- Why use Camera Raw?
- Choosing preferences for opening photos
- Opening photos into Camera Raw
- The Camera Raw tools
- Cropping and straightening photos
- Choosing default workflow settings
- Using the Camera Raw tabs
- Using the Basic tab
- Using the Tone Curve tab
- Using the HSL/Grayscale tab
- Using the Detail tab
- Adding a grain texture
- Using the Adjustment Brush
- Retouching a photo
- Saving and applying Camera Raw settings
- Synchronizing Camera Raw settings
- Converting, opening, and saving Camera Raw files
- Opening and placing photos into Photoshop as Smart Objects
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Converting, opening, and saving Camera Raw files
Still with us? Terrific! Finally, you get to open your Camera Raw file into Photoshop. (After reading this page, also see our instructions for opening a Camera Raw file as a Smart Object layer on the next page.)
To convert a Camera Raw file and open it into Photoshop (saving its settings)
- After correcting an image in Camera Raw, click Open Image. The current settings will be saved as instructions for converting the photo without altering the original file. (Or to open
multiple images, click Open Images.)
Note: The settings for a raw photo are saved either as part of the internal Camera Raw database in your system or as a hidden sidecar .xmp file, which is placed in the same folder as the raw file. This internal file is different from any user-created settings file that you may have created via the Save Settings command on the Settings menu.
- To close the Camera Raw dialog without opening your file, click Done. Your current settings will still be saved as instructions and will be accessible if you reopen the file in Camera Raw.
Alternatively, you can open a copy of a Camera Raw file without recording the settings into the metadata of the raw file or into the actual JPEG file.
To open a copy of a Camera Raw file
- In the Camera Raw dialog, hold down Alt/Option and click Open Copy (Open Image becomes Open Copy). The file will be converted using the current settings and will open into Photoshop, but those settings won’t be recorded over any existing instructions in the raw or JPEG file.
Using the Save Options dialog, which is accessed via the Save Image button in Camera Raw, you can convert and save a copy of your digital photos in the DNG (Digital Negative), JPEG, TIFF, or Photoshop format. The main reason you’re likely to use this dialog is to archive your photos in the DNG format (see the sidebar at left). Camera Raw settings are preserved in DNG files, and are accessible and editable if the files are reopened in Camera Raw.
Note: Camera Raw settings are applied permanently to photos that are converted to the JPEG, TIFF, and PSD formats. JPEG and TIFF files can be reopened in Camera Raw (whereas PSD files cannot), but the settings saved in those files won’t display and aren’t editable — well, except for JPEG photos that are opened and edited in Camera Raw and then closed by clicking Done; settings for such files will remain available in Camera Raw.
To save a file as DNG, JPEG, TIFF, or PSD
- In the lower left corner of the Camera Raw dialog, click Save Image. The Save Options dialog opens.
- For the Destination, choose Save in Same Location or Save in New Location. For the latter, choose a location in the Select Destination Folder dialog, then click Select.
- In the File Naming area, enter a file name; also choose a naming or numbering convention from the adjacent menu, if desired.
- As the Format, choose Digital Negative, JPEG, TIFF, or Photoshop, then choose format-related options. For example, if you cropped the photo in Camera Raw, for the Photoshop format, check whether you want to Preserve Cropped Pixels.
- Click Save.