There are times when you would like to take photos that look more attractive or dramatic but can't achieve the results you want. In that case, how about trying the Picture Style function? This article introduces the basics on how to use Picture Style. (Edited by: studio9)
EOS 5D Mark III/ EF16-35mm f/2.8L USM/ FL: 16mm/ f/8/ 1/800sec/ ISO 400
Use Picture Style to change the look of your shots!
Once you become a little more accustomed to taking photos, you probably will be able to capture the subject, composition and brightness quite well. However, you will also probably hit another obstacle, where the ambience of the photo does not turn out as expected.
At such times, you can use Picture Style to change that ambience to suit your preferences. By simply adjusting this setting, you can obtain a completely different finish for your photos!
At such times, you can use Picture Style to change that ambience to suit your preferences. By simply adjusting this setting, you can obtain a completely different finish for your photos!
Picture Style is packed with various features, but in this article I will only focus on two modes and on the Contrast parameter to show how they can be used to edit photos.
Do you prefer a softer finish? Or would you rather prefer a more sombre finish ?
By changing the Contrast parameter in Picture Style, you can either create a soft and cute ambience, or a sombre and dramatic ambience.
Let's look at some specific examples.
Let's look at some specific examples.
The “soft” look
I wanted to express the slowness of time in this photo of a scene along a riverside, so I set Picture Style to 'Standard', resulting in a photo like this when using the default setting. (This example was simulated in Digital Photo Professional using the RAW file.)
Picture Style: Standard/ WB: Daylight
By simply tweaking the camera settings, I created the photo below with a soft ambience to it.
EOS 5D Mark II/ EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM/ FL: 24mm/ f/4/ 1/4000sec/ ISO 250
Picture Style: Standard (Contrast -4), WB: Daylight, Exposure Compensation: EV+1
Setting the contrast to its lowest value and using positive exposure compensation gives the photo a totally different look. The greens are paler and the clouds seemed to have a rather soft ambience, thus creating an ambience of slowness in the passing of time.
Picture Style: Standard (Contrast -4), WB: Daylight, Exposure Compensation: EV+1
Setting the contrast to its lowest value and using positive exposure compensation gives the photo a totally different look. The greens are paler and the clouds seemed to have a rather soft ambience, thus creating an ambience of slowness in the passing of time.
A sombre atmosphere
For the photo below I wanted to express the strong light rays from the sun, so I selected 'Landscape ' in Picture Style, which provides vivid blues and greens. The photo looks like this when taken using the default settings.
Picture Style: Landscape/ WB: Daylight
I then changed the settings to give the photo a more sombre look.
EOS 5D Mark II/ FL: 33mm/ f/16/ 1/25sec/ ISO 800
Picture Style: Landscape (Contrast +4), WB: Auto, Exposure Compensation: EV -0.33(-1/3)
I changed the contrast and used negative exposure compensation to create well defined contrasts within a sombre atmosphere. By making the walls of the building and the wet ground darker, the contrast with the sun was effectively expressed.
Picture Style: Landscape (Contrast +4), WB: Auto, Exposure Compensation: EV -0.33(-1/3)
I changed the contrast and used negative exposure compensation to create well defined contrasts within a sombre atmosphere. By making the walls of the building and the wet ground darker, the contrast with the sun was effectively expressed.
Configuring the settings
Canon Custom Picture Styles
In this section, I will describe the steps for deciding how to configure the settings. While there are a lot of detailed parameters that can be used, I will provide 3 steps that anyone can use with ease.
STEP 1: Decide on the Picture Style mode
First, decide on which Picture Style mode to use. It is best to refer your camera’s User's Guide to check what kind of Picture Style modes your camera includes. On most camera models, you can also check this from the shooting menu.
While the modes may differ according the camera models, there should be the following 7 modes available in the menu: Auto, Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful, and Monochrome. It is impossible to be able to master all of the modes at once, so I will just focus on two modes for now.
I recommend 'Standard' and 'Landscape' modes to start with. Select “Standard” if you want a calm ambience, or “Landscape” if you want an energetic and lively ambience. Each mode has its own special features, so you should be able to select your preferred mode without trouble!
Custom Picture For Myspace
STEP 2: Adjust the contrast
This is the most important point! Although the impression of the photo can change considerably even by changing only the Picture Style, adjusting the contrast is the most effective manner to create a soft or sombre look.
