Opening Photos in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)


When I first started using Photoshop CS2 it was a little confusing with all the different ways there were to open a RAW photo in ACR. (By the way, ACR is simply an easier "techie" way to say Adobe Camera Rawthere, don't you feel better now?) You can open a photo in Camera Raw from Adobe Bridge. But did you know there are two Camera Raws: one in Photoshop and one in Bridge? Or that you can open a RAW photo from Photoshop into Camera Raw or you can bypass Camera Raw altogether, etc.? So, I thought I'd give a quick recap (a recap I wish I had when I started) of all the ways to open a RAW photo.

The Difference Between Bridge's Camera Raw and Photoshop's Camera Raw

Okay, before we even talk about the different ways to open a RAW file, you first need to realize that you can open a photo in Camera Raw from Bridge or from Photoshopeach one is different. If you open a photo in Bridge's Camera Raw, you can't use Bridge in the background but you can use Photoshop. If you open a photo in Photoshop's Camera Raw, you can't use Photoshop but you can still use Bridge. Keep in mind, though, that both versions of Camera Raw are essentially the same and neither has more features than the other. Now that we have that down, let's see all the different ways to do it.

©MATT KLOSKOWSKI

Method One

The most intuitive method is to open a RAW file from Photoshop's Open dialog. When you do this, the RAW file opens in Photoshop's version of Camera Raw. You can edit away in it then, but you won't be able to get back to Photoshop until you dismiss the Camera Raw dialog by pressing one of the buttons at the bottom. Save will let you save the photo into another format such as TIF, JPEG, PSD, or DNG (digital negative format). Pressing Open will open the RAW photo in Photoshop with your current Camera Raw settings applied. Done will just close the Camera Raw dialog, saving your edits to the photo and returning you to Photoshop. Finally, Cancel does just what is saysit closes the dialog and cancels any editing you've done to the RAW file, as well as returning you to Photoshop.

Turbo Boost

If you want to view only RAW files, then choose Show Camera Raw Files Only from the View menu in Bridge.


Method Two

The next method is inside Bridge. If you just double-click a RAW file in Bridge, you'll launch the Camera Raw dialog in Photoshop and the same rules as Method One apply.

©MATT KLOSKOWSKI

Method Three

The other Bridge-based way of opening a RAW file is by choosing File>Open in Camera Raw (or pressing Command-R [PC: Control-R]). You can Command-click (PC: Right-click) on an image to open it this way, as well. This is actually the one I use most because it opens the RAW file in Bridge's version of Camera Raw. This leaves me free to work in Photoshop while Camera Raw is processing my files in the background.

Turbo Boost

To select all images for editing in Camera Raw, just press Command-A (PC: Control-A).


Method Four

This last method is useful when you just want to open a photo with the current ACR settings applied to it and bypass the Camera Raw dialog altogether. In Bridge, just press-and-hold the Shift key and double-click on the RAW file. The current Camera Raw settings will automatically be applied to the photo and it will open directly in Photoshop, bypassing the Camera Raw dialog altogether.

©MATT KLOSKOWSKI

Turbo Boost

Toggle Camera Raw's Auto adjustments on and off by pressing Command-U (PC: Control-U).




Photoshop CS2 Speed Clinic
The Photoshop CS2 Speed Clinic: Automating Photoshop to Get Twice the Work Done in Half the Time
ISBN: 0321441656
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 113

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