Raw Processing Class Notes
RAW Processing
by John Ross The Art of Retouching Studio http://www.TheArtofRetouching.com
Raw Format In short, the RAW file format captures every single detail that your DSLR Camera can produce. You can then manipulate all the 1’s and 0’s without damaging the original file. All the changes can be stored in “sidecar” files that tell the program how to adjust the original data. With a JPG or TIF, an area that is completely white or black, is simply devoid of texture. There simply isn’t anything you can do about it. Raw isn’t like that. Raw has much greater flexibility than any other format. It is amazingly simple to restore blowout white areas, and bring back parts of an image that fell into the darkest shadows. A Raw processing program will allow you to being out all that is otherwise lost data. Camera Raw While there are several different Raw Editors on the market, the Camera Raw converter comes with Adobe Photoshop. It provides access to the raw image formats produced by many leading professional and midrange digital cameras. By working with these “digital negatives,” you can achieve the results you want with greater artistic control and flexibility while still maintaining the original raw files. Camera Raw that comes with CS5 and older, is noticably different that CS6 and later. At first glance, they look the same. However, any things have changed, including the basic use of controls. The newer versions are more intuitive, and are easier to use. Note: as every camera has it’s own unique RAW format, the newest cameras may not open in Camera Raw without an update. Sometimes, they will even force you into an upgrade to support your new camera, because they will not support older versions of Photoshop or Camera Raw. It’s Adobe’s Luxury Tax for continued support. Due to industry demands, Adobe had updated camera support to CS6 for Camera Raw. However, they did not update the functionality for the program. Mostly, they are forcing an upgrade to CC. If you have CS6 or older, a way around this would require you to convert all your new camera’s RAW files over to a generic DNG Raw format. If you look on Adobe’s website, you can find a generic DNG converter that you can use with the newest cameras. Basically, Adobe will update the DNG Converter first, then roll out the Camera Raw updates less regularly.
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Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Digital Negative (DNG) DNG is the public archival format for digital camera raw data. However, your own camera may, or may not, actually support it. Below is an explanation of what it is, and why it would be beneficial. In theory, it is quite possible to convert over your camera’s proprietary format to a more generic DNG file format. However, it is likely an unnecessary amount of extra work, unless you have purchased the newest camera, and you find yourself unable to upgrade to a working Raw processor due to incompatable file formats. Raw file formats are extremely popular in digital photography workflows because they offer professionals greater control. However, cameras can use many different raw formats which means that not every raw file can be read by a variety of software applications. Older cameras that have a chance to mature should not be an issue. It is the newest cameras that are the most challenging. The solution to this is Digital Negative (DNG), a publicly available archival format for the raw files generated by digital cameras. By addressing the lack of an open standard for the raw files created by individual camera models, DNG helps ensure that photographers will be able to access their files in the future. Hundreds of software and hardware manufacturers have developed support for DNG. Key Benefits: For photographers: • DNG format helps promote archival confidence, since digital imaging software solutions will be able to open raw files more easily in the future. • A single raw processing solution enables a more efficient workflow when handling raw files from multiple camera models and manufacturers. • A publicly documented and readily available specification can be easily adopted by camera manufacturers and updated to accommodate technology changes. For hardware and software manufacturers: • DNG removes a potential barrier to new camera adoption, since raw files from new models will be immediately supported by Photoshop and other applications. • The DNG format allows R&D savings by reducing the need to develop new formats and by simplifying camera testing. • A common format allows greater control over the quality of conversions by third-party applications. • The specification allows the addition of private metadata to DNG files, enabling differentiation.
