Photoshop Elements >
Raw File Processing - Entire
1 - Why Use Raw Files?
A JPEG is like a Polaroid.
It comes out of the camera and it's done.
A raw file is like a negative.
You can develop it according to your needs and those of the
photograph.
When you press the shutter release, the raw information collected
by the sensor is processed into a JPEG file.
Many decisions are made during this processing.
Once these decisions are made, and the JPEG file appears on your
memory card, that's it.
You can't process the raw sensor information into a different JPEG
file.
But, if you save the raw sensor information as a raw file, you can
process it repeatedly.
And, because a raw file contains far for information than a JPEG
file, especially in the shadow areas, editing is facilitated.
If given a choice of editing a raw file or a JPEG file, edit
the raw file.
For a complete discussion of the differences between raw files
and JPEG files, go to
Raw v. JPEG.
A file extension is the three letters following the name of the
file.
You're familiar with the file extension denoting a JPEG file:
.jpg.
Each camera manufacturer has their own proprietary raw file format.
So, there are many file extensions for raw files.
Here are the file extension names for Adobe, Canon, and Nikon.
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Adobe
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.dng
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| Canon |
.cr2
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Nikon
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.nef
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Adobe DNG
Adobe's raw file format, DNG, is an open standard, unlike the
raw file formats from each camera manufacturer.
The DNG raw file is similar to a TIFF file.
You can convert other raw file types into Adobe DNG raw files.
Use the Adobe DNG Converter or save them as DNG files while using
Adobe Camera raw.
Go to Adobe.
3 - Raw File Processing Software
Adobe Raw Converter
You need software to process raw files.
As described, raw file formats are proprietary, except for Adobe's
DNG raw file format.
You need software that can open your particular type of raw file.
Many people use the
Adobe Camera Raw converter that's included with Photoshop and
Photoshop Elements.
Photoshop Elements users have to download and install the latest
camera updates to the Adobe raw converter.
Do the following.
1) Go to Adobe Updates.
2) Install the Adobe Raw converter update.
Go to How to Install.
The Adobe Raw Converter is updated often.
Problems
If you have difficulty opening raw files in Photoshop Elements,
go to Unable
to open camera raw file in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.
Other Software
You can also use your camera manufacturer's software, such as
Nikon Capture or Canon's Digital Photo Professional.
There's also software made by others.
Bibble 4.0 Raw workflow software
Breeze Systems
CaptureOne
DxO Labs
LaserSoft
As mentioned, when you process a raw file, the file itself is
not changed.
The processing instructions are stored as metadata.
The metadata is stored in one of three ways.
Way #1
A database file is created and is saved to your computer.
This method has a drawback.
The metadata file doesn't accompany the raw file should you move
the raw file elsewhere, such as to a flash drive or external hard
drive.
The database is located in Users > User Name > AppData > Local
> Adobe > CameraRaw > Cache.
Way #2
An Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP)
file is created.
This side-car file accompanies the raw file should you move the
raw file.
If you want to revert to the unprocessed version of a raw file,
delete the xmp file for the raw file.
Way #3
If the raw file is a DNG raw file, the metadata is saved as part
of the DNG file.
Which Way?
By default, Photoshop Elements uses the second method.
You can use the first method by going to Preferences at the top
of the screen.
If you're using other software, check in the software's preferences
section for the method being used, and to change the method if desired.
Color interpolation, or demosaicing, is done automatically when
you open a raw file.
A complex interpolation algorithm determines the color of each
pixel.
Most chips (Not the Fovean chip) are B&W chips, so to speak.
Each photosite has a red, green, or blue filter.
The filters are arranged as a Bayer Matrix (or Bayer Filter Array)
across the sensor.
There are twice as many green filters.
This is because we see more green than red or blue.
So, while there are colored filters, no actual color is recorded.
Instead, the interpolation algorithm compares the brightness
levels of adjacent photosites, and determines the color.
Below, we'll use the Adobe Camera Raw converter in Photoshop
Elements.
