Post Production FAQs

Plans

"Plans" are great for photographers who want to shoot a session or event, then turn the rest of the work over to us. Our Plan service includes custom color-correcting your image files for proper color balance, contrast, skin tone, and density. We will also convert a subset of the images you send to black and white. Our Plan Pricing specifies the number of black and white conversions included in the Plan you have chosen.

Our Plans also include artistically enhancing a subset of the images you send. We can do this using the presets and/or Photoshop® Actions you currently have developed and use, or you can leave the enhancements to the discretion of our Image Specialist to give your work that ‘finishing touch.’ Please refer to our Plan Pricing to determine the number of Artistic Enhancements included in the plan you have chosen.

If you have purchased one of our Plans, the files have been adjusted, your selections converted to black & white, and artistic enhancements completed, we will categorize your image files and renumber them to the specifications of your online proofing solution. We will then generate appropriately sized JPEG files and upload them to your online proofing vendor with absolutely no further work required on your part.

Once your job is complete, we will send the work back to you (RAW+xmp, or DNG) and a copy of the final adjusted JPEG files.

We only accept RAW or DNG files with our Plans.

à la Carte

With our à la carte post-production service, you pick and choose the specific services you need. As with our Plans, color-corrections, black and white conversions, and artistic enhancements are done to your studio's specifications generating the "look" you have requested.

We only accept RAW or DNG files with our à la carte post-production services.

Basic Color-Correction

Our "Basic" color-correction service is perfect if you need color-corrections and need them fast. You can upload your JPEG files (RAW files are not accepted for this service) and place your order through our ROES Application. Follow the email instructions to download your adjusted JPEG files when the work is completed - within three (3) business days.

With a quicker turn-around time and lower price per image than our custom color-correction services, this is a great option for proofing or when time is of the essence. Our Basic Color Correction Service is provided by our partners at Bay Photo. Silverback performs all services you order through our "Plan" and "à la carte" options.

We only accept JPEG files for our Basic Color-Correction service.

You can order flash drives to send us your orders here.

Yes, to maintain an efficient process, we require that you use our folder structure when submitting orders. It is very simple and will enable us to know where all of your files are located, and how we are to treat them. When the completed order is returned to you, you will immediately know where everything is, eliminating any guesswork or uncertainty.

You can maintain your current file naming conventions when submitting your orders.

Order Submission

We have developed a folder structure that makes submission fast and easy.

- Download our folder structure here -

Simply place the RAW or DNG files in the appropriate folder based on the service(s) you have ordered. The "_Final Thoughts" file is simply a text file you can use to send us any last-minute instructions.

Simply duplicate and reuse our folder structure for each order you send.

Failure to submit an order in this manner will cause a delay in processing your order, and result in additional charges. Specifically, we will charge a minimum of $20 for the first hour of extra time needed to process the order, and additional time will be billed in fifteen-minute increments at a rate of $20 per hour.

You may ship your order to:

Silverback Imaging & Design
355 S. Teller Street, Suite 200
Lakewood, CO 80226

You may drop off your order at this address between the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM Monday through Friday. All orders (including drop-offs) must be properly packaged and addressed to Silverback Imaging and Design. All orders received after 3:00 PM mountain time will be checked-in the following business day.

For large orders where you are submitting hundreds or even thousands of images, it's best to send them on a small flash drive. Flash drives are large enough to accommodate an entire wedding or event and can be reused, so you won’t need to keep a supply of CDs or DVDs on hand to burn your images to disk. And their small size minimizes shipping costs.

When we are finished processing your images, we will return the completed work to you on the same flash drive. You can then copy the work to your computer and reuse the flash drive to send us your next session or event.

We offer these drives for sale in our shopping cart in 8GB and 16GB capacities. Each drive comes in a black box with a lanyard attached. They arrive pre-loaded with our job folder structure, so they are immediately ready for you to use. PC and Mac compatible.

For smaller orders you may consider uploading your images to us. This is how we receive most orders from our clients who shoot portrait sessions or who need our help addressing issues with smaller numbers of images. Once you are a customer, you can request an FTP folder for you studio by sending an email to customerservice@silverbackimaging.com.

