12. Working with Camera Raw

1 Start Photoshop, and then immediately hold down Ctrl+Alt+Shift (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift (Mac) to restore the default preferences. (See “Restoring Default Preferences” on page 5.)

2 When prompted, click Yes to delete the Adobe Photoshop Settings file.

3 Choose File > Browse In Bridge to open Adobe Bridge.

4 In the Favorites panel in Bridge, click the Lessons folder. Then, in the Content panel, double-click the Lesson12 folder to open it.

5 Adjust the thumbnail slider, if necessary, so that you can see the thumbnail previews clearly. Then look at the 12A_Start.crw and 12A_End.psd files.

The original photograph of a Spanish-style church is a camera raw file, so it doesn’t have the usual .psd or .jpg file extension you’ve worked with so far in this book. It was shot with a Canon Digital Rebel camera and has the Canon proprietary .crw file extension. You’ll process this proprietary camera raw image to make it brighter, sharper, and clearer, and then save it as a JPEG file for the web and as a PSD file so that you could work on it further in Photoshop.

6 Compare the 12B_Start.nef and 12B_End.psd thumbnail previews.

This time, the start file was taken with a Nikon camera, and the raw image has an .nef extension. You’ll perform color corrections and image enhancements in Camera Raw and Photoshop to achieve the end result.

You can process camera raw files obtained from supported cameras, but you can also open TIFF and JPEG images in Camera Raw, which includes some editing features that aren’t in Photoshop. However, you won’t have the same flexibility with white balance and other settings if you’re using a TIFF or JPEG image. Although Camera Raw can open and edit a camera raw image file, it cannot save a camera raw format image back to a proprietary camera raw format. However, Adobe Camera Raw can save to the open Adobe DNG camera raw format.

Camera Raw provides extensive controls for adjusting white balance, exposure, contrast, sharpness, tone curves, and much more. In this exercise, you’ll edit one image and then apply the settings to similar images.

1 In Bridge, open the Lessons/Lesson12/Mission folder, which contains three shots of the Spanish church you previewed earlier.

2 Shift-click to select all of the images—Mission01.crw, Mission02.crw, and Mission03.crw—and then choose File > Open In Camera Raw.

A. Filmstrip

B. Filmstrip divider (drag to adjust)

C. Toolbar

D. RGB values

E. Image adjustment tabs

F. Histogram

G. Camera Raw Settings menu

H. Zoom levels

I. Click to display workflow options

J. Multi-image navigation controls

K. Adjustment sliders

The Camera Raw dialog box displays a large preview of the first image, and a filmstrip down the left side displays all open images. The histogram in the upper right corner shows the tonal range of the selected image; the workflow options link below the preview window displays the selected image’s color space, bit depth, size, and resolution. Tools along the top of the dialog box let you zoom, pan, straighten, and make other adjustments to the image. Tabbed panels on the right side of the dialog box give you more nuanced options for adjusting the image: You can correct the white balance, adjust the tone, sharpen the image, remove noise, adjust color, and make other changes. You can also save settings as a preset, and then apply them later.

For the best results using Camera Raw, plan your workflow to move from left to right and top to bottom. That is, you’ll often want to use the tools across the top first, and then move through the panels in order, making changes as necessary.

You will explore these controls now as you edit the first image file.

3 Click each thumbnail in the filmstrip to preview all the images before you begin. Or, you can click the Forward button under the main preview window to cycle through them. When you’ve seen all three, select the Mission01.crw image again.

White balance comprises two components. The first is temperature, which is measured in kelvins and determines the level of “coolness” or “warmness” of the image—that is, its cool blue-green tones or warm yellow-red tones. The second component is tint, which compensates for magenta or green color casts in the image.

Depending on the settings you’re using on your camera and the environment in which you’re shooting (for example, if there’s artificial light or mixed light sources), you may want to adjust the white balance for the image. If you plan to modify the white balance, make that the first thing you do, as it will affect all other changes in the image.

