CM Week 3 Color Pins in General

[dkrassen]

Hello.

Color pins are confusing me.  What I am trying to understand is exactly what selecting a color pin and applying it to a image does to that image.  Also, for exercise 3 you state you what us to use the skin 1 pin.  There are other skin pins too.  Is the a rule of thumb to determine which skin pin to use for a given photo.

I suspect, the color pin adjust sthe color it is placed on to be the color of the color pin.  Is this correct?

Thank you
David

[dkrassen]

Hello.

I decided to review the forum for additional information on Color Pins.  I found some.  In particular I found reference to an article under Color Pinning - Where can I get more Pins on October 31, 2007 at 5:00 pm, which mentions the goodies folder under curvemeister.com directory.  I do not see any goodies directory. 

Also, one of the additional resources you posted, Skin Tones - Advanced Work Flow, has a pins text file, SHN Skin Tones.txt.  How do I add these pins to Curvemeister?

Thank you
David

[sjordan93436]

I am sure Greg will give you a good answer. 

A point has associated values.  RGB .  A pin is another point with its RGB values.  (works the same in all color spaces).  When you pin a point, CM changes the rgb values of that point to match the pin (sort of).  It does that be setting control points and moving the curves so that points match (sort of).

Please note, that neutral, highlight, and shadow points are different.

Why do I say "sort of"?  CM matched the hue and saturation (color?) of the pin but not its luminance or brightness.    That got me confused for a while (perhaps I still am). 

In the real world, sometimes pins solve the problem.  They often fail to do primary correction and big corrections.  That is why Greg always says do a skin pin as the cherry on the top.  By that time the color should be close and there are other points to limit the correction.

[dkrassen]

Hello

I found the goodies folder at c:All UsersApplication Datacurvemiester.comCurvemiester_3LibraryPin LibraryGoodies.  There are numerous pin text files in this directory.  Is there a source of information that recommends how to use each set of Color Pins?  I also found that moving the pin text file to the pin library adds the pins to the pin palette.

Also, I have been experimenting with the Color Pins - skin1 for Example 3.  I notice that applying skin1 to the skin of a person changes the entire image or selected part of an image.  It looks like the color pin adjusts the color of the location of the color pin to said color pin.  Please explain, exactly what happens when a color pin is dragged to an area of a photo be it skin, hair, etc.

Thank you
David

[dkrassen]

Hello

I have discovered that just adding a color pins text file to the Pins Library Directory does not make them show up in the Color Pins Palette.  I found that you need to click in the Color Pins Palette and select Pin File and open pin file then select the Pin text file.  I decided all the Pin text files should be in the Pin Library Folder and placed them their prior to adding them via the open pin file option.

So, again I can add a pins file to the Pins palette.

Thank you
David

[sjordan93436]

Simple answer.  When you pin a point, CM adjusts the curves and puts in control points so that the color (hue and saturation) of the point equals the example color. 

Pin a magenta sky, and the curves move so that the color under the pin point equals an example sky.

Greg says, it is the cherry on top of the sundae.  In other words, use a pin to nudge the color to something correct.  You should not try to make primary or large corrections with it.

[ggroess]

Ok...
So far the general idea is correct.  Pins are a very valuable tool when you need them...
Having pins is like having a hammer...When you are holding hammer you want to pound nails...When you have pins you want to pin everything....

Here is what pins do...They adjust the color of the selected pixel(S) to match the values in the pin.  Some Pins are HSB, some RGB, and some even LAB.  Pins are very much like "set neutral" in that no matter what you have under the pin you get the output values for the pin in that spot.  Attached shots...a white sheet when pinned will look like the pin. In the first shot the page is normal. In the second Shot I added a Pin. but I turned off the Brightness setting in the Pin.  Notice that in RGB I only adjust the color in the same brightness range....in the third shot I switch to LAB Mode in CM...This is a great way to illustrate that in RGB color is tied to brightness...In the 4th shot I have the same pin in CMYK...Because the K channel is part of the CMYK puzzle the Cyan part of the pin is spread around the image....

Ok so here is a bit more...

In RGB if you make the adjustments for color first and then add a pin the there is really a very narrow range of brightness that is going to be effected...the other settings hold it in line...
In LAB you have to be a bit more careful...The color does cross all brightness boundaries...
Same for CMYK.  BTW HSB is the same as RGB in how it handles pins.

You can Right Click on the Pins area and select pin file from the menu.  The fly out has more options for you to select; and you can create your own files in your own groups.
You can write your own pin values into the text files if you open them from here and modify the existing pins...Your choice..the folders have moved a bit because of XP to Vista To Win 7 changes...If you have 64 bit OS it also can make a difference as to where the pins files are kept...

Other ways to use them...Pins are great for "known" color values.  If you know a object is a specific RGB value you can create a pin with those values and pin the color exactly.  This is used by some commercial people to pin product colors.  It is also used by some designers when they want to paint a room a specific color...you get to be as creative as you want with these...I have even created a set of Zone system pins for Black and White images...I'm still playing around with that one but they offer many different aspects for your images...

The most common pin I use is the "glencoe sky" pin...you want your skies to pop...get them close and drop "Glenco Sky" on it...

I hope I have given a good answer...LOL...
Keep asking there is so much in here we can go on for days...

Greg