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ColorWasher - Choosing The Best Altered Photo

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 11:57 am
by colliewalker1


I have just started to use a trial version of ColorWasher - it looks a very interesting set of tools!

My early impression is that the changes 'warm up' the photos - making the originals look bluish: in fact I suppose the adjusted photos look rather yellowish by comparison - but much more pleasant.

Questions:

(1)Being provocative - could similar results be achieved by
normal usage of PS/PSP anyway :roll:
(2)How does one tell when the colours in the photo look
CORRECT - as distinct from MORE APPEALING :o
Denis Boisclair

PS. On my PC screen the Normal size font looks tiny - does it look OK at your end?

Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:48 pm
by HaraldHeim
I never tried to reproduce the corrections of ColorWasher in Photoshop or PSP, because it would take several minutes to simulate a result that only takes a mouse click in ColorWasher. And even then I don't think I would be able to do it perfectly. Besides, Photoshop or PSP don't give you any ideas how the corrected photo should look like. ColorWasher offers you some suggestions when you use the Auto buttons.

I don't know what you did in ColorWasher, what photos you used or if your monitor is calibrated, so I can't comprehend how you reached the conclusion that ColorWasher produces warmer results.

ColorWasher is meant make the photos look more natural, which usually means neutral colored. Of course, you can also use ColorWasher to add a more warm or cold touch, but that is only a bonus feature.

Please have a look at the example on the ColorWasher product page. Maybe that gives you a better idea what ColorWasher is supposed to do.

If you send me one or two of your photos, their corrected version and tell me how you achieved it in ColorWasher, I can let you know my impression and give you some tips.

Colorwahwer-Choosing the Best Altered Photo

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:57 pm
by colliewalker1
Thank you very much for replying so quickly to my query.

I have been experimenting further with ColorWasher to get some more experience with the programme before coming back to you and have had some good results - not in EVERY case - this is probably down to me!

I have been using the programme on the digital images from some professionally scanned slides( these were scanned using tiff mode) - these photos were taken 1966/7!!However, generally, the quality of the images is surprisingly good and after converting to jpeg have produced some very good prints.

I would like to accept your offer to upload an example of 'before and after'- but I can't see how to attach images to this message and will be grateful if you will let me know how this is done - my apologies if I am just missing something obvious here. :roll:

Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:29 pm
by HaraldHeim
Please send the images to ...

ColorWasher- Choosing The Best Altered Photo

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 2:21 pm
by colliewalker1
Before mailing you some examples, I have read the Manual and have experimented again with the photo in question: I have now been able to achieve better results and am happy to leave the subject there: sorry to have troubled you unnecessarily.

I am working through a number of recently scanned images(from transparencies)and so far am VERY impressed. :D

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 2:34 pm
by HaraldHeim
Glad to hear that you managed to achive better results. What are you doing differently now? Was there anything you had problems with?

If you have any problems with an image, feel free to send it to me.

ColorWasher - Choosing The Best Altered Photo

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 8:56 am
by Guest
(1)Firstly I realised that I had been omitting to click
on 'Reset' at the beginning of the processing of a photo!
(2)I found that with a dificult subject I could achieve a
better result via 'Manual' than in 'Auto'- and I studied
your online User Manual!
(3)I changed to applying the programme to the original tiff
images from the scanned slides instead of lides I had
previously edited without ColorWasher:I don't know if
this would account for a different result.

As mentioned originally, its sometimes difficult to decide which result looks the most 'correct': presumably. if there is some white in the picture one should look at this to see which shows the whitest version: however often there is no white at all: I have to admit to liking photos that have a warm tendency....

Re: ColorWasher - Choosing The Best Altered Photo

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:00 pm
by HaraldHeim
1)Firstly I realised that I had been omitting to click
on 'Reset' at the beginning of the processing of a photo!
You should only start with the settings from a previous correction if the new image has similar problems as the previous one. So starting new by hitting Reset is better in other cases.
(2)I found that with a dificult subject I could achieve a
better result via 'Manual' than in 'Auto'- and I studied
your online User Manual!
Have you tried drawing a sample area on the preview?
(3)I changed to applying the programme to the original tiff
images from the scanned slides instead of lides I had
previously edited without ColorWasher:I don't know if
this would account for a different result.
Yes, you should always apply ColorWasher to the original unaltered image. If you apply color, brightness or contrast corrections with other tools on the image, ColorWasher may not be able to achieve the best results anymore. I will check if that is mentioned in the manual or not.
As mentioned originally, its sometimes difficult to decide which result looks the most 'correct': presumably. if there is some white in the picture one should look at this to see which shows the whitest version: however often there is no white at all: I have to admit to liking photos that have a warm tendency....
You need some experience to decide which corrected version looks best for a certain purpose. There is no such thing as "the best color correction". Whether you correct a photo for neutral, warm or cool colors can depend on the content of the image, your preference, the context in which the image is used and some other things.

ColorWasher lets you remove a color cast and at the same time add a new but different one by changing the Target color. I guess it would be a good idea to add an option to make ColorWasher correct more for warm or cool colors instead of just neutral colors as it does at the moment. Maybe that could be an option in Preference. I'll have to think about it.

Maybe it would also be a good idea to add an option that compensates for the light under which a photo is viewed. For example if a photo is meant to be hung on a wall where a tungsten lamp shines on it, the correction could be made more cooler to compensate for the warm lamp light. But I guess such an option would only be useful for perfectionists.

Colorwasher - Choosing The Best Altered Photo

Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 3:17 pm
by Guest
Thank you very much for your detailed and helpful reply; some interesting points there to carefully note in future.