1 If the Basic panel isn’t already displayed on the right side of the dialog box, click the Basic button () to open it.

By default, As Shot is selected in the White Balance menu. Camera Raw applies the white balance settings that were in your camera at the time of exposure. Camera Raw includes several White Balance presets, which you can use as a starting point to see different lighting effects.

2 Choose Cloudy from the White Balance menu.

Camera Raw adjusts the temperature and tint for a cloudy day. Sometimes a preset is an instant fix. In this case, though, there’s still a blue cast to the image. You’ll adjust the white balance manually.

3 Select the White Balance tool () at the top of the Camera Raw dialog box.

To set an accurate white balance, select an object that should be white or gray. Camera Raw uses that information to determine the color of the light in which the scene was shot, and then adjusts for scene lighting automatically.

4 Click the white clouds in the image. The lighting of the image changes.

5 Click a different area of the clouds. The lighting shifts.

You can use the White Balance tool to find the best lighting for the scene quickly and easily. Clicking different areas changes the lighting without making any permanent changes to the file, so you can experiment freely.

6 Click the clouds directly to the left of the steeple. This selection removes most of the color casts and results in realistic lighting.

7 Move the Tint slider to −22 to intensify the greens.

8 To see the changes you’ve made, click the preview mode button () at the bottom of the window, and choose Before/After Left/Right from the pop-up menu.

Camera Raw displays the Before image on the left and the After image on the right so you can see the changes you’ve made.

9 To see only the After image again, choose Single View from the preview mode pop-up menu. If you prefer, you can leave both views visible so you can see how the image changes as you continue to alter it.

Dragging the Contrast slider to the right moves darker and lighter midtones away from the midtone; dragging left moves those tones toward the midtone. For more nuanced contrast adjustments, you can use the Clarity slider, which adds depth to an image by increasing local contrast, especially around the midtones.

The Saturation slider adjusts the intensity of all colors in the image equally. The Vibrance slider has a greater effect on undersaturated colors. You can use it to bring life to a background without oversaturating any skin tones in the image, for example.

You can use the Auto option to let Camera Raw attempt to correct the image tone, or you can select your own settings.

1 Click Auto in the Basic panel.

Camera Raw increases the exposure and changes several other settings. You could use this as a starting point. However, in this exercise, you’ll return to the default settings and adjust them yourself.

2 Click Default in the Basic panel.

3 Change the sliders as follows:

• Exposure: +0.20

• Contrast: +18

• Highlights: +8

• Shadows: +63

• Whites: +12

• Blacks: −14

• Clarity: +3

• Vibrance: +4

• Saturation: +1

These settings help pump up the midtones of the image so that it looks bolder and more dimensional without being oversaturated.

1 Double-click the Zoom tool () on the left side of the toolbar to zoom in to 100%. Then select the Hand tool (), and pan the image to see the cross at the top of the mission tower.

2 Click the Detail button () to open the Detail panel.

The Amount slider determines how much sharpening Camera Raw applies. Typically, you’ll want to exaggerate the amount of sharpening at first, and then adjust it after you’ve set the other sliders.

3 Move the Amount slider to 100.

The Radius slider determines the pixel area Camera Raw analyzes as it sharpens the image. For most images, you’ll get the best results if you keep the radius low, even below one pixel. A larger radius can begin to cause an unnatural look, almost like a watercolor.

4 Move the Radius slider to 0.9.

The Detail slider determines how much detail you’ll see. Even when this slider is set to 0, Camera Raw performs some sharpening. Typically, you’ll want to keep the Detail setting relatively low.

5 Move the Detail slider to 25, if it isn’t already there.

The Masking slider determines which parts of the image Camera Raw sharpens. When the Masking value is high, Camera Raw sharpens only those parts of the image that have strong edges.

6 Move the Masking slider to 61.

After you’ve adjusted the Radius, Detail, and Masking sliders, you can lower the Amount slider to finalize the sharpening.

