Dreamstime

Preparing Photos for Dreamstime

posted on 18th of october, 2011

>Before I submit any image to Dreamstime these are the steps I take:

1. First I select the best photograph of each subject series based on composition, lighting and sharpness. If it is not sharp already I don’t consider submitting it.

2. Next I straighten and crop it in Photoshop to fit the rule of thirds.

3. I then slightly reduce the shadows, if necessary using the Photoshop Shadows/Highlights function and a Shadows Amount of around 5-8.

4. Next I enhance the lighting and colours using the Curves and Saturation functions.

5. Last I check for noise and sharpen every image using the Noise Ninja plugin. If the noise index is above 19 I click on the filter tab and adjust only two settings: Smoothness I set as low as possible either 0 or 1 and the USM amount not higher than 70 and typically...

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Tags: noise preparation reduce submit workflow

Comments (22)

	Posted by Effavale on November 06, 2011 It's very intersting this part of your blog: 5. Last I check for noise and sharpen every image using the Noise Ninja plugin. If the noise index is above 19 I click on the filter tab and adjust only two settings: Smoothness I set as low as possible either 0 or 1 and the USM amount not higher than 70 and typically 60-70. Many people recommend this as the first step but I have more success using it last. 6. Then I re-check the noise index with Noise Ninja to make sure it is below 19. So I try to follow your method ! Thank you!
	Posted by Nycscripts on October 31, 2011 Very helpful, thanks for posting.
	Posted by BCritchley on October 27, 2011 The other job I find useful is to check plain light areas such as blue skies at 100% for any signs of dust spots or even distant birds and clone out anything found.