Resolution Problem

SoyMac · Jun 25th, 2010, 10:51 AM

Hi Friends
I've been taking some product shots for friends' websites, and I've run into a problem, but with a strange, work-around solution.

I'm wondering if you can provide me with a more elegant solution.

I'm shooting these hand-made bags, and in RAW within Aperture, they look great.
To export them, the choices are, jpeg, tiff, or png.

After they're exported, no matter which file type I choose, they have a very pronounced light-pattern showing. (I'm not sure the terminology, maybe "moire"?)

I'll show you the problem here, and in the comparison, I'll also show you my clumsy work-around.

The first photo will show what the good, original RAW file looks like.
The way I can show you here, is by doing a screen capture of the picture in Aperture.
So what you're seeing in the first picture, is the clumsy work-around to get the good-quality look.

In the second photo, you'll see the distracting light pattern I get when I export the photos in any format allowed by Aperture.

Obviously, I can just do screen captures in this case, because these photos are for a website.
But there must be a better way to export the photos, if I needed them for a more critical purpose, or in high quantity.

Ideas?

Thanks!

Picture 1. Captured within Aperture by Shift+Command+4
Picture 2. Exported from Aperture, no matter what format.

(Canon 5D MKII, Aperture 3 - latest version, MacBook Pro 2.5, 4GIGS RAM, FW External Drives)

Okay, curiouser; When I previewed my post here, I clicked on the poor-quality photo #2, and it downloaded to my desktop, but it opened on my desktop in excellent quality, without the light-pattern.
Um ...

pcronin · Jun 25th, 2010, 09:07 PM

Solar flares? Gnomes?

Some kind of video driver oddness? That's about all I can think of that would be going on here... have you tried putting the exported image out to flickr or another host?

kps · Jun 25th, 2010, 09:15 PM

I'll guess that it's the way Aperture renders the preview to screen. The actual file should be ok. Check Apertures preferences if you can render full res previews. Lightroom has this preference.

Photoshop also does the same at different magnification on screen. For example, PS will render an image perfectly at 25%, but crap at 50%, fine at 66.6%, but crap at 75%...you get the idea.

Ottawaman · Jun 25th, 2010, 09:30 PM

Looks like a fingerprint on your lens to me

SoyMac · Jun 25th, 2010, 10:25 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by kps
	I'll guess that it's the way Aperture renders the preview to screen. The actual file should be ok....

I burned the files (as tiffs) and loaded the disc back onto my MBP. The burned tiff files showed the light-pattern, when viewed with regular ol' Apple Preview. So would that mean it's not an Aperture-rendering-the-preview thing?

I'll give the problem disc to my friend, and see if he has the same results.

I'll also burn him another disc of files that I'll create by screen capture.

I hope I don't have this problem very often.

kps · Jun 25th, 2010, 11:48 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by SoyMac
	I burned the files (as tiffs) and loaded the disc back onto my MBP. The burned tiff files showed the light-pattern, when viewed with regular ol' Apple Preview. So would that mean it's not an Aperture-rendering-the-preview thing? I'll give the problem disc to my friend, and see if he has the same results. I'll also burn him another disc of files that I'll create by screen capture. I hope I don't have this problem very often.

Hmmm, first thing I'd do is go over all the Aperture preferences, to be sure something that should not be checked is checked. Especially the export options and preferences.

Since these are intended for the web, I'd export as png or jpeg at 72 or 96 ppi and see what they look like in various web browsers. You may also try printing the tiffs and see what comes out.

If your client wants full res tiffs, create them in Photoshop and then burn to disc.

Chealion · Jun 26th, 2010, 03:28 AM

Odd question - were the photos shot in Adobe RGB? Are you exporting using Adobe RGB or sRGB? My initial impression is that of a mismatch in colour gamuts.

EDIT: Since you're using a Canon you'll see the file name is _MG-xxxx.CR2 instead of IMG-xxxx.CR2 if you're using Adobe RGB versus sRGB.

SoyMac · Jun 26th, 2010, 02:15 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by Chealion
	Odd question - were the photos shot in Adobe RGB? Are you exporting using Adobe RGB or sRGB? My initial impression is that of a mismatch in colour gamuts. EDIT: Since you're using a Canon you'll see the file name is _MG-xxxx.CR2 instead of IMG-xxxx.CR2 if you're using Adobe RGB versus sRGB.

Yes, Chealion, I have my camera set to shoot on Adobe RGB.

I see what you mean by a colour mismatch.
Interesting, because both images are the same file.
But explained I think, by the fact that one file is an export of the original file, and one file is a screen capture of the original file.

I checked Aperture to see what my export options are set at.
Here's the result:
(These are the default, as I never changed these from how Aperture came to me):

Would you suggest different export settings?
kps, I'll also try the settings you've suggested.
Thanks!

kps · Jun 26th, 2010, 02:47 PM

Chealion may be onto something, but I've never ran into this issue at the level you mention.

sRGB is best for web and even commercial printing (Costco, Walmart, etc.) as most of the equipment is set for that colour space. The web, definitely sRGB.

You can work in Adobe_RGB in Photoshop but if you want to export to high quality jpg for printing, convert to sRGB.

Here are my export prefs in Lightroom for the web. The arrows point to colour space, resolution and sharpening. In the last, it's set to sharpen for the screen (display monitor).

SoyMac · Jun 26th, 2010, 03:14 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by kps
	...Here are my export prefs in Lightroom for the web. The arrows point to colour space, resolution and sharpening. In the last, it's set to sharpen for the screen (display monitor).

Thanks, kps! Very helpful!