Editing Images With SilkyPix DS Pro By Dave Lloyd eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

Note : This guide is not meant to be exhaustive It is simply to show some of the features of SilkyPix DS Pro, and how they can be used in a practical application of editing an image.

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

Image 1 - This first image is simply to show what SilkyPix DS Pro looks like when opened. The four boxes at lower left, and which are outlined in yellow, allow the opening of the 'Controller' panes at right. The ones I have open are 'Lens Aberration', 'Rotation/Digital Shift', 'Fine Color' and the 'Highlight' controllers. All the settings, shown on this screen, are default for the image shown. Use this page to compare as changes are made.

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

Image 2 - The image I have chosen for the example here, is somewhat heavy in contrast and a little dark. This is due to the camera settings I had in place at the time. My first step will be to do some balancing of the contrast. I have selected the 'Tone' adjustment (see box outlined in yellow) and lowered the Contrast, increased the Contrast Center and increased the Gamma slightly. Settings vary image to image, but the Tone control is usually my starting point.

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

Image 3 (Part one). (Note - This is spread over two pages, with steps 1 and 2 on this page, and steps 3 and 4 on the next and I have made a composite image here to show the various stages). For this step, I select the 'Fine Color Controller'. There are seven colour shades which can be adjusted (see 1). My first step is to reduce Saturation on all seven colours, by -5.0, then lighten each colour by + 15.0 (see 2).

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

Image 3 (Part two) - Next, I have established a preset for these settings for images shot same day/same time. To do this, I have selected the 'barred' box (top right) and selected Append Taste (see 3). This has then given me a dialogue pane wherein I have created a 'taste' preset and called it Desat/Light. Having done this, I have then gone back to the Yellow and Orange colour adjustments and set those to Saturation +10 and Lightness +10 (4). Keep in mind that this is image specific.

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

Image 4 (Part one) - Just to recap, below is the image after the initial 'Tone' adjustment.

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

Image 4 (Part two) - The image after the Fine Color adjustments.

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

Image 5 - The next step is to do a small amount of 'horizon' levelling. This is quite simple as we just select the Rotation/Digital Shift/Rotation box, and then adjust accordingly. Note that an alignment grid appears as soon as the adjustment procedure commences.

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

Image 6 - Next, I have selected the Highlight Controller and changed the settings for Chroma/Luminance to +5. Saturation to +20, and Luminance Restoration to +75. These are personal preferences and I use them for almost all my images.

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

Image 7 - I now wish to do a small amount of fine adjustment to the vertical and horizontal panes (perspective). For this, I select the 'Rotation/Digital Shift/Digital Shift' box and adjust to suit.

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

Image 8 - Overall, I am now quite happy with the image outcome. However, I still wish to lighten the image slightly and also do a slight dynamic range (DR) correction. For these steps, I select 'Exposure Bias' (top left) and adjust it to +0.20. Then I select Dynamic Range (bottom right) in the 'Highlight Controller' pane and adjust it to +0.55.

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

That is pretty much it. The image can now be saved using the 'One Scene Development Tool' - Simply click the box (outlined in yellow) at top of the screen. Normally, I add 'DS Pro' to the file name to avoid any confusion with the original file. For this image, the original file name is DSCF9169, when saving the edit I call it DSCF9169 DS Pro.

Note : Remember to never save over your original image One step which I have not covered here, is sharpening. It need be said that sharpening is a purely personal taste. However, if I am simply preparing an image for my blog, then I will apply 'Emphatic Sharp' from the sharpness drop down menu. If I am preparing the image for printing, then I will apply the requisite sharpness for the size I am going to print. Best thing with any of these settings is to experiment for yourself. Go easy on the adjustments and keep a close eye on what is happening with noise, in particular. Anyway, below is the original 'as shot' image and then followed by the image as edited in the steps described here. Cheers ...

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

The image as shot in-camera.

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com

The image edited, and as described above.

Dave Lloyd – www.eyemindsoul.blogspot.com