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UPMSP Vocational Colour Photography study materials
UPMSP Vocational Colour Photography study resources

UPMSP Vocational Colour Photography: Digital Colour Workflow and Image Editing

UPMSP Vocational Colour Photography · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Digital Colour Workflow and Image Editing

This section covers Digital Colour Workflow and Image Editing: colour spaces, raw versus JPEG, non-destructive adjustment, tone and colour correction, sharpening, calibration and output.

Core rules

  • Colour space: sRGB for web and general sharing; Adobe RGB for wider-gamut print work; ProPhoto RGB for archival editing with 16-bit files. Convert rather than assign when moving between profiles.
  • Bit depth: 8-bit gives 256 levels per channel; 16-bit gives far more and reduces banding in gradients and heavy edits.
  • Raw records sensor data with headroom for white balance and exposure recovery. JPEG bakes in settings and loses information with repeated saves.
  • Workflow: import, backup, cull, correct white balance and exposure, adjust tone with levels or curves, correct colour, retouch on layers and masks, sharpen, soft-proof and export.
  • Use adjustment layers, masks and smart objects for non-destructive editing. Duplicate the background before destructive work.
  • Sharpening: capture sharpening, creative sharpening and output sharpening. Unsharp mask radius controls edge width; threshold protects smooth areas.
  • Calibrate the monitor with a colorimeter, use ICC profiles for printer and paper, and soft-proof to preview gamut.
  • Export with correct dimensions, resolution, colour profile, bit depth and metadata.

Worked example

A raw portrait is shot under tungsten and the JPEG preview looks orange. Reasoning: the raw file stores sensor response, so set white balance to about 3200 K or use a grey-card reference. Correct exposure first, then colour. Work in 16-bit with adjustment layers, and convert to sRGB only at export for web. Repeatedly editing and saving a JPEG would bake in the orange cast and add compression artifacts.

Traps

  • Assigning sRGB to an Adobe RGB file, which changes appearance without converting values.
  • Heavily editing an 8-bit JPEG and causing banding or posterisation.
  • Sharpening before resizing; output sharpening belongs at final size.
  • Judging print colour on an uncalibrated monitor.
  • Flattening layers and losing the ability to revise.