The Canon digital workflow is centred round the use of Picture Styles. To help to put you in control of your colour, Canon has developed Picture Style Editor, a software program for use by photographers who want to have the most creative control of the colours in their images.
It allows you to create your own personalised Picture Style files to achieve the look you want in your images. These Picture Styles can then be applied to your images in the RAW processing or loaded onto the camera and applied at the time of shooting.
The colour in an image is made up of three components - hue, saturation and luminosity. The hue is the colour - red, green, blue etc. The saturation is how vivid the colour is and the luminosity is the brightness of the colour.
The HSL colour space can be represented by a double cone showing the three axes of hue, saturation and luminosity.
Every colour within an image can be mapped somewhere on this double cone-shaped graph by a series of numerical values indicating its precise co-ordinates. Once you can pinpoint the co-ordinates of a pixel on this graph, you can easily adjust them to get exactly the colour you want to your precise adjustments.
The series of ‘how to’ videos you can easily access below will talk you through how to using Picture Style Editor. But before you begin, there is some housekeeping that you'll need to do on your computer to make sure that you’re seeing accurate colours.
- Only one Picture Style file can be loaded for one RAW image. If you want to develop another RAW image with any other Picture Style file, you can repeat No. 4 for the file.
- The first is to upload the Picture Style file to the camera for use while shooting. The second is applying the Picture Style file to the software, and then performing post-processing on the shot.
- Telephoto shooting in cloudy and hazy conditions tends to result in flat expression. The “Clear” Picture Style file emphasizes the contrast, and expresses the subject clearly and a three-dimensional effect.
Refer to the following for details on how to use Picture Style file.
Colour management has been covered on the CPN website here and here so it would be worth reading those articles too if you haven't done so already.
You need to start by calibrating your monitor. Without a calibrated monitor, any adjustments you make will be worthless and simply guesswork as you will not be seeing the true colours. Using something like a Gretag Macbeth EyeOne or ColorVision Spyder to calibrate your monitor is the first step. Although it is possible to carry out colour calibration using software only, this is not as accurate as a hardware based system and as a professional photographer, colour should be of paramount importance.
Below is a series of videos that guides you through using Picture Style Editor. In the first video, you’ll see how to set up the colour space in the preferences panel and make preliminary adjustments, and from there, you’re ready to start making colour adjustments.
Adjusting colours
Saving a picture style file
Know your limits
If you look at the red square in the bottom right corner of this image it highlights the before and after values of adjustments in Picture Style Editor. The colour co-ordinates you have selected to edit is shown in the box to the left, the colour co-ordinates after editing are shown on the right, in this case, the adjustment has made the Luminosity 50, which provides a greater range for saturation adjustment.
When you’re adjusting the Hue, Saturation and Luminosity sliders within Picture Style Editor, you may notice that there are certain limits beyond which you can’t adjust the saturation. This is because of the luminosity of the colour. The simple rule is that if you want to make colours more vivid, you need to adjust the luminosity so it is closer to 50 - as shown in the screen shot below.
If the colour co-ordinates of your selected colour have a luminosity value that's less than 50, then increasing the value towards 50 will make the colour more vivid. However, if the luminosity 'L' value is already greater than 50, then adjusting the slider to bring the value back closer to 50 will tone down the colour and make it darker.
The standard setup of Picture Style Editor will help you to control this. If you adjust the saturation such that you will pass the limit of what can be achieved with the current luminosity setting, the luminosity will be automatically changed. If you are certain that you don’t want the luminosity value to change, then hold down the shift key on your keyboard while adjusting the saturation slider and you will effectively lock the luminosity value in place.
Picture Style File
The picture style file you create in Picture Style Editor is only supported in Digital Photo Professional version 3.1 onwards, EOS Utility version 2.1 onwards and RAW Image Task version 2.7.
Where to get it
Picture Style Editor comes bundled on the CD with the EOS 40D and EOS-1Ds Mark III. If you have a previous EOS model, you can download the software from the Canon website here: Just select your camera, select the software option and find the Picture Style Editor software in the list.
