Category: Ask Tim Grey

Today’s Question: I read with interest your post on digitizing analog photos. There’s a company called “Negative Supply” that has a lot of products (on the B&H website) which look like they’ll do a decent job. Any insight or comments on this do-it-yourself sort of approach, other than the time involved?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You can most certainly scan your own photos rather than using a service such as ScanMyPhotos (https://www.timgreyphoto.com/scan). The main drawback is of course the time you’ll spend scanning the images, the need to buy some additional gear, and the precision that can be required in setting up your camera to photograph the slides or negatives.

More Detail: If you want to scan your film images yourself rather than pay someone else to do that work, there are certainly options available. The three basic categories of hardware for this purpose are film scanners, flatbed scanners, and accessories that enable you to photograph the slides and negatives.

The products from Negative Supply (https://bhpho.to/4gwULCg) revolve around the latter option, where you use your camera to photograph the slides or negatives. This involves an illumination source to backlight the slides and negatives, a mount to hold the film perfectly flat, and a stand to mount your camera above the film you’re photographing. You could also use a tripod for this purpose, but this does make it a little more challenging to get the camera lined up properly. That said, this is absolutely a viable approach, and many photographers have used variations on this type of setup to digitize their analog originals.

I prefer the use of a dedicated film scanner, in part because this makes it much easier to scan images with minimal effort, and the scan quality is generally very good. One scanner I’ve had the opportunity to test and got good results with is the Plustek OpticFilm 8200i film scanner (https://bhpho.to/3qIfxdX). There are other options, though not as many as there had been in the earlier days of the transition from film to digital.

Many flatbed scanners also support scanning slides and negatives, but this is generally not my preferred solution. In many cases the quality is not as good as can be achieved with other means, and it can be a little more labor-intensive to get properly aligned scans. That said, a flatbed scanner that supports scanning transparencies via a built-in backlight does provide a relatively economical solution to scanning slides and negatives. I just prefer to use a dedicated film scanner, using a flatbed only when scanning photo prints and documents.

Today’s Question: I went to the Creative Cloud application and under recent updates I have 2 versions of Photoshop: version 26.3 and version 25.12.1. I have no idea why. Can you help explain why and what I should do?

Tim’s Quick Answer: You have two different versions of Photoshop installed, which in this case is an indication that when you installed version 26 of Photoshop you did not uninstall the older version. Once you’re confident that the latest version is working properly, you can uninstall the older version.

More Detail: When there is a new major release (a whole number version number without a decimal) of Photoshop (or other Adobe applications) it won’t simply update the existing version, but rather will install alongside the prior version. So, for example, when version 26 is installed it is added alongside version 25 unless you choose to uninstall version 25.

I actually recommend keeping the prior version of Adobe applications when installing a new major release, so it is easier to go back to the earlier version should you run into any problems with the new version. Once you are confident that the new version is working properly, however, you can uninstall the older version.

To uninstall an older version of an application, go to the Creative Cloud application (where you install updates) and choose Apps from the toolbar along the left side of the window. Then, on the “Installed apps” panel at the far right, locate the product you want to remove, such as Photoshop in this case.

Hover the mouse pointer over the name of the application, and click on the ellipsis (three dots) that appears to the right, choosing “Other versions” from the popup menu. This will bring up a dialog with a list of available earlier versions. You can click the “Uninstall” button to the right of any version you want to remove. In this case, for example, you could leave version 26.3 installed, but uninstall version 25.12.1.

Today’s Question: When I “finish” post-processing an image in Lightroom Classic and print it, I want to lock that image down so that if I decide to go back and re-edit later changes to the original image (not a virtual copy) it, the “print” copy is not affected. I essentially want a version that I can go back and re-print for sale while maintaining the option open to reprocess other versions of the file. Is this possible and if so, how?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, you can preserve a copy of the image as a print-ready file and add that back to your Lightroom Classic catalog for future reference. You could use the Export feature in Lightroom Classic for this purpose, or simply save the derivative image if you’ll be using Photoshop to prepare the image for printing.

More Detail: If you want to preserve the print version of an image so it can easily be reprinted exactly the same way later, it can be helpful to create a derivative image for this purpose. If you’re using Lightroom Classic to manage your photos, you may want to add that derivative image back to the catalog to help you manage the print versions of your images.

