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Absolute Beginner's Guide to Digital Photography PDF

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00 0789731207_fm.qxd 4/6/04 2:16 PM Page i Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Digital Photography Joseph Ciaglia, Barbara London, John Upton, Ken Kobré, and Betsy Brill with Peter Kuhns 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240 00 0789731207_fm.qxd 4/6/04 2:16 PM Page ii Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Digital Executive Editor Photography Candace Hall Copyright  2004 by Que Publishing Acquisitions Editor Karen Whitehouse All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, record- Development ing, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability Editor is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although Karen Whitehouse every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed Managing Editor for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. Charlotte Clapp International Standard Book Number: 0-7897-3120-7 Project Editor George Nedeff Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004100876 Copy Editor Printed in the United States of America Karen Whitehouse First Printing: April 2004 Indexer 07 06 05 04 4 3 2 1 Mandie Frank Trademarks Production Editor All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks Seth Kerney have been appropriately capitalized. Que Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of Publishing this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Coordinator Sharry Lee Gregory Warning and Disclaimer Interior Designer Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as pos- sible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an “as Anne Jones is” basis. The authors and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility Cover Designer to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the infor- Dan Armstrong mation contained in this book. Page Layout Bulk Sales Eric S. Miller Que Publishing offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales. For more information, please contact U.S. Corporate and Government Sales 1-800-382-3419 [email protected] For sales outside of the U.S., please contact International Sales 1-317-428-3341 [email protected] 00 0789731207_fm.qxd 4/6/04 2:16 PM Page iii Contents at a Glance Part I Digital Quickstart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 1 Quickstart to Digital: Pix to Print in Seconds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 2 Advantages & Disadvantages of Digital Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 3 Film Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Part II Digital Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 4 The Importance of Lenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 5 Exposure and Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 6 Getting Your Pix Onscreen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 7 Files & File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 8 File Recovery: Finding “Lost” Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97 Part III Image Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111 9 Basic Editing with Photoshop Elements and iPhoto . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 10 Editing with Selection Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133 11 Advanced Selection Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151 12 The Importance of Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173 13 The Importance of Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191 14 The Importance of Brightness/Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205 15 The Importance of Levels & Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219 16 The Importance of Layers & Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235 17 The Importance of Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255 Part IV Digital Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267 18 Printers and Printer Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .269 19 Preserving Your Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285 20 Color Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .293 21 Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .307 Part V Using Your Digital Pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .323 22 The Portrait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325 23 Digital Photography & the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .337 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .347 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .353 00 0789731207_fm.qxd 4/6/04 2:16 PM Page iv Table of Contents I Digital Quickstart . . . . . . . . . .1 Direct Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Design Rule for Camera File 1 Quickstart to Digital: Pix to Print in Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Seconds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Digital Print Order Format . . . . 27 What Do You Mean by “Digital 3 Film Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Photography”? . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Choosing a Color Film . . . . . . . . 30 Why Flash Media Is Important . . 5 Types of Color Film . . . . . . . . . . 31 Photography and the Internet . . 6 Negative Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Is Digital Photography Reversal Film (Slide Film, Expensive? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Transparency Film, or “Chromes”) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Is Traditional Photography Really Professional Film . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Less Expensive? . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Films for Specialized Color Balance and Exposure Times . . . 32 2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Digital Cameras . . . . . . . . 11 Selecting and Using Film . . . . . . 32 Color Balance and Film . . . . . . 33 Capture Delays . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Do You Need a Film for a Sensor Resolution and Crummy Special Purpose? . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Lenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Storing Film Properly . . . . . . . . 35 Film Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 The RGB Color Space . . . . . . . . . 15 Film Speed Rating Systems . . . . 36 The CCD Image Sensor . . . . . . . 17 Film Speed and Grain . . . . . . . . 37 CCD and Color: Using a Color How Film Responds to Light . . . 41 Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 CCD Competition: Low-Cost CMOS Image Sensors . . . . . . . . 