The version of Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop has more commands
than the version in Photoshop Elements.
7 - Open a Raw File
To open a raw file for processing, do the following.
1) Go to File > Open, or press Ctrl + o.
2) Select one or more raw files to be opened.
3) Click Open.
If you selected more than one raw file, thumbnails of the files
are displayed on the left side.
If there are files that are similar, you can process them simultaneously.
Click Select All at the top of the panel, or press
and hold Ctrl while selecting individual files.
You can also rate the files.
Click the first black dot under the thumbnail.
Then, when you press and hold Alt, the Select All button changes
to Select All Rated.
Click Select All Rated.
There's no way to select only one-star photographs, and not the
two-star photographs.
Mac Version of Photoshop Elements 8.0
If you're using the Mac version of Photoshop Elements 8.0,
you can use the same raw converter as Photoshop.
In Bridge, right click on a thumbnail, and select Open in
Camera Raw.
If your mouse doesn't have a right-click button, press and
hold Ctrl and click.
Don't double click the thumbnail, or right click it and
choose Open.
If you do, the raw file won't open in the full-featured
version of the Adobe raw Converter.
Keywords
Consider using keywords to group raw files that need similar
processing.
For example, let's say you photographed a friend's wedding.
You could apply keywords for the different lighting that you
encountered.
After importing the files, you would apply the following keyword
phrases to the appropriate groups of photographs.
• Bride's room
• Ceremony
• Posed indoors bounce flash
• Posed outdoors flash fill
When you're about to process the raw files, sort by one of the
above keyword phrases.
Then, open the photographs of each situation, and process them
together.
Stacks
You could also stack photographs with similar processing needs.
There are several tools on the top left of the Adobe Camera Raw
converter screen.
Use the tools as necessary.
• Zoom tool
• Hand tool
• White Balance tool
• Crop tool
If you click on the Crop tool icon, you can choose various
aspect ratios, custom settings, and can clear the crop.
• Straighten tool
• Red Eye Removal tool
• Preferences
• Rotate
There are no blue arrows for undoing and redoing.
To undo, press Ctrl + z.
To revert to the unprocessed version, press and hold Alt, to
change the Cancel key to Reset.
Then, click Reset.
There are two important commands on the top right of the Adobe
Camera Raw converter screen.
Preview
Select and deselect the check mark in the box, or press P, to
toggle between the unprocessed file and the processed version.
Full Screen
Click the icon, or press F, to toggle between full screen and
the window views.
There's a menu with useful choices, but it's easy to miss.
In the image below, find the gray title bar called Basic.
When you click the icon at the end of the Basic title bar, you
can choose the following.
• Image Settings
The original settings from your camera.
• Camera Raw Defaults
The defaults are set according to the camera model.
• Previous Conversion
If you want to use the same settings as those of a previous photograph
that was processed, select Previous Conversion.
• Custom Settings
• Save New Camera Raw Defaults and Reset Camera Raw Defaults
If you want to change the default settings, simply move the sliders
and select Save New Camera Raw Defaults.
If you wish to return to the original defaults based on camera
model, select Reset Camera Raw Defaults.
13 - Processing Sliders: Right Side
The processing sliders on the right side of the screen are the
heart of the Adobe Camera Raw converter.
14 - Moving a Slider
Once you click the triangle on the slider, and hold, you can
move the cursor away from the triangle on the slider.
You don't have to keep the cursor positioned precisely over the
triangle.
The other methods of changing the numbers in the box also work
here.
If you haven't already done so, go to
Changing
Box Numbers.
Reset Sliders
To easily restore a slider to its default setting, double click
its slider triangle.
To reset all of the sliders to their default settings, click
Default.
Skip Ahead?
Are you a beginner?
You may want to
skip ahead.
Return to next section, about clipping, at a later time.
If you move a slider too far, the image is clipped.
That means it's underexposed or overexposed.
Histograms
First, a little orientation to histograms.
The histogram at the top right of the screen represents the number
of pixels in each brightness level.
Number of Pixels
The y-axis, the vertical axis, is the number of pixels.
Brightness Levels
The x-axis is the brightness levels.
There are 256 of them.
The brightness level of 0 denotes underexposure.
There's no image information there.
From 1 to 254, the brightness levels go from shadows to midtones
to highlights.
255 denotes overexposure.
There's no image information there.
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No Pixels: Underexposure
|
|
Pixels: Shadows to Midtones to
Highlights
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No Pixels: Underexposure
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Color Channels
A photograph is composed of red, green, and blue channels.
These colors appear in the histogram.
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Red
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Red
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Green
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Green
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Blue
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Blue
|
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White
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All 3 Colors
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Cyan
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Blue + Green
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Magenta
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Red + Blue
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Yellow
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Red + Green
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Clipping
What Is It?
Clipping is when part of the image is underexposed or overexposed.
Think of a stained-glass window as if it's your photograph.
When the window is "well exposed," you can see the colors.
When the window is underexposed, it turns into a black hole.
There's nothing to see.
There are no pixels to edit.
Likewise, if the window is overexposed, it is like looking directly
at the sun.
There's nothing to see.
There are no pixels to edit.
So, a clipped area in an image is a pest.
You can't edit the area because there are no pixels to edit.
For example, portions of clouds are often clipped, overexposed.
You can't darken these areas with burning and dodging.
There are no pixels there to darken or lighten.
You have to paint these areas.
If you haven't already done so, go to
Painting
Overexposed Areas.
Clipping One, Two, or All, Color Channels
As mentioned, a photograph is composed of different combinations
of three color channels.
You can clip only one or two of these channels, or all three.
How to Tell if Clipping Is Present
There are four ways to identify clipping.
Method #1 - Spikes
If the image is clipped, a spike will appear on the left or right
edges of the histogram.
A spike on the left edge means a portion of the image is underexposed.
A right-edge spike denotes overexposure.
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Left Spike
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No Pixels: Underexposure
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Right Spike
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No Pixels: Overexposure
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Method #2 - Triangles
There's a triangle in each upper corner of the histogram that
changes color if clipping is present.
The shadow triangle, on the left, is black if there's no clipping.
The highlight triangle, on the right, is white if there's no
clipping.
If one of the triangles is colored, click it.
Shadow clipping, underexposure, shows as blue areas on the photograph.
Highlight clipping, overexposure, shows as red areas on the photograph.
Method #3 - Alt or Option Key
While using the Exposure, Recovery, or Blacks sliders, press
and hold Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac).
Here's a chart of what you'll see when you use the sliders while
pressing and holding Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac).
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Black: No Clipping
White or Colors: Clipping
|
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Black: No Clipping
White or Colors: Clipping
|
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White: No Clipping
Black or Colors: Clipping
|
Method #4 - RGB Values
You can use the RGB values in the histogram to check for underexposed
or overexposed, clipped, areas.
Place the cursor over an area that may be clipped.
If any of the RGB values are 0 or 255, the area is clipped.
Prevent Clipping with Your Camera
When you're photographing, check the LCD screen after pressing
the shutter release.
Over- or underexposed areas will blink on many cameras.
If an area is small and unimportant, ignore the warning.
But, for example, if large portions of a sky are blinking, use
exposure compensation to reduce the amount of light reaching
the sensor.
Or, use a
two-stop
graduated neutral density filter.
You can also check for clipping by looking for left- or right-edge
spikes on the histogram on your camera.
White Balance Tool
The White Balance tool is located on the top left of the Adobe
Camera Raw converter screen.
Do the following.
1) Locate an area in the image that should be gray, but isn't,
because of an incorrect color balance.
2) Click the White Balance tool icon, place the eye dropper tip
over the should-be-gray area, and click.
You can also use a white area.
However, be careful.
Don't use:
• A white area that's overexposed, such as a sky.
• A specular highlight.
For example, a reflection from chrome on a car, or the reflection
of sunlight from a water drop, are specular highlights.