If you’re finalizing the image in Lightroom Classic, you can simply export a copy of the photo and add it back to the catalog as part of that process. To get started, select the image and click the Export button at the bottom of the left panel in the Library module. In the Export dialog you can select “Same folder as original photo” from the “Export To” popup to save the image alongside the original, with the “Put in Subfolder” checkbox turned off. Then turn on the “Add to This Catalog” checkbox, so the derivative copy will be added to the catalog as well.

In the File Settings section I recommend setting the image format popup to TIFF, with ZIP selected for Compression. In the Image Sizing section I recommend turning off the “Resize to Fit” checkbox so the image will maintain full resolution, unless you want to resize for a specific output size.

You can configure the other settings based on your personal preferences, and then click the Export button to create the derivative image that will be added to the catalog. You can then add the image to a collection, assign a keyword, or otherwise manage it as a derivative image for future printing.

If you’re using Photoshop as part of your workflow for preparing an image for print, you can simply send the original image to Photoshop by selecting Photo > Edit In > Edit In Adobe Photoshop from the menu. Adjust the photo for output, such as by resizing and sharpening, and then save the updated file and close it. That image will then be in Lightroom Classic alongside the original, so you can manage that derivative for future printing.

Today’s Question: What settings do you recommend when having slides scanned such as with the ScanMyPhotos service you recommended in your recent video?

Tim’s Quick Answer: I recommend having your slides scanned at 4,000 pixel per inch resolution. If you want to maximize image quality I recommend saving the images as TIFF files. If you’re simply digitizing to preserve photo memories, then saving as JPEG is perfectly fine.

More Detail: When scanning slides or negatives, I recommend using the highest optical resolution available for the scanner. In the case of the ScanMyPhotos service (https://www.timgreyphoto.com/scan), that means 4,000 pixel per inch scanning. Note that for prints I typically scan at 600 dpi, because prints don’t contain as much information as film images.

As noted in the video I recently shared, in my case the slides I was having scanned date back to my early days in photography, and so they don’t represent my best work. As such, I was perfectly happy to have the scanned images saved as JPEG files so they wouldn’t consume as much storage. However, if you anticipate printing the images or otherwise want to ensure maximum quality, I recommend saving the images as TIFF files.

If you missed my video about digitizing your analog photos, you can find it on my “Tim Grey TV” channel on YouTube here:

https://youtu.be/d8N7dNBl2tA

Today’s Question: I am reworking an older file that I took several years ago. I really like the image but there are some red artifacts in the unprocessed raw file that I can’t seem to correct. Is it normal to have artifacts in an unprocessed raw file?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The color fringing you’re seeing are chromatic aberrations and can be corrected using the Lens Corrections adjustments in Lightroom Classic or the Optics adjustments in Camera Raw or Lightroom.

More Detail: Chromatic aberrations are a type of visible artifact caused by certain lenses, particularly wide-angle lenses and lenses of relatively low quality. Fortunately, these artifacts can generally be corrected somewhat easily.

The first step is to turn on the “Remove Chromatic Aberration” checkbox on the Profile tab under Lens Corrections or Optics. I generally find this provides a good solution about half the time, and when it doesn’t resolve the issue, you can switch to the Manual tab.

On the Manual tab you can increase the value for the Amount sliders for Purple and Green, depending on which colors are present. These sliders affect the strength of the correction being applied to reduce the appearance of chromatic aberrations.

You can also use the two slider handles to adjust the Purple Hue and Green Hue ranges as needed. You want to expand the range enough to cover the full range of colors seen in the chromatic aberrations, but not so much that the effect impacts surrounding colors. For example, if you expand the Green Hue range to extend too far into blue, it could affect areas of sky.

By carefully balancing the strength of the effect for each color along with the range of color values being affected, in most cases you can greatly reduce the appearance of the chromatic aberrations. With many images that will translate to a complete correction without any color artifacts remaining.

