Quicklinks to all course lessons: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Lesson 10 Sections: 10-1 10-2 10-3 10-4 10-JFF 10-IDEA
Lesson 10 Sections: 10-1 10-2 10-3 10-4 10-JFF 10-IDEA
(10-2) Review: Camera Raw in depth
The purpose of this section is to have you learn new skills you can use in camera raw. I often view learning as an upward spiral - you start with basics, and once you're comfortable with them, you return again to take your learning to the next level, and so on. In the beginning course, you learned basics - now we return again to camera raw to go to the next level! That's what I hope you will do by spending time in this section - learn new camera raw features and tools that will empower you to do even more!
The Camera Raw Interface
Camera raw is an extremely powerful plug-in for Photoshop that gives you a second set of tools that work very well with Photoshop's toolbox. In fact, there are times where I'll do all my image editing right in Camera Raw,. Camera Raw is ideal for working with raw images - an image format that most higher-end cameras can save. The photos contain much more detail and information than a standard JPEG image. JPEG images give you 256 levels of luminance to work with. Camera Raw images give you 4096 levels of luminance to work with. So, if your camera can shoot camera raw images, and you're looking to get the highest possible quality, then shoot in raw.
"A camera raw file contains unprocessed, uncompressed gray-scale picture data from a digital camera’s image sensor, along with information about how the image was captured (metadata). Photoshop® Camera Raw software interprets the camera raw file, using information about the camera and the image’s metadata to reconstruct and process a color image.
Think of a camera raw file as your photo negative. You can reprocess the file at any time, achieving the results that you want by making adjustments for white balance, tonal range, contrast, color saturation, and sharpening. When you adjust a camera raw image, the original camera raw data is preserved. Adjustments are stored as metadata in an accompanying sidecar file, in a database, or in the file itself (in the case of DNG format). Important note: if you choose to use the camera raw filter in Photoshop's filter menu, be sure to make your layer a smart object first. Then the camera raw filter settings are saved in the smart object layer.
When you shoot JPEG files with your camera, the camera automatically processes the JPEG file to enhance and compress the image. You generally have little control over how this processing occurs. Shooting camera raw images with your camera gives you greater control than shooting JPEG images, because camera raw does not lock you into processing done by your camera. You can still edit JPEG and TIFF images in Camera Raw, but you will be editing pixels that were already processed by the camera. Camera raw files always contain the original, unprocessed pixels from the camera.
To shoot camera raw images, you must set your camera to save files in its own camera raw file format." (Source - Adobe Help - also for image above.)
Now let's look at using the Camera Raw filter in Adobe Photoshop. Last semester in our beginning Photoshop and graphic design class, we covered most of the camera raw interface except the toolbar at the top. This semester we will learn more about those! If you're feeling a little rusty, please review lesson 2 in the beginning course! Begin with the videos below...
"A camera raw file contains unprocessed, uncompressed gray-scale picture data from a digital camera’s image sensor, along with information about how the image was captured (metadata). Photoshop® Camera Raw software interprets the camera raw file, using information about the camera and the image’s metadata to reconstruct and process a color image.
Think of a camera raw file as your photo negative. You can reprocess the file at any time, achieving the results that you want by making adjustments for white balance, tonal range, contrast, color saturation, and sharpening. When you adjust a camera raw image, the original camera raw data is preserved. Adjustments are stored as metadata in an accompanying sidecar file, in a database, or in the file itself (in the case of DNG format). Important note: if you choose to use the camera raw filter in Photoshop's filter menu, be sure to make your layer a smart object first. Then the camera raw filter settings are saved in the smart object layer.
When you shoot JPEG files with your camera, the camera automatically processes the JPEG file to enhance and compress the image. You generally have little control over how this processing occurs. Shooting camera raw images with your camera gives you greater control than shooting JPEG images, because camera raw does not lock you into processing done by your camera. You can still edit JPEG and TIFF images in Camera Raw, but you will be editing pixels that were already processed by the camera. Camera raw files always contain the original, unprocessed pixels from the camera.
To shoot camera raw images, you must set your camera to save files in its own camera raw file format." (Source - Adobe Help - also for image above.)
Now let's look at using the Camera Raw filter in Adobe Photoshop. Last semester in our beginning Photoshop and graphic design class, we covered most of the camera raw interface except the toolbar at the top. This semester we will learn more about those! If you're feeling a little rusty, please review lesson 2 in the beginning course! Begin with the videos below...
Video: How to Work with RAW Images in Photoshop
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Video: Make Your Landscapes POP: Adobe Camera RAW (PRO Excerpt)
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Examples of camera raw work...
Original photo
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Photo after processing in camera raw for five minutes. More time would be needed to really finesse it.
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This is a photo I took which I adjusted as best I could in Photoshop. My digital cameras don't do well with intense reds and oranges - over-saturating them and losing detail in the shadows.
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This is the same photo adjusted in Camera Raw, which allows me to easily control settings that are more difficult to accomplish in Photoshop.
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Guide to all the camera raw shortcuts (Julieanne Kost) (PDF)
The Tools (Shortcut Keys)
Most of the tools listed below connect to a short video or online resources specifically for that tool. Please take time and learn what each tool does and how it works!
A: The Zoom Tool (Z).
B: The Hand Tool (H). (The linked video covers more than just the hand tool. Just watch the first minute or so)
C: The White Balance Tool. (i).
D: The Color Sampler Tool (S).
E: The Targeted Adjustment Tool (T).
F: The Crop Tool (C).
G: The Straighten Tool (A).
H. The Transform Tool (Shift-T)
I: The Spot Removal Tool (B).
J: The Red Eye Removal Tool (E).
K: The Adjustment Brush (K).
L: The Graduated Filter (G).
M: The Radial Filter (J).
N: Open the Camera Raw Preferences Dialog (Command-K)
O: Rotate Image 90 Degrees Counterclockwise (L)
P: Rotate Image 90 Degrees Clockwise (R)
Most of the tools listed below connect to a short video or online resources specifically for that tool. Please take time and learn what each tool does and how it works!
A: The Zoom Tool (Z).
B: The Hand Tool (H). (The linked video covers more than just the hand tool. Just watch the first minute or so)
C: The White Balance Tool. (i).
D: The Color Sampler Tool (S).
E: The Targeted Adjustment Tool (T).
F: The Crop Tool (C).
G: The Straighten Tool (A).
H. The Transform Tool (Shift-T)
I: The Spot Removal Tool (B).
J: The Red Eye Removal Tool (E).
K: The Adjustment Brush (K).
L: The Graduated Filter (G).
M: The Radial Filter (J).
N: Open the Camera Raw Preferences Dialog (Command-K)
O: Rotate Image 90 Degrees Counterclockwise (L)
P: Rotate Image 90 Degrees Clockwise (R)
Practice Exercises: Can you use camera raw to change the three photos (below) on the left to look like those on the right? Try it by clicking the following links to get the original photos. Choose two of them and submit as part of the assignment for lesson 10. Please use the filenames specified below. Photo #3 will challenge you but it's a great learning experience!
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