Savannah Photographer Dale Reagan

Have you encountered a Photoshop Error/Warning message: Could not complete your request because it is not the right kind of document…?

Ok, if you are like me you don’t upgrade to the latest version of every software package that you might be using – sometimes you simply don’t need all the new bells & whistles.  If, however, you do get a new camera then you may need to find a work-around to get your new camera image files into a form that your old software can use.

One solution – only use a file format that your software supports (i.e.  TIFF, JPEG, etc.)  Of course the downside to this is you may lose some of the special data that your RAW files contain; you will also lose some flexibility in image editing since RAW files may provide more room for aggressive editing.

In most cases (for higher end cameras) vendor software is typically provided for editing RAW image files.  If, however, you have Adobe Photoshop CS2 and RAW support for your camera is only available in Adobe Photoshop CS4 then what else can you do?

Enter a simple, portable solution from Adobe – Adobe DNG (digital negative) format.  The DNG converter/reader is FREE – download, install, convert your new RAW files to DNG and then crank up your old version of Photoshop.  The downside?  Hmm, you may not be getting access to all of the information available in the RAW file – which could also be true for ACR…

Another solution is to use some other image application tool(s) to access the RAW files and then move converted files into your version of Photoshop.  In my case I started using (purchased) Adobe Photoshop Lightroom – which does support the latest cameras AND also supports RAW to edit in CS2 (creates a copy of the converted file which you then edit.)  I do all of my custom printing from Lightroom – I think that it is a wonderful tool – when purchasing, make sure to check for discounts, i.e. if you have an education connection.

Another tool that I have recently explored is Bibble 5.   This tools is cross OS, provides a license for Windows/Linux, has a nice interface, incorporates a number of plugins – I will provide a better review later this year.  In the meantime – it also provides support for RAW files so it could be used to resolve your RAW file dilemma…

Is it a bird? a plane? a blob?  a digital dust spot?

Ever noticed strange looking dark blobs (spots that are usually small) in only some of your photos?  They don’t show up in every image – only when the camera is optimized to reveal them (for me this is usually when using a higher aperture and close to a hyper-focal distance focus setting.)  The image below shows some ‘real’ spots on a image from a camera that needs a sensor cleaning – if you notice similar spots in many or most of your images then a dirty sensor may be the problem.

'Spots' on a digital camera sensor.

Older digital SLR cameras are more susceptible to this problem – according to manufacturer’s descriptions of their newer model cameras with self-cleaning sensors.

Eventually, you will need this information: the process of changing lenses on DSLRs provides ample opportunities for dust to contaminate your ‘low-pass filter’ and/or image sensor.  After months of shooting I  noticed a ‘consistent dark spot’ on my images – sure enough a quick check revealed a ‘blob’ on the low-pass filter – cleaning was required.   A few weeks later I noticed that I seemed to be experiencing  some lens ‘vignetting’ – another review for ‘dust spots’ revealed a concentration of dust-like pixels in the corners of my images – another cleaning was in order.

Your camera manual should provide some information on ’sensor’ or ‘filter’ cleaning – the link below is for the brave folks who like to handle this themselves – otherwise you should see your camera dealer or seek an authorized repair facility for your camera.  While it is possible to ‘clean images’ in editing software I think everyone happier if the images don’t need such tweaking.  If you only have small ‘dust spots’ then your photo editing software may have simple tools to assist you in removing such spots, i.e.  the  ‘healing brush’ in Adobe Lightroom or Adobe Photoshop.

How do you prevent such digital image spots?

1. Only change your lenses in a ‘clean’ environment (in-doors, away from dust, sand, dirt, wind, etc.)
2. Clean your camera lens mounts prior to changing them.
3. Clean your camera lenses.
4. Have your digital camera professionally cleaned by an authorized service center.
5. Do your own cleaning with one of the kits available for this purpose (visit the link below or search for ‘digital sensor cleaner’ or similar terms.)

How  do you fix or clean dust spots in an image?

1. Use digital photo editing software to remove or replace the spots, i.e. use the healing brush tool found in Adobe Products like Adobe Photoshop CS4, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2, Bibble Labs or other tools.  In many cases it as simple as red-eye-removal:  a) select the tool, b) set your brush/tool size to be slightly larger than the spot and c) click on the spot to remove it.
2. Use your camera options that provide a somewhat automated image cleaning process, i.e. some Nikon camera models and software provide a multi-step process where you create a ’spot mask’ image which you use as a filter with the Nikon software and the end result is that the spots are removed.

Cleaning Digital Camera Sensors – this is a link to an external site devoted to this topic.  The site appears to offer a comprehensive review of solutions and approaches for cleaning your digital camera sensor.

Photo editing/printing is about choices – what do you like/prefer?  More saturated images? more realistic images?

The LAB color space provides some quick and easy methods for altering/boosting color – especially for certain types of images.   Please note that these images are not final images – they are simply examples of what can be done.  The effects made by changes in LAB color may not be appropriate for every image (even those shown in these examples);  you need to target the final output medium when you are working on any image.  Click here to view larger examples of LAB color adjustments (Flash gallery.)