it. However, all DSLRs, and even some point-and-shoot cameras, are able to shoot in another format called RAW which has some incredible benefits for you. Some people swear by the RAW format, others use JPG, and some use both. There is no correct answer in terms of which one is better, instead it’s important to find a solution that works for you.

RAW Versus JPG: Why You Might Want to Shoot in RAW

To illustrate why you might want to show in RAW format, here are a few reasons I use it instead of JPG.

1. Adjusting the White Balance

Different types of light (such as sunlight, fluorescent bulbs, or a camera flash) affect how colors show up in real life. Our brains are aware of these differences and adjust our perception of the colors accordingly, but your camera doesn’t always know what to do in these various situations. To fix this, it has something called a White Balance setting, which usually contains values like Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, and Flash. Unless you set the White Balance properly, your photos will often have a yellow or blue tint that is not always easy to fix. This is an important limitation of the JPG format, which tosses most of the data it deems unnecessary for a given photo and can make fixing the White Balanc a little tricky. Fortunately, in RAW the White Balance can be easily adjusted to suit the photograph because all the color data is saved.
When you snap a photo in RAW mode, the camera uses one of its White Balance settings as a starting point, but you are free to adjust it however you wish on your computer. Programs such as Lightroom, Photoshop, and Aperture have simple controls for adjusting the White Balance, and even though modern cameras are much better at getting it right on their own I still find myself tweaking the white balance quite often. For example, my camera calculated a White Balance for this photo of a child’s lamp at a value that I thought was far too yellow. Shooting in RAW gives me the flexibility to fix this, and with a few adjustments, I was able to get an image that was much more pleasing to me than the one my camera originally produced.

My camera applied a White Balance setting to the RAW file, but I didn’t really like it.

Using editing software I was able to change the White Balance to a cooler tone that was much more pleasing to my eye.

2. Fixing the exposure

Shooting in RAW not only gives me the freedom to adjust the colors you see, but also to adjust the colors you don’t see. When a JPG photo is too bright or too dark (i.e. overexposed or underexposed), there is not much that can be done to save it because much of the data that was captured by the image sensor no longer exists. Cameras have all sorts of ways to help us get the right exposure when we take a picture, but sometimes things just don’t work out, and you might find that some of your most precious memories were either too dark or washed out. Since RAW keeps all the data when an image is captured, you have much more leeway in adjusting images after the fact.

The original photo was way too dark to be usable.

RAW allowed me to boost the exposure significantly to create a much better photo.

When I shot this picture of some flowers on a tree, I noticed after I got home that it was far too dark to be usable. If this was a JPG I would have been mostly stuck with the results. But, because I shot in RAW I was able to brighten the dark areas and produce a much better image. In JPG, the data from the dark areas would have been just that, dark. The same can be done for overexposed images too; if a picture is too bright or washed out, it can often be saved if it was shot in RAW.

3. General color adjustments

A third reason I shoot in RAW is that I often like to make adjustments to specific colors in a photo. JPG stores 8 bits of information per color for Red, Green, and Blue–each of the three primary colors of light that make up every pixel in a given photo. Don’t get too caught up in the math here–all you need to know is that those 8 bits (2 to the power of 8, or 2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2) really mean that a JPG stores information for 256 individual shades of each of the primary colors. RAW, on the other hand, stores 4096 or 16384 shades of information per color, depending on whether your camera supports 12 or 14-bit files. These numbers might not mean a lot, but it’s easy to see that either of the latter numbers is far greater than 256. This means that since RAW gives us so much more information to work with, we have a lot more flexibility when editing the colors of our image.
This photo of a family friend (below) turned out fairly well, but I was not happy with a few elements. Her eyes were too dark and and the colors were not as vibrant as I would have preferred. Thankfully, RAW gave me the freedom to edit the picture in order to create an image that was not only more pleasing to look at, but more accurately reflected what I saw when I captured it. This is much more than simply throwing a filter over an existing image; RAW gives you access to the original color data, which allows for far greater control over the finished product.

The original is not bad, but not as good as it could be.

Shooting in RAW meant I had so much color data available that I was able to adjust the colors to create a more pleasing final picture.

