Ranch King Snow Plow Attachment

The 5 Golden Rules Finally, the post-operative

We talked a lot in the past, techniques various post-production and photo retouching.
Lately, I have noticed, are a little 'short of ideas more than anything because I realize that the actions of editing that I sometimes do, are so specific and targeted to the particular photo that would not make sense to make it a tutorial.

For this reason, today I should be considering the matter in a somewhat 'more generic, and give you a list of 5 rules than actual rules are a summary of my personal modus operandi ...

1. design editing : What I want to get?
   what is the result I want? what are the differences from the original?
   That does not mean that we can not achieve outstanding results going to trial and error, but often the time for attempts, and then there must be clear about the steps involved before you even open Photoshop (or Paint Shop or Gimp, or whatever is most comfortable)
2. understand what it means mixing additive / subtractive : well learn how they behave when the pixels and colors are overlapping each other in different ways. In this way, often you get to the desired result by simply adding a few layer blend modes with "ad hoc") {
   example: try to duplicate the layer and set the mode Melting to Screen, Multiply and Overlay. Then do the same with the duplicate layer and converted to b / n. ..}
3. every action causes a loss of information (however small) then always a copy of the original, and try to get the final result with fewer steps can (and different levels, so you can retrieve the "pieces" from the layers below)
   For the same reason, a good habit is to use adjustment layers adjustments rather than directly on the bare and raw level (Paint Shop has them, I do not know Gimp, Photoshop has made them much more "user friendly "by the CS4 and above).
   The reason is simple: the levels of regulation may at any time ..." off ".
   {So, for example, if you spent half an hour to clone via an unknown from your sun set over the New York skyline, and the last time that you decide what color balance that you had added to the beginning you do not like most, you will be happy not to have to start all over again ...}
   And then the adjustment layers are may mask. See Step 4.
4. Layer masks are our friends : you never know when we will need to recover a portion of the image from one level after you have deleted. What is erased not recover, what is "masked" yeah!
   addition, be familiar with the mask allows you to make the 100% adjustment layers ... see 3
   So: take lots and lots and lots of confidence with layer masks.
5. EXPERIMENT, EXPERIMENT, EXPERIMENT! never stop to what we can, but always seek new ways to get new effects! ;) {
   Maybe we avoid testing it on that important work that must be delivered within two hours, but in normal cazzeggiano photo I do and I'm sure each of us, we're testing all
   So there is} command "Cancel": P
   and then ... you made a copy of the original , no? ;)