#dodgetool

Post Production in ecommerce photography

Techniques/ tools used to get the best photo.

• Spot healing - get rid out of marks • Plain background – Use the pen tool to cut it out and put it into a plain background which is less distracting. • 3D - dodge and burn / drop shadow tool

It is a book by Mario Testino who is a Peruvian fashion and portrait photographer. He was born in Lima, Peru.

For this task, we want to practice how to get rid of marks and make the white background look very clean and real.

Photoshop process

• Go onto Moodle -> studio project -> Kayne -> week 3 and download book shots 0314 (raw format) White background? • Step 1 - white balance. Open photo in camera RAW in Photoshop. Camera RAW is powerful. • Use the white balance tool • Icon on top row looks like an eye drop. • Zoom onto the word ‘Industrial’ • Control and Z (CTRL+Z) • On scale -> set the temperature to 5450. If the temperature scale won't move type in the number yourself to get the purist white in whole photo. It looks at the pixels and tries to balance it out. On human skin it will be a little warmer looking.

Change exposure There is reflection because it is a book, and it looks 3D. Maybe adjust the contrast and the highlights/brightness 1. Turn the blacks down 2. Increase the white. You look at it and judge it for yourself, and then you can make any adjustments you need to make.

Straighten image • Ruler tool -> 7th icon on the top row. Draw a straight line from the corners of the book. • Click and drag from the left to the right corner. • Then press Enter. Now the book is straight.

White balance tool

• Set the RGB to 255 for a better, purer white. Zoom into the letters and aim for 255. • On the menu bar on the right hand side, click the top ribbon, and then click on “detail adjustment”. Set the sharpening, which is at 25, to 45. Be careful that it doesn't look too sharp. Don't over edit it.

Open the image in Photoshop

• The layer is locked. Unlock the layer. Press the padlock button. • Duplicate a new layer (background layer) • CTRL+J for get a copy. • Turn off the original layer. Press the eye icon.

To get rid of white dots you can use the clone stamp tool, patch tool or the spot healing tool.

Using the spot healing tool

• Click spot healing tool • Zoom into the image (100%) • Click and drag over the dust and it will disappear. Don't get rid of the shadow created by the book spine. • Look for fingerprints, white marks, and anything that is distracting like the dust and marks.

Using patch tool • Draw around the image you don't want and this will get rid of it. • Deselect it - CTRL+D There was corner of the book with a flick and a bend.

Using the Liquify tool. It changes the images to make them bigger or smaller. This can be unethical, if you use it on models e.g. people make models look slimmer. • Filter, go down to Liquify or - SHIFT+CTRL+X • Use the Liquify tool to straighten distractions. • Zoom into the corner of book (100%) • Change the pressure to 13% and density to 30-35% • The square brackets changes the size of the brushes “ [ or ] ” • Make the brush smaller. • Click and drag to reshape it and make sure you have clicked on the left hand row. • Click CTRL+Z when you have finished.

Crop

• Before cropping, press CTRL+@’ for a grid. Consistency is important, they should all be the same.

How many squares from the edge? One square has 4 little squares inside it. Then zoom in again and it’s 16 squares. Use medium sized square. Use it as a border to crop.

Crop square • Try to choose ratio 1:1 • Resize it-> still keep it square • Aim to get as close as possible to 8 squares round the top then 8 squares round side. • I realised that it won't be exactly 8 but just get as close as you can. - 7.5 around the side and 8 around the top. • Then centre it. • CTRL+ALT when finished. I felt that square doesn't look right, so then I changed it to a rectangle. • Make the top and bottom the same and centre it. • Save as JPEG and PSD.

See below for my screenshots outlining the Photoshop process.