After placing your order in our shopping cart, please send your files to us at:

Silverback Imaging & Design
355 S. Teller Street, Suite 200
Lakewood, CO 80226

The turn-around time is based on the service you purchase from us. They are highlighted here:

Our standard turn-around time for each order you submit is 8-10 business days. The turn-around time is measured from the day we receive your order in our office, to the day we ship it back to you. If the turn-around time includes a holiday, the turn-around time for your order will be extended by the number of days of the actual holiday. Our Terms and Conditions specifies the holidays our office recognizes.

The turn-around time for rush orders is 5-7 business days, measured from the time we receive your order in our office, to the time we ship it back to you. Once again, if the turn-around time includes a holiday, the turn around time for your event will be extended by the number of days of the actual holiday. Our Terms and Conditions specifies the holidays our office recognizes.

The turn-around time for Basic Color Correction orders placed through our ROES Ordering Application is 1-3 business days. You will receive an email notification when your completed order is ready to download.

8-10 business days is our guaranteed turn-around time for all Plan and à la carte orders. The actual time may be faster depending on the number of orders in our queue. We process all orders in the order in which they are submitted. The number of images in the order doesn't come into play. We feel this is the only equitable way to process them. A small order may take 8-10 business days if the queue is heavy or it may take less time if it's light.

The turn-around time for Basic Color Correction orders placed through our ROES Ordering Application is 1-3 business days. You will receive an email notification when your completed order is ready to download.

Of course. Simply indicate which files you want converted to black & white, and we will provide them to you. Each Plan price includes converting images to black & white. You simply place the files you wish to have converted to black & white in the ‘Black and White Conversions’ folder, and we will take care of the rest.

Please be aware that if you ask for an image to be converted to black & white, we will only provide a black & white version of the final file to you.

Yes, as part of our Plan Price we will enhance or ‘tweak’ a subset of the image files you submit. See our pricing information to determine the number of Artistic Enhancements included in the plan you have chosen. Because we use the Kubota Photoshop® Action Sets, we can apply the ‘tweaks’ most of our clients are already using. In fact, if you give us your list of favorite Kubota Actions, we will note them in your profile and use them for your work. If there are specific Adobe Lightroom® Presets, or Adobe Photoshop® Actions that you have developed, we will be happy to use them to ‘tweak’ your images.

We only accept JPEG files for color-correction orders placed through our ROES Application using our 'Basic Color Correction Service'. For color-correction orders placed through our 'Plan' or 'à la carte' options we only accept RAW files.

We do recommend however, that you shoot in your camera’s RAW mode. It will provide more dynamic range and potentially a higher quality file than even JPEG Fine. That way, you can create JPEGs if you want to use our Basic Color-Correction service, or send us RAW files should you need to do so.

You can find information on our Post-Production page.

Yes, we will gladly accept your RAW files. RAW is without a doubt the best way to capture images. It produces the highest quality ‘digital negative’ with greater dynamic range than JPEG capture. RAW also provides you with greater exposure latitude and the greatest potential for wonderful adjustments. Further, if you capture your images in RAW mode and the Adobe RGB (1998) color space, you’ve maximized your potential for the best ‘digital negative’ you can generate.

We only accept RAW or DNG files for our Plan and à la carte post-production services.

It's really quite simple. Our color corrections (custom and basic) are processed on calibrated and profiled monitors so that the adjustments we make conform to ICC color standards. That means we have removed the color cast(s) in the image to produce correct skin tone and other colors. Color correcting will provide a good print at any lab professional lab.

If you ask us to soft-proof your images (i.e., order the soft-proof option in our store), that means we take an additional step to calibrate our color corrected image to a specific lab, printer, paper, combination. It's an additional step we do not have to take when just color correcting. It fine-tunes your image further for a specific output destination.

It's simple, just follow these steps after downloading our ROES Ordering Application.

