- Why use Camera Raw?
- Opening photos into Camera Raw
- The Camera Raw tools A
- Cropping and straightening photos
- Choosing default workflow options
- Using the Camera Raw tabs
- Using the Basic tab
- Using the Tone Curve tab
- Using the Detail tab
- Using the HSL/Grayscale tab
- Using the Adjustment Brush tool
- Using the Split Toning tab
- Using the Lens Corrections tab
- Using the Effects tab
- Using the Graduated Filter tool
- Using the Radial Filter tool
- Using the Spot Removal tool
- Saving and applying Camera Raw settings
- Synchronizing Camera Raw settings
- Converting, opening, and saving Camera Raw files
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Using the Camera Raw tabs
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The Camera Raw tabs
To access a panel of related settings in Camera Raw, click one of the tab icons (shown above). We perform most of our work in the first four tabs, and recommend that you do the same. Use the other tabs for specialty corrections or enhancements, as needed.
Basic: Adjust the white balance and exposure (see pages 61–65).
Tone Curve: Fine-tune a specific tonal range, such as the upper or lower midtones (see pages 66–67).
Detail: Apply capture sharpening and reduce unwanted noise (see pages 68–69).
HSL/Grayscale: Adjust the hue, saturation, and luminance of individual colors (see pages 70–71).
Split Toning: Apply one color tint to the highlight areas of a photo and a second tint to the shadow areas (see page 77).
Lens Corrections: Correct a photo for the effects of lens distortion, such as geometric distortion (e.g., a building that is tilted backward or isn’t level), under- or overexposure at the edges (an unwanted vignette), chromatic aberration, and color fringes.
Effects: As a special effect, apply a grain texture, a vignette, or a dehaze correction (see pages 82–85).
Camera Calibration: The Process menu in this tab lets you update a file to the latest Camera Raw processing (see the sidebar on the next page). If the profile that Camera Raw provides for your camera model doesn’t produce satisfactory color results, use the sliders in this tab to tweak the settings manually.
Presets: Create a custom preset of the current Camera Raw settings for future application to any other photos (see page 92).
Snapshots: For flexibility in editing, save interim versions of a photo as you make corrections. When necessary, you can restore the photo to any snapshot version (see the sidebar on page 92).
Using the Scrubbies
To change a value quickly in a Camera Raw tab, instead of dragging a slider, drag to the left or right across the slider name (this is called a scrubby slider).
If you find a need to undo or reset your slider settings as you work in Camera Raw, you can use any of the methods below. (To learn about related options on the Camera Raw Settings menu, see the next page.)
To restore default settings to sliders in the Camera Raw tabs:
Do any of the following:
Double-click a slider to reset it to its default value (usually 0).
Shift-double-click a slider in the Basic tab to reset it to the Auto value.
Click Default in the Basic or HSL/Grayscale tab to reset all the sliders in just that tab to 0.
Hold down Alt/Option and click Reset at the bottom of the dialog (Cancel becomes Reset) to restore the settings, in all tabs, that were in effect when you opened the dialog.
Using the Preview Buttons
From the Before/After Views menu 
below the preview, choose a preview option. For instance, Before/After Left/Right displays the original photo on the left (or displays the photo with the settings that were copied to the button, see below), and the photo with the current Camera Raw settings on the right. Before/After Top/Bottom Split displays the two versions in top and bottom halves of one image. Or if you prefer to cycle through the menu settings, click (and keep clicking) the Before/After Views button (Q). To customize the views, choose Preview Preferences from the menu.
- To swap the positions of the previews, click the Swap Before/After Settings button
(P). - To save the current Camera Raw settings as the Before state of the image, click the Copy Current Settings to Before button
(Alt-P/Option-P). Thereafter, when you choose a Before/After view, those settings will display in the top or left part of the preview.
When you open a photo into Camera Raw, by default, it’s adjusted according to the built-in profile for your camera model, and all the sliders in the Basic tab are set to 0. At any time, you can assign a different collection of settings to your file, or restore the original settings.
To restore settings via the Camera Raw Settings menu:
From the Camera Raw Settings menu,
choose one of these options: A
A Use options on the Camera Raw Settings menu to restore default settings to your photo or to reapply the prior settings.
- Image Settings to restore the settings that were attached to the file during the initial photo shoot or, if the photo was previously edited in Camera Raw, from the last Camera Raw session. When a photo is opened for the first time into Camera Raw, these settings will match the Camera Raw Defaults settings.
- Camera Raw Defaults to remove all custom settings and reapply the default settings for your camera model, your specific camera, or the ISO setting that was used to take the photo.
- Previous Conversion to apply the settings from the prior image that was adjusted in Camera Raw.
- Custom Settings to reapply the custom settings that you have chosen since opening the photo into Camera Raw.
- If a user-saved preset is applied to the current photo, that preset will also be listed as an option on this menu (see page 92).
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Toggling the Default Settings for a Tab
To quickly toggle between any custom settings made via the current tab only and the Camera Raw Default settings for that tab, click the rightmost button below the preview 
(Ctrl-Alt-P/Cmd-Option-P). If the photo is displayed in a divided preview, the default settings will display in just the “After” section.
Updating Legacy Photos and the Camera Raw Sliders
When you bring an unprocessed photo into Camera Raw 9.x, the dialog uses its most up-to-date profiles for noise reduction, de-mosaicing, sharpening, color calibration, and other processing. If you want to update a raw photo that was already processed in Camera Raw 6 or earlier using the new profiles, and also update the sliders in the Basic and other tabs to the newest versions (as described in this chapter), before applying any custom adjustments, click the Update to Current Process (2012) 
icon at the bottom right of the preview window. The Process menu in the Camera Calibration tab 
changes to the setting of 2012 (Current). Note: If you want to preserve access to the older rendering of the photo, take a snapshot of it before you update it (see the sidebar on page 92).
Setting the White Balance
The color temperature of the lighting in which a photo is shot, whether natural or artificial, influences the relative amounts of red, green, and blue that are recorded by the camera. A digital camera attempts to balance the three colors to produce an accurate white, which in turn makes other colors in the photo more accurate; this is called the “white balance.”
There are a few ways to adjust the white balance of a photo in Camera Raw. Note: Before adjusting the white balance, make sure your display is properly calibrated.
- Our recommended method is to drag the Temperature and Tint sliders in the Basic tab, choosing settings based on how the photo looks to your eye (see the next page).
- For photos that are shot in controlled lighting, such as in a studio, another method is to use the White Balance tool
(I). Drag (don’t click) to define a rectangle on a medium to light gray area of the photo — if you can find one. Camera Raw will set the White Balance based on pixel values in the sampled area. Note that although the White Balance tool is improved, sampling a larger area of “nearly gray” pixels than before, the resulting color temperature and tint correction may still not be adequate, and may need further adjustment. - Here’s an iffy, but quick, method: Shift-double-click the Temperature slider, and Shift-double-click the Tint slider. Camera Raw will apply auto settings for those controls.