(This also goes for images intended to be stitched into a panorama.) So even if you use process 2012 in real life, do not use it for system calibration, because the adjustments are not constant between images. (They have slightly different names and functions too: Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, and Blacks.) Seeįor details. But according to Jeff Schewe inĪll of the tone controls in process 2012 (Photoshop CS6+, Lightroom 4+) are adaptive. As far as I can determine, the only ones that are adaptive, meaning that they adjust to the image, are Fill Light and Clarity. Note–the Adobe Camera Raw controls used here are the ones in process version 2010 (choose the process version on the Camera Calibration panel). I avoid sharpening and noise reduction in the testing workflow because I want to see the true noise and signal-to-noise ratios generated by the cameras’ sensors. My goal in testing is to see how much detail is really available for use at the shadow and highlight ends of the RAW image. Adjusting the Brightness and Contrast, for example, has a large effect on the shadow values, as illustrated on the right. Zeroed controls are not real-world settings, but they provide a fixed point of reference for comparison, and permit better measurement of what the system can do. Why zero everything? The goal in this step is system characterization: determining the tonal limits of the system and how it responds to the available controls. Images processed full-size at 300 ppi for printing, 16-bit, in the Adobe RGB color space. All other settings were zeroed, including Brightness, Contrast, Sharpening, Noise Reduction, and Tone Curve. White Balance was adjusted with the eyedropper, and perspective controls were used to straighten the texture target images. The only controls used to vary the dynamic range of the images were Exposure (white point) and Blacks (black point). Images taken in RAW format, 14-bit with the Nikon, 16-bit (14 effective) with the Leaf, at the native ISO’s of 200 and 25, respectively.Īdobe Camera Raw 6.3. Leaf Aptus-II 5 digital back on a Bronica ETRSi.The chosen zone system application workflow begins with a digital camera and ends with an inkjet printer.
Beyond the Digital Zone System - Workflow