Raw Workflow with Camera Raw


With our workflow definedtransfer images to your computer, choose your selects, process selected images into finished files, edit those files in Photoshop, output, archivewe'll now take a look at how to implement it using Camera Raw and the Adobe File Browser or Bridge. Although we discussed some of these topics in Chapter 4, in this section we'll go a little deeper and explore more of the functions and capabilities of Adobe's browsers.

As before, we will be focusing on Adobe Bridge, but most of the features discussed here are also available in the Adobe File Browser provided with Photoshop Elements and with Photoshop CS.

Step 1: Transfer images

There's really no right or wrong way to transfer images to your computer. If you've been shooting JPEG files for a while, then you're probably already comfortable with image transfer.

Though the workflow that we have defined specifies archiving and backing up at the very end, it's never a bad idea to make a quick backup of your raw files immediately after transferring them. Whether you burn them to a CD or DVD or copy them to an additional hard drive, having two copies will give you a little security in the event of some terrible computer problem.

IMPORTING USING ORGANIZER

Elements 4's Organizer presents a slightly different approach to importing and organizing. When you choose to import images from any device (using File > Get Photos), Elements first asks you where you want to put the files (Figure 5.8). Once it has copied the files, it generates thumbnails and adds them to the main Organizer catalog. You can also get files from an existing folder full of images. Elements will leave the images where they are and add their thumbnails to the catalog.

Figure 5.8. The Elements 4 Organizer can automatically transfer images from your camera or media card. After storing the transferred files in your chosen location, it creates thumbnails and adds them to its master catalog of images.


Once images have been imported into the Organizer catalog, you no longer need to concern yourself with where they might be on your drive (though you can find out where they are by right-clicking (or, with a one-button mouse, Control-clicking) an image and selecting Show Properties). You can organize, sort, find, and open images for editing from within Organizer.

Since having to navigate and dig through your entire image collection can be a drag, Organizer lets you define collections, which are roughly the digital equivalent of a photo album. Using the Collections pane, you can create new collections and then drag and drop thumbnails onto the collection name to add images. When you add an image to a collection, you don't create another copy of the image; a collection is simply a group of references to files in your library, so you are creating only a reference.


DON'T WORK DIRECTLY FROM YOUR CAMERA'S MEDIA CARD

If you use a media card reader to copy images to your hard drive, there's technically no reason that you can't work directly from the card. As far as your computer is concerned, the card reader is just another drive to read. However, it's a very slow drive when compared to your hard drive. In addition, some types of storage media aren't designed for the kind of sustained use required by the Adobe browsers. For the sake of both speed and media integrity, it's better to copy your images to your hard drive and work with them from there.


Staying organized

When it comes to naming images, your camera is not particularly inspired. After transferring images, you'll have a bunch of image files on your computer with fairly meaningless names. The easiest way to stay organized as you amass these inscrutably named files is to be diligent about separating images into folders and giving the folders meaningful names.

Creating folder names with a meaningful title and dateAlien abduction 6-05-2005 or something similarwill help you keep track of the subject matter of a particular batch of images, even if the names of the individual files are meaningless strings of numbers.

Step 2: View images and choose selects

As you've already seen, the Adobe browsers make short work of viewing thumbnails of your raw files. When it comes to sorting images and choosing selects, the Adobe browsers also provide a lot of special tools and features that can greatly ease the examination and selection of your images.

This section covers a lot of features, and this may make the process of making selections seem very complicated. It's not. You probably won't use all of these tools all of the time, and there are some that you may never use. Nevertheless, it's good to know all of the options available.

Browser feng-shui

While Elements 3 and Photoshop CS each provide a File Browser inside Photoshop, Photoshop CS2 launches Bridge, a separate application, whenever you choose File > Browse. The browsers provide similar functionality.

As explained in Chapter 4, the Adobe browsers present several panes of information. In addition to a File Browser pane for selecting a particular folder, you will see a pane containing thumbnails of the images in the current folder, a larger preview of the currently selected image, and a list of all of the metadata for that image. As you choose your selects, there will be times when viewing thumbnails is more important than reading metadata, or when seeing a large preview is more important than anything else. To facilitate this, both Bridge and the File Browser let you resize all three panes (Figure 5.9).

Figure 5.9. You can easily resize any of the Bridge or File Browser panes by dragging the dividing lines that separate them.


Resizing panes allows you to retool the browser for different tasks. For example, when you need to quickly find an image, or a series of images, within a folder with hundreds of thumbnails, you can use a large thumbnail view to more easily browse the files (Figure 5.10).

Figure 5.10. Specifying a large Thumbnails pane makes it easier to sort through a large collection of images.


In Bridge, you can easily resize the thumbnails themselves, by using the slider at the bottom of the Thumbnails pane. Bridge also provides several thumbnails views, which you can easily select using the buttons next to the thumbnail size slider (Figure 5.11).

Figure 5.11. Bridge provides simple controls for changing the size of thumbnails, as well as for changing the nature of the thumbnails view.


Thumbnails view is the basic default view. Filmstrip view provides a scrolling display of thumbnails and a very large preview (Figure 5.12), while Details view provides a good-sized preview and a smattering of fundamental metadata (Figure 5.13).

Figure 5.12. The Filmstrip view in Bridge provides a large preview of the currently selected image, along with a scrolling list of thumbnails of the other images in the current folder.


Figure 5.13. Details view displays a list of thumbnails with additional focus on the images' metadata.


The last option, Versions and Alternates view, is similar to Details view, but is designed to work with Adobe Version Cue, a workgroup management system that lets you track and view alternate versions of images throughout a complex print or web workflow. We won't be exploring it here.

These various views provide a speedy alternative to resizing panes when you want to see more of a particular type of information. Nevertheless, there will be times when you'll want to resize the panes. If you're using the Elements or CS File Browser, then resizing panes is your only way to see more of a particular type of information.

In Bridge, you can quickly switch between several default window arrangements by using the Window > Workspace menu (Figure 5.14). These predefined configurations give you window arrangements that stress thumbnails, metadata, or a large preview.

Figure 5.14. Bridge provides several default Workspace configurations that you can easily switch between using the Workspace menu.


TIP

Unlike the Elements 3/CS File Browser, Bridge lets you open as many browser windows as you like. This can provide a handy way to compare folders or to view different sets of images. To open a new browser, choose File > New Window or press Command-N.


In Bridge, if none of these workspace arrangements are to your taste, you can save your own custom workspaces by arranging the panes the way you want them and then choosing Window > Workspace > Save Workspace. You can create as many workspaces as you like and then switch between them by picking them from the Window > Workspace menu.

