Hello Herb,
I’m not sure what order might be best for any color edits (contrast, levels, brightness, hue, etc.) but other more experienced users can probably answer that. However, my own approach is typically to change the size and resolution of the image as the very last step. By changing the size/resolution last, you have the maximum amount of image information available to be used during the course of any other edits. For example, if you had a large image that contained enough information to represent millions of colors, then obviously that would permit more accurate blends, gradients, feathers, etc., than a small version of the same image that may appear visually identical but actually has only thousands of colors. On screen the differences may not be obvious whereas for print they may show up.
The only caveat I’d put on my "resize last" comment is that if you find it rather slow to edit your original image and it is considerably larger than what you intend your final image to be, then you could probably reduce the size to a midpoint between the two. Then, when you complete your edits, reduce the size again to what is desired.
I’ve read several times before that if you apply an unsharp mask to an image to sharpen it up, that is best done as a final step. I’m not sure if it was really meant that should follow any planned resizing or not, so perhaps someone else can clarify that. Of course, you can always just experiment on your own to see if you can tell any difference.
Regards,
Daryl
I am an amateur graphics person, not a pro, so take this with a grain of salt:
I would sharpen the resized image last so I could see the effect on the actual final image. I find Unsharp Mask (which I generally prefer over the other techniques) often needs a lot of tweaking for optimal results.
My rule of thumb is: do all the stuff that requires maximum information first, then resize the image last (except for sharpening). —
Walter Donavan
www.revelation7stages.com
www.1stbooks.com/bookview/15479
I prefer to do any necessary cropping before I do anything else, because it is obvious that some pictures have too much space with nothing to add to the composition. Why work on rubbish! Following the advice of the brains behind Focal Blade, (Harold Heim) I always do any sharpening that is required as the last step before printing. I have proved to myself at least, that sharpening before any other adjustments, especially resizing, can produce some obvious artifacts.