Of course shooting in RAW has downsides too, most notably the file size. RAW files can easily take up 10 times as much space on your memory card as JPG files, which seems like a lot of wasted space if you don’t do a lot of editing or post-processing. To be honest, if you are just shooting pictures of a nature hike or your kids in the park, RAW might be overkill. It’s not that JPG files can’t be edited–they certainly can, as anyone who has ever used an Instagram filter will attest. They can be manipulated in Photoshop and other image editing programs as well, and there is enough color information in most JPG files for some editing wiggle room. But RAW gives you much more freedom to work, and even though the file sizes are much greater, the tradeoff is worth it, in my opinion.
You will have to make the decision for yourself, but whatever you decide, try to resist getting drawn into a RAW versus JPG debate–neither format is objectively better. The important thing is that you find a workflow that fits your shooting style and goals. At the end of the day, as long as you are taking pictures you like, that’s all that really matters.

I won a photography contest with this picture…and I shot it in JPG.

You might be just fine with shooting in JPG, and if that suits you, then don’t let me or anyone else tell you different. But if you have ever wanted to experiment with more advanced editing techniques or just coax a little more out of your photos than you might otherwise be used to, RAW might be just the ticket to a whole new world of photography awesomeness.
Further Reading: RAW vs JPEG: Which Should I Shoot in?

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6 Tips for a Faster Lightroom Workflow So You Can Get Back to Taking Photos!

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By: Simon Ringsmuth

Many photographers rely on Lightroom to organize, edit and share their photos. While this software has a vast array of tools to help people in several key areas, it has not always been known for speed. Recent updates and GPU acceleration have helped, but if you really want to have a faster Lightroom workflow, there are some simple things you can do to supercharge your post-processing. These aren’t hacks or plugins, but simple tweaks to Lightroom that can make your life a lot easier.

1. Apply a preset when importing images

The first thing you can do for a faster Lightroom workflow is to apply a preset when importing images.
Lightroom has a mind-boggling number of options and sliders to adjust when editing images. If you find yourself using the same types of edits on most of your pictures, you can use Presets to shave hours off your editing. Most people already know this, but you might not be aware that you can apply Presets when initially importing your files.
On the right side of the Import screen, there is an option for “Apply During Import.” Use this to select one of the many presets built into Lightroom (or select one of your own that you may have saved) and have it automatically applied to your pictures as you import them.

In the screenshot above, you can also see an option called Nikon RAW import. That’s a custom preset I made that contains specific adjustments I like to apply to my Nikon RAW files, which gets me to a good starting point when editing. That alone has helped me with a faster Lightroom workflow, but applying it to a batch of photos on import is even more of a speed boost.
Don’t worry about messing anything up if you apply presets on import. Like everything else in Lightroom, they are non-destructive, meaning you can always go back and change things later.

2. Sync settings across multiple images

If you have spent any time editing multiple similar images in Lightroom, particularly from an event or photo session with clients, you have no doubt found the Copy/Paste Settings to be useful. Right-click on any image in the Develop module and choose “Develop Settings->Copy Settings…” Then check the boxes next to any (or all!) the settings you want to copy.
Finally, go to another photo, right-click, and choose “Develop Settings->Paste Settings.” Or better yet, use Ctrl+C (cmd+C on mac) and Ctrl+V (cmd+V on mac) like you would on any word processor.

I shot dozens of pictures of this wasp. The Sync Settings option let me instantly edit a single image 

and then apply those edits to all my other images in an instant.

This process works great, but what if you want to paste your settings on to five, ten, or a hundred images? Even the fast method of using Ctrl+V starts to feel like a chore.
Fortunately, there’s a better way.

Image 21 is selected, and Images 17-20 are also highlighted. After clicking the Sync… button, all 

the edits from 21 will be applied to 17-20.

In the Develop module, select a single picture in the filmstrip at the bottom of the screen. Then hold down the [shift] key and select more images. Finally, click the “Sync…” button to synchronize any (or all) of your edits on the original image to the rest that are selected.
When I discovered this trick, I almost fell out of my chair! I didn’t just speed up my Lightroom editing. It supercharged my editing.

3. Straighten your pictures with the Auto button

I’m always a little leery of anything that says Auto when I’m editing pictures. I don’t need my computer to do what it thinks is best – I want my computer to do what I think is best! At best, I use some Auto options, like when setting white balance on RAW files, as a rough draft that I go and refine.
However, there is one Auto setting that I have learned to use over and over again. Learning to embrace Auto for straightening my photos has saved me a lot of time and really led to an overall faster Lightroom workflow.

The Auto button in the Crop & Straighten panel can really help make things go faster when you 

need to straighten your photos.