Select the Picture Style and press 'INFO' to proceed to the Detail Setting screen.
The four parameters: Sharpness, Contrast, Colour Saturation, and Colour Tone, are displayed on the screen, however adjusting the contrast provides the greatest effect. Try adjusting the contrast to start with.
The contrast parameter adjusts the dynamism between dark and light. Using it to achieve either of the 2 effects shown above is easy. You can either just set it to the smallest value (-4) for the 'soft' look, or the largest value (+4)for the 'sombre' look.
Once you get used to setting the contrast, adjusting the colour saturation, or the strength of the colours in the photo, will allow you to create an even more impressive image.
This is all there is to it! Easy, isn’t it? Of course, it is also alright to play around with the other Contrast values to fine tune the effects to suit your needs.
STEP 3: Apply exposure compensation
Exposure compensation is a parameter for the brightness of photos, regardless of the Picture Style. This setting alone can create a completely different look for your photos, so feel free to try it.
Most camera models simply just require a turn of the dial to adjust exposure compensation.
The key point to remember is that if you want a soft ambience, apply positive compensation, and apply negative compensation for a more sombre atmosphere.
For the “soft” look in particular, setting a large positive compensation of EV+1 to 2 is more effective in bringing out the ambience. Try to apply positive compensation boldly without worrying about blowout.
For a more sombre atmosphere, slightly darkening the exposure would be more effective in bringing out the ambience, so I would recommend EV0 to -1 as a guide. As the brightness will differ depending on your subject, try taking some shots to find a brightness that suits your preference.
The trick is to start off by boldly applying compensation until you start to think that you have overcompensated, and then step back little by little. This enables you to obtain a good result more quickly than if you started off slowly.
■If you want to check how to use the exposure compensation feature, click the link to the article below
[Lesson 9] Making Use of Exposure Compensation
[Lesson 9] Making Use of Exposure Compensation
Summary
The main point in this article is to create photos with the ambience you want in 3 easy steps, where possible.
1. Decide on the Picture Style mode
2. Adjust the contrast
3. Apply exposure compensation
2. Adjust the contrast
3. Apply exposure compensation
Canon 7d Picture Style Settings
Once you master these 3 steps, you can expect the ambience of your photos to change dramatically, so do give it a try.
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studio9
A photography website established in Japan in 2011. With the slogan “Bringing photography closer to you”, the site provides content that is useful for everyone who enjoys photography. Besides web content, studio9 also conducts seminars and workshops.
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2Introduction
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3In the Box
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3Item Check List
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4Conventions Used in This Manual
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5Chapters
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6Table of Contents
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10Index to Features
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12Handling Precautions
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14Quick Start Guide
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16Nomenclature
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18Lcd Panel
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19Viewfinder Information
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23Getting Started
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24Charging the Battery
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26Installing and Removing the Battery
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27Turning On the Power
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28Checking the Battery Level
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28Battery Life
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29Installing and Removing the CF Card
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29Release Shutter Without Card
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30Removing the Card
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30Remove the Card
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31Attaching and Detaching a Lens
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32Zoom
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33About the Lens Image Stabilizer
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34Basic Operation
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34Dioptric Adjustment
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35Shutter Button
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35Pressing Halfway
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37Lcd Panel Illumination
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38Q Using the Quick Control Screen
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40Menu Operations
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42Before You Start
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42Setting the Interface Language
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43Setting the Date, Time, and Zone
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43Date/Time/Zone
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45Formatting the Card
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46Set the Power-off Time/Auto Power Off
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47Reverting the Camera to the Default Settings
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49Displaying the Grid and Electronic Level
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49Grid Display
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50Electronic Level
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51Basic Shooting
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52Fully Automatic Shooting
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54Full Auto Techniques
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55C Creative Auto Shooting
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55Creative Auto
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58Setting the Image Review Time
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59 Image Settings
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60Setting the Image-recording Quality
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62Maximum Burst
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63One-touch RAW+JPEG
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64I: Setting the ISO Speed
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65Iso Auto
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66A Selecting a Picture Style
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67About the Symbols
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68A Customizing a Picture Style
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70A Registering a Picture Style
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72B: Setting the White Balance
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73O Custom White Balance
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74P Setting the Color Temperature
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75White Balance Correction
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76White Balance Auto Bracketing
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77Auto Lighting Optimizer
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78Lens Peripheral Illumination Correction
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80Creating and Selecting a Folder
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81Selecting a Folder
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81About Folders
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82Changing the File Name
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84File Numbering Methods
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85Auto Reset
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85Manual Reset
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86Setting the Color Space
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87Setting the AF and Drive Modes
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88F: Selecting the AF Mode
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89Ai Servo Af for Moving Subjects
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91S Selecting the AF Area
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93AF Area Selection Modes
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96When Autofocus Fails
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96MF: Manual Focusing
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97Selecting the Drive Mode
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97Drive Modes
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98Using the Self-timer
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99 Advanced Operations
