ptg camera raw IN THIS CHAPTER Why use Camera Raw? . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Choosing preferences for opening photos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Opening photos into Camera Raw . . . 63 The Camera Raw tools . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Cropping and straightening photos . . 65 Choosing default workfl ow settings . . 66 Using the Camera Raw tabs . . . . . . . 67 Using the Basic tab . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Using the Tone Curve tab . . . . . . . . . 72 Using the HSL/Grayscale tab . . . . . . 74 Using the Detail tab . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Adding a grain texture . . . . . . . . . . 78 Using the Adjustment Brush . . . . . . . 79 Retouching a photo . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Saving and applying Camera Raw settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Synchronizing Camera Raw settings . . 84 Converting, opening, and saving Camera Raw fi les . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Opening and placing photos into Photoshop as Smart Objects . . . . . 86 4 Using the powerful controls in the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in,* you can apply corrections to your photos before opening them into Photoshop. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to open digital photos into the Camera Raw dialog (called “Camera Raw,” for short), and then use the many tabs in Camera Raw to correct your photos for under- or overexposure, blurri- ness, color casts, poor contrast, and other defects. Why use Camera Raw? Whereas amateur-level digital cameras store images in the JPEG or TIFF format, advanced amateur and pro models oer the option to save images as raw data les, which has substantial advantages. e camera applies internal processing to photos captured as JPEG or TIFF, such as sharpening, setting the white balance, and making color adjustments. With raw les, you get only the original raw information that the lens cap- tured onto its digital sensor, leaving you with full con- trol over subsequent image processing and correction. Each camera manufacturer creates its own variation of a raw le. (For a further discussion of raw les versus JPEG and TIFF les, see page 61.) ese are some of the advantages to using the Camera Raw plug-in: ➤ Camera Raw processes raw photos from most digital camera models, as well as digital TIFF and JPEG photos. ➤ Camera Raw oers powerful controls for adjust- ing the exposure, color, tonal range, noise, and other characteristics of your photos, and you can monitor the corrections in a large preview. ➤ For raw les, Camera Raw edits (stored as instruc- tions) are saved in either a separate “sidecar” le or in the Camera Raw database. For TIFF and JPEG les, the instructions are saved in the photo le. When you open a le from Camera Raw into Photoshop, regardless of the format, the instruc- tions are applied to a copy of the le, and the origi- nal digital le is preserved. ➤ You can convert your photos to some standard formats (e.g., PSD, JPEG) through Camera Raw, or you can change their format in Photoshop. Note: Don’t confuse the raw les that a camera produces with Photoshop Raw, which is one of the choices on the Format menu in the File > Save and Save As dialogs in Photoshop. * e Camera Raw plug-in is included with Photoshop. ptg 60 Chapter 4 CAPTURING TONAL VALUES: A CAMERA VERSUS THE HUMAN EYE A e d i g i t a l s e n s o r i n a c a m e r a c a p t u r e s t o n a l v a l u e s in a linear fashion, from light to dark, without altering the incoming data. Note that a light value of 50% is at the midpoint of the tonal range. 5 0 % l i g h t v a l u e B Camera Raw alters the incoming data, redistribut- ing some tonal values to the shadows and midtones. Note that the 50% light value has been shifted past the midpoint. Now the lower tonal values, in the ranges the human eye is more sensitive to, contain more data. 5 0 % l i g h t v a l u e More reasons to use Camera Raw In case you’re not fully convinced, we’ll outline some compelling reasons for using the Camera Raw plug-in instead of opening your digital photos directly into Photoshop. It oers powerful and unique controls that you won’t nd in Photoshop. Raw preview: e only way to preview a raw photo is through a raw converter, such as Camera Raw. (e image you see on your digital camera’s LCD screen is based not on the raw capture, but on the JPEG preview that accompanies the raw capture.) Less destructive: Exposure, white balance, color, and other corrections made in Camera Raw cause less destruction to a photo than adjustment com- mands in Photoshop. e goal, when applying cor- rections, is to cause as little destruction as possible while preserving as much original data as possible. 