In photoshop can you... - DPChallenge Forums

02/23/2007 03:39:17 PM · #1

In CS2 is it possible when you save .psd file that you can keep the history along with it. lets say I am doing some dodging and burning on something and I have to close photoshop and go somewhere. when I reopen photoshop all the layers are there, but my last editing steps are gone. Is there anyway to keep that so I can go back and get rid of some things upon further review?

fotomann_forever

02/23/2007 03:41:24 PM · #2

Use more layers :-)

02/23/2007 03:43:07 PM · #3

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

Use more layers :-)

Oh i usually got plenty, lol.
And usually I have dodge/burn on a seperate layer anyway, I was more just curious if it was possible. :)

Message edited by author 2007-02-23 15:44:22.

yanko

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

02/23/2007 03:45:56 PM · #4

Your editing steps are stored in a cache which gets wipped when closing. You can however keep track of the steps you made by enabling the history log but that won't allow you to undo anything. The only option is to have a separate layer for each editing step (i.e. dodge layer, burn layer, blur layer, etc.)

ETA: In CS3 you will however be able to convert your layers to "smart layers" and therefore any edits you make can be turned on or off at any point in the process even after you have closed down and restarted. This is similar to how Adobe Illustrator handles vector layers if you are at all familiar with that.

Message edited by author 2007-02-23 15:49:25.

Simms

02/23/2007 03:46:16 PM · #5

Originally posted by jdannels:

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
Use more layers :-)

Oh i usually got plenty, lol.
And usually I have dodge/burn on a seperate layer anyway, I was more just curious if it was possible. :)

nope.. good idea though, but imagine how big those PSD files would get!!

02/23/2007 03:54:01 PM · #6

Originally posted by marksimms:

Originally posted by jdannels:

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
Use more layers :-)

Oh i usually got plenty, lol.
And usually I have dodge/burn on a seperate layer anyway, I was more just curious if it was possible. :)

nope.. good idea though, but imagine how big those PSD files would get!!

Thanks guys, I guess the files would be gigantic, I thought maybe there was a way. how do I turn the history log on and access that? That would be great for entries that might need to be validated. Is it like a text file you could just paste into that validation box?

Rob O

02/23/2007 04:03:16 PM · #7

One thing you can do to preserve steps along the way, should you ever want to go back to a specific point, is use the 'Snapshot' feature in the History palette ... it's the little camera icon at the bottom. This won't retain the history before a snapshot or what's done explicitly between snapshots, unless layers are involved, but it allows you to at leat go back to a specific point if needed.

I create snapshots often and think this an oft overlooked feature.

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

02/23/2007 04:07:57 PM · #8

Originally posted by yanko:

ETA: In CS3 you will however be able to convert your layers to "smart layers" and therefore any edits you make can be turned on or off at any point in the process even after you have closed down and restarted. This is similar to how Adobe Illustrator handles vector layers if you are at all familiar with that.

How does that work then ? I've got CS3 but haven't played with this yet.
Is it individual histories per layer ?

02/23/2007 04:16:49 PM · #9

Originally posted by Rob O:

Yeah I just started using that too, it is really nice. Here is another random question. Lets say I have a bunch of layers and masks of different parts of the image and I want to sharpen the image as a whole but want to keep all the layers intact. I have been creating a snapshot, then flattening the different image layers then running say USM and continuing. Is there another way around it to keep the layers?

Rob O

02/23/2007 04:18:08 PM · #10

Originally posted by Gordon:

How does that work then ? I've got CS3 but haven't played with this yet.
Is it individual histories per layer ?

SO's are quite powerful for things that normally are not editable and impact actual image data.

Brief overview here (about half-way down the page)

Rob O

02/23/2007 04:23:30 PM · #11

Originally posted by jdannels:

Generally speaking, sharpening is one of the last steps in my workflow ... so is performed after saving the file with all layers in tact then flattening the image. I can't see a reason to apply universal sharpening (i.e., to the entire image), be it SS, USM or whatever and with or without masking selected areas, any sooner than just before saving.

If processing for print, it's literally the last step before converting to the prefered lab format (usually sRGB) and 8-bit mode. If processing for the web, I'll flatten the image then apply SS before resizing to 800px (or whatever), after which I'll assess the need to apply a very mild additional sharpening after resize (then convert to 8-bit/sRGB and saving). Of course, I'll also mask (historty brush, actually) after sharpening to isolate the effects of sharpening based on subject matter (versus being truly universal).

02/23/2007 04:44:12 PM · #12

Thanks Rob, I forgot I was going to add alittle asterisk to the USM. I meant more in terms of anything that would effect the entire image evenly, shadows/highlights is another example where I would need to flatten, because I sometimes have image on different layers at different opacities, so there seems no way to get the whole thing treated equally. Although even writing this out it seems not too feasible.

yanko