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Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Adobe Camera RAW The Raw Toolbar You’ll see several similarities to the Photoshop tools you’re already familiar with:
A. Zoom Tool (Z). You can click on an image to zoom into an area. You can also click and drag to make a selection for zooming. B. Hand Tool (H). When zoomed, you can use the Hand tool to pan across an image. Hold down the spacebar to temporarily switch to the Hand tool. C. White Balance Tool (I). You can override the white balance settings written by the camera. Just click to select the tool, and then click on an area of the image that should be white or gray. D. Color Sampler Tool (S). You can add up to eight sample points. These are useful ways to track changes in color as you make adjustments to an image. Many users will place a sampler on a white and black area of an image to track any shifts in color. E. Targeted Adjustment Tool (T). There are five different tools to choose from. Click and hold to select specific tools. F. Crop Tool (C). You can crop freely or select from several preset aspect ratios. Remember that any adjustments you make are nondestructive. The cropping will be applied when the image is opened. G. Strighten Tool (A). If your photo is crooked, just select the Straighten tool. Click and drag with the Straighten tool in the preview image to establish a horizontal or vertical angle. H. Spot Removal Tool (B). The Spot Removal tool lets you heal or clone imperfections in the raw file. The most typical problem you’ll need to tackle is sensor or lens dust. I. Red Eye Removal Tool (E). If an image has red eye, select this tool and click on the center of the pupil. J. Adjustment Brush (K). This powerful tool lets you brush in localized color and exposure adjustments. Click and brush over an area to define it, and then adjust settings with the Adjustment sliders. K. Graduated Filter (G). This tool is similar to the Adjustments Brush except it allows you to create a transitioned adjustment gradually between two points. This is most typically used to fix areas like a sky. L. Open Preferences Dialog Box (COMMAND+K OR CTRL+K) M. Rotate Image Left (L). Rotates the image 90° counterclockwise. N. v. 1
Rotate Image Right (R). Rotates the image 90° clockwise. Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Camera Raw’s Basic Interface The Basic Panel is where you will be where you spend most of your time doing your edits. Within the tab you will find the White Balance tools, the Tint, Exposure and so on but you will also find some visual punch tools such as the black point and local contrast. Temperature - Left is cooler (blue), right is warmer (orange). Tint - Left is green (yellow), right is red (magenta). By learning how to use these 2 tools, you will be able to adjust the overall mood of the image, and acheive color balance . Exposure - The new Exposure setting is designed to control the mid-tones in your image; that is, the tones that are found in the central region of the Histogram. (The Brightness setting is no longer used in ACR 7.) Contrast - This setting handles the global contrast, and behaves similarly to how it has in the past. Increasing the value makes the bright tones brighter, while simultaneously making the dark tones darker. This stretches the tones at either end of the Histogram further apart. Highlights - Replaces the Recovery setting, and can be used to recover a wide range of highlight details. The full range of values (-100 to +100) can be used without creating unwanted posterization or color blooms in most cases. Shadows - The counterpart to Highlights, this control is used to bring details back to the darker areas of the photo, again without creating unwanted side-effects. Whites - This setting helps to recover extremely bright details not affected by the Highlights slider and can also be used to “set the bright point” in the brightest area of the Histogram, by “stretching” the brighter tones to the right edge of the Histogram. Clarity - Darkens, and sharpens the image. Used in low levels, it can improve visual interest. Too much, and it quickly becomes distoring with it’s over sharpening. Vibrance - Adds saturation to the weakest colored areas of the image. Saturation - Adds saturation to all colors, fairly equally. Depending on the image, vibrance may be the better tool to use. Open Image - If you hold down the Alt or Option Key (PC/Mac) the image will open as a Smart Object. 4
Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Tone Curve Panel allows you to control the lightness and darkness of various parts of a given photograph, however, rather than altering separate colors, the Tone Curve tool controls certain ranges of actual tones in the image. There are two different types of curves available here: the Point curve, and the Parametric curve. Parametric Panel - this gives you a number of options and is very much a guided adjustment panel. You can still use the curve line to adjust tones but in addition you can control the tonality using the sliders for the four main areas: Highlights, Lights, Darks and Shadows. Just like in the basic panel each of the sliders refer to a specific area of the image and if you can’t recover the shadows or highlights within the basic panel then you can continue to try in this panel. Unlike the Ps Curves tool it’s very hard to seriously damage the tonal range in the Parametric Panel. You can think of it as having a safety net built in. Point Curve Panel - is similar above but it gives far more precise control over where the points go, however unlike above it doesn’t hold your hand and it’s more likely that you can damage the tonal range of the image. On the plus side it gives you the best control over your tonal range. Adobe comes with three curves Linear (default), Medium and Strong which refers to the strength of the contrast added to the image: none, medium and high contrast. You can add your own presets if you wish and have them applied to all images as standard. Unlike above you choose where to place the points in the image. Unlike Parametric this is a hands on tool, you move the cursor over the line and place a point and then you can either use the arrow keys or the mouse/pen to move the point up and down. Just like Photoshop you can also use points as anchors to stop it affecting other areas. The final option for adjusting the point is by typing in values if you know the input and output values giving you a very precise control over the point position and the changes it makes once you have selected it. Via the Sharpening sliders in the Detail tab, you can adjust the sharpness of your photo (this is called “capture” sharpening), and via the Noise Reduction sliders, you can reduce any unwanted color noise. Sharpening is as it says on the tin, the higher you go the more sharpening is applied to the image. This primarily affects the contrast edges of objects in the image. For landscapes you can push this fairly high, but for portraits you’ll want to keep this low. As a guideline I normally have this around 25-40 for portraits and only go higher if it’s a soft lens. For landscapes I’ll often push this higher from 40-50 depending on contrast and detail. Radius determines how far the sharpening will reach from the edge. As noted in the sharpening tutorial you will remember how sharpening is applied to the image. This is primarily the main cause of haloing. I usually keep this low for portraits and landscapes usually less than 3. The amount will vary by how much objects and details are in the image but for portraits I keep this around 1-1.4 and for landscapes about .6 to 1.