7 Decrease the Amount slider to 70.

Sharpening the image gives stronger definition to the details and edges. The Masking slider lets you target the sharpening effect to edges and lines in the image, so that artifacts don’t appear in unfocused or solid areas.

When you make adjustments in Camera Raw, the original file data is preserved. Your adjustment settings for the image are stored either in the Camera Raw database file or in “sidecar” XMP files that accompany the original image file in the same folder. These XMP files retain the adjustments you made in Camera Raw when you move the image file to a storage medium or another computer.

1 In the upper left corner of the Camera Raw dialog box, click the Filmstrip menu button, and choose Select All to select all of the images in the filmstrip.

2 Click the Filmstrip menu button again, and choose Sync Settings.

The Synchronize dialog box appears, listing all the settings you can apply to the images. By default, all options except Crop, Spot Removal, and Local Adjustments are selected. You can accept the default for this project, even though you didn’t change all the settings.

3 Click OK in the Synchronize dialog box.

When you synchronize the settings across all of the selected images, the thumbnails update to reflect the changes you made. To preview the images, click each thumbnail in the filmstrip.

1 In the Camera Raw dialog box, click the Filmstrip menu button, and choose Select All to select all three images.

2 Click Save Images in the lower left corner.

3 In the Save Options dialog box, do the following:

• Choose Save In Same Location from the Destination menu.

• In the File Naming area, leave “Document Name” in the first box.

• Choose JPEG from the Format menu, and set the Quality level to High (8–9).

• In the Color Space area, choose sRGB IEC61966-2.1 from the Space menu.

• In the Image Sizing area, select Resize To Fit, and then choose Long Side from the Resize To Fit menu.

• Enter 800 pixels. This will set the long side of an image to 800 pixels whether it’s a portrait (tall) or landscape (wide) image. When you choose Long Side, the dimension of the short side will automatically be adjusted proportionally.

• Type 72 pixels/inch for the Resolution value.

These settings will save your corrected images as smaller, downsampled JPEG files, which you can share with colleagues on the web. They’ll be resized so that most viewers won’t need to scroll to see the entire image when it opens. Your files will be named Mission01.jpg, Mission02.jpg, and Mission03.jpg.

4 Click Save.

Bridge returns you to the Camera Raw dialog box, and a readout in the bottom left corner indicates how many images have been processed until all the images have been saved. The CRW thumbnails still appear in the Camera Raw dialog box. In Bridge, however, you now also have JPEG versions as well as the original CRW image files, which you can continue to edit or leave for another time.

Now, you’ll open a copy of the Mission01 image in Photoshop.

5 Select the Mission01.crw image thumbnail in the filmstrip in the Camera Raw dialog box. Then press the Shift key, and click Open Object at the bottom of the dialog box.

The Open Object button opens the image as a Smart Object layer in Photoshop; you can double-click the Smart Object thumbnail in the Layers panel to open Camera Raw and continue making raw-format-based-adjustments at any time.

If, instead, you had clicked Open Image, the image would open as a standard Photoshop layer, and no more raw format edits would be possible. The Open Image button changes into the Open Object button when you Shift-click it.

6 In Photoshop, choose File > Save As. In the Save As dialog box, choose Photoshop for the format, rename the file Mission_Final.psd, navigate to the Lesson12 folder, and click Save. Click OK if the Photoshop Format Options dialog box appears. Then close the file.

1 In Bridge, navigate to the Lesson12 folder. Select the 12B_Start.nef file, and choose File > Open In Camera Raw.

2 In Camera Raw, select the White Balance tool (), and then click a white area in the model’s dress to adjust the temperature and remove a green color cast.

3 Adjust other sliders in the Basic panel to brighten and intensify the image:

• Increase Exposure to +0.30.

• Increase Contrast to +15.

• Increase Clarity to +8.

4 Press the Shift key, and click Open Object.

The image opens in Photoshop as a Smart Object.

