Nikon Capture users...jump in here!

[robroy]

Ok just loaded this program.....and it scares me

Could use a few ideas, or examples of a workflow for this program.

ANy comments would be helpfull.


Thanks,
Rob.

[robroy]

No love here,

Well I have a few ideas ( Scotts ) given to me in emails. I'll figure it out and let anyone else know, who might be wondering also.

So far from what I gather, if you thought you had ultimate control on PhotoShop, well this program looks like GOD control over your images.



THANKS again Scott

[road_runner]

robroy - just experiment; it does a good job in the initial application.

The first thing I do is apply curves. You will see red "X" next to just about every application at first. Click on the red "X" to apply the feature. i.e Curves (at the top"). You can apply curves much like "Levels" in Photoshop by moving the little arrows for black (On Left at bottom of the chart) toward the center till the dotted line that appears just touches the Histogram. Same thing for the highlight setting on the right side of the chart. Or to get a quick & dirty fix, click on one of the eyedroppers; then click on an area of the picture. i.e. click on the top eyedropper (White) then click a spot that is supposed to be white. Your picture will be balanced. If you do not like the fix, just click on one of the white boxes at the bottom of the Curves Screen box.

An easier way is to click on the diagonal line and move it slightly upward or bring it slightly below the diagonal.

If you apply the setting there is a little green button to the right that lights up. When you are satisfied with the appearance, save it to Photoshop Elements or Photoshop CS etc. I usually save the raw as an 8 bit jpg. Then after I work on it in Photoshop, I convert it to PSD format. To post it on the web or upload it to my printer service, I save the PSD file as a jpg or TIFF.

Others may want to save from their raw editors as TIFF rather than jpg. That is up to you. But you work Nikon Capture for any feature the way I explained curves. That is just click on the red "X" to activate it and apply your settings. Experiment. I ordinarily just need a slight curves setting and on occasion apply a slight White Balance adjustment. If you make a mistake, just click on the light blue square to the green button. From the dropdown menu, click on "Reset".

There are a few tools, but I do most tweaking from Photoshop. By using Nikon Capture first, I get the Exif Data. If I use Photoshop Raw application right off, I loose the EXIF Data.

Hope this helps get you started! There are tools that come in handy - located on the left of your screen. I occasionally use the BATCH Tool, Crop Tool Rotate Tool (Curved Arrows) and Red Eye tool. Just slide your cursor over the tools and the name of the icon show up.