16 bits per channel: To preserve the full tonal range of a raw photo, you can use Camera Raw to convert it to a 16-bits-per-channel le. Having more original data at the outset helps oset the data loss from image edits made in Photoshop. e end result is a better-quality photo. Tonal redistribution: A bonus feature of Camera Raw is that it xes a problem inherent in all digital photos: the fact that the digital sensor in a camera records data in a linear fashion. e sensor cap- tures the existing range of tonal values in a scene as is, without skewing the data. More data is used to capture light values than dark values. A e human eye, however, is more sensitive to lower light levels than to higher light levels. at is, we’re more likely to notice when shadows lack detail and less likely to notice extra details in the highlights. By shifting data into the midtone and shadow ranges, Camera Raw produces a photo that more closely approximates human vision. B When a photo contains insucient data in the shadow range, tonal adjustments made in Photoshop will cause posterization and a noticeable loss of detail. With its extra data in the midtone and shadow ranges, a photo converted by Camera Raw will be better equipped to withstand those Photoshop edits. Noise reduction and sharpening: Not to knock Photoshop, but the noise reduction and sharp- ening features in Camera Raw are easier to use, less destructive, and more eective than similar commands in Photoshop. You’re halfway there: You will be able to build on the skills learned in this chapter, because the Camera Raw controls that you’ll use to correct the tonal and color balance in your photos are similar to many of the adjustment controls in Photoshop that you will learn about in later chapters (such as Levels, Curves, and Hue/Saturation). e skinny: To correct and enhance digital photos in preparation for further edits in Photoshop, Camera Raw is an ideal launch pad. ptg Camera Raw 61 Raw, JPEG, or TIFF? In addition to raw les, photos that a camera saves in the JPEG or TIFF format can also be opened and edited in Camera Raw. Although more Camera Raw features are available for raw photos than for JPEG and TIFF photos, if your camera doesn’t shoot raw photos or you acquire JPEG or TIFF photos from other sources, you can still use most of the Camera Raw features to process them. Unfortunately, Camera Raw can’t correct de- ciencies in digital JPEG and TIFF photos as fully as it can in raw photos, for several reasons. First, JPEG and TIFF photos have a bit depth of only 8 bits per channel, unlike raw photos, which have a bit depth of 16 bits per channel. Second, color and tonal processing is applied to JPEGs and TIFFs by the camera (“in camera”). Camera Raw must reinterpret this processed data, with less success- ful results than when it has access to the raw, unprocessed data. And nally, the editing instruc- tions are saved in the les themselves (processing is applied when the les are opened and saved in Photoshop), not in the sidecar or database le, as is the case with raw les. Nonetheless, you can use the many outstanding correction and adjustment features in Camera Raw to improve your JPEG and TIFF photos. Note: In this chapter, we focus only on pro- cessing raw and JPEG les in Camera Raw — not TIFFs. e JPEG format is mentioned only when a particular feature treats JPEGs dierently from the way it treats raw les. JPEG… JPEG pluses ➤ JPEG fi les have smaller storage sizes than raw fi l e s , s o y o u r d i g i t a l c a m e r a i s a b l e t o s t o r e m o r e o f them. ➤ JPEG fi les have shorter transfer speeds, so they can be captured and stored more quickly by a camera than raw fi les. For sports, nature, and other quick- motion photography, this faster shot sequencing is a necessity. ➤ Most software programs can read JPEG fi les. JPEG minuses ➤ The JPEG compression methods destroy some image data and can produce defects, such as arti- facts, banding, and a loss of detail. ➤ The pixel data in a JPEG photo is processed by the camera. Although Camera Raw can be used to improve your JPEG photos, it — and you — won’t have access to the original pixel data. …COMPARED WITH RAW Raw pluses ➤ The raw compression methods are nondestructive. ➤ The raw formats preserve the original, unpro- cessed pixel data and full range of tonal levels that were captured by the camera. Because Camera Raw has all the data to work with, the result after adjustments is a higher-quality image. ➤ Because the white point setting isn’t applied to raw pixels when a photo is shot (it’s merely stored in the metadata of the fi le), you can adjust this setting in Camera Raw. ➤ Camera Raw does a better job of redistributing tonal values in raw fi les, so they are better candi- dates for Photoshop edits. ➤ Raw fi les can be opened as 16-bits-per-channel fi l e s i n t o P h o t o s h o p . Raw minuses ➤ Digital cameras create and store raw fi les more slowly than JPEG fi les, which is a potential problem for fast-action photographers. ➤ Raw fi les have larger storage sizes than JPEG fi les. The bottom line Despite the advantages of speed and storage size that JPEG has to offer, raw is the clear winner. KEEPING