1 In Photoshop, choose File > Save As. Name the file Model_final.psd, and click Save. Click OK if you see the Photoshop Format Options dialog box.

2 Click the Levels button in the Adjustments panel.

Photoshop adds a Levels adjustment layer to the Layers panel. The Levels controls and a histogram appear in the Properties panel. The histogram displays the range of dark and light values in the image. The left (black) triangle represents the shadows; the right (white) triangle represents the highlights; and the middle (gray) triangle represents the midtones, or gamma. Unless you’re aiming for a special effect, the ideal histogram has its black point at the beginning of the data and its white point at the end of the data, and the middle portion has fairly uniform peaks and valleys, representing adequate pixel data in the midtones.

3 Click the Calculate A More Accurate Histogram button () on the left side of the histogram. Photoshop replaces the histogram.

There is a small bump on the far right side of the histogram, representing the current white point, but the bulk of the data ends further to the left. You want to set the white point closer to where most of the data ends.

4 Drag the right (white) triangle toward the left to the point where the histogram indicates the lightest colors begin.

As you drag, the third Input Levels value (beneath the histogram graph) changes, and so does the image itself.

5 Pull the middle (gray) triangle a little bit to the right to slightly darken the midtones. We moved it to a value of .90.

1 Double-click the 12B_Start layer thumbnail to open the Smart Object in Camera Raw.

2 Click the HSL/Grayscale button () to display that panel.

3 Click the Saturation tab.

4 Move the following sliders to reduce the amount of red in the skin:

• Reduce Reds to −2.

• Reduce Oranges to −10.

• Reduce Magentas to −3.

5 Click OK to return to Photoshop.

1 In the Layers panel, select the 12B_Start layer. Then, choose Duplicate Layer from the Layers panel menu.

2 Name the new layer Corrections, and click OK.

Working on a duplicate layer preserves the original pixels so you can make changes later. You can’t make changes using the healing brush tools on a Smart Object, so first you’ll rasterize the layer.

3 Choose Layer > Smart Objects > Rasterize.

4 Zoom in on the model’s face so that you can see it clearly.

5 Select the Spot Healing Brush tool ().

6 In the options bar, select the following settings:

• Brush size: 35 px

• Mode: Normal

• Type: Content-Aware

7 With the Spot Healing Brush tool, brush out the nose jewelry. A single click may be enough.

Because you’ve selected Content-Aware in the options bar, the Spot Healing Brush tool replaces the nose stud with skin that is similar to that around it.

8 Paint over fine lines around the eyes and mouth. You can also brush away freckles and moles on her face, neck, arms, and chest. Experiment with simply clicking, using very short strokes, and creating longer brush strokes. You can also experiment with different settings. For example, to soften the lines around the mouth, we selected Proximity Match in the options bar and the Lighten blending mode. Remove obtrusive or distracting lines and blemishes, but leave enough that the face retains its character.

The Healing Brush tool may be a better option for larger blemishes. With the Healing Brush tool, you have more control over the pixels Photoshop samples.

9 Select the Healing Brush tool (), hidden under the Spot Healing Brush tool (). Select a brush with a size of 45 pixels and a hardness of 100%.

10 Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac) an area on her cheek to create the sampling source.

11 Brush over the large mole on her cheek to replace it with the color you sampled. You’ll smooth out the texture later.

12 Use the Healing Brush tool to heal any larger blemishes that remain.

13 Choose File > Save to save your work so far.

1 Select the Sponge tool (), hidden under the Dodge tool (). In the options bar, make sure Vibrance is selected, and then select the following settings:

• Brush size: 35 px

• Brush hardness: 0%

• Mode: Saturate

• Flow: 50%

2 Drag the Sponge tool over the irises in the eyes to increase their saturation.

3 Change the brush size to 70 px and the flow to 10%. Then brush the Sponge tool over the lips to saturate them.

You can use the Sponge tool to desaturate color, too. You’ll reduce the red in the corner of the eye.