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Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Detail is actually clever little slider instead of sharpening the whole image the slider sharpens the smaller areas where there is a lot of detail. For portraits you’re looking at around 0-30 any higher and you’re going to accentuate the pore structure too much in most cases I’ll often leave this at 0 and apply this kind of localised sharpening in Photoshop. For landscapes we can push this higher depending on scene detail but around 50-70 can produce acceptable results. Masking is best applied with the alt-slider option enabled; this limits the sharpening to the image by automatically applying a mask. With the alt option you can see the areas affected and if you remember the adage for Photoshop masks black conceals, white reveals. So by moving the slider up you’re limiting to specific areas. For landscapes this isn’t much of an issue and I’ll rarely use this slider but for portraits it can really help control sharpening on skin texture which you want to avoid. For portraits I’m likely to have this up in the 70-90 region. Above all else when applying sharpening in RAW I’m doing a threefold processes of Capture, Creative and Output sharpening. RAW is purely about bringing out the finer detail lost due to AA filters built into cameras or Noise Reduction. Noise Reduction - the first three sliders are all about Luminance noise. This is the bright specks of light that shows on image. There is no hard and fast rule on how far you should push the slider I just move it to the right till I’m happy with the results and then take it a notch further. Because Noise Reduction removes detail you need to bring it back to lose the soft painterly look that can be introduced. Sharpening is one method but within the Luminance section you have: Luminance Detail - which analogous to the Sharpening Detail slider, it does a great job with fine hairs, lines and other details that tend to be lost when you have the Luminance slider up high. Luminance Contrast - is like applying a Contrast Sharpening to objects within the image. You are defining the edges of the objects within the scene. A far more intrusive form of noise is Colour, and unlike film where it’s aesthetically pleasing in digital it’s downright in your face. In fact it’s better to add some Gaussian noise in Photoshop that to leave noise in ACR, it gives it a more organic feel to the image. So what does colour and colour detail do? Color - is all those coloured dots you see when you take a high ISO image. By moving the slider to the right you gradually remove them, again at the cost of softness in the image. Color detail - helps counter this, particularly for skin texture where you find a lot of detail and colour variance. The key aspect to remember is that all the sliders interact with each other so you should adjust sharpening and Noise Reduction together to get the optimum result, sometimes even going back to the Basic Panel to tweak those settings.