CAMERA RAW UP TO DATE Of the many proprietary raw “formats,” some are unique to particular manufacturers (such as Nikon or Canon) and some are unique to particular camera models. To ensure that the latest interpreters for the raw formats that Camera Raw supports are installed in your system, visit www.adobe.com periodically and download any Camera Raw updates that have been posted for your camera. ptg 62 Chapter 4 To standardize your workow, we recommend set- ting a preference so your JPEG or TIFF photos will open directly into Camera Raw instead of into Photoshop. To set a preference to have your raw photos open directly into Camera Raw: In Photoshop, go to Edit/Photoshop > Preferences (Ctrl-K/Cmd-K) > File Handling. Check Prefer Adobe Camera Raw for Supported Raw Files, then click OK. With this option on, when double-clicked, raw les will open into the Camera Raw dialog (as opposed to other soft- ware that converts raw les). To set a preference to have your JPEG or TIFF photos open directly into Camera Raw: In Bridge, choose Edit/Adobe Bridge CS5 > Camera Raw Preferences. At the bottom of the dialog, from the JPEG menu, choose Automatically Open JPEGs with Settings, and from the TIFF menu, choose Automatically Open TIFFs with Settings. From now on, when you click a JPEG or TIFF photo thumbnail in Bridge, then click the Open in Camera Raw button or press Ctrl-R/Cmd-R, the le will open into Camera Raw. ➤ If you have chosen both Automatically Open options suggested above but for some reason you want to open a JPEG or TIFF photo directly into Photoshop instead of into Camera Raw (and if the le hasn’t yet been edited in Camera Raw), click the thumbnail, then press Ctrl-O/Cmd-O. ➤ If the Open in Camera Raw button is available when you click a thumbnail, you know that the le can be opened into Camera Raw. To choose a host for Camera Raw: In Bridge, choose Edit/Adobe Bridge CS5 > Preferences (Ctrl-K/Cmd-K), then click General on the left side. Check Double-Click Edits Camera Raw Settings in Bridge if you want the Camera Raw dialog to be hosted by Bridge when you double-click the thumbnail in Bridge for a raw photo or a JPEG that was previ- ously edited in Camera Raw. If this preference is unchecked and you double-click a thumbnail for either of those two le types, the le will open into Camera Raw, but hosted by Photoshop. OUR APPROACH If you shoot only raw or JPEG photos (as we do) — not TIFF photos — you can follow these two sugges- tions to have your raw and JPEG photos always open into Camera Raw and your TIFF fi les always open directly into Photoshop: ➤ In the Edit/Adobe Bridge CS5 > Camera Raw Preferences dialog, under JPEG and TIFF Handling, choose JPEG: Automatically Open JPEGs with Settings and choose TIFF: Disable TIFF Support. ➤ In Edit/Adobe Bridge CS5 > Preferences, check Double-Click Edits Camera Raw Settings in Bridge. UPDATING PHOTOS FROM CR 5.X ★ Using updated profi les, Camera Raw 6.x applies improved processing, such as default sharpening and color calibration. If you want to update a raw photo that was processed by Camera Raw 5, before applying any new adjustments, click the icon in the bottom right of the preview window; the Process menu in the Camera Calibration tab changes to the setting of 2010 (Current). (This Process choice controls which version of the Camera Raw noise reduction, demosaic, sharpening, and postcrop vignette methods are used for rendering and adjusting photos.) Note: If you want to preserve access to the older rendering of the photo, take a snapshot of it before updating it (see page 83). WHAT’S THAT WEIRD SYMBOL? If a fi le has been opened and edited previously in Camera Raw, this badge appears in the upper right corner of the thumbnail in Bridge, and the current Camera Raw settings are refl ected in the appearance of the thumbnail and preview. Also, if the currently selected fi le has been edited in Camera Raw, a Camera Raw category appears in the Metadata panel. ➤ Each digital camera model attaches a different extension to the names of the raw fi les it captures, such as .nef for Nikon, .crw or .cr2 for Canon, and .dcr for Kodak. Note: When Bridge is the host for Camera Raw, the default button for exiting that dialog is labeled Done, whereas when Photoshop is the host for Camera Raw, the default button is Open Image. (If the button is labeled Open Object instead of Open Image, see the rst tip on page 86.) Choosing preferences for opening photos ptg Camera Raw 63 Opening photos into Camera Raw Below is a summary of the steps you will be fol- lowing in this chapter. Note: If you shoot JPEG photos, start by following the steps in “To set a preference to have your JPEG or TIFF photos open directly…” on the preceding page. To open a raw or JPEG digital photo into Camera Raw: 1. Launch Bridge, display the thumbnail for the raw or JPEG photo to be opened, then do either of the following: For a raw photo, double-click the thumbnail. For a raw or JPEG photo, click the thumbnail, then press Ctrl-R/Cmd-R or click the Open in Camera Raw button on the Bridge toolbar. 