Don't Fear the Lab Mode
Submitted by deke on 5 August 2008 - 10:33pm.
Episode 003: dekePod has been known to get a little crass at times. And, of course, I'm very proud of that. But this episode, I lift my mind from the gutter and send it merrily floating down a stream, a very real stream filled with imaginary colors that cuts through the backyard of a little world called Lab. Sound enchanting? Damn straight, it's enchanting! Here's the official marketing description:
Color models like RGB and CMYK are frightening enough on their own. But the fact that there's one called CIEL*a*b* D50 (or just Lab), and Photoshop actually encourages you to use it, is terrifying. But Deke says not to worry. RGB and CMYK are for machines. The Lab mode is for you.
As a special added bonus, you'll meet the family turtle. If you're interested in downloading it (the video, not the turtle), try one of these links:
- For a high-quality QuickTime movie, right-click here and choose Save Target or Download Link or the equivalent.
- For an M4V file that you can play on an iPod, right-click here and choose one of those same commands.
- Or you can subscribe to dekePod via RSS or iTunes.
You can also check out the page at my book publisher O'Reilly Media.
And if you're interested in exploring this technique for real -- not in six minutes, but in more than an hour of opulent, immersive, luxuriant detail -- check out my video series Photoshop CS3 Mastering Lab Color, available from lynda.com.
Comments
Request for picture you used in Lab color in Photoshop User
Deke,
How can I download the picture you used in the LAB color article in Photoshop User for Sept and OCT-Nov issues?
I want to work thru your steps on the same photo you used so I can check that I'm doing it right.
Thanks, Frank
Direct from Lynda.com - a n00b
Well here I am from Lynda.com (whose videos of yours seem positively sedate by comparison to the ones here). I must say these videos are great fun to watch you remind me of the guy who does Zero Punctuation except you're about photoshop and he's all over video games.
So anyways I just thought I would drop a line, say hi on an older blog because I'm a n00b and not watching anything in order, and ask if that was the median filter that you used to kill colour noise because if it was that's awesome I had no idea that filter even had any use... nice... I'll have to try that now. Oh and I love LAB mode and I want to see more of that thing you did in the blend options because that looked interesting.
Also what program are you doing video on?
And I loved your song but it did kind of make my brain dribble out of my nose a bit (it does that from time to time, no biggie).
I'll go back to Lynda.com now and continue my training.
Edutainment!
Deke, learning has never been this easy, especially for a newbie like me. Thanks a lot! Hope to see more!
John
Hold da kæft...
...pardon my danish.... you are good!!
How can you stand being you?? lmao
I bought my first Deke book back in ..... oh... i forgot... The Photoshop 6.0 Bible. Read it from cover to cover. To this day its still my favorite reference book. Then i moved on to your videos, I had a blast with your PS CS2 dvd series.
Thanks for doing this Deke, and for doing it in a very entertaining way.
Please keep it coming.
Jan
I think the question is
How do those around me stand me being me? My wife, my kids, my staff, Colleen, a lot of people could weigh in on that one.
Your staff?
Deke, you totally have a penis fixation!
:D
Petra, you obviously need no encouragement
But I have to admit, that did make me laugh.
Don't encourage me!
:P
apologies
Dear Deke,
my most abject apologies - I was going to join in this wonderful website from another email address just for the pleasure of getting 2 newsletters instead of one (these are sure to become collectors' items on ebay, I could make a fortune reselling an original) but then something came up and I totally forgot about it.
This means I am one of the 5 horrible people who were supposed to join but did not.
Again my apologies.
BTW I haven't received your stern reproachful email about my non-joining properly - could you send it again? It will become a collector's item too!
MC
adobe certified expert (really)... well, see: and I'm still certifiable too!
Long time fan, first time caller
Deke, I've been following your career and watching your videos since 2000. I worked at a studio where we had your Photoshop 5.5 videos on tape. I was a fan then and I'm still a fan. I love you off-the-wall antics, but most of all I love your deep understanding of Photoshop. You and Dr Brown have reinvented edutainment. I create a lot of tutorials for my students; however, I don't think I'm nearly as entertaining. By the way some of us have been using LAB colour on the flat images for some time; however, I didn't know about using the brightness and contrast in LAB mode. Super tip! Can I ask you a question? What do you think of DNG? I use Canon cameras exclusively so I've been using the propritary CR2 file format. Should I convert my images to DNG? By the way I bought your DVD set on Illustrator and loved it. I'm a big fan of Lightroom and I'm aware there is a lot of tutorials on this topic; however, most of us are using Photoshop and Lightroom together, perhaps we could get some tips on integrating these into an effective workflow. Gerry
http://www.geraldprost.com