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Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Using the powerful sliders in the HSL/Grayscale tab, you can adjust the hue, saturation, and luminance of each hue individually. These adjustments control eight different hues from red through magenta. You can shift hues (e.g., make oranges more red or more yellow), make them more or less saturated (take red out of someone’s face), or make them lighter or darker (make a sky’s blue darker and more rich). This is a marvelous way to emphasize some colors and de-emphasize others, unlike the saturation controls under the Basic panel which are global. Each of the HSL tabs controls one aspect of color, and each slider on each tab controls the characteristics of a single color range:
Hue - The fundamental nature of a color within a limited range. In other words, you cannot change a blue to red, but you can change blue from cyan to purple. Saturation - The vividness of a color. For instance, you can change a blue sky from gray (no color) to highly saturated blue. Luminance - The brightness of the color range. These three tabs within the RAW interface offer a set of tools that really allows you to be creative and play with colour. It utilises the power of the HSL colour mode to allow you move and adjust colours throughout the image. Whilst it can do colour correction it’s still best to do this in Photoshop where you can use layer masks to fine tune the colours. However if you have a major colour cast then it’s always worth a shot to try and correct it here. Hue Panel - Like all three tabs within the HSL tab this is a visual interface that lets you see what colours you are affecting. Hue allows you to shift colours from one end of the spectrum to another. It’s a powerful tool and can allow you to get some creative effects or if your camera has a tendency to move the greens towards yellow you can bring them back here for example. Hue is express in values 1 to 359 degress, this refers to the colour wheel model. Saturation Panel - The next option in the list this gives you the power to add or remove vibrancy/intensity in a particular colour. Essentially what this does is give you a colour boost or de-saturate the colour. This can be great for creating vintage look images or boosting colour in children’s portraits. However care must be taken as you can push colours too far leading to banding and channel degradation within Photoshop. Luminance Panel - Luminance controls how dark or light the colours are to enhance or reduce their presence in an image. Both luminance and Saturation are shown as percentages. Convert to Greyscale - This is where you have the best control for creating monochrome images out of the RAW converter before you even hit Photoshop. By turning this tick box on you turn the RAW file into a greyscale image. However a better way would be to use the Saturation tab and remove all the colours on each individual slider to -100; this way you can start to use the basic tab and the HSL/Greyscale Tab in new and different ways. As the Basic Tab is primarily about tonal adjustments and White Balance then you can adjust the ‘colours’ in monochrome mode to enhance or reduce the presence of objects in an image. v. 1
Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Split Toning is best applied to monochrome images but also can create a simple cross-process effect out of the convertor but this can be tricky to achieve with some images. The main problem for me is that I prefer finer control over what the Balance slider gives me to achieve this effect. To add color to a grayscale image (or tweak the color of a color image), use the controls in the Split Toning tab. Notice that the Split Toning tab has Hue and Saturation sliders for both Highlights and Shadows areas. The Balance slider lets you adjust the relative influence of the Highlights and Shadows controls . In the Highlights and Shadow sections you also have a saturation slider this is for giving you control over how strong the effect is applied to the image for a subtle tonal adjustment or to a more dramatic effect. The Lens Corrections tab attempts to compensate for defects in lens technology. The first tab lets you automatically compensate for any physical distortion based on a lens profile. The new Camera Raw tool can correct photos for geometric distortion, vignetting, and chromatic aberration based on the lens used. The Lens Correction filter lets you correct a photo that shows signs of lens distortion, such as a building or column that tilts away from the camera (called “keystoning”), color fringes along high-contrast edges (chromatic aberration), and under- or overexposure at the edges of a photo (vignetting). Before we consider ACR’s tools we must understand what flaws can affect an image. There are many ways an affected by distortion or aberration, and being aware of what you lens will do will help you minimise the issues in the first place such as using a telephoto lens for a head shot instead of a wide angle lens which will distort the face. So what are the common distortions? Barrel – this is where the image bulges outwards in the middle, just like an old-fashioned wooden barrel. This is most often caused by wide-angle lenses. Pin Cushion – this is the opposite of barrel distortion where the image is pinched inwards at the centre, it’s most commonly seen at the longer telephoto lenses at maximum zoom. The problem can be made even worse with the usage of a tele-converter. Both of these problems are particularly noticeable when you have a subject that has straight lines such a window, a tall building, a fence or similar objects that have repeating patterns.
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Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Sharpening and DeNoise Technique When dealing with a noisy photo, you can easily get rid of all the noise in Camera Raw right away. Simply go to the Sharpening Tab and boost the Luminance to about mid-range. It’s never a good idea to get rid of 100% noise as you will end up with a fake and very plastic photo. So the best you can do is opt for a middle amount for the Luminance and Luminance Detail. You can also adjust your Sharpening slider, not so much as to add back the noise, but just enough to add more detail into your photo.
The masking slider lets you see which areas are sharp. Hold down the Alt key and adjust the Masking slider so that you can see what it is you are sharpening. Sometimes, when you remove too much noise, some subjects of the photo start to look a little pasty, especially in the lighter areas. It might seem counterproductive, but you can later open in Photoshop, and use the Photoshop Filter – Noise, and add back about 1 or 2% noise. We will talk more about filters in a later chapter. I would only point out that having noise in an image is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s the uneven, and uncontrollable colored dots from the camera that are the problem. It will definitely look better when zoomed out and printed. We are quite used to seeing grain in pictures, so it’ll look much more realistic. When you’re satisfied, you will end up with a less noisy, but a sharper image.
