Transferring Camera Raw Adjustments

Raw files are read-only, so you can't alter the original data. How, then, do you edit a raw file? In Adobe Camera Raw, the raw file processor that comes with Photoshop, edits to raw files are saved in data separate from the original image data. In that way, it's like an adjustment layerwhich makes adjustments easy to save and easy to transfer to other raw images.

Multiple selections are the key to changing many raw images quickly. You can work on multiple images in Camera Raw by selecting more than one image in Adobe Bridge before opening Camera Raw. (I talk about multiple-file selections in Chapter 7.) Of the images you open in Camera Raw, you can then select one or more of those images. If more than one image is selected in Camera Raw when you make adjustments, Camera Raw changes all selected images. You can also use the techniques below to apply one image's adjustments to many other similar raw images.

Creating Camera Raw Presets

You can save Adobe Camera Raw settings as a preset. When you do this, the name of your preset appears in the Settings menu in the Camera Raw dialog box. Saving a preset is a good idea when you expect that your settings will be useful for many images in the future. For instance, I have a preset that applies certain noise reduction settings for images I shoot at ISO 1600.

To create a Camera Raw preset:

1.	In the Camera Raw dialog box, apply all of the adjustments that you want to save in the preset.
2.	Click the round button next to the Settings pop-up menu and choose Save Settings. Or, if you want the preset to alter specific settings but leave other settings unchanged, choose Save Settings Subset, enable the checkboxes for the settings you want to affect, and click Save (Figure 11.2). Figure 11.2.
3.	Name the settings file (leave the .XMP filename extension alone) and click Save.

To apply a Camera Raw preset, choose it from the Settings pop-up menu in the Camera Raw dialog box.

You don't have to open Camera Raw to apply a preset. You can select one or more images in Adobe Bridge, choose Edit > Apply Camera Raw Settings, and choose a preset from the submenu.

Synchronizing Camera Raw Settings

When you open multiple images in Camera Raw, you can apply one image's settings to any other by synchronizing them. You can synchronize all of the settings, or just some of them.

To synchronize Camera Raw settings:

1.	In the Camera Raw dialog box, select the image that has the settings you want to use as the source (Figure 11.3). Figure 11.3.
2.	Select additional images by Shift+clicking (to select a continuous range of images), Command/Ctrl+clicking (to select a discontinuous range of images), or by clicking Select All. The source image appears with a dark outline so that you can distinguish it from the other selected images (Figure 11.4). Figure 11.4.
3.	Click the Synchronize button.
4.	In the Synchronize dialog box, specify which of the source image's settings you want to apply to the other selected images by enabling the checkboxes for them, or choose a preset from the Synchronize pop-up menu.
5.	Click OK.