PhotoShelter’s Improved Image Processing

Your images should be seen online in their best possible format, and processed in a way that’s up to par with the industry’s best practices. For those reasons, we’re excited to announce our improved image processing, optimized for both quality and performance.

Moving forward, all new images uploaded to your PhotoShelter account will be processed this way, resulting in the highest image fidelity. The next step is to process all 100+ million images that live in all PhotoShelter members’ accounts over the next few months.

Some of the benefits of this new image processing include:

• JPEG quality: We use the highest JPEG quality possible while still keeping image size manageable, so your images’ fine details and colors are preserved.
• Gamma correction: We also preserve fine details, micro contrast, and high contrast areas when resizing your images so that they have the correct brightness. Specifically, we use sRGB gama curve (2.2). Geek out on Wikipedia over gamma correction and how it affects our perception of color.
• Color management: Our entire image pipeline is still sRGB, meaning that any image uploaded will be tagged as sRGB – this is the de facto standard for viewing and compatibility on the web.

Overall, you should see an improved sharpness and quality of your images as displayed on your PhotoShelter website.

You might not notice the difference off hand, but check out these before and after examples. Read the notes below for more information and then mouse over each image to show the improvements.

Note the improved sharpening of fine details, the removal of artifacts around the trees, and overall better highlight separation.

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Note the more pleasing rendition of the out of focus areas and skin texture, more accurate representation of fine detail, and overall better highlight separation.

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Note the much improved highlight separation and sharpening, and the lack of artifacts in low contrast areas like the center artists’s face.

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Note the improved sharpening of the building, better highlight separation in the foliage, and removal of artifacts in areas where the mountain meets the sky.

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Note the improved sharpening and micro contrast in the artist’s glasses

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Note the improved sharpening and highlight separation and a more pleasing rendition of the out of focus areas.

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For more general tips on color management and your digital workflow, check out this video with photographer Martin Bailey. Also feel free to contact us with any questions at support@photoshelter.com.