Photoshop: Auto-Fix Colors aka Color Tint (PIXimperfect)

I recently ran across a post in the YouTube PIXimperfect channel that ran through how to make 5 specific photo improvements with Photoshop.  All of them have application and I want to learn them.  This post walks through how to Auto-Fix Colors technique 1 from the videos.  The example removes a blur cast from an image that resulted from shooting through a tinted window.  

Sample Images for the video are available here.

Unmesh flies through his steps, I'll be taking the video apart to get the steps to a form that I can use.

Proofing a Mixbook Book

 I have been using two different printers for photo books for the past several years.  I tend to use Printique (formerly AdoramaPix) for my "serious" books, those where I anticipate wanting full spread images and top quality printed images.  

I also like using Mixbook.  I find it easier to use and less expensive, though the lack of a practical lay flat option and my perception of their print quality keeps me from using them for books where I know I have top notch images.  

Covid-19 has me delving into my archives to create new books of events well in the past.  Mixbook is the right choice for me on these as: 

1. My images back then tended to be a bit off -- no need for big prints.
2. Ease of book creation is more important given potential volume and time constraints.
3. Lower cost encourages more generous allocation of pages for marginal materials.
4. Thinner finished size takes less bookshelf space.

One of the advantages of Mixbook over Printique is the ability to collaborate and review.  This post will delve into that a bit deeper.

Removing Annoying Foreground Fence

 As I have been working on my shots from a family trip to Alaska in 2006 I ran across some interesting shots that were totally ruined by nasty foreground fencing.  All of the images are from an animal park, taken through the fences, also as I was with a tour group I was forced to shoot through the fence.  I captured images with a fence dominating my view but I remembered just seeing the animal.  Rather like the following pair of images.

Enlarging Techniques

I just bumped into a nifty page on enlarging techniques published by AdoramaPix.  I think it is worth a read and may come in handy in the future, so I'll link to it:

AdoramaPix: Going Big

Using Adoramapix Referral Link

Opening an AdoramaPix account using a referral link can be confusing, even frustrating, based on the reported experience of some past travelers.  I'm writing this post as a fairly detailed, step-by-step how to page, for someone wanting to order a BarrettPhoto book.

The first step is to follow (click) a referral link to go from my web site to AdoramaPix's where an account can be created.  I include a referral link in the text describing each book and often through other means.

Please note, that I have tried to be detailed and complete, AdoramaPix may change their site at any time.  Also, some people have seen a different first screen.  I believe they always have a Join Us or similar option to create a new account which should lead to the process I outline below.

Navigating the SmugMug Gallery

BarrettPhoto images are primarily shared through our web site hosted on SmugMug.  SmugMug is wonderful and all, but the gallery pages can be a bit confusing.  It has a lot of controls to access various pieces of information.

The image at right shows a typical gallery view with all of the controls as presented on the web site.

This post attempts to clarify what the controls actually due.

EXIF Image Rating

Image ratings are essential to my work flow and management of my Smug Mug photo galleries.  Using that data in a consistent way is important to me.

EXIF is short for EXchangeable Image file Format and can be used for storing quite a bit of text information with or inside of a data file. EXIF typically stores image capture time, identification of camera and lens and many other optional fields.  This posting delves into my use of the Rating field.  Which is really nothing more than a very short integer limited to values of 0 to 5.  Those values are often represented as a count of stars (⭐️) to show a rating.

Photography Tips: AdoramaPix

It's pretty obvious that I like working with AdoramaPix.  The books that they print are just amazing, always bringing smiles to viewers eyes and they aren't too hard to build.  So I follow what they are doing.  I also am a big fan of learning.  Nearly everyone can and should learn.  Getting better is always a solid objective.

I recently came across Adoramapix's blog that mixes these two things.  They have solid advice on a number of aspects of photography and are easy reads.  If you're in the mood for photographic learning, take a moment to visit them at their blog.

Framing and Matting

Information in this post is old news to anyone who knows how to mat pictures, but they are things I needed to learn and don't want to forget.

One of the first steps in matting is to decide what size and how many layers are going to be used.  Mats can be single, double, or even triple with various amounts of inner layers exposed.  My typical mat is a double with 1/4" of inner mat exposed.  The width of the outer (nearest the glazing) varies depending on the of the image.  Here's the table I start with:

Rule of Thumb for Mat size. 

United Inches    Suggested Mat 

    8" to 11".....................1"

   12" to 17"...................1 ½”

   18” to 24”..................1 ¾”

   25” to 36”.................2”

   37” to 44”.................2 ½”

   45” to 56”.................3”

   56” to 60”.................3 ½”

It comes from a blog post on AmericanFrame.com's blog. Color is of course important, but I'll let that discussion alone and move forward with the steps of actually cutting a mat.

Synchronizing Camera Clocks (for the lazy)

I use the omnipresent time stamp in my image files for several things, the most important is recreating the sequence of events.  That is essential to my Photo Books which normally are used tell a story.  Presenting that story in order is really important.  Knowing the exact time of any given image typically doesn't matter at all; it's almost all about relative time, or ordering.

Menu Button Control Based on Screen Size

I posted previously on my experiences customizing my web site.  There was one nagging element that I wanted to change and I now have completed
it!   I wanted to have minor menu choices, like About and Search available, but not distracting.  For me, that means not appearing as word buttons in the top menu, but rather sitting in an unobtrusive page bottom bar.  That bottom bar becomes obnoxious on small screens, so I wanted it to disappear and the choices appear in the drop down menu on those small, typically smart phone, displays.

Below is menu/title bar I am using on all of my pages on large screens.  I have the button choices cut down to my minimum.

What Color is That on My Screen? (MacOS)

One of the minor issues I run across with surprising frequency is the question of what color is that on my screen?  I need to know the digital value of a color when working on photo books and on my web site.  I just ran across a marvelous little tool built into OS X: Digital Color Meter.  It doesn't do much, just gives the color value of what is under the mouse pointer at any given time.  A quick easy solution to my need.

Customizing My SmugMug Web Site

Not surprisingly, as soon as I had a workable web site up on SmugMug, I've been hit with an irresistible urge to make it more customized.  Just some minor tweaks that would make it more precisely what I want it to be.  Since I've never coded in HTML/CSS, I need to do some learning.  As I do that learning I am making discoveries that I seem likely to forget all too quickly, so I'll write down some of them here where they can be found again without extensive googling or pestering my children.

Crafting a Photo Web Site

Recently, I've been feeling the need to have my own photo website. Somewhere that I can place images and point people to see them.  Specifically, this has been driven by my Photo Memory Book habit and group trips we have gone on with one of our college alumni groups. I've been making my own photo memory books for years, offering them to my fellow travelers seemed easy and something they might like.  So far it's turned out that they pretty much love them and I receive lots of interest and more photos that I can use when building my books.  All of those images just demand sharing, a photo web site seems a natural solution.

Creating a Flickr Account

I use Flickr to display my favorite pictures and occasionally in support of group projects.  Those group projects sometimes require new accounts to be setup by people who may be a bit confused by the process.  This post is intended as a walk though of the account creation process that may help them out.