2. e Camera Raw dialog opens. A An alert symbol may display in the upper right corner of the preview window while the image data is reading in, but will disappear when it’s done. Information about your photo (taken from the metadata the camera embedded into it) can be found in several locations: the camera model in the title bar at the top of the dialog; the le name below the preview; and the camera settings used to take the photo (aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and focal length) below the histogram. e image adjustment options are distributed among 10 tabs — Basic, Tone Curve, Detail, HSL/Grayscale, Split Toning, Lens Corrections, Eects, ★ Camera Calibration, Presets, and Snapshots ★ — which you’ll use to correct your photo. Many of these tabs are explored in this chapter. When you’re done correcting the photo, you can either click Open Image to open the photo into Photoshop or click Done to close Camera Raw without opening the photo. In either case, the Camera Raw settings stick with the photo but the original data is preserved. ➤ To open a le from Mini Bridge into Camera Raw, right-click the thumbnail and choose Open in Camera Raw. ★ Link to the Workow Options dialog (see page 66) A e C a m e r a R a w d i a l o g Camera settings Tabs (access to settings) Camera Raw Settings menu Zoom controls Toolbox Camera model Toggle Full-Screen Mode/previous dialog size (F) Histogram Preview ptg 64 Chapter 4 The Camera Raw tools In the upper left corner of the dialog, A click the Zoom tool, then click the image preview to zoom in or Alt-click/Option-click it to zoom out. Use the Hand tool to move a magnied preview image in its window (or hold down the Spacebar for a temporary Hand tool). For the White Balance tool, see the sidebar on page 68. Choose the Color Sampler tool, then click in the image preview to place up to nine samplers. A read- out of the RGB components for the pixels below each sampler displays below each tool, and updates as you make color and tonal adjustments. To repo- sition a sampler, drag it with the Color Sampler tool. To remove all samplers, click Clear Samplers. For the Targeted Adjustment tool, see pages 73 and 74. For the Crop and Straighten tools, see the following page. For the Spot Removal tool, see page 82. e Red Eye Removal tool works like the Red Eye tool in Photoshop (for that tool, see page 286). For the Adjustment Brush tool, see pages 79–81. For the Graduated Filter tool, search for “graduated lter tool” in Photoshop Help. Note: If tool settings are displaying on the right side of the Camera Raw dialog (say you had been using the Adjustment Brush tool) and you want to redisplay the tabs, click one of the rst seven tools. ➤ e tools in Camera Raw are “memory-loaded,” meaning that you can press a tool shortcut key to select a tool, then press the same key again to reselect the last-used tool. Other buttons at the top of the dialog: ➤ e Open Preferences Dialog button (or press Ctrl-K/Cmd-K) opens the Camera Raw Preferences dialog. ➤ e Rotate 90° Counterclockwise button and the Rotate 90° Clockwise button rotate the image. e results preview in the dialog. OTHER WAYS TO ZOOM IN THE PREVIEW ➤ Press Ctrl –/Cmd – (hyphen) to zoom out or Ctrl- +/ Cmd- + to zoom in. ➤ Use the Zoom Level menu or zoom buttons (– or +), located below the image preview. ➤ Double-click the Zoom tool to change the zoom level to 100%. ➤ Double-click the Hand tool to fi t the image in the preview window. A e s h o r t c u t s f o r t h e C a m e r a R a w t o o l s a r e l i s t e d i n b o l d f a c e a b o v e . Z Zoom: Shrinks or magnies thepreview H Hand: Moves a magnied preview in the window I White Balance: Sets the white balance S Color Sampler: Places up to nine RGB color sampler points in the preview C Crop: Crops the photo based on a marquee you drag A Straighten: Straightens the photo along a line you drag B Spot Removal: Spot-heals imperfections E Red Eye Removal: Corrects red-eye in a portrait photo T Targeted Adjustment: Applies adjust- ments where you drag in the preview G Graduated Filter: Applies edits gradually across an area that you designate Open Preferences Dialog (Ctrl-K/ Cmd-K): Opens the Camera Raw Preferences dialog K Adjustment Brush: Applies local corrections L Rotate 90° Counter- clockwise: Rotates the image R Rotate 90° Clockwise: Rotates the image . format in Photoshop. Note: Don’t confuse the raw les that a camera produces with Photoshop Raw, which is one of the choices on the Format menu in the File > Save and Save As dialogs in Photoshop. *. directly into Camera Raw instead of into Photoshop. To set a preference to have your raw photos open directly into Camera Raw: In Photoshop, go to Edit /Photoshop > Preferences (Ctrl-K/Cmd-K). plug-in instead of opening your digital photos directly into Photoshop. It oers powerful and unique controls that you won’t nd in Photoshop. Raw preview: e only way to preview a raw photo