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100D: Program AE
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102S: Shutter-Priority AE
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104F: Aperture-Priority AE
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105Depth of Field Preview
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106A: Manual Exposure
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107Selecting the Metering Mode
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108Setting Exposure Compensation
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109Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB)
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110A AE Lock
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110Ae Lock Effects
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111F: Bulb Exposures
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111Bulb
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112Using the Eyepiece Cover
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112Connecting the Remote Switch
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113Mirror Lockup
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114R Remote Control Shooting
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114Remote Control
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115D Using the Built-in Flash
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116Using Red-eye Reduction
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117Compensation
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118Take the Picture
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119Setting the Flash
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119Flash Control
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120Flash Mode
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123Using Wireless Flash
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127Basic Settings
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131Flash Exposure Compensation
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133External Flash
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133External Speedlites
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135Live View Shooting
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136A Live View Shooting
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139Shooting Function Settings
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140Menu Function Settings
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140Exposure Simulation
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140Grid Display
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142Using AF to Focus
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149Focusing Manually
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153 Shooting Movies
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153Movie Shooting
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158Shooting Still Photos
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159Shooting Function Settings
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160Menu Function Settings
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160Movie-recording Size
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162Sound Recording
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165Image Playback
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166Single Image Display
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167B Shooting Information Display
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169H I Searching for Images Quickly
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169Index Display
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171U/y Magnified View
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172Rotating the Image
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173Rating
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173Setting Ratings
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175Q Quick Control During Playback
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177Enjoying Movies
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179Movie Playback
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179Playing Movies
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181Editing the Movie's First and Last Scenes
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182Slide Show (Auto Playback)
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183Start the Slide Show
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184Viewing the Images On TV
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186K Protecting Images
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186Protect
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187Erase
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187L Erasing Images
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189Changing Image Playback Settings
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189Adjusting the LCD Monitor Brightness
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190Auto Rotation of Vertical Images
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191Post-Processing Images
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192R Processing RAW Images With the Camera
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192RAW Image Processing
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195Distortion Correction
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196Chromatic Aberration Correction
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197S Resize
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199Sensor Cleaning
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200Automatic Sensor Cleaning
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201Appending Dust Delete Data
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202Photograph a Solid-white Object
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203Manual Sensor Cleaning
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205Printing Images
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206Preparing to Print
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208WPrinting
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210Set the Printing Effects
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211Start Printing
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213Trimming the Image
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214Error Messages
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215W Digital Print Order Format (DPOF)
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217Print Ordering
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218W Direct Printing With DPOF
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219Customizing the Camera
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220Setting Custom Functions
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221Custom Functions
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222Custom Function Settings
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222C.Fn I: Exposure
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224C.Fn II: Image
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225C.Fn III: Autofocus/Drive
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225Highlight Tone Priority
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230Setting Procedure
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231C.Fn IV: Operation/Others
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231Custom Controls
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233C.Fn IV -1: Custom Controls
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237Electronic Level
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238Registering My Menu
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239Register Camera User Settings
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240Shooting Functions
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240Menu Functions
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241Setting Copyright Information
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243Reference
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244B Button Functions
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245Shooting Settings
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246Checking the Battery Information
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250Using a Household Power Outlet
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251Replacing the Date/Time Battery
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252System Map
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254Function Availability Table
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256Menu Settings
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261Troubleshooting Guide
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267Error Codes
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268Specifications
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281Software Start Guide
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282Picture Style Editor
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284Installing the Software On Macintosh
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286Index
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