20 II Digital Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 What About Foveon? . . . . . . . . 20 4 The Importance of Lenses . . . . . 45 Aliasing and Other Imager Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Lens Focal Length . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Normal Focal-Length Lenses . . . 47 Highlights and CCD Sensitivity . 23 Focal Length and Digital Digital Camera Technologies and Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Long Focal-Length Lenses . . . . . 49 EXIF 2.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Short Focal-Length Lenses . . . . 51 Exif Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Special-Purpose Lenses . . . . . . . 52 PictBridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 00 0789731207_fm.qxd 4/6/04 2:16 PM Page v Automatic Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 TIFF File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Types of Autofocus . . . . . . . . . 55 Photoshop File Format . . . . . . . 95 Center-Weighted Autofocus Lock . 56 8 File Recovery: Finding “Lost” Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Focus and Depth of Field . . . . . . 58 Controlling Depth of Field . . . . 58 Using PC Inspector File Lens Focal Length, Aperture, Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 and Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Recovering Lost Images from 5 Exposure and Focus . . . . . . . . . . 63 Flash Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Recovering Specific Images . . . 102 Digital Cameras and Color Partially Corrupt Files . . . . . . . 102 Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Color Balance and Film . . . . . . 66 Filesystems at Work: The File Color Balance and Slide Film . . 66 Allocation Table (FAT) . . . . . 103 What Happens to Lost Data . . 106 Exposure Latitude . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Preventative Maintenance: Film Latitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Defragmenting Flash Media 107 Formatting Flash Media . . . . . 108 6 Getting Your Pix Onscreen . . . . 71 Formatting in the Camera . . . 108 Working with Scan Software . . 73 Another Disaster Point: USB . . 109 Making a Scan Step by Step . . . 74 Determining the Samples per Inch of a Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 III Image Editing . . . . . . . . . . .111 Scanning for Internet Output . . 77 Scanning for Inkjet and Dye- 9 Basic Editing with Photoshop Sublimation Output . . . . . . . . . 78 Elements and iPhoto . . . . . . 113 Scanning for Laser and Offset Finding an Image on Your Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Alternatives to Scanning . . . . . . 79 Editing with Photoshop 7 Files and File Formats . . . . . . . . 81 Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Printing Resolution . . . . . . . . . 116 Photoshop Elements and Resizing an Image Step Photoshop: File Format by Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Resampling an Image . . . . . . . 118 JPEG File Format . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Rescan or Resample a Photo . . 119 How JPEG Works . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Resampling 101 . . . . . . . . . . . 120 The Replacement for JPEG: JPEG2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 00 0789731207_fm.qxd 4/6/04 2:16 PM Page vi vi ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY Modifying an Image in The Amazingly Versatile Pen Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Perspective Correction in Saving Selections . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Rotating an Image in When Your Software Tools Quit Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Working . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Unlimited Transformations in The Power of the Color Range Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Modifying Selections . . . . . . . 165 Editing with iPhoto . . . . . . . . . 126 Feathering and Antialiased Working with the Print Dialog Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Box in iPhoto . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Don’t Forget the Crop Tool . . . 170 Resizing an Image Step by Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Photoshop Elements Workarounds for Pen and Quick Mask . . . 170 10Editing with Selection Tools . . 133 12The Importance of Resolution . 173 Introduction to Selection Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Understanding Different Terms Toolbox Options . . . . . . . . . . . 137 for Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Fly-Out Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Input Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . 176 The Most Popular Selection Digital Cameras and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Using the Magic Wand Tool . . 140 Resolution of Film: How Many Using the Lasso Tool . . . . . . . 142 Pixels? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Using the Rectangular Marquee Scanner Software and Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Using the Elliptical Marquee Understanding Bit Depth . . . . 183 Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 12- and 16-bit Scan Rates . . . 184 How Can a 48-Bit Scan Help Introduction to Image Editing . 145 Me? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Color Balance 101 . . . . . . . . . . 148 Drawbacks to 48-Bit Images . . 185 11Advanced Selection Tools . . . . 151 Output Resolution . . . . . . . . . . 186 Digital Methods for Increasing The Polygonal Lasso Tool . . . . 153 Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 Printing Press Output and Magnetic Lasso . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 Single Row and Single Column 13The Importance of Filters . . . . 191 Marquees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Sharpening Prints . . . . . . . . . . 192 Quick Mask Mode . . . . . . . . . . 156 00 0789731207_fm.qxd 4/6/04 2:16 PM Page vii CONTENTS vii Degrees of Unsharp Masking . 193 Correcting Images with Curves 226 An Exercise with Unsharp Curves for People in a Hurry . . 226 Mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Understanding the Curves Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 Taking Advantage of Blur . . . . 197 Getting Information About the Removing Moiré Patterns and Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 Halftone Dots . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Color Corrections with Curves 231 Using Blur to Add an Artistic Touch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Accessing Levels and Curves Noise Filters: Despeckle and Adjustment Layers . . . . . . . 