CUSTOM WORKSPACES IN PHOTOSHOP CS

Although the Photoshop CS and Elements browsers lack the predefined workspace configurations provided by Bridge, the CS File Browser does let you define your own custom workspaces. Just arrange the panes the way that you like them and then choose Window > Workspace > Save Workspace from Photoshop's main menu bar, not from the menu bar at the top of the File Browser window.


Renaming images

Even if you transfer your images to specific folders with meaningful names, you still may want to rename individual images with meaningful titles. Renaming images as you choose selects will simplify the process of working with the files later.

You can easily rename an individual file in either Bridge or the Elements 3 or CS File Browser by selecting the name beneath the thumbnail and entering something new. The browser will automatically rename the original file.

If you shot using particular exposure settings, you may want to include these parameters in the new name. This can be particularly handy if you want to keep track of which images in a bracketed set were over- or underexposed.

Both Bridge and the Elements 3 or CS File Browser include an excellent Batch Rename feature, which lets you automatically rename all of the currently selected images. To use it, select a range of images (pressing Ctrl-A in Windows or Command-A on the Mac will select all of the images in the current folder) and then choose Tools > Batch Rename if you're in Bridge, or Automate > Batch Rename if you're in the Elements 3 or CS browser.

TIP

Selecting multiple images in either Bridge or the File Browser is very simple. To select a contiguous range of images, click once on the first image to select it; then hold down the Shift key and click the last image in the selection. The browser will automatically select all of the images in between. To make a noncontiguous selection, click once on the first image to be selected and then Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac) additional images to add them to the current selection. These two techniques can be combined to create complex contiguous/noncontiguous selections.


The Batch Rename dialog box lets you specify a base name, and it can automatically append any number of different things to this base to create a very descriptive file name (Figure 5.15).

Figure 5.15. Use Batch Rename to rename selected files, automatically appending sequential numbers, dates, and other suffixes.


In Bridge, you can select Move to Other Folder to move the file before renaming it. This allows you to further refine the organization of your files by moving files into more specific folders. If you select Copy to Other Folder, then Bridge will copy the files to a new location before renaming them, affording you a simple way to back up your files while giving them more meaningful names.

If you want to select all of the images except one or two files, you can either do it the hard way, by clicking all of the images that you want to select, or you can choose Edit > Select All and then Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac) the images that you don't want.

To rename an image in Organizer, you must have the Properties palette open (press Alt-Enter (Windows) or Option-Enter (Mac) or choose Windows > Properties). On the Properties palette, select the General options and then edit the Name field to change the name of the file.

Deleting images

Some photographers are maniacal about saving every image they expose, and there's merit to this idea. When you first return from a shoot, it's easy to be disappointed by your images because they don't match what you thought you had taken or the fresh memory that you have of the scene. Very often, though, when you look at them again a week later, you realize that they're better pictures than you had initially thought. Consequently, if you trash an image upon your initial review, you may be throwing away perfectly good work.

Nevertheless, there will be some pictures that are, objectively, just plain lousy. Whether they're out of focus or horribly exposed or your finger's in the way, some pictures are not going to improve with age. You can easily delete these from your drive using any of the Adobe browsers by selecting the image and pressing the Delete key. The program will display a confirmation window, which you can easily disable by selecting Don't Show Again.

In Organizer, you can delete images by selecting them and then pressing the Delete key (or by choosing Edit > Delete from Catalog). The resulting dialog box asks you to confirm that you want to remove the images from the catalog, which leaves the original files on your drive. A separate check box allows you to remove images from the catalog and delete the original image files.

Rotating images

Both Bridge and the Elements 3 or CS File Browser allow you to rotate images. Many cameras include autorotation sensors that figure out when you're shooting vertically or horizontally. This information is stored in the camera's EXIF metadata, and when it is read by either browser, the thumbnail is automatically rotated.

If your camera doesn't provide this feature, or if for some reason the Adobe browsers can't read it, then you may need to rotate your image manually. Simply select a single image, or a selection of images, and click either of the Rotate tools in the browser toolbar (see Figure 5.4). You can also press Ctrl-] (Windows) or Command-] (Mac) for clockwise rotation and Ctrl-[ (Windows) or Command-[ (Mac) for counterclockwise rotation.

Your image data is not actually affected, of course. Instead, the browser updates your file's metadata to indicate that the image should be rotated when it's processed. If the image is a raw file, it will be rotated by Camera Raw at the time of conversion. If it's a different format, then it will be rotated by Photoshop when you open it.

It's much easier to access the browser's Rotate tools than it is to use Photoshop's Rotate Canvas command, so rotating your image during your initial selection phase can be a great time-saver.

Ranking images

As you browse through the thumbnails of your images, you'll want a way to keep track of which ones are the select files that you want to take through the rest of your workflow. You can take each select image through the entire workflow as you choose it, but choosing all of your selects first allows you to take advantage of the batch processing operations provided by the Adobe browsers.

Both Bridge and the File Browser provide mechanisms for rating your images, though Bridge provides more flexibility in this regard. Once you've rated your images, you can tell the browser to display only images that you've selected and then pass those images on to the rest of your workflow.

Rating images in Bridge

Bridge allows you to rate images on a scale from 0 to 5. Each image's rating is shown as a number of stars beneath the image thumbnail (Figure 5.16).

Figure 5.16. In Bridge, ratings that you assign to images are displayed as a series of one to five stars displayed directly below the thumbnails.


To add a rating to an image, select the thumbnail. A series of dots appear. You can click any of these dots to change it to a star. You can also select a rating from the Label menu.

A much faster way of adding a rating is to use keyboard shortcuts. Select one or more images and then press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac) plus 0 through 5 to rate the images. You can also increase the existing rating of a single image or a group of images by pressing Ctrl-, (Windows) or Command-, (Mac), or decrease it by pressing Ctrl-. (Windows) or Command-. (Mac).

Like rotation and Camera Raw parameters, the ratings that you apply are stored either in the internal cache or in sidecar XMP files, depending on how you've set your preferences in Camera Raw. If you're set for sidecar storage and your file doesn't yet have an XMP sidecar file associated with it, Bridge will create one when you assign a rating to the image. Bridge may issue a warning box indicating this. Your workflow will go faster if you disable this box.

In addition to rating images, you may sometimes want to give them simple labels, either to separate the images in one folder into categories or to highlight a particular image for review or analysis later. Bridge provides a simple labeling scheme that lets you assign one of five colors to any image. This color then appears behind the star display on a thumbnail (Figure 5.17).

Figure 5.17. Any image in Bridge can also be assigned a label, which appears as a colored fill behind the rating line.


