Hints on Installing Digital Zone System, Part 2

Introduction
Last year I started an INSIGHTS Hints on Installing article on Robert Fisher’s Digital Zone System PSD actions ( March 1, 2013 ). As promised (late as I might be), here’s the rest of the process.
 
Part 2
I start this part by assuming you’ve download the two items, DZS.atn and the Multiplugin.plugin (HSB/HSL module).

When those two items are loaded into Photoshop, make sure to install your action into the Actions Panel. Load DZS.atn into the panel by clicking on the down arrow on the upper right-hand side of the Actions Panel:

 

Click on the “Load Actions...” menu item in the middle of the rather long list:

 

Fisher provided 4 actions in the download, and I found sorting the actions into this order to be most helpful to me. The sort order below is an order you might want to run each action.

• Luminance Layer (to create a new layer with luminance values, only)
• Zone Masks (the primary action to create the Zone Masks in Channels)
• Zone Masks Curves and Hue/Sat (This action uses the created Zone Masks for tonal luminosity changes and, if desired Hue/Saturation, separately, by creating layers for each change, for each Zone.)
• Zone Masks Cleanup (Optional action to delete zone masks, after you’re done, reducing your file size.)

First, run the DZS action Luminance Layer, which creates an over-all luminosity layer needed to build  luminosity masks, and also selects the correct options for HSBHSL (selection the items Input Mode:RGB and Row order HSB).
 

Second Run the DZS action Zone Masks and review the 10 zones (and 6 groups of zones). Now just follow Robert Fisher’s Digital Zone System book at this point. He provides an excellent workflow, which I won’t repeat here.

 

 

Third, one way to work with these Zone Masks is to run the DZS action Zone Mask Curves & Hue/Sat. At this point you will have about 20 new layers, one each for the ten Zones for Curve Adjustments and and one each for the ten Zones for Hue/Sat Adjustments. This is where your creative work starts. Again, refer to Fisher’s Digital Zone System book.

 

Fourth, your PSD file will ballon five-to-ten-fold or more, due to the additional Channels (16) and layers (20). Take a look at my PSD before/after file size, noting that this is before doing any work on the curves/hue/saturation layers:

 
Almost 14 times the original file size!
 
After you complete your work, you probably won’t need to keep the Channels, unless you need to work them in the future. However, you can delete them and easily regenerate them later. For those Layers you do not make any adjustment to, merely delete them, taking care not to delete those you did make adjustments to.

Conclusion
 
This second part of the Digital Zone System merely sets up the luminosity masks. The point of Fisher’s PSD actions are to make life easier than the tedius creation of luminosity layer, luminosity masks, curves layers and hue/saturation layers. His actions literally takes seconds. So use them.

There are other actions that may be helpful, including Ian Barber’s Luminosity Grading Panel,which groups layers that may be more helpful, depending upon your goal for your image. I’m experimenting with both.

The main work is now ahead of you. The good news is now your time spent is the creative part of photography, so enjoy. 

I will be later sharing the journey I take with an image or two of mine for the B&W conversion and tonal mapping.