1. Click the "Catalog" dropdown in the middle of the left panel of the application window and select the "Color Correction" option.
2. The center panel will change to the "Color Correction" option.
3. In the bottom of the right panel, click the "Folder" button and navigate to the folder containing your JPEG images.
4. Drag the JPEG images you want color corrected into the blue "Color Correction Drop Box" square in the middle panel of the application. You can do this multiple times if necessary to add images to your order.
5. You can click "Review Order" in the bottom of the middle panel to review and complete your order.

That's it! Within 1-3 days you will receive an email that the corrections are complete and ready for download.

Of course. While we don't provide scanning services, we ask that you follow these guidelines when sending us your scanned images:

We strongly recommend that you have your film scanned professionally at your local lab. This is because labs have very high quality scanners and a staff trained in the nuances of scanning images. This may cost more than doing it on your own, but will produce a far higher quality in your final image.

We understand that having your images scanned professionally may not be an option for you. If you must scan the images yourself please keep in mind that this is the digital equivalent of creating a print from a negative in the darkroom. Listed below are some very important components of scanning images yourself.

Resolution:
Images must be scanned at minimum of 300 ppi (pixels per inch). Anything less may sacrifice quality. While many scanners can offer very high resolution options, scanning color prints can rarely yield more detail when scanned at more than 300 ppi.

Size and Scaling:
The final output of the scan should reflect the minimum desired sized you prefer your final print to be. For example, if you wish to create an 8" X 10", set your scanner to produce this size (or slightly larger to allow for cropping down to 8" X 10").

Exposure/Density:
When scanning film it is crucial to set the exposure or density for each individual image. This must be done to maximize the amount of data captured by the scanner. Many scanners offer an option to set the black and white points, using this is a good way to get proper density. An image scanned to the proper density allows for greater latitude in post production, resulting in greater detail in the shadow and highlight areas. Failure to do this can cause blown out highlights or blocked up shadows, even though there may actually be detail in the negative. Do not batch scan the images, each image should be individually adjusted and scanned.

File Format:
It is very important to select the proper file format when scanning an image. We prefer the TIFF or PSD format. These formats are lossless and allow for, RGB 24 - 48 bits. Although a JPG file may seem like a good solution because of its very manageable size, it does not have the same range the other formats provide. JPG format always uses a lossy compression, which can cause the image quality to degrade with repeated savings, not to mention it only allows for a RGB range of maximum 24 bits.

Scan color and black and white images in RGB mode (even if you want black and white output) to give us the greatest flexibility.

Sharpening:
Resolution might add detail, but it can't add sharpness, they're different things. Resolution adds the detail that lets us recognize features. Sharpness makes the edges clear and distinct. Scanners often include a USM (UnSharp Mask) tool, which can be used to sharpen an image. We advise not to apply any sharpening during the scan. This is the last step in the post-production process and will be applied just before we create the final output image.

While we don't provide scanning services, we ask that you follow these guidelines when sending us your scanned images:

We strongly recommend that you have your film scanned professionally at your local lab. This is because labs have very high quality scanners and a staff trained in the nuances of scanning images. This may cost more than doing it on your own, but will produce a far higher quality in your final image.

We understand that having your images scanned professionally may not be an option for you. If you must scan the images yourself please keep in mind that, this is the digital equivalent of creating a print from a negative in the darkroom. Listed below are some very important components of scanning images yourself.

Resolution:
Images must be scanned at minimum of 300 ppi (pixels per inch). Anything less may sacrifice quality. While many scanners can offer very high resolution options, scanning color prints can rarely yield more detail when scanned at more than 300 ppi.

Size and Scaling:
The final output of the scan should reflect the minimum desired sized you prefer your final print to be. For example, if you wish to create an 8" X 10", set your scanner to produce this size (or slightly larger to allow for cropping down to 8" X 10").

Exposure/Density:
When scanning film it is crucial to set the exposure or density for each individual image. This must be done to maximize the amount of data captured by the scanner. Many scanners offer an option to set the black and white points, using this is a good way to get proper density. An image scanned to the proper density allows for greater latitude in post production, resulting in greater detail in the shadow and highlight areas. Failure to do this can cause blown out highlights or blocked up shadows, even though there may actually be detail in the negative. Do not batch scan the images, each image should be individually adjusted and scanned.