As with ratings, you label an image by selecting it and then picking your desired color from the Label menu, or you can use the keyboard shortcuts listed on the menu.

Once you've rated and labeled your files, you can easily filter your thumbnails view to show only specific images. On the right side of the Bridge toolbar is a Filter pop-up menu (Figure 5.18). From this menu, you can select a rating or label, and your thumbnails display will be updated to show only those images that match. You can also choose to view only unlabeled and unrated images. Returning the menu selection to Unfiltered will display all of the files in the current folder.

Figure 5.18. Bridge's Filter menu allows you to quickly filter out any thumbnails that don't match particular rating or label criteria.


Once rated or labeled, the ability to filter out only those images with a particular rating allows you to quickly focus on only the images that you want to process through the rest of your workflow.

Ranking images in the CS File Browser

If you're using Photoshop CS, then you'll be using that program's internal File Browser rather than Bridge. In CS, this feature is called ranking.

First, you need to enable the ranking display by selecting View > Show Rank from the File Browser menu bar. Rather than showing stars, the File Browser displays a Rank field beneath the thumbnail of each image.

To rank an individual image, double-click the hyphen that's displayed next to the Rank field beneath an image thumbnail. To rank groups of images, select them and then choose Edit > Rank from the File Browser menu bar.

For a ranking, you can enter any number between 1 and 9, and you can also enter letters. This affords a finer degree of ranking granularity than what you get in Bridge. Whether or not you need this many rankings is a matter of personal taste.

The CS File Browser doesn't provide any labeling function.

Rating images in Organizer

Elements 4's Organizer lets you select single or multiple images and apply ratings of one to five stars. First, select the images you want to rate. In the Tags palette, open the Favorites set and then drag your images to the tag that you want them associated with.

You can also apply ratings by right-clicking (or, on a one-button mouse, Control-clicking) any image in your selection and then selecting Attach Tag and the rating that you want. The easiest way, though, is to use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl-1 through Ctrl-5.

Organizer displays the rating of an image by superimposing a small numbered flag over the image thumbnail.

Flagging images in the Elements 3 or CS File Browser

If all you want to do is flag the files that you want to select for the rest of your workflow, without rating or ranking them, the File Browser in both Elements and CS provides a great tool in the form of the Flag feature. Select an image or group of images that you want to flag and then click the Flag button on the File Browser's toolbar or press Ctrl-' (Windows) or Command-'(Mac). A small flag appears below the thumbnail (Figure 5.19).

Figure 5.19. In Elements 3 and Photoshop CS, you can mark images using the Flag command. You can then use the Show menu in the upper-right corner of the File Browser to display flagged, unflagged, or all images.


In the upper-right corner of the thumbnail display is a pop-up menu that lets you switch from viewing all the images in the current folder (flagged and unflagged) to viewing only the flagged Files or only the unflagged Files. In this way, you can quickly filter a folder to view and work on just your selected files.

Take the time to rate your images

No matter which Adobe browser you're using, you have simple, speedy rating tools at hand. Once you've learned the keyboard equivalents for these tools, you can quickly work through a huge folder of images and apply ratings that will make it very simple later for you to separate the good images from the bad.

Rating and labeling are important organizational tools, not just for your immediate workflow needs, but also for your long-term archiving and organization, so it's good to get in the habit of using these features.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THUMBNAILS

Bridge displays a fair amount of information with each thumbnail. By default, the thumbnail image itself is displayed, along with the file name, the rating, and the date and time the image was shot. In addition, any of three icons may appear in a thumbnail, depending on the status of the file (Figure 5.20)

Figure 5.20. Bridge's thumbnails display icons to indicate when a file has had Camera Raw settings adjusted, has been cropped, or is currently open in Photoshop.


Using Bridge's Preferences dialog box, you can specify up to three lines of metadata to appear with the thumbnail (Figure 5.21). In addition to showing exposure and file size, as shown in Figure 5.20, you can include copyright information, a description, keywords, or any number of other metadata fields.

Figure 5.21. Using the Bridge Preferences dialog box, you can select additional metadata items for display beneath an image's thumbnail.


We'll explore metadata in more detail later in this chapter.


Sorting images

In addition toor sometimes instead ofrating and labeling your files, you may want to change the order in which they're displayed in the browser window.

By default, Bridge and the File Browser let you reorganize the thumbnails into any order you want simply by dragging thumbnails from one location to another. When you next view the same directory, your images will appear in your reordered, custom configuration.

You can sort your thumbnails by any number of parameters, including the date they were shot, their labels and rankings, or their pixel dimensions. To automatically sort images in Bridge, you use the View > Sort menu (Figure 5.22). To automatically sort images in the Elements 3 or CS File Browser, you use the Sort menu located on the browser toolbar.

Figure 5.22. The Bridge Sort menu lets you quickly sort the current folder by a number of different criteria.


If you're using Elements 4's Organizer, then you must place images in a collection before you can rearrange them into a specific order. Remember that the main thumbnails view is a view of your entire image collection, and its order defaults to chronological. You need to create subsets of images using the Collections feature before you can rearrange and organize your images using other criteria.

You can sort the main thumbnails view by using the pop-up menu in the lower-left corner of the window. In addition to ascending and descending date, you can view the last batch of images that was imported.

HOW I RANK IMAGES: ONE APPROACH TO CHOOSING SELECTS

If I've been out shooting all day, I'm usually eager to get started processing particular frames. There are almost always one or two images that I'm particularly excited to see. But because I tend to heavily bracket, I need to quickly get my images organized. In the past, I've sometimes said, "I'll get organized later, but first I want to take a quick look at this particular shot." The problem is, it's never a "quick look," because once I have the image open, I want to fiddle with it. Soon I'm making test prints and saving multiple versions, and then I have an even more complex batch of images to work with. What's more, there's no guarantee that it was the best shot to work with.

Though it can be hard sometimes, I now force myself to take at least one selection pass through the day's photos before I start editing any of them.

Because I work in Bridge, I tend to review my images in Filmstrip mode, simply because it provides a large preview. If you're working with the Elements or CS File Browser, though, you can easily resize your panes to see a large preview.

Once I'm in the right mode, I simply step through the images one at a time, using the left and right Arrow keys to advance forward and backward. When I see an image that I like, I press Ctrl-3 (Windows) or Command-3 (Mac) to assign it a ranking of three stars. Since I have a hard enough time deciding which images are keepers, trying to come up with five varying degrees of appreciation is pretty much impossible. So I simply tag the images I like with three stars.

Since this is basically a binary selection process, you can achieve the same thing in the Elements or CS File browser by using the Flag feature. The reason I choose three stars is that if there ever comes a time when I do develop the ability to think in shades of rankings, I can easily increase or decrease the rankings using the Increase and Decrease commands.