Today’s Question: What is the best configuration to use the same Lightroom Classic catalog on two computers? Do I need to move the catalog to an external hard drive?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, if you want to be able to access the same Lightroom Classic catalog on more than one computer, my recommendation is to keep the catalog on an external hard drive. For convenience, I suggest keeping the catalog on the same external hard drive where your photos are stored.

More Detail: The core architecture of Lightroom Classic does not support storing the catalog on a network volume, which limits your options when it comes to accessing your catalog from more than one computer. While it is feasible to store the catalog on a cloud-based storage platform such as Dropbox or OneDrive, I don’t recommend doing so because of the risk of corruption or a lack complete synchronization.

Therefore, if you want to be able to access a single catalog on more than one computer, the approach I recommend is to store the catalog on an external hard drive along with your photos. You can then connect that external hard drive to any computer with Lightroom Classic and open the catalog from the external hard drive.

If you want to take this approach, first quit Lightroom Classic so the catalog won’t be in use. Then copy the folder that contains your catalog and related files to the external hard drive. Once the folder is copied, rename the original to indicate it is now just a backup copy, such as by adding “Backup” to the beginning of the folder name.

You can then double-click the catalog file (with the .lrcat filename extension) from the folder on your external hard drive to open that catalog in Lightroom Classic. Windows users should note that they’ll need to be sure the external hard drive retains the same drive letter on each computer, so Lightroom Classic can find them where they are expected.

Today’s Question: One thing I’ve never understood is all the stacking for HDR. I’ve done that and it’s cool and all but in normal conditions I simple take two exposures one for the darks and one for the light and then blend them. What is the purpose of taking more than two shots when you can capture all the darks and lights with two?

Tim’s Quick Answer: For high dynamic range (HDR) images you only need enough exposures to cover the full range of light from the darkest shadows to the brightest highlights. If two exposures are enough, there’s no need to capture more.

More Detail: You can most certainly assemble two exposures into an HDR image, or even just blend the two images with a layer mask in Photoshop. However, more often than not I find that in situations where a single exposure won’t cover the full range of contrast in a scene, two exposures isn’t quite enough either.

To start with, I recommend separating exposures for HDR by two stops. If you separate by more than two stops, you may not have enough overlap in the tonal range for the exposures, causing problems for the final HDR image. You can separate exposures by less than two stops, but there’s no benefit to doing so.

Another consideration is that it is often easiest to use automatic exposure bracketing (AEB) to capture the exposures for an HDR image, in part to enable you to have those exposures captured in a short a time period as possible to avoid changes between exposures in the scene you’re photographing. Most cameras default to three exposures for bracketing, though many cameras offer additional options such as to bracket five, seven, or nine exposures.

I often capture bracketed exposures in sets of five images, just to provide some insurance with the bracketing, and to avoid needing to frequently change the camera settings to capture a different number of bracketed exposures. But if you end up with more bracketed exposures than you really need, you can exclude the unnecessary exposures when assembling an HDR image or even delete the exposures you don’t need.

Today’s Question: Using Android Open Camera, which image mode provides better image quality, PNG or JPEG?

Tim’s Quick Answer: The PNG option will provide better image quality than the JPEG option. That also means, however, that the PNG files will generally take up considerably more storage space than the equivalent JPEG images would.

More Detail: The PNG (Portable Network Graphics) file was introduced in many respects as a higher-quality option to the JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) file format. However, the PNG file format has not seen anywhere near the wide adoption of JPEG files. Therefore, not many cameras offer PNG capture, while nearly all offer JPEG as a capture format.

If image quality is your primary concern, PNG is a better option than JPEG. Just be aware that the PNG files will be considerably larger than JPEG images, so will consume more space. That translates into not being able to capture as many PNG files as JPEG images on a given storage device.

For example, a JPEG that is around 13MB in size would translate to a PNG file of about 32MB in size. That’s a pretty significant increase in file size. In fact, in many cases a raw capture will be smaller than a PNG file, and so raw (or DNG) can be a better solution when image quality is your primary concern. A raw capture contains more bit depth, for example, with a file that will generally be smaller than an equivalent PNG file because the image data for a raw capture generally only contains one of the three RGB color values for each pixel.