File Format:
It is very important to select the proper file format when scanning an image. We prefer the TIFF or PSD format. These formats are lossless and allow for, RGB 24 - 48 bits. Although a JPG file may seem like a good solution because of its very manageable size, it does not have the same range the other formats provide. JPG format always uses a lossy compression, which can cause the image quality to degrade with repeated savings, not to mention it only allows for a RGB range of maximum 24 bits.

Scan color and black and white images in RGB mode (even if you want black and white output) to give us the greatest flexibility.

Sharpening:
Resolution might add detail, but it can't add sharpness, they're different things. Resolution adds the detail that lets us recognize features. Sharpness makes the edges clear and distinct. Scanners often include a USM (UnSharp Mask) tool, which can be used to sharpen an image. We advise not to apply any sharpening during the scan. This is the last step in the post-production process and will be applied just before we create the final output image.

Absolutely, positively, yes! We are not providing a backup service for you or your files. You should have a very strict backup process in your office that begins immediately after shooting each assignment. Even though you send us files for processing, you should maintain the originals on the computer(s) in your office as well as a backup copy of each file on secondary storage media located in a safe place in case of a hardware or software problem that causes you to lose data.

We will not be responsible or liable for image files you lose due to your failure to adequately back up your business assets. In fact, we will only maintain your files in our office for a period of thirty (30) days after shipping the files back to you. After that time has passed, your files will not be maintained in our office.

We accept your VISA, Master Card or Discover Card as payment for our services. Each time you place an order using our secure online ordering system, simply enter your credit card information during the checkout process. That way you pay for the service as you use it.

We require that our clients use our folder structure when submitting images which lets us know exactly where to find your work. One of the folders will be for the images you want converted to black & white. Once you become a client, you will be able to download our folder structure directly through our site.

We calibrate our monitors to ICC standards at a minimum every two weeks using professional hardware and software calibration tools. These are the same tools your lab should be using if they were doing the work for you.

Try our Savings Estimator a free widget that will estimate how much you can save using Silverback!

The beauty behind our offerings is that they free you to do the things you really should be doing to grow your business. The best way to look at paying any company to take work off of your plate is to ask yourself the following question:

Is the cost of the product or service less expensive than if I were to do it myself?

In other words, if it costs you $450 for us to handle your post-production work, you consider your time to be worth $100 per hour, and it takes you ten hours to do the work yourself, then you save $550 by using our service. In other words:

In this scenario, if you shoot 20 weddings a year, that translates into an extra $11,000 in your pocket over the wedding season. If you shoot 30 weddings a year, that translates into an extra $16,500 in your pocket over the wedding season. In addition, during the 10 hours per event that you have gained back, you can shoot other jobs, promote your business, network with industry vendors – the list goes on and on!

So the actual benefit is potentially much higher than the dollar savings. Even if you pay yourself less than $100 per hour to do the work, and can use the reclaimed time for other jobs or business promotion, the benefit of using our service may far exceed the cost.

When you become a client, you will complete a New Client Questionnaire that tells us about your business and image preferences. Based on your studio’s style of photography, preferences for black and white images, how simple or stylized you like your enhancements, we will assign an Image Specialist to your studio that best fits your profile. You should view your Image Specialist as extension of your team. Someone who will always be assigned to work on your events, and will quickly get to know your studio’s style, editing preferences, how you want your color corrected and black and white images to look, and how you like your artistic enhancements handled. You will be able to communicate with your Image Specialist and develop a relationship that will make the work we do for you look exactly the way you and your clients want.

Orders for our Basic Color Correction Service are filled by our partners at Bay Photo. Silverback performs all services you order through our "Plan" and "à la carte" options.

Our Image Specialists came to Silverback with strong industry credentials. They understand color management and the tools and technology that will allow them to produce great work for you.

Our recognized holidays are:

• New Years Day
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Presidents’ Day
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day
• Veteran’s Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• The Friday after Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Eve Day
• Christmas Day
• Last workweek of the year

If your job's turn-around time includes one (or more) of these days, the turn-around time will be extended by the number of days of the actual holiday