I usually take two passes through the images just to be sure that I didn't select something bad or miss something good, and then I use the Filter menu to select only three-star images. Now I can focus the rest of my workflow on just the images I like.

At this point, I will sometimes change the order of the thumbnails by dragging them, but rarely do I need a particular order.

With my selects chosen, I usually use a combination of Bridge's renaming features to give my selected images more meaningful file names. If the whole batch of images is of a single subject, then I use the Batch Rename command on the whole set. If there are several different subjects or different groups of bracketed images, then I use the Batch Rename command on smaller groups of images. Finally, there are almost always stand-alone, individual images that need to be renamed by hand.


Finding images

If you have a large group of images, the ability to search for images can help you quickly filter out images with particular characteristics.

For example, maybe you've already renamed many of the images and now you know that you want to rank all of the files named "Bigfoot sighting." You can automatically search the current folder for any image specifically named "Bigfoot sighting" or for files with names that contain those words.

Finding images using Bridge

The Find feature lets you build complex queries that can search based on any number of criteria, including creation and modification dates, file size, label, ranking, and other forms of metadata that you'll learn about later in this chapter (Figure 5.23).

Figure 5.23. The Bridge Find command lets you build complex search queries. Here, I'm looking for any image with "Horse" in the title and a rating of three stars. I know that some of the images I selected were a little soft because I first shot with a shutter speed that was too slow, so I'm refining my search to find only images shot at 1/500 of a second.


When the results of a search are displayed, the browser window presents a Save as Collection button at the upper right. This allows you to save the search criterianot the particular found set of images. The advantage to this is that if you regularly perform certain searches, you can save the criteria as a collection and then reexecute the search with a single click.

Collections are stored as simple text files in a folder on your drive. The Bridge Favorites pane provides a shortcut to the Collections folder. Click it, and you'll be presented with a window full of all of your saved collections (Figure 5.24). Click any of these, and the search parameters stored in that collection will be executed. By default, the search will be executed on the same folder that you were viewing when you originally performed the search and saved the collection. Because collections are nothing more than text files, you can also drag them from the Bridge window to your desktop. You can then double-click them to execute them.

Figure 5.24. The Collections pane lets you see all of the collections that you've created using the Find command. Collections provide you with one-button access to common searches.


If you want to build a collection search that can be applied to any folder, you must select the Start Search from Current Folder check box when you save the collection (Figure 5.25). After saving, click Collections in the Favorites pane to view your saved collections. Drag the collection you just created to the Favorites pane. Now you can navigate to any folder on your system and then click the Collection entry in your Favorites pane to perform that search on your selected folder.

Figure 5.25. If you want to search in any directory, not just the one you searched at the time you saved the collection, then you need to select the Start Search from Current Folder check box when you save the collection.


Needless to say, this is a somewhat cumbersome search mechanism, but if you really need to perform a search, it is perfectly effective.

Finding images using the Elements 3 and CS File Browser

Like the Bridge Find command, the File Browser Search command lets you build complex searches that can find images based on multiple criteria. To access the Search command, click the binoculars icon on the File Browser's toolbar (Figure 5.26).

Figure 5.26. From the Bridge and File Browser toolbars, you can click the Find icon to look for files.


In addition to specifying where to search, you can add criteria to build a complex search function. You can search by file name or file size, date created, ranking, and more.

Unlike Bridge, the File Browser does not allow you to save search criteria. However, it does store the most recent search results, which you can access by clicking Search Results in the File Browser pane.

Finding images using Organizer

Organizer's Find menu provides a full complement of search options that allow you to search your entire image library or the currently selected collection. In addition to letting you search by file name, caption, and date ranges, Organizer provides a number of other powerful search options. For example, you can search for images that you've e-mailed to a particular person (assuming that you initiated the e-mail process from Organizer). You can also search for images printed or exported on a particular date.

If you've tagged your images with any of the tags in the Tags pane, then you only have to click the check box next to a tag in the Tags pane to filter your entire collection to just those images with that particular tag.

Perhaps one of the most interesting Find features Organizer provides is the ability to automatically identify faces in your images. You can drag and drop specific faces onto items in the Tags pane, to immediately tag those images. If you create specific tags for specific people, you can quickly create an index to particular individuals within your library.

A word about searching EXIF data

Both Bridge and the File Browser allow you to find images based on their EXIF metadata. The idea is that if you want to search a folder for all of the images that were shot at ISO 400, you can simply add a criteria that says EXIF Metadata Contains 400.

Unfortunately, while this search feature does in fact let you search the EXIF metadata, it doesn't let you specify which part of the EXIF information to search. So if you shot some of your images with a 200 to 400mm zoom lens, and that information is stored in your metadata, then those images will appear in your search results as well. If you find that your metadata searches yield images that you don't want, this may be why.

Organizer provides a much more sophisticated EXIF search that lets you specify particular EXIF tags to search (Figure 5.27).

Figure 5.27. In Organizer, you can search for data in specific metadata fields. Here, I'm looking for all images shot at ISO 100 with a shutter speed greater than 1/30 of a second.


FINDING AN ORIGINAL FILE

Being able to search within Bridge or the File Browser for images with particular characteristics can be handy, but sometimes you may also want to know where the actual file is on your hard drive.

If you're a Windows user, select a file and then choose File > Reveal in Explorer if you're using Bridge, or View > Reveal Location in Explorer if you're using the Elements or CS File Browser.

If you're a Mac user, select a file and then choose File > Reveal in Finder if you're using Bridge. If you're using the File Browser in Photoshop Elements or CS, then choose View > Reveal Location in Finder from the File Browser's toolbar.


Adding metadata

We've already discussed a few of the types of metadata that get stored with your images. In addition to the EXIF metadata that your camera writes to any type of image that it records (this is the metadata regarding exposure and other information about your shot), the Adobe browsers and Camera Raw store metadata to keep track of the types of edits that you want Camera Raw or Photoshop to make to an image.

The Metadata pane in Bridge and the File Browser is divided into sections that you can open and close to view each type of metadata (Figure 5.28).

Figure 5.28. The Metadata pane lets you view the specifics of all of the types of metadata stored in a file. Here, we've chosen to look more closely at the EXIF metadata for our image.


While the Adobe browsers let you view all of these types of metadata, they don't let you edit EXIF or Camera Raw data, nor do they let you edit the basic file property metadata. The EXIF and file property metadata simply report that the image was shot a particular way and at a particular time and is a particular size. The Camera Raw data is simply a reflection of the edits you make in Camera Raw.

