Smart Publishing with MagCloud Part 2

February 25, 2011 By 6 Comments

This is part 2 of a 2-part series on publishing magazines at MagCloud. If you have not read part 1 please review that first, and review the recommended post before continuing.

See the updated soft-proof profile post before proceeding. (8/8/2011)

In part one of this series I tried to explain the impact of the binding and number of pages had on the published magazine as MagCloud uses different stock of paper for different binding. Along with that the printer profile used in the process also varies based on the binding you choose. These, publishers can control only by knowing the impact of their choices.

In preparing the photography for publishing we must pay attention to our working environment and make sure that we use a repeatable and reliable process. Of utmost importance is the calibration and profiling of the monitor, careful selection of images, and proper editing of them in Photoshop or Lightroom. In this section I will focus on a process I call “smart proofing” when ordering proof copies to maximize the information gained in a controlled and repeatable manner. [Read more...]

Filed Under: All Posts, Gear, Photography, Photoshop Tagged With: , , ,

Smart Publishing with MagCloud Part 1

February 24, 2011 By 2 Comments

This is going to be a two-part series. Before getting into the second part, I strongly recommend that you read and study my Printing Workflow presentation as it details how to accomplish some of the steps in reasonable detail. Although there are a couple of PDF documents for printing, they do not show some of the slides as they are not visible outside the presentation flow. Make sure to watch the slide presentation.

See the updated soft-proof profile post before proceeding. (8/8/2001)

I have been using MagCloud on-demand publishing since last year. I had two academic projects that benefited from the technology and my exhibits and publishing as well. Along with two students, in collaboration with the members of the Photographic Society of Rhode Island, PSRI, we published PSReye Focus in December 2009. This past fall semester MagCloud was an important tool in another course where students worked on a project titled Vision of Hope in collaboration with the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation. Since May 2010, I have used MagCloud services for three exhibits, an expanded exhibit catalog, and more recently a free-standing publication called IR Earthscapes.

In all projects, the proofing turned out to be the most challenging step, partly due to time constraints resulting from poor time management, and partly due to the way we have handled the proofs. Since my last project IR Earthscapes, I have come to the conclusion that there has to be a smarter way of proofing to save time and to save money while getting as much information as possible from the proof. [Read more...]

Filed Under: All Posts, Computer, Gear, Photography, Photoshop Tagged With: , , ,

A New Use for X-Rite Passport ColorChecker

January 21, 2011 By 2 Comments

X-Rite Passport ColorChecker has been helping me for a while now and I am very pleased with its performance as a color managed workflow tool. I use it indoor or outside shoots and can quickly balance the white value and apply calibrated camera profile to the images. The results are richer and truer colors. So far, nothing new, many readers know that much.

I also use an Epson Perfection V500 Photo scanner to acquire scanned photographs or to directly capture images of objects, like flowers. When I capture an image via the scanner, I am not as sure of the colors as I am when the image comes from my camera. I thought the ColorChecker might come in handy and I was right. Although its use is not as automated, nor is it necessarily sanctioned by X-Rite, as it is when used with a camera, it certainly makes sense to use it in the scanning workflow. [Read more...]

Filed Under: All Posts, Gear, Photoshop Tagged With: ,

From “Scene” to “Seen”

September 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Digital photography has many more user controllable variables compared to the film. A good understanding of the variables and how to make the critical choices will reward the photographer. I used this slide presentation for a presentation I made at the Photographic Society of Rhode Island on September 21, 2010. It will make more sense to the people who were there to listen to the expanded talking points.

When viewing the presentation, advance by clicking inside the slide. You can maximize the presentation by clicking on the maximize icon, far right on the navigation bar.

Digital Workflow

Filed Under: All Posts, Lightroom, Photography, Photoshop Tagged With: , ,

Photoshop Is a Girl’s Best Friend

July 15, 2010 By 2 Comments

You may or may not have made it to my presentation at the NECCC 2010 conference in Amherst. The presentation titled as this post’s title focused on a workflow to produce plausible and pleasing presentations of model and portraiture photography. The NECCC Speaker Notes contains a 4-page write up of the presentation, but due to space limitations much of the content and many of the photographs and other images had to be eliminated. [Read more...]

Filed Under: All Posts, Photography, Photoshop Tagged With: , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »