Photoshop Elements >
Raw File Processing > 3
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.