Depending on your camera's capabilities, other types of metadata may be stored here as well. For example, if your camera has a GPS system built in, then there will be GPS fields that contain the GPS coordinates where the image was shot. These fields will also be read-only.

To view metadata in Organizer, make sure the Properties palette is visible (choose Window > Properties or right-click an image and choose Show Properties). Click the Metadata button at the top of the palette and then select the Complete radio button at the bottom of the palette (Figure 5.29). This will provide access to all of the same metadata that is shown in Bridge's Metadata pane.

Figure 5.29. Using Organizer's Properties palette, you can view the IPTC metadata for your image.


There is one type of metadata that you can edit: the IPTC Core. Years ago, the International Press Telecommunications Council established a standard for formatting and including ownership and cataloging information in electronic images. Photoshop has supported this format for years, but before the File Browser, the only way to enter this metadata was through Photoshop's File Info command. Bridge and the File Browser make entering IPTC data much easier.

Any editable IPTC field appears in Bridge or the File Browser with a small pencil icon next to it. You can double-click the field to enter new data or click the pencil to start editing. When you're finished, press Enter or click the check box at the bottom of the Metadata pane (Figure 5.30).

Figure 5.30. You can edit the IPTC metadata so that it contains all of your relevant contact and copyright information, as well as descriptions and notes about your image. All of these fields and notes can be searched using Bridge or the File Browser's Search facility.


Obviously, typing this information for every image you've shot can be tedious. Fortunately, you can bulk-edit metadata by selecting a group of images and then editing the metadata fields. Later in this chapter, you'll see another way to expedite your metadata edits.

NOTE

You can't edit the metadata (or keywords, which we'll discuss next) of any image that is currently open in Photoshop or Camera Raw. If you click an image in the browser and don't see a pencil next to what should be editable metadata, it's probably because the image is open.


Even if you don't want to hassle with filling in most of the fields, if you're going to post your images to a web site, it's worthwhile filling in the copyright information. Metadata tags that you insert in Bridgeeven ones that you add to a raw filewill stay with any and all iterations of that file. In other words, if you create a bunch of different-sized JPEG files from your processed raw file, each one will include the copyright information that you enter now.

Adding keywords

We have not talked at all about the Keywords tab that sits alongside Metadata. Keywords are just another type of metadata, and as such, they get stored with your image and are copied to all versions of the file.

The point of keywords is to provide you with a means of sorting and searching. The Find facilities provided by all of the Adobe browsers and many third-party image catalogers let you search for specific keywords. So, for example, if you tag all of your vacation pictures with the Vacation keyword, you can easily pull those out of a larger volume of images later.

A default set of keywords are provided, and you can easily add these keywords to an image or set of images by selecting the appropriate files in the browser and then checking the box next to the keywords that you want to apply to those images (Figure 5.31).

Figure 5.31. You can add keywords to any image by simply checking boxes in the Keywords palette. Using the New Keyword Set and New Keyword buttons, you can define your own categories and keywords.


Keywords are divided into sets in the Keywords pane, and you can create new sets and new keywords using the two buttons at the bottom of the pane.

Like flossing, practicing, and stretching, adding keywords to your images may be boring, but it can have big payoffs in the long term. By adding custom keywords, you can, over time, build a very refined search facility for cataloging and finding images. (And no, you won't find my images heavily keyworded, but I'm trying to get in the habit. You also won't find me limber or well practiced, but my teeth are clean, so I have hope for my keywording goals.)

ORGANIZER TAGS

If you're using Organizer, then you can use the Tags pane to add the equivalent of keywords to your images. Note that these tags are not initially written into the metadata information that's stored with the file. Rather, they're kept in Organizer's internal database. If you want to transfer these tags to the regular IPTC metadata fields (so that they can be read by other applications), then you need to select the images and choose File > Write Tag Info to Files.


Step 3: Process your images

After all that finding, sorting, ranking, and labeling; renaming, rotating, deleting, and flagging; and adding of keywords and metadata, you should have a collection of images that you've whittled down to the selects that you think are worth processing and outputting. Whether or not you followed all of those steps and took all of those actions or just quickly marked your select images using the flag or rating system, you're now ready to process your raw files.

In Chapter 4, you saw how Camera Raw's controls work and learned the basics of processing a raw image. It is those skillsalong with additional Camera Raw tricks that you'll learn about in the next chapterthat you will employ at this stage of your workflow. Your images are selected; now you need to get them processed from raw files into regular, usable image files.

First the bad news: As you saw in Chapter 4, editing a raw file can take some time, especially if you have a tricky exposure or want to perform some very subtle manipulations and edits. If your selection stage has left you with 20 images of varying color, tone, and contrast that each need lots of finessing in Camera Raw, then you're simply going to have to devote some time to working on each image.

The good news is that it's pretty rare that you'll end up in that situation. The fact is that under most circumstances, today's cameras do an excellent job of calculating exposure and white balance. What's more, even if you find that an image does need a boost here or a reduction in exposure there, if you shot lots of other images at the same time, you can most likely apply the same Camera Raw settings to those other images as well. This means that you may need to devote time to only a few images. You can then copy those adjustments to the rest of your selects.

With these facts in mind, here's a good way to proceed once you've finished making your selections:

  1. Identify the difficult images. There probably won't be too many images that need a lot of fine attention (unless you were shooting in particularly difficult situations, such as low light). Identify those images from your group of selects and work on them first (or last, if you prefer to procrastinate on difficult tasks).

  2. Group your images into similar exposures. If you shot a series of images of a single subject at one time, group these together in the browser (Figure 5.32). Then open the first image of the group in Camera Raw. Adjust it accordingly and then copy its settings to the other images in the group. We'll discuss how to move settings in the next section.

    Figure 5.32. Because these images were shot at the same time and are fairly similar, they probably need very similar Camera Raw settings, which means that we can get away with batch processing them, rather than tweaking each one individually.


  3. Don't open or save any of the images that you're editing. Whether it's the tough individual images or the batches of images, simply define Camera Raw's parameters and then click Done (or press Alt-Update in Windows or Option-Update on the Mac if you're using the CS File Browser). You'll let Camera Raw batch process your edits later. (More on this in the next section.)

As you work with Camera Raw and your camera, you'll get a better feel for the types of adjustments that need to be made in particular situations. This understanding, combined with Camera Raw's ability to change default settings and copy settings between files, allows you to quickly assign effective settings to entire batches of documents.

Adjusting multiple files in CS2

If you're using Camera Raw 3 in Photoshop CS2, then you have several options for processing multiple files. If you've grouped your images into batches of similar exposures, as suggested, then it's a fairly simple matter to apply the same settings to all of the images.

