"Standard" post processing (in GIMP preferably)

[vulturesrow]

Hi all,

I was wondering if some of you could discuss what you consider to be standard post processing tasks of your shots? I did some searching both here and on the Web but didnt find too much. I use GIMP so GIMP specific discussion is much appreciated. But any information on what you consider to be standard tasks when you sit down to edit your photos would be great. I can make the translation to GIMP if need be.

As Ive gotten serious about digital photography and post processing, Ive found that some adjustment of the color levels is almost mandatory. I think this is a function of a) my inexperience and b) limitations of my camera (Canon Powershot A590IS). I use GIMP and adjust using both the Levels and the Curves options.

Thanks in advance for the discussion.

[wulf]

Typically:

1. If necessary, rotate the image to level horizontals / verticals. I generally crop to my intended ratio at this stage (eg. 4:3, 3:2, etc).

2. Duplicate the base layer. Use the levels tool to give an approximate white balance improvement (either just using the grey point selector or perhaps getting more involved).

3. Make another duplicate layer. Use the curves tool to adjust contrast and colour balance.

4. Resize if required and apply custom high pass sharpening.

It does depend on the image though - for example, I might decide to turn it monochrome by separating and remixing the channels, in which case I'll skip all the colour adjustment, or use my favourite recipe to create a richly saturated effect like velvia film (using the channel mixer), which would come before adjusting the curves.

In most cases, I am just applying a bit of polish rather than making drastic alterations to the content of the picture.

Wulf

[kurtwall]

My GIMP workflow is, in roughly this order:

1. Convert from RAW with ufraw
2. Straighten
3. Crop
4. Duplicate base layer and tweak Levels
5. Duplicate Levels layer and tweak Curves
6. Duplicate Curves layer, set mode to Overlay (to bring up the contrast), then play with the opacity to decide how much contrast I want. I might actually delete this layer if opacity becomes small (< 10%).
7. Resize the image to my target size
8. Sharpen

[vulturesrow]

Kurt and Wulf,

Thanks for the information. Kurt, if you dont mind, why do you do each of the alterations on a different layer? I think I know why but I want to be sure Im right.

[wulf]

Duplicate layers because, in the Gimp, changes are fixed. In photoshop, you can set up adjustment layers that you can go back and tweak but in the Gimp you need to work on a separate layer and then use opacity (and, optionally, layer modes) to combine the results in a non-destructive way.

Wulf

[dcclark]

Using layers and masks, you can make "undoable" edits. For example, applying wulf's nifty do-it-yourself high-pass filter for sharpening, you have a separate layer which applies sharpening to the rest of the image. If you decide you didn't like the sharpening later, you can just hide the layer -- and poof, away it goes. This can save you a lot of tears in the future!

[kurtwall]

As Wulf and dcclark both wrote, I use layers so I have an easy undo path. It is also trivial to turn a given layer on and off to evaluate the effect of a given layer. In addition, GIMP's native format, XCF, saves the layer information, so I can come back to an image and re-tweak it later

[mckayc]

My Process:
Convert from RAW
Adjust levels
Tweak Hue/Saturation
Blend modes in layers

Here is a tutorial that describes these steps:
Wedding photo enhancement using the Gimp