================================================================================ dSLR Tools Actions Set for Adobe® Photoshop® version v1_6 ================================================================================ Contents -------- 1. Introduction and How To 2. What's New in Version v1_6 3. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 4. Policies and Legal Stuff ================================================================================ 1. Introduction and How To --------------------------- Thanks for your purchase of my actions! You're in for a treat. Actions are predefined image processing steps for Adobe® Photoshop® that can be loaded and executed on an open image. You can even assign your favorite actions to function keys. More can be done with actions than you might imagine! The dSLR Tools actions are specifically oriented to help you get the most out of your digital images, especially in-camera JPEGs that may have been poorly exposed or need to be "pushed" digitally, including high ISO shots. To install these actions into your copy of Adobe® Photoshop®, just save the file "dSLR Tools v1_6.atn" to your hard drive (I recommend creating a special folder just for your collection of actions, separate from those in the Program Files\Photoshop... area), then load the actions into Adobe® Photoshop® via the Actions menu ("Load Actions", available via the little button near the upper-right in the History/Actions pane). To execute an action, make the image you want to change the current window, click once on the desired action, then click on the play button. Actions can be assigned to function keys - double click the action to see the menu to set that up. Some of my actions take quite a few steps, so please be patient and don't click anything while they're running (this can confuse things). The activity will cease and the display will update when all the steps are done. There are 28 different actions in dSLR Tools. Their names are descriptive of what they do: 10D Green Cast Out - Removes 10D green cast from shadows. D100 Cyan Cast Out - Removes cyan cast from midtones. Incandescent Cast Out - Pulls yellow/orange from incandescent light shots. Color Blotch Reduction - Smoothes out color noise. Use if you see blotches. Mild Noise Reduction - Mild shadow noise control, reduces noise/grain. More Noise Reduction - More shadow noise control, when Mild isn't enough. Most Noise Reduction - Max shadow noise control, hits the noise hard. Horizontal Banding Noise Reduction - Removes horiz. pattern noise in shadows. Vertical Banding Noise Reduction - Removes vert. pattern noise in shadows. Exposure Plus 1/2 - Half stop exposure increase with noise reduction. Exposure Plus 1 - One stop exposure increase with noise reduction. Exposure Plus 1-1/2 - One and a Half stop exposure increase with noise red. Exposure Plus 2 - Two stop exposure increase with noise reduction. Exposure Minus 1/2 - Tones down a too-bright photo a little bit. Exposure Minus 1 - Darkens a too-bright photo by a full stop. Shadows Plus 1/2 - Lightens shadows a little, leaving highlights intact. Shadows Plus 1 - Lightens shadows - great for sunshine photos. Shadows Plus 2 - Lightens deep shadows - great for backlit photos. Enhance Highlight Detail - Pulls details out of nearly blown highlights. More Vivid Color - Punches up the color to bring drab images alive. Red Flare Reduction - Removes red flare near very hot/bright areas. Blue Flare Reduction - Removes blue flare, such as in leaves against sky. Purple Flare Reduction - Removes magenta flare near very bright areas. Clarify - Punches up a foggy or bland appearance. Local Contrast Enhancement - Increases visual contrast. The following actions can be applied after a main action above has been run: ...As Layer On Top - Makes 2 layers with action results above the original. ...As Layer Underneath - Makes 2 layers with action results below the original. ...Per Selection Only - Restricts results to the area selected before. Generally speaking, you should execute the actions top-down. That is, if you're going to execute more than one (recommended, as needed), you should generally execute the ones listed at the top of the list first. Experiment a bit to get to know them. See what good things you can do to your images. If an action doesn't seem to be effective or something unexpected shows up in your image, use the history and start again, adding operations or changing the order of your steps. Note that a "before" snapshot of your image is saved at the top of the history palette as the actions start. Occasionally, depending on your image, a dialog may pop up stating "no pixels were more than 50% selected". This is normal - just press the [OK] button. Note: The noise reduction actions are a bit subtle. I dislike a heavily-processed look and quite often use the More Noise Reduction action myself. The Most Noise Reduction action is almost like shooting at two ISO steps lower (e.g., it makes ISO 1600 images as smooth and clean as ISO 400 images). Oh, one last thing: Your payment gets you updates of this Actions Set whenever I add new functions, refine them, make them work better, or have a tip/trick announcement to make. I won't disclose your eMail address to anyone else. I hate spam. Good luck, have fun, and let me know how they work for you! Thanks again! -Noel Carboni ================================================================================ 2. What's New in Version v1_6 ------------------------------ New "Blue Flare Reduction" Action Sometimes tree branches and leaves, shot against a bright sky, can result in a blue flare as the overexposed sky meets the dark silhouettes of the foliage. This new action selectively finds blue flare near bright areas in your image and removes it, without affecting the other parts of the image. New Horizontal and Vertical Banding Noise Reduction Actions With even the best new modern dSLRs, sometimes one can see pattern noise in shadows, especially at higher ISO or if the shadows have been lightened. These two exclusive new actions will dig into those shadows and smooth out the pattern. The effect can mute natural boundaries in the image, and can sometimes be seen near edges of objects, so be careful and apply it selectively if needed. No one else on the planet right now has a banding noise reduction algorithm that really works! New Enhance Highlight Detail Action Ever take a great photo only to find there are parts that are very bright lacking visual detail? A white bird on a sunny day, or a sky with clouds that seems rather bland... This action isolates just the brightest parts and increases the visual detail, while doing so in a manner that blends with the rest of the image. Especially good when combined with the newest highlight recovery features of the raw converters. Updated "Local Contrast Enhancement" Action I've added steps to the Local Contrast Enhancement action to do a High Pass Filter operation, which further improves the look of clarity and impact in the photo. This action can be pretty aggressive, especially if there are already dark parts in your image, so be careful and use the layering actions and dial the result back if you see it's darkened things too much. ================================================================================ 3. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) ------------------------------------ Q: Do the dSLR Tools actions work on a Macintosh? Yes, they work great with the full copy of Adobe® Photoshop® 6.0, 7.0, CS, CS2, CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.1/CS5.5, CS6, and CC on both Mac and PC platforms. Q: Do the dSLR Tools actions work with Adobe® Photoshop® Elements? No, not at this time. I am considering creating a version that will work in Elements if the demand is great enough. Q: Can I apply an action to only some parts of an image? Yes. If you select the part you want the action to run on, run the action (which will affect the entire image), then run the ...Per Selection Only action the result will then be limited to the prior selection. As an alternative, apply the action to the entire image, then run ...As Layer On Top or ...As Layer Underneath and use the Eraser tool to expose parts of the lower layer. In some cases (e.g., sky) the magic wand can make selecting part of the image to delete easier. Q: Can I apply an action only partially to an entire image? Yes. Use the technique listed above, then make the upper layer partially transparent to mix the two layers together and show the effect on the lower layer only partially. Q: Why are dSLR Tools provided in a zip file? I package the actions in a zip file to ensure the download proceeds as quickly as possible, and also to provide assurance that the file has not been corrupted or truncated. I will be happy to eMail you an unzipped copy on your request. Simply eMail me at: NCarboni@ProDigitalSoftware.com Q: Can I use dSLR Tools actions in 16 bit-per-color mode? Yes, with Adobe® Photoshop® CS and newer. Operations on a 16 bit-per-color image in Adobe® Photoshop® CS and newer can be performed in 16 bit mode. These actions use channels and layers, which are supported by Adobe® Photoshop® 6 and 7 in 8 bit mode only. However, they have been optimized for maximal quality, so even though the even when they're operated in 8 bit mode the actions produce smooth, clean results. Q: How do I know which action to use and when? Generally speaking, consider using multiple actions in the order they appear in the set. Sometimes you just have to try an action, and if it doesn't do what you expected or wanted, go back to the Pre-action snapshot in the History and try again. If you have an image with a slight green cast - especially in the shadows - use 10D Green Cast Out. If you have an image with a slight cyan cast in the midtones, looking a bit as though too much sky is being reflected, use D100 Cyan Cast Out. Incandescent Cast Out is good for making an image shot in very yellow/orange (e.g., incandescent or late evening) light look more natural. If you see color noise in your image use Color Blotch Reduction. This action works very well up to ISO 1600. At really high ISO it might begin to think the noise may be actual color detail in your image. For very high ISO images you might want to run More or Most Noise Reduction first. Mild Noise Reduction provides a slight, almost invisible decrease in the noise level, especially in darker areas. Use this action if you don't have much noise but just want an image that feels nice and silky. More Noise Reduction reduces noise as though you shot your image at about one ISO step lower. In other words, if you have an ISO 400 image you'd like to look as though it was shot at ISO 200, use this action. Most Noise Reduction hits noise pretty hard - about like shooting at two ISO stops lower - and may muddy dark details a bit. You may want to use this action mostly for ISO 800 and above images. Here's a handy chart for choosing the Exposure Plus action that's about right for your image... If your histogram shows data falling off at around the value shown, use the listed action. Remember, this is just a rough guideline: Max Luminance Use Action ------------- -------------------- 232 Exposure Plus 1/2 210 Exposure Plus 1 188 Exposure Plus 1-1/2 164 Exposure Plus 2 Use the Shadows Plus actions if your image would benefit from lightening up just the dark areas. This is especially good for deep shadows caused by sunlight or backlighting. There are three levels of operation - one half, one, and two stops of lightening, depending on the depth of the shadows. More Vivid Color will give you just that, an image with the colors punched up a bit. If you've shot against a brilliant background or have hot reflections in your image resulting in that awful red or magenta digital flare, give one of the new Flare Reduction actions a try. Then use "...As Layer On Top" and click the top layer visibility ("eye") icon on and off to see the differences. Clarify and Local Contrast Enhancement can increase contrast locally to give you an image with more impact and minimal down side. IMPORTANT: If aggressive noise reduction (e.g., with Most Noise Reduction) leaves your image a little foggy, try Clarify. It helps restore the presence of the subject. ================================================================================ 4. Policies and Legal Stuff ---------------------------- Licensing Policy Only one person per copy of dSLR Tools may use these actions at one time. You may install and use dSLR Tools on all the machines you use, but if more than one person will be using these actions at the same time, please purchase a separate license at $15 for each person. Updates I may be adding handy new features to dSLR Tools from time to time. Your purchase entitles you to free updates. Check http://www.ProDigitalSoftware.com to see our current offerings. Questions and Feedback If you'd like to eMail me separately to let me know how the dSLR Tools are working for you, or to ask me a question, please feel free to do so. Here's my eMail address: NCarboni@ProDigitalSoftware.com Privacy Policy I will not disclose your eMail address to anyone else. I hate spam. Please let me know if you'd rather not receive eMail from me, and I'll be happy to remove you from my lists. Guarantee If these actions don't work for you or you are unhappy with them, please let me know. If I can't make you happy I'll give you your money back. ================================================================================