231 Dust & Scratches . . . . . . . . . . 200 16The Importance of Layers and 14The Importance of Brightness/ Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Adjustment Layers Are a Different Introduction to Histograms . . . 207 Kind of Layer . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Correcting Brightness and Contrast Creating Image Layers . . . . . . . 237 for Dark Images . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Blending and Opacity Correcting Brightness and Contrast Experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 for Low-Contrast Images . . . . 209 Harmonizing the Elements Using Histograms to Diagnose of a Collage . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Exposure Problems . . . . . . . 210 Scale and Resolution in a Setting Brightness and Contrast Collage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 with the Black Point and the Managing Layers . . . . . . . . . . 240 White Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 Creating an Extended Family . 241 Black-Point and White-Point Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Preventing Color Banding and Brightness and Contrast Data Loss in Adjustment Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 15The Importance of Levels and Making a Composite Image Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Step by Step . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Visualize the Image . . . . . . . . 244 Using Levels to Fix Your Inspect Each Component . . . . 244 Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Adjust All the Components . . 245 Levels Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . 221 Select a Component and How Can Color Images Use Gray Copy It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 Values? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Copy the Selection and Paste Working with Histograms and It into the Background Image . 247 Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Flatten the Image When Fixing an Image . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Finished . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 The Purpose of Levels Triangles 224 The Output Levels Section . . . 225 00 0789731207_fm.qxd 4/6/04 2:16 PM Page viii viii ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY Advanced Selection Techniques: The Correct Settings for Printing The Pen Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Drawing a Straight Line . . . . . 248 What Resolution Are My Other Uses for Paths . . . . . . . 249 Images? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 The Purpose of Clipping Paths 252 Ink and Resolution: Tips for Layer Masks: Attaching a Mask Quality and Saving on Cost . . 275 to a Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 Third-Party Ink and Printer Masking an Adjustment Layer . 253 Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 17The Importance of Channels . . 255 ICC Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Epson Printers and Big Brother 280 Using Masks to Create Paper and Resolution: Tips for Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Quality and Saving on Cost . . 281 Seeing Through a Mask . . . . . . 259 Why Do Images Look so Good Removing an Object from an on the Monitor? . . . . . . . . . 282 Image and Pasting into Another Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Printing Big Pictures . . . . . . . . 282 Using a Mask Created from an 19Preserving Your Images . . . . . . 285 Image to Create Special Effects in Another Image . . . . . . . . . . 262 Photo Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Alpha Channels: Where Masks Are Stored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Plain Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 Troubleshooting: Keeping Track Archival Issues with Paper . . . . 288 of Layers, Channels, and Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 What About Dye-Sublimation Printers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 The Image-Editing Software Stops Working . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Saving Your Images on The Last Command Did Not CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 Work the Way It Should Have The Advantages of a CD-ROM 289 Worked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Make Your Own Photo Gallery I’m Still Not Getting the Results on CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 I Want . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 A Command Is Grayed Out or Is 20Color Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Missing from the Menu . . . . . 266 Three Image Layers Create Color Images . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Film Development Process . . . 295 IV Digital Output . . . . . . . . . . .267 Printing Process . . . . . . . . . . . 296 18Printers and Printer Resolution 269 Making Your Prints Match the Printer Technology . . . . . . . . . . 270 Monitor—Gamuts and Software Dithering and Error Color Management . . . . . . . 297 Diffusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 Printing Without Color Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 00 0789731207_fm.qxd 4/6/04 2:16 PM Page ix CONTENTS ix Printing in RGB and CMYK . . . 302 23Digital Photography and Multiple Printers: About Paper 305 the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 21Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 Making Images for the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 Degree of Diffusion: From Hard to Soft Light . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 Creating a Web Photo Gallery . 353 Compressing Images for the Available Light: Outdoors . . . . 310 Internet with JPEG . . . . . . . . . 356 Available Light: Indoors . . . . . . 312 The Internet: Resource and Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 Qualities of Artificial Light . . . 313 Exploring the Web . . . . . . . . . 357 The Main Light: The Dominant Your Own Virtual Gallery . . . . 358 Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361 The Fill Light: To Lighten Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369 Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 V Using Your Digital Pictures .323 22The Portrait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 Converting Color to Black and White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328 Color to Black and White: Using Grayscale or Desaturate 328 Color to Black and White: Using Channels Plus Grayscale 330 Fixing Red Eye . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

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