The Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers

Organizing Your First Batch of Images

The big moment is here. You're now going to begin working with your pictures and taking advantage of all of this foundation work you've done. If you haven't downloaded pictures to your computer yet using Photo Downloader, now is the time to do so (I cover using Photo Downloader in Chapter 2), because you're going to start working with actual photographs.

The first time through, I'd like you to follow these instructions as closely as possible. Down the road, you'll surely develop your own variations, but for now, it's important that you get a feel for this flow from start to finish. One of the biggest traps that people fall into is that they stop to admire their work, start playing with a picture or two, and never complete the process. I totally understand that. But I promise you that the process we'll use here provides lots of time to play with pictures. After all, isn't that what it's all about?

Step 1: Reviewing Your Shots in the Overview Workspace

The first thing I want you to do after you download a shoot is to take a quick peek at your images in the Overview workspace. Click a thumbnail, and then look in the right-hand column under Camera Data to check your ISO setting, exposure, and white balance. You're looking for surprises. For example, if you were shooting landscape pictures with your ISO accidentally set to 1600, you would know that the image quality of those shots would be compromised. A high ISO setting is great for low-light interiors, ...