Related links
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Software
EOS Utility -
Technical
Inside Photoshop CS3 (Pt. 2)
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Technical
Inside Photoshop CS3 (Pt. 3) -
Technical
Inside Aperture 2 (Pt. 1) -
Technical
Inside Aperture 2 (Pt. 3)
Links
Canon’s Picture Style function brings together the settings for image processing parameters (previously tone curve, sharpness and contrast) and colour matrix settings (previously standard, portrait, high and low saturation and Adobe RGB). It combines these into one easy-to-use point of access for the control of sharpness, contrast, colour tone and saturation.
In the past, some users of the EOS-1D range had difficulty understanding the effect of the range of different settings on final image characteristics. Also, some thought that their images looked soft because they did not recognize that Canon’s default setting for EOS-1 series digital cameras deliberately applies no sharpening.
Picture Style makes it simple for users to get optimum image quality by making a selection – more or less like selecting a particular film type in the past on the basis of colour characteristics, contrast and sharpness.
The first three Picture Styles - standard, portrait and landscape - include sharpness levels 3, 2 and 4 respectively and should not need major image processing work on a computer.
- The standard image looks crisp, like a successful snapshot, and the colour tone and saturation are set to obtain vivid colours.
- The portrait style has colour tone and saturation set to obtain natural skin tones. Sharpness, one step weaker than in standard, is kinder to skin.
- With the landscape style, colour tone and saturation are set to achieve deep, vivid blues and greens for skies and foliage. The sharpness is set one step more than standard so that the outlines of mountains, trees and buildings look crisp.
- The fourth style, neutral, is the same as the default setting for previous EOS-1D series cameras. Natural colour reproduction is obtained and no sharpness is applied – it is assumed that some image processing will be done.
- Like neutral, the faithful picture style applies no sharpening. It is the same as Digital Photo Professional’s faithful setting. When the subject is photographed under a colour temperature of 5200K, the colour is adjusted colorimetrically to match the subject’s colour, even with JPEG images.
Each of these five preset Picture Styles can be altered manually in the menu for sharpness, contrast, colour tone and saturation, so personal settings are easy to develop.
- The sixth Picture Style is monochrome, identical to the EOS 20D camera’s monochrome setting. Sharpness is preset at 3 and contrast is at its middle value. Instead of the inappropriate colour tone and colour saturation, settings for filter effects (none, yellow, orange, red, green) and toning effect (none, sepia, blue, purple, green) are available - an in-camera digital darkroom.
These images are all from the same RAW file. They have been processed with Digital Photo Professional (DPP) using the six different Picture Style settings. Although some of the changes are fairly subtle, they give some indication of the scope of this new feature. Picture Styles can be set on the camera and applied to JPEG images processed in the camera, or you can choose the style when you process RAW images. Selecting a Picture Style is rather like selecting a make and type of film for EOS film cameras.
Setting Picture Style
Picture Style is accessed via the camera menu. This is the menu screen of the EOS 5D.
Each built-in Picture Style can be selected. The numbers show the settings for sharpness, contrast, colour saturation and colour tone.
The settings for each Picture Style can be adjusted to suit your requirements. You can return to the original settings by selecting ‘Default set’.
Additional styles
One of the features of Picture Style is that you can add to the camera’s preset styles. There are three user-defined settings – User Def. 1, User Def. 2 and User Def. 3. Here, you can either create your own style by adjusting the sharpness, contrast, saturation and colour tone parameters on the camera (via the Picture Style menu option), or download a new style file from the Canon Picture Style website at
http://www.canon.co.jp/imaging/picturestyle/index.html
http://www.canon.co.jp/imaging/picturestyle/index.html
Download Picture Style For Dslr
Additional styles include
- Nostalgia – produces an overall amber tone with desaturated blues and greens.
- Clear – contrast is emphasised to provide more depth and clarity.
- Twilight – gives a magical finish to the image.
- Emerald – produces bright and vivid aerial images.
