Diamonds retouch

[MusicOfaDream]

Hello everybody!
I'm involved in Jewelry retouch project at the moment and I really need some help! The problem is that my diamonds need to have a strong facets - how can I reach this result?
I've attached an example of what my client wants to see.

Would be happy if anyone suggests some ways to solve my problem.

[Wolfman]

Re: Diamonds retouch

First of all who is going to shoot the diamond or diamonds? Are you going to photograph them? Starting with the photography, the lighting has to embellish
the diamonds for a start.

Then you will have to go into the image and selectively work on contrast, sharpening of specific areas and what ever else is needed to bring out the detail
of the diamond.

Without seeing the image or images you will be working on it is difficult to analyze what you need tot do.

[skoobey]

Re: Diamonds retouch

Standard jewelry work is selecting every face individually and then painting, shading, coloring... I mostly select things with pen tool when it comes to hard edged things like that.

[MusicOfaDream]

Re: Diamonds retouch

First of all who is going to shoot the diamond or diamonds? Are you going to photograph them? Starting with the photography, the lighting has to embellish
the diamonds for a start.

Without seeing the image or images you will be working on it is difficult to analyze what you need tot do.

I'm just a retoucher and I get JPEG files (not RAW) to work with.
Just as an example - look at the photo attached below.

[MusicOfaDream]

Re: Diamonds retouch

Standard jewelry work is selecting every face individually and then painting, shading, coloring... I mostly select things with pen tool when it comes to hard edged things like that.

That's what I was doing with my last photos. But when it comes to work with many-facets diamonds I don't know where to find so much time to select every facet... Just have a look at my example in the previous message - these diamonds have dozens of facets. My client wouldn't pay for this volume of work...

[marcchristopher]

Re: Diamonds retouch

That's what I was doing with my last photos. But when it comes to work with many-facets diamonds I don't know where to find so much time to select every facet... Just have a look at my example in the previous message - these diamonds have dozens of facets. My client wouldn't pay for this volume of work...

Apart from the fact that, if those are really the photographs that you are supposed to work with (are they? or is this just a low-quality example?), you have a LOT of work in front of you. To put it politely.

[skoobey]

Re: Diamonds retouch

Well if they won't pay, they won't get the service. Simple as that. Then just sharpen the rock, mask it out and send it on it's way. It takes hours to do a great job with rocks that have complex cuts.

And not to give you just the advice that doesn't really help, here are some tips. Levels will make it look much more metallic and shinny, so play with black and white points to bring in contrast. Sharpening will also help.

[jrevere]

Re: Diamonds retouch

If you're working in Lightroom and want to sharpen using the Detail tab, you can hold down the Alt/Opt key (Win/Mac) and see the impact of sharpening on your image. Adjusting the Masking slider you can select how much of an edge but you should take a look at the impact of all the adjustments available to get optimal results. There's probably other software that will give you similar or better control; I only sharpen in Lightroom or Photoshop so that's all I can offer up.

[ray12]

Re: Diamonds retouch

Boy, your green background example is a terrible image...its too dark in the diamond area as an original image, the lighting is poor, and there is hardly one point where the focus is accurate enough to be able to see a facet. In fact, I can NOT discern ANY facets in your sample jpeg. NO VISIBLE facet Boundaries means that you will be UNABLE to trace each facet to work on it... and give each facet any kind of edge definition, or gradation, or color change.

To better the original image... you could use levels or curve adjustment layers... and selectively paint in the brightness and tonality you need on the diamond areas. That would help brighten up the stones somewhat. You can also try to pre-sharpen the image to see if that would make any facets become visible. The depth of field and lighting is terrible on your source image...there is hardly anywhere in the image that is in focus! Everything, including the band and the stones themselves IS OUT OF FOCUS! PERIOD!

This is not the kind of retouching job I would ever want for myself... or any friend of mine. The original photography and lighting and the posing of the diamonds is hardly useable. If youre doing it for fun...thats one thing. If you expect anyone to be happy with a paid retouch...I can sense a lot of disappointed people talking to eachother in the near future.

The photographer has to be told to increase the brightness of his lighting, and use a much higher F stop so more of the ring is in focus (poor depth of field), and he has to orient the ring so you can actually see the facets... If your client is unwilling to promise this to you...I would walk away from this job as respectfully as possible and move on!

Here is a wonderful site that gives you precise photographic instructions on how to take great professional quality jewelery shots from scratch. They can also sell you the equipment to produce near perfect images at a good price. http://www.tabletopstudio.com/jewelry_photography.html

If youre stuck trying to get catalogue images from these originals...GOOD LUCK!! Sorry about such a negative opinion.

[klev]

Re: Diamonds retouch

I'm just a retoucher and I get JPEG files (not RAW) to work with.
Just as an example - look at the photo attached below.

Look at what is coming in and what it will take for you to return a consistent level of quality, then base your pricing on that. If they start to only send you the bad ones, then drop the client. I don't like to play games with clients, because I can't guarantee that I'll come out ahead over the longer term.

It is normal to outline each facet that you want to see represented. Basically you look at which ones are actually recognizable. It seems like a brute force approach, but it generates results. Speed certainly helps. If you're fast at it, the pricing may be easier to swallow and you can provide a competitive level of quality for your market.

I think the photo you were given looks like shit. It isn't shot well, and nothing will change that. You can smooth out certain parts of it, and you can ensure that the gemstones are appropriate in brightness. I would sharpen them somewhat as well.

The faceting on those gems is not well defined as it is in the client's reference, and you aren't going to achieve that look from this source material. The image doesn't provide enough information about the gemstone itself. Some people can even draw a diamond from scratch, but they can't draw that specific one.

[UpstateNY]

Re: Diamonds retouch

diamond facets are really a bunch of mirrors. They need to be lit well from the front when photographing... all the light comes from the front, it is how they are designed! and you need shards of black and other colors/shades/shapes to look l "realistic". Funy thing, in real life they often don't, but not in photos! The set will look like a hodgepodge of cut mat board placed here and there--and light crowded in... it is long and tedious work. Either your client is hoping you can pull it off, or the photographer is... then there is the DOF issue. IN order to get everything in focus, he either has to use a macro lens ( which is what I expect he/she has used) and using a focus sled, provide many images that can be joined together ( an automatic procedure) called focus stacking, or I have found using a wide angle that can focus very close like my 25mm Zeiss Distagon and a D800e helps avoid this problem.

Fixing completely blurry images and picking out facet detail from badly lit gem stones is not accomplished at the retouching stage. Improving and enhancing those things is- but you need something to work with! I expect that the photographer was had at a deal, or shot by someone who thinks its easy and now they expect you to pull it off.

Walk away- nobody will be happy with your results.