How to Open and Edit Images in Adobe Camera Raw

Tutorial: by Carl Hebert
Watch this Adobe Photoshop CS5 tutorial to learn how to edit your photos with Adobe Camera Raw.


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Editing images in raw mode allows you to optimize the quality of your photographs and prepare them before editing in Photoshop.  Raw edit with produce a file that has been adjusted non-destructively with the option of changing it in the future. Consider Photoshop a tool to work on your photographs and Adobe Camera Raw as a tool to work on your digital negatives.   
There are various image and raw converting programs available out there. our tutorial video explains the basics step by step how to Prepare your images  in Adobe Camera Raw. 


2 Reasons why we chose Adobe Camera Raw:

  1. Adobe Camera Raw is a powerful tool that is used by advanced and professional photographers alike
  2. It comes as a free plug-in with Photoshop and Photoshop Elements and works great with Adobe Bridge.

Edit RAW, TIFF and JPEG in Adobe Camera Raw Adobe Camera Raw


When working in raw the matter (pixel data) is not being created nor destroyed.   Adobe Raw allows you to adjust images without loss of quality and you can edit not only RAW files but TIFF and JPEG as well. However it is recommended that if you have the option [to shoot Raw] always use your raw file as it has the most information to adjust.
Using the sliders in the basic panel will open a whole new world of editing before you even have the image in Photoshop.
You will be able to adjust:
White Balance
Exposure
Brightness
Contrast
Clarity
Vibrance
Saturation

As well as use High Dynamic Range (HDR) functions such as recovering Details in Highlights and Filling-in the Shadows.
Also if you have no plans to retouch a particular image, Adobe Camera Raw allows you to save an image as a TIFF or JPEG for immediate use. 

While we emphasize Adobe Camera Raw and Adobe Bridge Combo (because these apps are good and free) there are other great products available that might suit your needs better:

Top 6 Raw Processing Applications:

Most camera manufactures include their own raw converting software that probably came on the disk with your camera.  But there are more powerful third party programs available as well: Top 6 Image Editing and Raw Converting Applications:
  1. Adobe Camera Raw: a free plug-in for Photoshop and Bridge and Photoshop Elements
  2. Adobe Lightroom: uses exactly the same raw processing engine as Adobe Camera Raw 
  3. Aperture  (mac only)
  4. Bibble
  5. Capture One 
  6. DXO Optics
Which one is better? You can read a good article by Armand Niculescu: RAW Processors – an extensive review of Aperture, Bibble, Capture One, DxO and Lightroom

If you haven't tried using raw editing yet give it a try and it will take your image quality to the next level.
Related Tutorials:  How to Import and Organize Your Photos with Photoshop CS5 via Bridge

Do you shoot Jpeg or Raw?  Which application do you use in your digital work flow? 
Tags : Tiff , Jpeg , raw ,  bridge , Photoshop , CS5 , 
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