Today’s Question: When you see a large amount of out-of-gamut color on an image (like most of the reds on a male vermillion flycatcher), should you just let the software figure out how to bring them into gamut and is that what the proof setup shows, or should one adjust something (and, if so what) to bring the colors into gamut?

Tim’s Quick Answer: In general, the software you’re using for printing will do a good job of converting the colors based on the output limitations. However, you may want to consider a different print configuration, or to apply some adjustments to compensate.

More Detail: Today’s question is a follow-up to a recent question about previewing what a print will look like on your monitor display via the soft proofing feature that is available in Photoshop and Lightroom Classic. In particular, it relates to the Gamut Warning feature that is available in Photoshop but not Lightroom Classic. This is an overlay that indicates which areas of an image contain colors that cannot be produced accurately with the intended printer, ink, and paper combination.

When you print a photo that has out-of-gamut colors, the colors that are out of gamut will automatically be shifted to a color value that can be printed. With the Relative Colorimetric setting for the rendering intent, any out-of-gamut colors will be shifted to the closest printable value. With the Perceptual setting, all colors in the image will have their saturation reduced to the point that out-of-gamut colors can be printed. I generally prefer to use Relative Colorimetric because it maintains the accuracy of most colors in the print.

Many printers use a single set of inks, and so the real variable (other than using a different printer) is to consider different papers. For example, a glossy paper will generally have a color gamut that is quite a bit wider than with an uncoated matte paper. So, if you find significant areas of the photo are out of gamut with a particular matte paper, you might consider a semi-gloss or glossy option instead.

You can also apply adjustments to the image to try to compensate for color that are out of gamut. However, this can often lead to unintended consequences. For example, you could shift the hue of the reds so they are perhaps a bit more orange, bringing them back into gamut. However, that can also lead to a situation where the color fidelity is obviously wrong, and worse than would have been achieved by simply letting the software manage the colors as part of the printing process.

Today’s Question: What would be the best way to determine at what point the higher ISO settings start to degrade image quality? I am guessing take the same exact shot at the lowest ISO setting and then work your way up to a high ISO setting. Then compare at 200% or 300% magnification. What exactly should I be looking for in the magnified image?

Tim’s Quick Answer: Yes, I recommend capturing test photos at different ISO settings, and then evaluating the results. It is a subjective decision, but you’re both learning how your camera behaves in terms of noise at different ISO settings, and also getting a sense of at what setting the noise tends to be beyond your comfort level.

More Detail: With most cameras you’ll see increased levels of noise as you increase to higher ISO settings, and with many cameras the noise can really start to be a problem as you get up above around 1600 ISO or so.

There is also variation in terms of the light levels in the scene, as well as other factors such as increased noise with long exposures. I therefore recommend capturing test photos of a scene that includes a relatively wide range of tonal values, from dark shadows to relatively bright highlights. I also recommend avoiding long exposures for the baseline testing, such as by using a relatively wide-open lens aperture so that even at a low ISO setting the shutter speed will be reasonably fast. You can separate the exposures by one stop, which means doubling (or halving) the ISO setting for each photo. For example, you could set the ISO to 100, then 200, then 400, and so on.

I then recommend zooming in to evaluate the images at about 100% as well as at about 400%. It can be helpful to cycle through the images multiple times to get a better sense of the noise behavior. I also suggest making sure you have captured a sample photo at the highest ISO setting your camera offers. There’s a good chance that when you look at that image up close, you’ll immediately conclude there is too much noise. This can help provide some context when evaluating the other photos.

There’s a very good chance (depending on your camera) that you’ll start to see that the noise is more obvious especially as you get up to the image at around 800 or 1600 ISO. Some cameras will have relatively problematic noise at lower ISO settings, and some provide relatively low noise at high settings.

Noise can be exhibited as both significant tonal variations and color variations at the pixel level. Noise will also be more prevalent in the shadow areas of the image rather than highlight areas. It can be helpful to brighten the images you’re evaluating so you can better see the noise that may be present in the shadow areas.

Again, this is a somewhat subjective evaluation, but the aim is to get a sense of what ISO setting start to be problematic in terms of noise from your perspective. Based on that, you can do your best to try to stay below the threshold you’ve decided on, to the extent that the circumstances will allow you to keep the ISO value below that level.