4 Change the brush size to 45 px, and the flow to 50%. Then choose Desaturate from the Mode menu in the options bar.

5 Brush over the corner of the eye to reduce the red.

6 Select the Dodge tool (), hidden beneath the Sponge tool.

7 In the options bar, change the brush size to 60 px and the Exposure to 10%. Choose Highlights from the Range menu.

8 Brush the Dodge tool over the eyes—the whites and the irises—to brighten them.

9 With the Dodge tool still selected, select Shadows from the Range menu in the options bar.

10 Use the Dodge tool to lighten the shadow area above the eyes and the areas around the irises to bring out the color.

1 Choose Select > Color Range.

2 In the Color Range dialog box, choose Skin Tones from the Select menu.

The preview shows that much of the image has been selected.

3 Select Detect Faces.

The preview in the selection changes. Now the face, hair highlights, and lighter areas of the dress are selected.

4 Decrease the Fuzziness slider to 10 to refine the selection. Then click OK.

The selection appears on the image itself as animated dotted lines (sometimes called marching ants). You’ll apply a Curves adjustment layer to the selection to reduce the overall red in the skin tone of the image.

5 Click the Curves icon in the Adjustments panel.

Photoshop adds a Curves adjustment layer above the Corrections layer.

6 Choose Red from the color channel menu in the Properties panel. Then click in the middle of the graph, and pull the curve down very slightly. The selected areas become less red. Be careful not to pull the curve down too far, or a green cast will appear. You can see the difference you’ve made by clicking the Toggle Layer Visibility button.

Because you selected the skin tones before applying the Curves adjustment layer, the skin color shifts but the background is unchanged. The adjustment affects slightly more of the image than the skin itself, but the effect blends well and is subtle.

1 Select the Corrections layer, and choose Layer > Duplicate Layer. Name the layer Surface Blur, and click OK in the Duplicate Layer dialog box.

2 With the Surface Blur layer selected, choose Filter > Blur > Surface Blur.

3 In the Surface Blur dialog box, leave the Radius at 5 pixels, and move the Threshold to 10 levels. Then click OK.

The Surface Blur filter has left the model looking a little glassy. You’ll reduce its effect by reducing the opacity of the blur.

4 With the Surface Blur layer selected, change the Opacity to 40% in the Layers panel.

She looks more realistic now, but you can target the surface blur more precisely using the Eraser tool.

5 Select the Eraser tool (). In the options bar, select a brush between 10 and 50 pixels, with 10% hardness. Set the opacity to 90%.

6 Brush over the eyes, eyebrows, the defining lines of the nose, and the detail in the dress. You’re erasing part of the blurred layer to let the sharper layer below show through in these areas.

7 Zoom out so you can see the entire image.

8 Save your work.

9 Choose Layer > Flatten Image to flatten the layers and reduce the image size.

10 Save the image again, and then close it.

You’ve taken advantage of features in both Camera Raw and Photoshop to help this bride look her best. As you’ve seen, you can move between Photoshop and Camera Raw to perform different tasks as you enhance and improve an image.

2 What is the advantage of the Adobe Digital Negative (DNG) file format?

3 How can you apply the same settings to multiple images in Camera Raw?

4 How can you apply Camera Raw as a filter?

2 The Adobe Digital Negative (DNG) file format contains the raw image data from a digital camera as well as metadata that defines what the image data means. DNG is an industry-wide standard for camera raw image data that helps photographers manage proprietary camera raw file formats and provides a compatible archival format.

3 To apply the same settings to multiple images in Camera Raw, select the images in the filmstrip, click the Filmstrip menu button, and choose Sync Settings. Then select the settings you want to apply, and click OK.

4 To apply Camera Raw as a filter, choose Filter > Camera Raw Filter in Photoshop. Make the changes you want to make in Camera Raw, and then click OK. If you want to be able to edit the changes later, apply Camera Raw as a Smart Filter.