Randy Hufford Tips and Techniques » Software Review

Adobe LightRoom Up To Speed Class by Randy Hufford

Randy — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 07:39:52 +0000

Adobe LightRoom Up To Speed Class by Randy Hufford

Saturday Sept. 11th, 2010
Contact: Institute of Visual Arts Maui • 3697 Lower Kula Rd. Kula, HI
808-878-4154 • www. ivamaui.com • becky@ivamaui.com
Cost: $99 for a 4 hour hands on class from 1pm to 5pm

Everyone has been requesting classes on Saturday so you could attend without missing work. So here is a Saturday class, What do you Think?

Everyone is also requesting that we educate in more manageable blocks, as compared to day training where your brain can not absorb all of the info. So we have made this class to be 4 hours of intensive training with additional classes for more advanced training, What do you think?

Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom™ is the key to what industry experts are calling the
“new digital workflow.” Now you can learn exactly how to get started, and see how
Photoshop Lightroom can help you achieve the quickest, easiest workflow imaginable!
Randy Hufford, Master Photographer and director of Institute of Visual Arts Maui, walks
you through the basic process – from start to finish – and shows you how to get the best
possible images in record time. Randy has taught thousands of people worldwide how
to achieve the “new digital workflow,” and now he’s offering a personalized hands on
workshop. These 4 hours of instruction will save you hundreds of hours of frustration
later. Class size is limited so reserve your spot now. 808-878-4154

Click Here to Read Class Outline and requirments

Click Here to Read about all of the New features in Adobe Lightroom 3

Celebrating 25 Years of Art Reproduction Experience

Randy — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 01:38:35 +0000

I am celebrating 25 years of Art Reproduction. That’s right, I know I do not look old enough but it has been 25 years of being on the cutting edge of reproducing art. My first experiences were capturing art with 35mm film on transparency film. Than on to a Hasselblad capturing 2 1/4 transparencies. The next major step was a Sinar 8×10, capturing 8×10 transparencies. I still use this Sinar today as a 4×5 camera coupled with Super 6k BetterLight Scan Back. www.betterlight.com The quality exceeds what I use to capture with 8×10 film. The key to accurate capture is the combination of the BetterLight sacnning software “View Finder” and a custom Camera ICC Profile that I build using X-Rite’s ProfileMaker 5 and the X-Rite’s ColorChecker Digital SG

I also do some capturing with my DSLR which is a Canon 5D markII. I use this camera with a Canon 50mm Macro f2.5. I shoot in RAW and make a custom camera profile using X-Rite’s ColorChecker Passport. I mostly use this for web scans and smaller reproductions. It works great for impressionist art. The color accuracy is TOTALLY Amazing!!

To complete my copy set up I utilize a Copy wall and Copy Lights built by R and R Copy Systems http://randrcopysystems.com/ This was designed and engineered by my Dad, utilizing my trials and experience copying art. This is a great solution for Hanging and Lighting Art.

The canvas output (shown in Photo) was done on a Canon IPF9100 60″ printer using Canon’s Lucia Ink set. Final output size was 66×54 which made a 60×48 final sized Gallery wrap. Link To Ink Longevity

Link to Canon IPF 9100

The Canvas is Matte Canvas from Premier Imaging Products using Eco Print Shield for canvas Protection and Longevity.

Premier Matte Canvas

Eco Print Shield

I managed the printer profile by making a custom RGB profile using X-Rite’s ProfileMaker 5 Platinum Pro Bundle and X-Rite’s i1iO table.

"Garden of Eden" 60x48 Original Art and Canvas Reproduction with Randy holding a BetterLight Scan Back

File Preperation for Large Prints

Randy — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 10:49:48 +0000

I recently installed a Canon IPF9100 60″ printer. My workflow up until now was to use the native file that came out of my Canon 5D mark 2. But I have found noticeably better output when interpolating file to a larger DPI than the native file. I have tried all of the algorithms in photoshop (under image size) and found that Bi-cubic Smoother (best for enlargements) works best from the 5 choices in Photoshop. But today I also tried Alien Skin software titled Blow Up 2. http://www.alienskin.com/ It is a little hard to see in my jpegs since I had to down sample files to make viewable on the web. But Blowup does have an advantage. First it comes with a large selection of presets where the programmer has taken out the guess work. These presets work great! I used 40×60 gloss inkjet for this example. It also comes with some other controls that really make it nice: Sharpen edges, Add grain, preserve natural texture, Remove Compression artifacts and a tool for sharpening for your output device. I really like this software and would recommend using it if you do any large prints. It really does a better job in detailed areas and highlights. Notice how much smoother surfers arm is using Blowup. It does make a difference.

Big Blow ups of Big Waves: Native file from a Canon 5D mark2

Here are examples of differnt interpolation results