The reason Auto works so well for straightening images is that it doesn’t try to make a guess which affects the artistic goals of the photographer. It simply looks for straight lines such as light poles, buildings, or horizons, and then adjusts images accordingly. It works far more than I initially thought. Plus, it can really speed things up when editing in Lightroom.

My tripod was askew when I shot this, but Lightroom fixed it with a simple click of the Auto button.

4. Automatically organize with smart collections

Collections in Lightroom are an easy way to organize your images. You can create as many collections as you want, and one photo can exist in multiple collections. What you may not realize is that Lightroom lets you create Smart Collections, which are populated dynamically according to rules you specify.
To create a Smart Collection, choose the + button at the top-left of the Collections panel. Then select “Create Smart Collection…” and specify your parameters for the Smart Collection.

As an example of how this can lead to a faster Lightroom workflow, I create Smart Collections to sort my photos by month for an entire year. I do this each January, and for the rest of the year my photos are automatically sorted month-by-month without me having to do anything.

I create Smart Collections for my personal images at the beginning of each year. My images are 

then sorted automatically.

These Smart Collections also do not include any photos with the keyword “PhotoSession” which I apply to all images that I take for clients. Photos with that keyword go in another set of Smart Collections that I use to keep client images separate from personal photos.
Smart Collections can contain dozens of parameters including Rating, Pick Flag, Color Label, Keyword, even metadata such as camera model or focal length. They are an incredibly powerful but very simple way to make your day-to-day Lightroom editing significantly faster.

5. Multi-Batch Export

Lightroom has long offered customizable export presets. These allow you to export photos with certain parameters specified such as file type, image size, quality setting, and even specifying custom names.

New in the November 2019 update to Lightroom Classic is the option to perform a single export operation that utilizes multiple Presets. This means you no longer have to do an export operation for full-size JPGs at 100% quality, another export for low-resolution proofs at 80% quality, and so on.
Just check any boxes in the Export dialog box for the presets you want, and Lightroom will take care of the rest!

The November 2019 update to Lightroom Classic lets you select multiple presets for a single export operation.

This is a great way to save time when you are ready to export your images. It’s not the kind of workflow addition that will change your life, but it’s another simple but highly effective process you can utilize to shave precious minutes from your editing. And as someone who exports a lot of photos regularly, those minutes add up.

6. Cull on Lightroom Mobile

One of my favorite aspects of the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan is the synchronization between Lightroom Classic and Lightroom Mobile. While the mobile version of Lightroom isn’t as full-featured as its desktop-based big brother, it does one thing incredibly well that has made a huge difference for me when editing photos for clients.
Click the checkbox next to any Collection to sync those photos with Lightroom CC. This means you can access low-resolution previews of all those images on the web, your phone, or tablet. (Note that this does not work with Smart Collections, only regular Collections.)

I don’t find Lightroom Mobile particularly useful for detailed editing, but it absolutely runs circles around the desktop version when it comes to culling operations. If you have an iPad, this could honestly change your entire approach to culling your images. It also works pretty well on other mobile devices too.
Load a picture in any collection that you have synced to Lightroom CC and then click the Star icon in the lower-right corner. This switches to a mode where you can quickly assign star ratings or flags to any picture. Tap one of the Flag or Star icons at the bottom of the screen to change the status of the image. A quick swipe of your finger will load the next image.

Tap the star icon in the lower-right corner of Lightroom Mobile to quickly assign Flags and Star 

Ratings with a swipe of your finger.

This is all well and good, but there’s one trick here that will send your culling into overdrive.
Slide a finger up or down on the right side of the photo to change the Flag status. Slide a finger up or down on the left side to assign a Star rating. Then swipe to the next image and repeat.
All your edits on Lightroom Mobile, including Star ratings and Flag statuses, are instantly synced back to Lightroom Classic on your computer.
I’m not kidding about the speed of this operation, either.
I used to dread the culling process, but now it takes a fraction of the time it used to. A few weeks ago, I returned from a photo session with over 1,100 images. In about an hour, I was able to cull them to a fraction of that amount, thanks to Lightroom Mobile.

There were hundreds of images from this session that I had to sort through. Lightroom Desktop 

makes this a burden, but Lightroom Mobile makes it a breeze.

All six of these tips have saved me a huge amount of time over the years. I hope they are useful to you as well.
If you have any other tricks or suggestions for a faster Lightroom workflow, leave them in the comments below!


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