Image Processing

Rodney Appleby - October 2022

This is a "crib sheet" for Rodney's Zoom presentation (available in Resources - Our Zoom Presentations) of a quick tutorial for beginners on using layers and masks in Photoshop.

Rob Solic - November 2021

Another short tutorial on using the free/donation software Paint.NET for image touch-up, using layers to remove unwanted parts of an image.

Rob Solic - October 2021

A short tutorial on using the free/donation software Paint.NET for image touch-up, using the Clone Stamp tool to remove unwanted parts of an image.

Graham Cam - June 2021

This is a "crib sheet" to accompany Graham Cam's Zoom presentation (available in Resources - Our Video Tutorials) on performing local adjustments to an image using Lightroom Classic.

Keith Ross-Jones - August 2020

Keith presents an overview of the DxO PhotoLab post-processing program - a full-featured once-off purchase alternative to Adobe's subscription-model Lightroom/Photoshop packages.

Rob Parker - April 2018

This article describes exactly how to use the picresize website to crop and resize an image.

Glenn Pure - August 2019

A short article which answers a number of questions about monitor calibration, which is of assistance in accurately post-processing of photographs.

David Jenkins - April 2014

David provides a good introduction to sharpening - what it is, and how to do it with reference to Photoshop and Lightroom. A good introduction to the principles, which is also relevant to other types of software.
Note: this article relates to software sharpening which concerns increasing edge definition in photographs. This is different from the sharpness of the lens itself - for a more detailed technical discussion on lens sharpness refer to Ian Wilson’s article “Sharpness Explained”.

David Jenkins - October 2013

This tutorial shows how to use Layers specifically to selectively adjust the brightness of a bird’s eyes.

David Jenkins - August 2013

Part 3 of the series looks in more detail at Layer Modes and their use in making basic changes to images such as brightening and darkening, and dodging and burning.

David Jenkins - June 2013

Part 2 of this series continues the tutorial in Part 1, explaining the basics of layers.

David Jenkins - April 2013

David has written a series of articles about the use of Layers in Photoshop, as a way of improving bird shots. In this first part, he explains the basic operations of Layers. Although written in 2013 (and Photoshop has continued to develop since then) they provide a grounding in the principles for anyone interested in digging deeper into the power of Photoshop.

Ian Wilson - April 2018

This article looks in detail about how to achieve ‘true’ blue skies during photo processing - ie blue skies which look natural both in colour and brightness. Although fairly technical it is well worth spending a bit of time on.

Glenn Pure - August 2017

This short tutorial sets out the basics of using the Clone and Healing brushes to remove unwanted elements in photos during processing. A useful introductory article for beginners using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

Graham Cam - August 2017

Following on from his introductory article (‘The Google Nik Collection’) Graham goes into more detail about the use of the Viveza and DFine elements of the package.

Graham Cam - June 2017

This article (originally a presentation) describes the various components of the Google  Nik Collection, a set of tools for a range of photo editing capabilities; these range from filters to improve colour correction, noise reduction and image sharpening, adjustments to colour and tonality in images, retouching and creative effects,and black and white conversions.  Since this article was written, the Nik Collection has been bought by DxO (www.dxo.com) and it is no longer free of charge.

Ian Wilson - February 2018

See notes for Part 1.

Ian Wilson - December 2017

A detailed set of step by step instructions describing Ian’s workflow in processing raw images, using Canon’s Digital Photo Professional software as the basic raw processor, and Photoshop Elements (specifically, version 14) to do final noise reduction and sharpening, other fine tuning, and downsizing for the web. This is detailed and technical, and likely to be challenging for beginners but a must-read for anyone interested in making the most of Canon’s software.

Glenn Pure - April 2017

Continues Part 1 with a more detailed description of lighting adjustments including highlight recovery. Note that this uses Canon’s Digital Photo Professional software although the principles would be more widely applicable.

Glenn Pure - February 2017

This article (to be read with the separate Part 2) sets out four tips for improving your image: shoot raw, lighting adjustments, cropping and final sharpening. Good introduction for a beginner who is looking to work with raw files.