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Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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by John Ross The Art of Retouching Studio http://www.TheArtofRetouching.com
Raw Format In short, the RAW file format captures every single detail that your DSLR Camera can produce. You can then manipulate all the 1’s and 0’s without damaging the original file. All the changes can be stored in “sidecar” files that tell the program how to adjust the original data. With a JPG or TIF, an area that is completely white or black, is simply devoid of texture. There simply isn’t anything you can do about it. Raw isn’t like that. Raw has much greater flexibility than any other format. It is amazingly simple to restore blowout white areas, and bring back parts of an image that fell into the darkest shadows. A Raw processing program will allow you to being out all that is otherwise lost data. Camera Raw While there are several different Raw Editors on the market, the Camera Raw converter comes with Adobe Photoshop. It provides access to the raw image formats produced by many leading professional and midrange digital cameras. By working with these “digital negatives,” you can achieve the results you want with greater artistic control and flexibility while still maintaining the original raw files. Camera Raw that comes with CS5 and older, is noticably different that CS6 and later. At first glance, they look the same. However, any things have changed, including the basic use of controls. The newer versions are more intuitive, and are easier to use. Note: as every camera has it’s own unique RAW format, the newest cameras may not open in Camera Raw without an update. Sometimes, they will even force you into an upgrade to support your new camera, because they will not support older versions of Photoshop or Camera Raw. It’s Adobe’s Luxury Tax for continued support. Due to industry demands, Adobe had updated camera support to CS6 for Camera Raw. However, they did not update the functionality for the program. Mostly, they are forcing an upgrade to CC. If you have CS6 or older, a way around this would require you to convert all your new camera’s RAW files over to a generic DNG Raw format. If you look on Adobe’s website, you can find a generic DNG converter that you can use with the newest cameras. Basically, Adobe will update the DNG Converter first, then roll out the Camera Raw updates less regularly.
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Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Digital Negative (DNG) DNG is the public archival format for digital camera raw data. However, your own camera may, or may not, actually support it. Below is an explanation of what it is, and why it would be beneficial. In theory, it is quite possible to convert over your camera’s proprietary format to a more generic DNG file format. However, it is likely an unnecessary amount of extra work, unless you have purchased the newest camera, and you find yourself unable to upgrade to a working Raw processor due to incompatable file formats. Raw file formats are extremely popular in digital photography workflows because they offer professionals greater control. However, cameras can use many different raw formats which means that not every raw file can be read by a variety of software applications. Older cameras that have a chance to mature should not be an issue. It is the newest cameras that are the most challenging. The solution to this is Digital Negative (DNG), a publicly available archival format for the raw files generated by digital cameras. By addressing the lack of an open standard for the raw files created by individual camera models, DNG helps ensure that photographers will be able to access their files in the future. Hundreds of software and hardware manufacturers have developed support for DNG. Key Benefits: For photographers: • DNG format helps promote archival confidence, since digital imaging software solutions will be able to open raw files more easily in the future. • A single raw processing solution enables a more efficient workflow when handling raw files from multiple camera models and manufacturers. • A publicly documented and readily available specification can be easily adopted by camera manufacturers and updated to accommodate technology changes. For hardware and software manufacturers: • DNG removes a potential barrier to new camera adoption, since raw files from new models will be immediately supported by Photoshop and other applications. • The DNG format allows R&D savings by reducing the need to develop new formats and by simplifying camera testing. • A common format allows greater control over the quality of conversions by third-party applications. • The specification allows the addition of private metadata to DNG files, enabling differentiation.
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Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Adobe Camera RAW The Raw Toolbar You’ll see several similarities to the Photoshop tools you’re already familiar with:
A. Zoom Tool (Z). You can click on an image to zoom into an area. You can also click and drag to make a selection for zooming. B. Hand Tool (H). When zoomed, you can use the Hand tool to pan across an image. Hold down the spacebar to temporarily switch to the Hand tool. C. White Balance Tool (I). You can override the white balance settings written by the camera. Just click to select the tool, and then click on an area of the image that should be white or gray. D. Color Sampler Tool (S). You can add up to eight sample points. These are useful ways to track changes in color as you make adjustments to an image. Many users will place a sampler on a white and black area of an image to track any shifts in color. E. Targeted Adjustment Tool (T). There are five different tools to choose from. Click and hold to select specific tools. F. Crop Tool (C). You can crop freely or select from several preset aspect ratios. Remember that any adjustments you make are nondestructive. The cropping will be applied when the image is opened. G. Strighten Tool (A). If your photo is crooked, just select the Straighten tool. Click and drag with the Straighten tool in the preview image to establish a horizontal or vertical angle. H. Spot Removal Tool (B). The Spot Removal tool lets you heal or clone imperfections in the raw file. The most typical problem you’ll need to tackle is sensor or lens dust. I. Red Eye Removal Tool (E). If an image has red eye, select this tool and click on the center of the pupil. J. Adjustment Brush (K). This powerful tool lets you brush in localized color and exposure adjustments. Click and brush over an area to define it, and then adjust settings with the Adjustment sliders. K. Graduated Filter (G). This tool is similar to the Adjustments Brush except it allows you to create a transitioned adjustment gradually between two points. This is most typically used to fix areas like a sky. L. Open Preferences Dialog Box (COMMAND+K OR CTRL+K) M. Rotate Image Left (L). Rotates the image 90° counterclockwise. N. v. 1
Rotate Image Right (R). Rotates the image 90° clockwise. Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Camera Raw’s Basic Interface The Basic Panel is where you will be where you spend most of your time doing your edits. Within the tab you will find the White Balance tools, the Tint, Exposure and so on but you will also find some visual punch tools such as the black point and local contrast. Temperature - Left is cooler (blue), right is warmer (orange). Tint - Left is green (yellow), right is red (magenta). By learning how to use these 2 tools, you will be able to adjust the overall mood of the image, and acheive color balance . Exposure - The new Exposure setting is designed to control the mid-tones in your image; that is, the tones that are found in the central region of the Histogram. (The Brightness setting is no longer used in ACR 7.) Contrast - This setting handles the global contrast, and behaves similarly to how it has in the past. Increasing the value makes the bright tones brighter, while simultaneously making the dark tones darker. This stretches the tones at either end of the Histogram further apart. Highlights - Replaces the Recovery setting, and can be used to recover a wide range of highlight details. The full range of values (-100 to +100) can be used without creating unwanted posterization or color blooms in most cases. Shadows - The counterpart to Highlights, this control is used to bring details back to the darker areas of the photo, again without creating unwanted side-effects. Whites - This setting helps to recover extremely bright details not affected by the Highlights slider and can also be used to “set the bright point” in the brightest area of the Histogram, by “stretching” the brighter tones to the right edge of the Histogram. Clarity - Darkens, and sharpens the image. Used in low levels, it can improve visual interest. Too much, and it quickly becomes distoring with it’s over sharpening. Vibrance - Adds saturation to the weakest colored areas of the image. Saturation - Adds saturation to all colors, fairly equally. Depending on the image, vibrance may be the better tool to use. Open Image - If you hold down the Alt or Option Key (PC/Mac) the image will open as a Smart Object. 4
Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Tone Curve Panel allows you to control the lightness and darkness of various parts of a given photograph, however, rather than altering separate colors, the Tone Curve tool controls certain ranges of actual tones in the image. There are two different types of curves available here: the Point curve, and the Parametric curve. Parametric Panel - this gives you a number of options and is very much a guided adjustment panel. You can still use the curve line to adjust tones but in addition you can control the tonality using the sliders for the four main areas: Highlights, Lights, Darks and Shadows. Just like in the basic panel each of the sliders refer to a specific area of the image and if you can’t recover the shadows or highlights within the basic panel then you can continue to try in this panel. Unlike the Ps Curves tool it’s very hard to seriously damage the tonal range in the Parametric Panel. You can think of it as having a safety net built in. Point Curve Panel - is similar above but it gives far more precise control over where the points go, however unlike above it doesn’t hold your hand and it’s more likely that you can damage the tonal range of the image. On the plus side it gives you the best control over your tonal range. Adobe comes with three curves Linear (default), Medium and Strong which refers to the strength of the contrast added to the image: none, medium and high contrast. You can add your own presets if you wish and have them applied to all images as standard. Unlike above you choose where to place the points in the image. Unlike Parametric this is a hands on tool, you move the cursor over the line and place a point and then you can either use the arrow keys or the mouse/pen to move the point up and down. Just like Photoshop you can also use points as anchors to stop it affecting other areas. The final option for adjusting the point is by typing in values if you know the input and output values giving you a very precise control over the point position and the changes it makes once you have selected it. Via the Sharpening sliders in the Detail tab, you can adjust the sharpness of your photo (this is called “capture” sharpening), and via the Noise Reduction sliders, you can reduce any unwanted color noise. Sharpening is as it says on the tin, the higher you go the more sharpening is applied to the image. This primarily affects the contrast edges of objects in the image. For landscapes you can push this fairly high, but for portraits you’ll want to keep this low. As a guideline I normally have this around 25-40 for portraits and only go higher if it’s a soft lens. For landscapes I’ll often push this higher from 40-50 depending on contrast and detail. Radius determines how far the sharpening will reach from the edge. As noted in the sharpening tutorial you will remember how sharpening is applied to the image. This is primarily the main cause of haloing. I usually keep this low for portraits and landscapes usually less than 3. The amount will vary by how much objects and details are in the image but for portraits I keep this around 1-1.4 and for landscapes about .6 to 1.