In Bridge, select the images that you want to edit. Next, double-click one of the selected images or choose File > Open. Either of these processes will open all of the files in Camera Raw. As you saw earlier, when you open multiple images in Camera Raw 3, the files appear in a vertical scrolling pane to the left of the Camera Raw dialog box. You can click any image in the scrolling pane and then edit its settings.

At this point, you can work through your images and adjust each by hand. However, if the images are all similarly exposed and so need similar adjustments, then a faster approach is to use the Synchronize feature.

Click the Select All button at the top of the window (or press Ctrl-A in Windows or Command-A on the Mac) to select all of the images; then click the Synchronize button. This will bring up the Synchronize dialog box, where you can select the parameters you want to synchronize (Figure 5.33).

Figure 5.33. Camera Raw's Synchronize dialog box lets you apply the same settings to all currently open images.


If your images are very similar, then you can simply synchronize all of the settings. Any change you make to any setting of any synchronized image will automatically be transferred to all of the other synchronized images.

Even if your images don't need the exact same adjustments, Synchronize may still be of some help. For example, if the white balance of all of your images is similarly out of whack, then you can synchronize just the Color Temperature and Tint settings. Or perhaps all of the images need a similar Shadow adjustment, which you can synchronize, but separate Exposure and Brightness adjustments, which you can alter by hand.

Note that if you select a single image, thus undoing the Select All command, then your edits will affect only that one selected image. Choosing Select All again will restore you to editing the synchronized setyou won't have to resynchronize. Also note that synchronization settings are not stored in the files' metadata. As soon as you leave Camera Raw, synchronization will be lost, though the settings that you applied to the images will still be stored.

Adjusting multiple files in Elements 3, Elements 4, and Photoshop CS

Photoshop Elements and CS don't provide the same multiple file editing and synchronization that you get in CS2. However, there is a fairly simple workaround that enables you to apply the same settings to multiple images.

In the File Browser, select a group of images and then double-click one of the selected files. The first image will open in Camera Raw. Edit it as you normally would.

Hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) key to turn the OK button into an Update button and then click the Update button. This will save your settings in the file's metadata, allowing you to process it later.

Camera Raw will immediately open the next image from the batch that you selected. From the Settings menu, select Previous Conversion (Figure 5.34). This will apply the same settings that you applied to the last image.

Figure 5.34. Selecting Previous Conversion from Camera Raw's Settings menu will adjust the current image using the settings you used in your previous Camera Raw conversion.


Now when you close the image, the next one will open, and you can select Previous Conversion again. In this way, you can work your way through the entire selection.

While this is a perfectly effective solution, a better solution is presented in the next section.

Copying Camera Raw settings between raw files

All versions of Camera Raw, as well as Bridge and the File Browser, allow you to copy settings from one raw file to another.

Remember: When you make adjustments to a raw file in Camera Raw, those settings are stored in the metadata for that file. Whether you choose to keep that metadata in the internal cache or in external sidecar XMP files is irrelevant.

Bridge and the File Browser provide a facility for copying settings from one raw file to another. With this functionality, you can open a single file in Camera Raw, edit it as you like, close the file, and then copy the file's Camera Raw settings to any other files that you choose. When opened, those other files will be processed in the same way. This can be a tremendous time-saver when you need to process large numbers of images.

Obviously, before you can use any of these methods of copying settings, you need some settings to copy. Open a file and adjust it appropriately; then save the settings and close the file.

Copying Camera Raw settings in Bridge

Bridge provides some very simple menu options for copying Camera Raw settings from one raw file to another. If you just finished editing the file you want to copy from, select the files that you want to apply the settings to and choose Edit > Apply Camera Raw Settings > Previous Conversion. The settings that you used in your last Camera Raw edit will be applied to the selected files.

The Apply Camera Raw Settings command has some other handy options. Copy Camera Raw Settings lets you grab the settings from the currently selected file, and Paste Camera Raw Settings lets you add those settings to any other files. When you choose to paste settings, Bridge presents a dialog box (Figure 5.35) where you can select precisely which settings you want to paste. This provides an easy way to quickly apply a few settingssuch as Color Temperature and Tintto a group of files without having to open them in Camera Raw.

Figure 5.35. In Bridge, when copying Camera Raw settings from one raw file to another, Paste Camera Raw Settings lets you pick precisely which Camera Raw settings to apply.


Finally, the Clear Camera Raw Settings option returns the raw file to its original, just-out-of-the-camera state. If you've copied the wrong settings into a file, or if you've just really screwed them up with some bad edits, this option offers a simple way to return your file to its "normal" state.

Copying Camera Raw settings in Elements 3 and CS

Once you've applied settings to a raw file, you can easily move those settings to other raw files using a few simple menu commands.

First, select the files to which you want to copy settings; then choose Automate > Apply Camera Raw Settings from the Camera Raw menu bar.

In Photoshop Elements, you'll be presented with a simple dialog box that gives you several choices. First Selected Image applies the settings from the first image that you clicked in the current selection to all of the other images in the selection. Camera Default restores the image to its original just-out-of-the-camera state. Previous Conversion applies the settings from the last conversion that you made.

Photoshop CS provides the same options, but adds the ability to load settings from a file. In addition, the Advanced button gives you access to the actual Camera Raw sliders, allowing you to tweak settings before they are applied.

Batch processing your raw files

At this point, all of your selected raw files should be ready to process. Either because you edited them individually or used batch techniques for applying Camera Raw settings, or most likely some combination of both, they should now all have Camera Raw settings applied to them. This means that you're finally ready to hand them off to Camera Raw to process them into final files. Because this processing may take a while, depending on how many images you have, this is an operation that you can start and leave unattended. The procedure for triggering the batch conversion, though, differs depending on the browser you're using.

Batch processing with Bridge

One of the nice things about Bridge is that it can serve as the host for Camera Raw. This makes batch processing a little easier than it is in Elements 3 or 4 or Photoshop CS. It also means that you can let Bridge process your images while you use your computer for something else. However, if you want to keep working in Bridge, you can have Photoshop host Camera Raw, which will free up Bridge. (So far, you've most likely been using Camera Raw hosted by Photoshop for all of your edits.)

To process your images using Bridge, select the raw images that you want to process and then choose File > Open in Camera Raw. The entire batch of images will be opened in Camera Raw, though it will be hosted by Bridge. Click Select All in the Camera Raw dialog box to select all of the images; then click the Save x Images button. The Save dialog box opens, where you can select a file format and naming conventions (Figure 5.36).

Figure 5.36. When saving multiple images from Camera Raw, you can specify file name generation parameters as well as the destination and format.


