How to Add ICC Profiles In GIMP
By default GIMP comes with one ICC profile preloaded and that is sRGB. While this color space works well for images you wish to view on a screen, its color gamut (range of colors) is more lacking than, say, Adobe 1998 or Pro Photo. As a simple means of diagramming this, the image at left, from the Adobe whitepaper A Color Managed Raw Workflow by Jeff Schewe and Bruce Fraser, shows how each gamut can reproduce only a certain segment of the total visible color spectrum.
Using a gamut that allows for a larger color representation allows for more accurate colors when printing. And while the full range of the Pro Photo RGB gamut can’t be faithfully reproduced on most consumer monitors today, using a larger gamut does aid in more accurate color printing. It’s not necessary to use the Pro Photo RGB gamut for all your editing, Adobe 1998 RGB does a pretty good job. But that’s not the focus of this post. This article is about showing you how to use any ICC profile you’d like in GIMP and then the choice can be yours. (i.e. Please don’t start another "Gamut War!" in the comments section 
)
The ICC Profile for Adobe 1998 RGB, used in this example, can be found here on Adobe’s site (Windows, Mac and Linux versions). Download your appropriate file and copy the file named AdobeRGB1998.icc to a handy location on your system. For this example I created a folder on my desktop called icc to use as an example. WARNING! GIMP really doesn’t like it if you move this file after the initial load, so be happy with where you put it. While these instructions are based on use of a PC, the general steps are the same for Mac or Unix based systems.
Now then, here’s how to set GIMP to use the Adobe 1998 RGB color space:
1) Start up GIMP and click Edit, then Preferences.
2) On the Preferences screen, click on the Color Management tab on the left side.
3) Click on the RBG Profile box drop down and click "Select color profile from disk…."
4) A directory tree screen will appear. Navigate to the location where you saved the file from Adobe’s site. We’re just interested in the AdobeRGB1998.icc file.
5) Select the file and click "Open".
6) Back on the Color Management screen, you should now see your choice of "Adobe RGB (1998)" in the RGB Profile box.
And that’s all there is to it! Your workspace color will be set to Adobe 1998 RGB. Very simple and quick.
Tags: GIMP, Post Production Tips, post-processing
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
How to Add ICC Profiles In GIMP
10 Photoshop Interface Features you Didn’t Know Existed
Here it is, short and sweet. 10 techniques for working in Photoshop that you may not know existed:
1. Open a File without using the Menus
Simple. Double click the grey background area of the Photoshop window and the File Open dialog appears - magic!?
2. If grey is Dull, Black is Wonderful and any Color is Better!
To change the grey inside an image window from grey to black (or a color of your choice), Control + Right Click (Command + Right Click on the Mac) on the area surrounding the image and select a color.
3. Sample Foreground and Background Colors
Instead of clicking on the foreground or background swatch to change the color to one sampled from the image, click the Eyedropper tool and click to sample a foreground color - hold Alt (Option on the Mac) to sample a new background color.
4. Position a Shape or Selection
When you’re drawing a shape or selection and the shape is fine but the position is wrong, keep hold of the mouse button and hold the spacebar as you move the shape or selection into the desired position. Let go the spacebar and continue to make your shape.
5. Get a Selection Back
If you’ve lost your selection, press Ctrl + Shift + D (Command + Shift + D on the Mac) to get it back. Ctrl + D (Command + D on the Mac) deselects the selection.
6. Hide and Keep
If the selection marquee is getting in your way, Ctrl + H (Command + H on the Mac) will hide the selection but still leave it in place. Don’t forget to turn it back on or you might wonder why things aren’t working the way you expect them to work.
7. See what you’re Working On
This is my all time biggest time saver! When you drag a large layer from one document to another you can view the entire layer and its sizing handles by Ctrl + Click (Command + Click on the Mac) on the layer thumbnail to select it. Then press Ctrl + T (Command + T on the Mac) to view the transform handles and Ctrl + 0 (zero) (or Command + 0 on the Mac) to shrink the image so the sizing handles are all visible.
8. Stack or line up Palettes
To stack palettes side by side in the same dialog, drag one palette over the others until a blue line appears around it and let go. To stack palettes one on top of the other down the screen, drag and drop one palette onto the bar just above another palette’s name.
9. No dialog Reset button? Yes there is!
You can reset most Photoshop dialogs to their original settings or at least some version of the original settings by holding the Alt key (Option on the Mac) when inside the dialog - when you do this, the Cancel button turns into a Reset button.
10. May all your Ellipses turn into Circles
To draw a circle using the Elliptical marquee or a circle shape, hold the Shift key once you’ve started drawing and the ellipse will become a circle. To draw from the center out, hold the Alt key (Option on the Mac) as you start drawing an ellipse, then add the Shift key to make it a circle - keep holding both keys until you let go the right mouse button.
Tags: Photoshop, post-processing
Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.
10 Photoshop Interface Features you Didn’t Know Existed
You Can Fly!
Here is a relatively easy Photoshop technique which, nonetheless, seems to amaze a lot of people when they see the results: making a subject float or fly.
For maximum effectiveness you really need a tripod. Start by setting the camera up on the tripod and shoot your subject sitting or laying on some kind of support.
After you get the shot, remove your subject and the support without moving the camera. Then, shoot the exact same scene again. (This second shot will capture the uninterrupted background.)
Open both photos in Photoshop at once. Select the entire photo with the subject (Ctrl+A) and copy it to the clipboard (Ctrl+C).
Switch to the photo with the plain background and paste in the photo with the subject (Ctrl+V). The pasted photo should end up on its own layer.
Convert this new layer with the subject to an adjustment layer by opening the layers palette and clicking the small icon at the bottom that looks like a square with a circle inside it. (The layer should be active when you do this.)
Select a brush and set the foreground color to black. Paint over the support and watch it disappear. You may need to zoom in and/or change brush sizes to get finer details. If the camera didn’t move between shots then the rest of the image should be fully registered (everything is aligned) so you really don’t have to worry about painting over anything but the support.
Putting this same technique to more practical use, I had this photo of my family which was taken at my daughter’s seventh birthday party. (Yes, it’s a low quality photo taken with a crappy camera but it has sentimental value and can’t be replaced.)
Its biggest compositional problem is that the person who took the photo got part of the door jamb and a light switch in the background. Sure, I could just clone them out but the background still leaves something to be desired.
Instead I had this shot, which I took of another family at the party and which had a much more satisfying background.
Since both had a similar composition, by following the above technique, I was able to clone the better background onto the shot of my own family.
One key difference with this pair of photos is that they were not perfectly registered. To overcome this problem, I simply reduced the opacity of the layer to 50%. That allowed me to see right through the layer to what would be exposed underneath if I painted over it. Once I was done painting, I bumped the opacity back up to 100% before flattening the image.
Jeffrey Kontur is the author of two how-to books on photography, which he promotes via his web site www.MoreSatisfyingPhotos.com
Tags: float, fly, how-to, Photoshop, post-processing, technique