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Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Detail is actually clever little slider instead of sharpening the whole image the slider sharpens the smaller areas where there is a lot of detail. For portraits you’re looking at around 0-30 any higher and you’re going to accentuate the pore structure too much in most cases I’ll often leave this at 0 and apply this kind of localised sharpening in Photoshop. For landscapes we can push this higher depending on scene detail but around 50-70 can produce acceptable results. Masking is best applied with the alt-slider option enabled; this limits the sharpening to the image by automatically applying a mask. With the alt option you can see the areas affected and if you remember the adage for Photoshop masks black conceals, white reveals. So by moving the slider up you’re limiting to specific areas. For landscapes this isn’t much of an issue and I’ll rarely use this slider but for portraits it can really help control sharpening on skin texture which you want to avoid. For portraits I’m likely to have this up in the 70-90 region. Above all else when applying sharpening in RAW I’m doing a threefold processes of Capture, Creative and Output sharpening. RAW is purely about bringing out the finer detail lost due to AA filters built into cameras or Noise Reduction. Noise Reduction - the first three sliders are all about Luminance noise. This is the bright specks of light that shows on image. There is no hard and fast rule on how far you should push the slider I just move it to the right till I’m happy with the results and then take it a notch further. Because Noise Reduction removes detail you need to bring it back to lose the soft painterly look that can be introduced. Sharpening is one method but within the Luminance section you have: Luminance Detail - which analogous to the Sharpening Detail slider, it does a great job with fine hairs, lines and other details that tend to be lost when you have the Luminance slider up high. Luminance Contrast - is like applying a Contrast Sharpening to objects within the image. You are defining the edges of the objects within the scene. A far more intrusive form of noise is Colour, and unlike film where it’s aesthetically pleasing in digital it’s downright in your face. In fact it’s better to add some Gaussian noise in Photoshop that to leave noise in ACR, it gives it a more organic feel to the image. So what does colour and colour detail do? Color - is all those coloured dots you see when you take a high ISO image. By moving the slider to the right you gradually remove them, again at the cost of softness in the image. Color detail - helps counter this, particularly for skin texture where you find a lot of detail and colour variance. The key aspect to remember is that all the sliders interact with each other so you should adjust sharpening and Noise Reduction together to get the optimum result, sometimes even going back to the Basic Panel to tweak those settings.