The Save options provided are fairly straightforward. You can select a location to save the resulting files in, or you can save the files in the same folder as the original raw files. Don't worryyour raw files will not be overwritten.

The File Naming controls let you specify a base name, which can have up to three components appended, including a sequential number or letter, the date, and a standard file extension.

Finally, you can select the file format that you want to use. In addition to regular Photoshop and JPEG file formats, you can use TIFF or Adobe's own DNG format.

Click the Save button, and Camera Raw will begin processing your images. Because Bridge is hosting Camera Raw, you won't be able to do anything with it until the conversions are done. If you'd rather not have Bridge tied up while your images are processed, you can host Camera Raw in Photoshop and perform your conversions there.

TIP

With images selected in Bridge, you can use Ctrl-O (Windows) or Command-O (Mac) to open them in Camera Raw hosted by Photoshop, or Ctrl-R (Windows) or Command-R (Mac) to open them in Camera Raw hosted by Bridge.


To host in Photoshop, select your images and then choose File > Open. Camera Raw will launch from within Photoshop, just as it has done in all of our previous examples, and you can follow the procedure just described. When Camera Raw is hosted in Photoshop, Bridge remains free for you to continue using.

If you'd rather process your images and have them open in Photoshop afterward, instead of saving, click the Open x Images button in Camera Raw, not the Save x Images button. Note, however, that if you are processing a particularly large batch of images and opening the images at full resolution (or greater), you may begin to tax the RAM of your system. Photoshop uses a very effective disk caching system for managing large amounts of data, but pushing it to the point where it must swap out lots of data to your hard drive can severely impact your computer's performance.

Batch processing with the Batch command

The Batch command provided by both Bridge and the Photoshop CS File Browser provides a way to process your images and perform a few other tasks in one fell swoop. If you're using the File Browser under Photoshop CS, this is the only option you have for batch processing your raw files. If you're using Bridge, you may want to use this technique because it will save you a few image processing steps later. (If you're using Photoshop Elements, see the next section.)

NOTE

When you use the Batch command with Bridge, Camera Raw is hosted in Photoshop.


The Batch command works just like the File > Automate > Batch command in Photoshop. With it, you can process and save a batch of raw files. Although Bridge users already have a way to batch process a group of raw files, the Batch command allows automation of some additional Photoshop tasks during the conversion process.

Before you can begin using the Batch command, you need to create an action in Photoshop that will take care of opening and saving your images. As you'll see, the Batch dialog box provides special open and save options, but these don't work properly when you're working with raw files. If you've never created an action in Photoshop, don't worryit's not difficult.

Create a Photoshop action. In Photoshop CS or CS2, click the New Action button at the bottom of the Actions palette (Figure 5.37). If the Actions palette is not currently visible, select Window > Actions to activate it.

Figure 5.37. You can use the controls at the bottom of Photoshop's Actions palette to create and record new actions.


Give the action a name, such as Process Raw Files, and, in the resulting dialog box, make sure that Default Actions is selected in the Set pop-up menu. Then click Record. The action will appear in the Actions palette, and the Record button on the Actions palette will appear lighted, indicating that Photoshop is recording everything you do and storing those steps in the current action.

Now choose File > Open and open a raw file that you've applied settings to in Camera Raw. It's very important that you now choose Image Settings in the Camera Raw Settings pop-up menu. This will ensure that the batch processor will use the image settings stored with the raw file, instead of any default settings.

Next, configure Camera Raw's Workflow Optionscolor space, bit depth, size, resolution. Finally, click Open to open the image. Camera Raw will process the image and open it in Photoshop.

Photoshop is still recording your steps, so now choose Save As from the File menu. You'll be presented with the standard Save As dialog box. At this point, it doesn't matter what you enter as the name and destination. These parameters will be replaced later when the Batch command is executed. For now, just enter any name in the Name field and choose a temporary destination. I usually save to the desktop, so that I can easily find the resulting file and delete it.

Set Format to Photoshop; then click Save to save the file. Finally, close the document.

Now click the Stop button at the bottom of the Actions palette to stop recording. If you want, you can delete the file that you just saved.

You now have an action that will open a Camera Raw image, process it according to the settings saved in the metadata, and then save the resulting image as a Photoshop file. We'll use this action in conjunction with the Batch command to automatically process groups of raw images.

Run your batch process. With your action configured, you're ready to return to Bridge or the CS File Browser and select the raw files that you want to process. In Bridge, choose Tools > Photoshop > Batch to invoke the batch processing window. From the Photoshop CS File Browser, choose Automate > Batch from the File Browser menu bar.

These commands both bring up the standard Photoshop Batch window (Figure 5.38).

Figure 5.38. You can trigger Photoshop's Batch command from within Bridge or the File Browser. With it, you can automatically process raw files while applying a Photoshop action.


You must be careful to properly configure the Batch dialog box:

  • In the Play section of the dialog box, be certain that Default Actions is selected in the Set pop-up menu. From the Actions pop-up menu, pick the action that you created earlier (in this case, Process Raw Files).

  • If you're using Bridge, set the Source pop-up menu to Bridge; if you're using the File Browser, set it to File Browser. This will cause the Batch command to process the images that you've currently selected. Alternately, you can select Folder and then choose a specific folder full of images to process.

  • Select Override Action "Open" Commands. This tells the batch processor to override the Open command in your action and use the next image in the selected Batch instead. If you're wondering why we bothered to create an Open command in our Photoshop action if we were just going to override it anyway, the answer is because if we let the Batch command open the files for us, it won't use the raw conversion parameters that are saved with each image.

  • If you want the processed images to remain open in Photoshop, select None for Destination. If you want to save the converted images, select Folder. Selecting Save and Close can be dangerous because there is a chance that you'll overwrite your original raw files. It's almost always better to choose Folder, which lets you select a specific folder to save to.

  • Select Override Action "Save As" Commands. The Batch processor won't actually completely override the Save As command that we recorded in our action. It will still save using the format we recorded, but it will use the name and destination information that we enter in the Batch dialog box.

  • Use the File Naming controls to set a base name and establish any appended information that you want to use, such as a sequential number or date. Note that Photoshop will probably require you to choose at least a sequential number suffix; otherwise, all the files will have the same name.

Click OK, and Camera Raw will begin processing your selected images according to the settings that you've defined.

Though this procedure is a little more complicated than batch processing in Bridge, it's the only option you have if you're using Photoshop CS. However, whether you're using Bridge or CS, running a Photoshop action during the conversion process can be very handy.

