Instruction manual

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printed as well, then consider a more restrained approach, as you
may find that the vivid color you saw on your monitor takes on an
unnatural, overdone appearance when printed.
• Auto focus. This feature really works in some cases.
• Sharpen. Easier to use than a function like Photoshop's Unsharp
Mask, the standard “Sharpen” command in many photo editors gives
a quick-and-dirty boost to your photo's detail, and may well make it
look right for viewing on the Web or in an on-screen slide show.
Unfortunately, automatic sharpening isn't as effective when pictures
are destined to be printed, since the optimum amount of sharpening
will depend on the size of the print, the quality of the printer and other
factors. Your photo editor may include a function that varies the
sharpening applied based on certain printing parameters. If it doesn't,
learn to use the Unsharp Mask filter, which can be tricky to learn but
is a solid, sturdy sharpening tool.
Avoid sharpening low-quality images and highly compressed (smaller
file size) JPEG images. Low quality images often have small
imperfections (artifacts) which can become much more apparent
when sharpening them.
Only apply sharpening after you’ve performed all your other
corrections and edits, because sharpening can be a very destructive
operation.
Editing RAW Photos
By shooting in the RAW mode, you add an extra step to the editing
process. You have to use some form of a raw conversion process, because
all the processing that normally happens in the camera is sent to your
computer for processing. On the upside, you have more control and flexibility
because of this.
Different cameras produce different types of raw files, and there are no
generally accepted standards (as there is for JPEG or TIF files). That is why
camera vendors bundle a raw conversion program with their cameras.
Previewing
When you import your RAW images, some applications will allow you to
view thumbnails and previews from within Windows Explorer. For example,
dpMagic (www.dpmagic.com) makes a free program for Windows called
“dpMagicCommunity” that allows you to view thumbnails inside Explorer (a
$10.00 version adds full-screen previews and histograms, and supports
Adobe Digital Negative files). Photoshop Camera Raw (built into Photoshop
and Photoshop Elements) supports many camera types and can import RAW
files from all the major camera makers. Also, the free Microsoft RAW Image
Thumbnailer and Viewer download provides thumbnails, previews, printing,