Photoshop Elements >
Raw File Processing > 8
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