White Balance Section
We'll now use the white balance section on the
right side of your screen.
The box in the white balance section has several
choices.
• As Shot
This choice uses the white balance setting from the camera.
If you set the white balance setting on your camera to match
the light in the scene, then this may be the best choice.
• Auto
Camera Raw sets the white balance.
• Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent, or Flash
Camera Raw sets the white balance according to the above color
balances.
Fine Tune
Use the Temperature and Tint sliders to refine the color balance.
The Temperature slider shifts between red and blue (warmer to
cooler).
This slider is especially useful when correcting tungsten light.
The Tint slider shifts between green and magenta.
Use this for fine tuning florescent lighting and skin tones.
When you adjust the exposure, below, the color of the photograph
may change.
Therefore, after adjusting the exposure, have another look at
the color.
Try the Adobe Camera Raw converter's algorithms.
Click Auto.
If the results are good, make smaller adjustments yourself.
Click Default to start over.
To become familiar with what is possible, click back-and-forth
between Auto and Default.
Study the entire image.
Then look at only the shadows, then the midtones (such as skin),
and then the highlights, as you click between Auto and Default.
The sliders below can affect all of the pixels, or just the blacks,
whites, or midtones.
Exposure Slider
A photograph that's too bright or dark can be rescued here.
A JPEG version of the same photograph is not as amenable to the
same amount of correction.
The slider uses Exposure Value, which is like the stops when
using exposure compensation on your camera.
The Exposure slider creates a linear adjustment.
All of the pixels are brightened or darkened equally.
Think of the Exposure slider as being like the Highlights slider
in Levels.
You're setting the white point with both sliders.
Recovery Slider
Use this slider to add tone to a too bright area.
If all three color layers are clipped, Recovery can't function.
If only one or two color layers are clipped, Recovery may be
useful.
Fill Light Slider
This slider will make underexposed shadows brighter, without
lightening the darkest blacks in the image.
Blacks
The Blacks slider is like the Shadows slider in Levels.
The Blacks slider creates a linear adjustment.
All of the pixels are brightened or darkened equally.
You're setting the black point with both sliders.
Brightness
The Brightness slider is like the Midtones slider in Levels.
The slider applies a gamma correction, which is non-linear.
The overall brightnessis adjusted.
The Brightness slider is similar to the Exposure slider.
There are two differences.
The Brightness slider isn't as powerful as the Exposure slider.
However, the Brightness slider won't clip the shadows or highlights
like the Exposure slider.
Instead, it compresses the shadows and highlights to prevent
clipping.
Contrast
The Contrast slider adjusts . . . the contrast.
The Contrast slider applies an s-curve around the midpoint set
by the Brightness slider.
This is a non-linear adjustment.
Pixels are darkened below the midpoint, and are brightened above.
Summary of the Sliders
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Exposure
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White Point
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Recovery
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Overexposed Highlights
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Fill Light
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Underexposed Shadows
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Blacks
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Black Point
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Brightness
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Overall Brightness
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Contrast
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Contrast
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Zoom the image to 100% when using this slider.
Double click the Zoom icon.
Contrast in the midtone areas is increased by using a sharpening
algorithm.
The algorithm is similar to using the Unsharp Mask sharpening
with a small Amount and high Radius, and only in the midtones.
The Vibrance slider increases the saturation of colors that are
not already saturated.
The Saturation slider increases the saturation of all of the
colors, even if they're already highly saturated.
The above sliders are in the Basic window.
Click the middle icon, of the three, at the top of the sliders.
You're now in the Detail window, where you can sharpen and reduce
noise.
When sharpening or reducing noise, always view the image at 100%.
Double click the Zoom icon.
What's Sharpening?
Photographs are made from square pixels.
The corners of the pixels appear to our eyes as a lack of sharpness.
This is evident where there's a transition from lighter to darker
pixels, or from pixels of one color to another.
Don't Sharpen
In the Adobe Raw Converter
Sharpening is dependent on how the image is to be displayed.
