Tips
Date created: October 18th, 2022
Here are my top five tips for moving your images out of Lightroom Classic and into Photoshop 2022.
#1
Edit in TIFF, not PSD.
Rationale: It doesn’t really matter. There are debates on the merits which is better, but they’re essentially the same thing.
MATT: “I chose TIFF as my preferred image format, for Photoshop editing, and nothing bad has happened so far (fingers crossed).”
#2
Don’t click “Edit In…”, export the image as a TIFF.
Rationale: It is tempting to right click on the image, and choose “Edit In…”, as Adobe seems to invite this simplicity. The smarter way to edit an image is to export it as a TIFF.
Better yet, create a default export, then create your TIFFS to a specific folder which hold all your edited images
MATT: “I created a folder called “_tiffs” and all my images in-progress go here. I also keep these in a a solid-state hard-drive for maximum editing speed.”
#3
Edit exposure carefully prior to exporting as TIFF.
Rationale: It is best to edit exposure in Adobe Camera Raw. I prefer Lightroom Classic, but some photographers use Adobe Bridge — both utilize the same engine, with exposure and contrast sliders.
MATT: “In my experience, shadows and highlights lose fidelity after conversion into a TIFF format.”
#4
For problematic images (areas too bright, or too dark), export a lighter or a darker version.
Rationale: If one image has too many shadows, you can bring them up in Adobe Camera Raw, then export it as another TIFF image. Then copy this layer, and mask in the preserved areas.
This takes advantage of greater information preserved in the RAW files.
MATT: “If a person’s forehead is too bright, or the shadows on their cheeks too deep, you can export two TIFFs. This takes advantage of the detail found in the raw image, rather than excessively dodging and burning the first TIFF.”
#5
Export at 3000 pixels (3k) on the long edge.
Rationale: When exporting, I always reduce the size of my image.
Digital images, in general, are too big these days. Smaller images make your editing life easier. The responsiveness during editing will make editing speedier, and more enjoyable.
Also, final images for clients don’t need to be big. A 3000 pixel image works just fine. If they want more resolution, charge more, or offer them the RAW file as a separate charge so they can edit it in full resolution. It won’t matter unless they blow up the image in a print.
MATT: “Note, your clients don’t care to see all their facial pores and imperfections. After years of doing portrait photography, I’ve concluded that photographers seldom need to send or edit images over 6 megapixels.”
Here are my top six tip on using Photoshop CC 2022 for portrait editing.
#6
Buy a Wacom tablet (just do it).
Rationale: This is a no brainer, at my skill level it would be impossible to edit images without a Wacom tablet.
#7
Design (or use my) default actions prior to editing.
Rationale: Actions speed up your workflow by automating the creation of layers and automatic changes. I’ve created a default set of actions that creates around 23 layers. This greatly reduces how often I must create layers while editing an image — I simply work my way from the bottom layer to the top.
MATT: “Just ask if you want a copy of my actions.”
#8
When using a brush, set Opacity at 100% and Flow to 1%.
Rationale: This allows you to repeatedly stroke an area with paint, bringing the changes in a gradual and subtle way.
#9.
Practice, practice… and practice.
Rationale: No amount of watching videos (or wishing to improve) makes you better at Photoshop. Practice as much as you can.
#10
Control + Option is the best way to control your brush size and feathering.
Rationale: In general, learn as many shortcuts as you can. Be aggressive about it. Don’t settle on doing things the slow way. This is just one example of a shortcut I use probably 50-100 times per image edited. It’s extremely useful, but it’s just one shortcut.
#11
Press R to rotate the image.
Rationale: This is a really nice trick. My right hand is exceptionally well-controlled when drawing in a diagonally motion. If you rotate an image, you can take advantage of your hand’s naturally ideal stroke direction. Believe me, or do it yourself.
