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The Farrar Focus Digital Darkroom 6 (FFDD) is a set of professional scripts and actions for Adobe Photoshop CS2 and CS3 that provides all essential tools for 16-bit digital image development of extended dynamic range photographs using traditional chemical darkroom style methods. FFDD 6 is the result of about a year of testing and refining in the aim to transform Photoshop into the ultimate digital darkroom tool. The development actions have been greatly simplified, are easier to use and provide better results than before.
The FFDD Method
With FFDD, development is done using the FFDD actions from inside Photoshop using three primary steps. Each action creates and works with Adjustment Layers providing infinite adjustability at any time. The result is dynamic, clean, and noise free photographs filmed in even extreme lighting conditions.
The key to FFDD is simple: produce a 12-14 stop dynamic range digital negative from multiple exposures and then develop this digital negative using traditional film like darkroom methods.
With a digital exposure there is the trade off between highlight clipping and shadow detail. Expose for the highlights and lose shadow detail in noise. Expose for the shadows and the highlights overexpose. But what if you could have both highlights and shadow detail?
This is exactly what the FFDD batch script does – it builds this ideal digital negative with full highlights and no noise in even the darkest of shadows. With a single exposure, even if highlights are compromised using the expose to the right method, it is noise which ultimately limits the quality of the developed photo. With FFDD there is no noise.
What's new
•100% color correct editing using a Linear variant of the ProPhotoRGB colorspace.
•New higher quality contrast actions for the linear colorspace.
•Custom gradient digital graduated neutral density filter, the gnd tool.
•New dodge tool which can be used to do layered localized exposure adjustments.
•The new batch blending script.
The new batch script has the following advantages over the previous version.
•The script automatically computes the proper white point and all Adobe Camera Raw settings except Chromatic Aberration and Vignetting.
•It automatically adjusts the white level allowing a little clipping. This serves to make the resulting image much lighter and easier to work with.
•It automatically handles exposures that are out of range (to dark to be usable, or too light to be usable [such as an exposure which is 90% white]).
•It has a higher quality blend and automatically merges the output layers into one image.
•It has ability to work with batches of images for stitching. Matching all the exposures to a common level for all the sub groups of images.
•It gives feedback on the blending process.
•New feature for generating a quick development file. Basically a low resolution copy of the digital negative, which can be developed with adjustment layers, then using the Apply quick development to blended negatives option, these adjustment layers will be applied to the full size image.
•All of the functionality runs as a fully batch process. Ideal for running overnight on thousands of files at one time.
•It will skip files with problems and continue with other files. Skipped files are noted in log.
With a 12-14 stop dynamic range digital negative, development is limited only by your imagination!
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