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Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Using the powerful sliders in the HSL/Grayscale tab, you can adjust the hue, saturation, and luminance of each hue individually. These adjustments control eight different hues from red through magenta. You can shift hues (e.g., make oranges more red or more yellow), make them more or less saturated (take red out of someone’s face), or make them lighter or darker (make a sky’s blue darker and more rich). This is a marvelous way to emphasize some colors and de-emphasize others, unlike the saturation controls under the Basic panel which are global. Each of the HSL tabs controls one aspect of color, and each slider on each tab controls the characteristics of a single color range:
Hue - The fundamental nature of a color within a limited range. In other words, you cannot change a blue to red, but you can change blue from cyan to purple. Saturation - The vividness of a color. For instance, you can change a blue sky from gray (no color) to highly saturated blue. Luminance - The brightness of the color range. These three tabs within the RAW interface offer a set of tools that really allows you to be creative and play with colour. It utilises the power of the HSL colour mode to allow you move and adjust colours throughout the image. Whilst it can do colour correction it’s still best to do this in Photoshop where you can use layer masks to fine tune the colours. However if you have a major colour cast then it’s always worth a shot to try and correct it here. Hue Panel - Like all three tabs within the HSL tab this is a visual interface that lets you see what colours you are affecting. Hue allows you to shift colours from one end of the spectrum to another. It’s a powerful tool and can allow you to get some creative effects or if your camera has a tendency to move the greens towards yellow you can bring them back here for example. Hue is express in values 1 to 359 degress, this refers to the colour wheel model. Saturation Panel - The next option in the list this gives you the power to add or remove vibrancy/intensity in a particular colour. Essentially what this does is give you a colour boost or de-saturate the colour. This can be great for creating vintage look images or boosting colour in children’s portraits. However care must be taken as you can push colours too far leading to banding and channel degradation within Photoshop. Luminance Panel - Luminance controls how dark or light the colours are to enhance or reduce their presence in an image. Both luminance and Saturation are shown as percentages. Convert to Greyscale - This is where you have the best control for creating monochrome images out of the RAW converter before you even hit Photoshop. By turning this tick box on you turn the RAW file into a greyscale image. However a better way would be to use the Saturation tab and remove all the colours on each individual slider to -100; this way you can start to use the basic tab and the HSL/Greyscale Tab in new and different ways. As the Basic Tab is primarily about tonal adjustments and White Balance then you can adjust the ‘colours’ in monochrome mode to enhance or reduce the presence of objects in an image. v. 1
Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Split Toning is best applied to monochrome images but also can create a simple cross-process effect out of the convertor but this can be tricky to achieve with some images. The main problem for me is that I prefer finer control over what the Balance slider gives me to achieve this effect. To add color to a grayscale image (or tweak the color of a color image), use the controls in the Split Toning tab. Notice that the Split Toning tab has Hue and Saturation sliders for both Highlights and Shadows areas. The Balance slider lets you adjust the relative influence of the Highlights and Shadows controls . In the Highlights and Shadow sections you also have a saturation slider this is for giving you control over how strong the effect is applied to the image for a subtle tonal adjustment or to a more dramatic effect. The Lens Corrections tab attempts to compensate for defects in lens technology. The first tab lets you automatically compensate for any physical distortion based on a lens profile. The new Camera Raw tool can correct photos for geometric distortion, vignetting, and chromatic aberration based on the lens used. The Lens Correction filter lets you correct a photo that shows signs of lens distortion, such as a building or column that tilts away from the camera (called “keystoning”), color fringes along high-contrast edges (chromatic aberration), and under- or overexposure at the edges of a photo (vignetting). Before we consider ACR’s tools we must understand what flaws can affect an image. There are many ways an affected by distortion or aberration, and being aware of what you lens will do will help you minimise the issues in the first place such as using a telephoto lens for a head shot instead of a wide angle lens which will distort the face. So what are the common distortions? Barrel – this is where the image bulges outwards in the middle, just like an old-fashioned wooden barrel. This is most often caused by wide-angle lenses. Pin Cushion – this is the opposite of barrel distortion where the image is pinched inwards at the centre, it’s most commonly seen at the longer telephoto lenses at maximum zoom. The problem can be made even worse with the usage of a tele-converter. Both of these problems are particularly noticeable when you have a subject that has straight lines such a window, a tall building, a fence or similar objects that have repeating patterns.
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Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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Sharpening and DeNoise Technique When dealing with a noisy photo, you can easily get rid of all the noise in Camera Raw right away. Simply go to the Sharpening Tab and boost the Luminance to about mid-range. It’s never a good idea to get rid of 100% noise as you will end up with a fake and very plastic photo. So the best you can do is opt for a middle amount for the Luminance and Luminance Detail. You can also adjust your Sharpening slider, not so much as to add back the noise, but just enough to add more detail into your photo.
The masking slider lets you see which areas are sharp. Hold down the Alt key and adjust the Masking slider so that you can see what it is you are sharpening. Sometimes, when you remove too much noise, some subjects of the photo start to look a little pasty, especially in the lighter areas. It might seem counterproductive, but you can later open in Photoshop, and use the Photoshop Filter – Noise, and add back about 1 or 2% noise. We will talk more about filters in a later chapter. I would only point out that having noise in an image is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s the uneven, and uncontrollable colored dots from the camera that are the problem. It will definitely look better when zoomed out and printed. We are quite used to seeing grain in pictures, so it’ll look much more realistic. When you’re satisfied, you will end up with a less noisy, but a sharper image.
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Photoshop Perfection: Basic 1 Course - Raw Processing with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)
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