For example, display on a monitor, on glossy paper, matte paper,
or watercolor paper, all require differing amounts of sharpening.
Therefore, you may want to postpone any sharpening.
Turn Off Sharpening
Click the preferences icon at the top of the screen.
Select Preview Images Only in the Apply sharpening to: box.
Sharpening Settings
If you do sharpen in Camera Raw, go to
Unsharp Mask Sharpening.
The settings are describes briefly below.
• Amount slider
The Amount setting is like a volume control.
0, silent, is no sharpening.
Higher values, louder values, increase the sharpening.
If a value is too high, halos appear.
• Radius slider
The Radius slider selects how many pixels to correct from an
edge that is to be sharpened.
The edge is the area between light and dark areas, or areas with
different colors.
Low Radius settings limit the sharpening to pixels close to either
side of the edge.
High settings increase the number of pixels that are targeted
for sharpening.
• Detail slider
This slider reduces any halos created by the Amount slider.
Halos are white or black circles.
0 is the strongest setting, and 100, the weakest.
• Masking slider
The Masking slider blocks sharpening in areas that don't need
to be sharpened.
These areas have even tones and colors.
If set to 0, the entire image is sharpened.
At 100, sharpening is restricted to only the edges with pronounced
changes of tone or color.
Again, when sharpening, always view the image at 100%.
Double click the Zoom tool icon.
Luminance Information
Sharpening is done on the luminance information.
Luminance is the brightness levels, without color information.
You can view the luminance information as you move the sharpening
slider.
Press and hold Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac), and click and hold
one of the sharpening sliders.
When using the Radius slider, you're viewing the edges.
You can view halo suppression, and masking, with the other two
sliders, when you press and hold Alt or Option.
If you photograph with high ISO settings, noise may become apparent.
Look for noise in areas of consistent tone and color, such as
shadows, walls, and the like.
If the settings are too high, the image may become soft.
Reduce the amount of noise reduction, or increase the amount
of sharpening.
There are two types of noise, luminance and color.
• Luminance
Luminance noise is black and white specs that shouldn't be present
As you increase the adjustment, the image is softened.
• Color
Color noise is specs of color that shouldn't be there.
Typically, use values below 25, the default value.
The image is not softened by color noise corrections.
26 - Commands: Bottom
There are four commands in the bottom right edge of the Adobe
Camera Raw converter screen.
• Help
• Save Image
Use this command to save processing that you have done without
opening the file in Photoshop Elements.
In the Save Options window, you can save a raw file in Adobe's DNG raw file format.
To save without using the Save Option window, press and hold
Alt when you click Save Image.
• 8-Bit or 16-Bit
You can open the file in Photoshop Elements as either an 8-bit
or 16-bit file.
An 8-bit file has 16 million colors.
A 16-bit file has 256 trillion colors.
So, there are more "pixels" available for editing with a 16-bit file.
However, Photoshop Elements has limited features with 16-bit
files.
Do the following.
1) Open the file in Photoshop Elements as a 16-bit file.
2) Use the limited editing tools that are available with a
16-bit file.
3) To be able to use all of the editing tools, go to Image > Mode > 8-Bits/Channel.
• Done
Click to save the processing instructions without opening the
raw file in Photoshop Elements.
The raw converter will close.
• Cancel
Use this command to exit Adobe Camera Raw without saving any
processing instructions.
• Open Image
Click to open the file in Photoshop Elements.
If you press and hold Alt, and then click Open Image, the changes
you made to the raw file are not saved.
To the Unprocessed Image
As described, when you save a processed raw file with Photoshop
Elements, the processing instructions are stored in a XMP file.
If you want to start over, and revert back to the unprocessed
raw file, delete the XMP file for the raw file.
Or, as mentioned, press and hold Alt, to change the Cancel
key to Reset.
Then, click Reset.
Process a JPEG
with the Raw Converter
Raw Process,
Twice, to Reduce Contrast
