Any Photoshop experts in the house?

I know this question was not for me, but my answer in none. I will not touch colors in photoshop.

 

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I simply create the front normally., and then the side normally. Then use the skew tool on both to form this:


here is a quick and dirty 6 step tutorial:
http://cbtcafe.com/fireworks/cbtbook/3dbox.html

 

Well, I always first use the 'auto level' option. This doesnt always work well with coins however, maybe 90% of the time. For something like aluminum, I would use the Hue/saturation option and brightness/contrast options to try and achieve the proper look. When it comes to aluminum, metal, or even blast white coins, I do not adjust specific levels, I use the HUE/Saturation and birght/contrast.

 

Some people dont adjust, but PCGS sure does when it comes to TrueViews. I don't think there is anything wrong with adjusting the colors, ONLY if it is to make it look like it does in hand. I am against adjusting them to try and 'juice' the toning, etc..

 

Wow, lots of good info. My reason for this post was to learn how to do the reflection below the coin more so than the color juice-up. The new "trueview" has the coin floating in space with a reflection below it. I was hoping to achieve that look and thought it would be difficult. I'm pleasantly surprised to learn it's not difficult at all! Thanks everyone!

 

As I read this thread I realized you might want to know about a new course to be taught in this summer's ANA Summer Session. Todd Pollock (blue62vett-I think) is teaching a 5-day class entitled Advanced Numismatic Digital Phottography. CT'rs have been lucky enough to view his work here on many occassions - just ask The Penny Lady. I finally meant him last week at the Sacramento ANA Money Fair and he's doing 4 coins for me - I'll post them as soon as I get them. Todd consistantly performs photographic miracles and is finally sharing his secrets! I can't imagine a more productive 5 days for all CT photo crazies.

 

Do you have an image of one of the new TrueViews? I haven't seen one yet.

 

Yes, you're right. I know Todd quite well and have picked his brain a number of times concerning the nuts and bolts of photographing coins. His photos are awesome! I shot a Nikon D70s with a 105 mm Nikkor macro lens but because the lens is not a "D" lens, it is therefor multiplied by 1.55 due to the additional focal length of my digital camera. I've spent the last few months working on a functional set up and deciding what lighting I like best, and with a lot of trial and error, I'm getting closer to where I want to be with the actual photographing part of the equation. It's the rendering part I'm struggling with. Photoshop may come naturally to some folks but to me it's anything but intuitive.

 

How do you know this?

To be a bit more blunt, I don't believe you. Phil has a huge advantage in that he has the coin raw when he takes photographs, allowing him to place lights in a reflective position which brings out and saturates the colors. He uses a Canon DSLR last I heard and the colors from Canon tend to look a bit more plastic than Nikons, but far from "juicing".

On what other than observation do you base your statement?

 

It sounds like you have a white balance problem, that you are correcting in post processing. Get the white balance right the first time and you shouldn't have to play with the channels to correct. How you get white balance right depends on the camera you're using, but most DSLRs have what's know as a custom white balance and by using a grey card under the lighting you're taking the photo with it will correct the color such that your captures are correct out of the camera.

 

The above post by Todd is worth reviewing, and virtually every good coin photographer I know has a similar workflow.

Said a bit differently, if you're spending a lot of time in Photoshop, that means you didn't get the capture right the first time in the camera.

And again, slightly differently: Post processing is correcting for mistakes made when the capture is made.

 

Gray card is the best way to go, IMO. Those white balance setting that come with most camera's are close but not quite right and sometimes they're just down right bad. Most camera stores have the cardboard 18% gray cards for $4 to $5 and it will do wonders for your overall images.

 

Ok thanks for the replies re: copying the coin image from a background...I guess I thought there was a better way to do it using the magic wand. But I'll stick with the way I'm doing it with the elipse tool.

Mark Goodman performed a test on white balance, and his conclusion was that the 18% gray card was the most accurate, but a piece of standard white printer paper worked nearly the same (within a fraction of a point difference). His revelation was that the bulb needed to warm up before setting your white balance's custom preset (10 min or more for a flourescent bulb)...if not, the color was off, and the flicker rate in flourescent bulbs was not fast enough that would ultimately affect the image outcome.

-LTB

 

Agreed, I only use image editing software to straighten the image, copy the coin from background and paste to another background, or if a piece of debris from the flip or a scratch on the slab shows up in the image.

I've also used it to lighten the image when I step down the aperature and increase the shutter speeds. But I plan to eliminate that by trying out lights with more wattage

-LTB

 

how do you guys photograph these without a glare from the flash?

 

Don't use a flash?

 

dang I guess i have a crappy camera cuz i tried without the flash and it comes out horrible

 

Try using additional lighting so the light sensor in your camera won't trigger your flash mechanism.

 

How do you go about using a grey card instead of setting a custom white balance with a white sheet of paper?

 

Just replace the coin with the grey card...

-LTB