- Autumn Hues – emphasises the reds and browns of autumnal scenes.
- Studio Portrait – expresses translucent skin in smooth tones.
- Snapshot Portrait – reproduces translucent skin with good contrast indoors or out.
To transfer the new style file to your camera you need EOS Utility software, version 3. If you are using an EOS 5D or older, set the camera ‘Communication’ menu item to ‘PC Connect’ (5D) or ‘Print/PC’ (30D); no communication setting is needed with the other compatible models. Connect the camera to your computer via the USB cable supplied as part of the camera kit. Open the EOS Utility application and confirm camera model (if required). Select ‘Camera settings/Remote shooting’; then select the camera icon (red) and ‘Picture Style’. Click ‘Detail set’. In the new window that appears, Select one of the User Def. items from the drop down menu at the top of the screen, and then click the ‘Open’ button. In the dialog window that opens, select the Picture Style file you have previously downloaded. This will transfer the style to your camera.
These are the EOS Utility windows that you use to transfer a Picture Style file to your camera (windows are different for the EOS 5D and 30D).
Cameras with Picture Style
Cameras with the Picture Style function include:
EOS-1D Mark II N, EOS-1D Mark III, EOS-1Ds Mark III, EOS-1D Mark IV, EOS-1D X, EOS-1D X Mark II, EOS 5D, EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 5D Mark IV, EOS 7D, EOS 7D Mark II, EOS 30D, EOS 40D, EOS 50D, EOS 60D, EOS 80D, EOS 400D, EOS 450D, EOS 500D, EOS 550D, EOS 600D, EOS 1000D, and the EOS 1100D.
EOS-1D Mark II N, EOS-1D Mark III, EOS-1Ds Mark III, EOS-1D Mark IV, EOS-1D X, EOS-1D X Mark II, EOS 5D, EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 5D Mark IV, EOS 7D, EOS 7D Mark II, EOS 30D, EOS 40D, EOS 50D, EOS 60D, EOS 80D, EOS 400D, EOS 450D, EOS 500D, EOS 550D, EOS 600D, EOS 1000D, and the EOS 1100D.
Compatibility with DPP
If you shoot RAW files, Picture Styles can be applied post-exposure using the latest version of Digital Photo Professional (DPP), supplied as part of the software package with the camera.
However, Picture Style files downloaded from the Canon Picture Style website which have the .pse extension cannot be used with DPP 4.5. You need to return to the website and download the latest file, with the .pf2 extension. The latest version of the files is also needed for EOS Utility version 3.
Picture Style can also be applied to RAW files taken with earlier EOS digital models which do not have Picture Style as a camera function.
More information about Picture Style is available at:
http://www.canon.co.jp/imaging/picturestyle/index.html
http://www.canon.co.jp/imaging/picturestyle/index.html
Picture Style Editor
Picture Style Editor is a software application from Canon that allows you to create your own custom Picture Style files. You can select specific colours and change their hue, saturation and luminance. This means that you can make some colours brighter, or darker, or change them completely. You need to work with the program for a while to understand the many capabilities, but it offers a new toolbox of tricks for creative phorographers.
Canon Color Tone Setting
If not supplied on the EOS Digital Solutions Disk supplied with your camera, Picture Style Editor can be downloaded at:
http://www.canon-europe.com/support/consumer_products/product_ranges/cameras/eos/
http://www.canon-europe.com/support/consumer_products/product_ranges/cameras/eos/
Picture Style Auto
All EOS DSLR cameras since the EOS 600D feature an EOS Scene Detection system that automatically analyses the shooting conditions, looking at parameters such as a subject’s face, colour, brightness, movement, contrast and focus distance. The results of this Scene Detection are used by the Picture Style system to generate a Picture Style specific to each scene by adjusting contrast, colour tone, sharpness and saturation for optimum results. In general, the Picture Style Auto setting will adjust the colours to look vivid, especially blue skies, greenery and sunsets. As such it is particularly good when shooting landscapes and outdoor sunset scenes.