For example, if you know that you'll want to perform some Levels or Curves adjustments after your images are processed, you could create an action that adds a Levels or Curves adjustment layer to the current document and then trigger that action during the Batch command. Then, when your images are done processing you'll have a collection of Photoshop documents that already have Levels and Curves adjustment layers added to them.

This type of batch processing allows you to effectively build an Open command that does much more than simply process and open a raw file.

Batch processing with Photoshop Elements 3 and 4

Elements uses a scheme that's completely different from either Bridge or the Photoshop CS File Browser.

TIP

If you need to quickly process images for web delivery, use the Workflow Options settings in the Camera Raw dialog box to specify a smaller image size. You may also want to choose an sRGB color space, as this is more appropriate for web-bound images.


When you want to process multiple raw files in Elements 3, first select the images in the File Browser; then choose Automate > Process Multiple Files (Figure 5.39).

  • In the Process Multiple Files dialog box, set the Process Files From pop-up menu to File Browser. This tells Elements to process the files you've selected in the File Browser. You can also set it to Folder and then pick a particular folder full of raw images.

  • In the Destination field, either type a destination path by hand or click the Browse button to select a folder.

  • In the File Name control, select a base file name and one type of data to append to the file. Elements will automatically append an appropriate extension to your file names.

  • In the Image Size box, you can specify whether you want your images resized upon opening. Since Camera Raw running under Elements doesn't give you an option to set file sizes, this is a way to automatically scale your images down or up before opening. For quickly outputting images for e-mail or the web, this can be a great time-saver.

  • From the File Type pop-up menu, select your desired output format.

Figure 5.39. In Elements 3, you can batch process images by using the Process Multiple Files dialog box.


The Quick Fix options let you automatically apply auto levels, contrast, or color adjustments to your image or add sharpening. You probably won't need any of these if you've done your work right in Camera Raw. The Labels feature can be handy for web postings, though. Using the Watermark feature, you can automatically superimpose a text watermark on your images.

With the dialog box configured, click OK, and Camera Raw will begin processing your images. Although you won't see the Camera Raw dialog box, you will see each image open in Elements as it's processed.

In Elements 4, choose File > Process Multiple Files. In the resulting dialog box (Figure 5.40), first select the source folder that contains the images you want to process. Then pick a destination folder, along with any naming or resizing options that you want performed. Finally, select a file type for the resulting images. Using the Quick Fix options, you can elect to apply some automatic image processing to your images.

Figure 5.40. Elements 3 and 4 offer similar dialog boxes for processing multiple images. In addition to performing scaling and file conversions, you can auto-matically apply basic image editing operations, such as auto levels.


BE CAREFUL ABOUT SAVING IN JPEG FORMAT

No matter what host application or technique you're using to batch process your raw files, be careful about your format choice. If you're going to directly e-mail your resulting images or post them to the web, then JPEG is your ideal choice. But if you plan to make any additional edits using Photoshop or any other image editing tools, then JPEG is a bad choice. Remember that every time you save a file in JPEG mode, you degrade its quality. So if you're going to edit your images, it's better to save out of Camera Raw in either Photoshop or TIFF format. After editing, you can perform a final conversion to JPEG for electronic delivery.


Step 4: Edit your Photoshop files

As powerful as Camera Raw's editing tools are, there will still be some edits that are possibleor much easierto perform only in Photoshop. Obviously, any painting, rubber stamping, or other interactive brush-oriented edits have to be performed in Photoshop.

Compositing and masking operations, custom filters, special effects, CMYK conversionsthese are all operations that you may need to regularly perform. In addition, there are some tonal and color corrections that are easier to perform with Photoshop's specialized controls. In the next chapter, we'll look at some controls that particularly complement Camera Raw's tonal and color tools.

In my opinion, no matter what size your final image needs to be, it's always best to do your editing and retouching at the highest resolution your camera can manage. This will afford you more flexibility if you ever decide to repurpose your image later. Though you may think that you'll only post the image to the web, by the time you're done editing, you may decide that it would look great printed. If you scale your image down to web size before editing, then you won't have enough data to make a decent print.

So work at full size and save your image in a lossless format like Photoshop. You can then resize and save additional versions for your various output needs.

One of the great luxuries of working with raw is that if you somehow mess up your Photoshop file, you can simply reprocess your original raw file. Unless you change them, all of your raw settings will be the same when you return to Camera Raw. The raw file is truly like a digital negative. At any time, you can make a new, freshly processed image from your original raw data.

OPTIONAL: FLATTEN AND SAVE IN PHOTOSHOP FORMAT

If you've performed a lot of edits and adjustments using adjustment layers, or if you've created a lot of extra layers to create a composite or special effect, then you'll probably want to save a copy of your full-res, layered image in Photoshop format. Because Photoshop format preserves all layers, you'll be able to go back later and make changes to your adjustment layers or further refine your compositing and effects layers.

With your document saved in Photoshop format, you're ready to move on to the next step, which is preparing your image for final output and then saving it in the appropriate formats. Because these formats don't require layered files, you'll need to flatten your image. Flattening compresses the entire layer stack into a single layer. To flatten an image in any version of Photoshop, select Flatten Image from the pop-up menu at the upper-right corner of the Layers palette.


Step 5: Resize and sharpen your images

Once you've finished with your edits, you can think about what you want to do with your finished file. For instance, after completing your editing and retouching, you may need to make a version of your image for a web site. If you've been working at full size, then you'll need to resize your image and, of course, convert it to JPEG.

Or maybe you want to order prints of your completed images from an online printing service. These services almost always demand JPEG files, so though you may not need to resize, you will need to save in JPEG format.

Or maybe you're going to print your image on your own printer at a particular size, say 4 x 6 inches. If you're shooting with a high-resolution camera5 megapixels or greaterthen it's a good idea to size your image down a little before printing. You won't want to do a JPEG conversion, but you'll probably want to save a separate printing version in Photoshop or TIFF format. This will preserve your full-size edited Photoshop version and allow you to perform additional color corrections after printing a test print.

Resizing for the web or e-mail is very simple. In Photoshop CS or CS2, choose Image > Image Size. Make certain the Resample Image check box is checked; then enter your desired pixel dimensions (Figure 5.41). Resolution is irrelevant for web or e-mail use, so click OK to resize your image.

Figure 5.41. To resize images for the web using Photoshop's Image Size dialog box, select the Resample Image check box and then enter your desired pixel dimensions.


Resizing for print is a little more complicated. If you're going to send your file to an online print service, the service will probably provide image size specifications and instructions on its web site.

If you're resizing for your own printer, open Photoshop's Image Size dialog box. Make sure Resample Image is unchecked. In the Document Size fields, enter the dimensions of your target print size. As you change the dimension fields, the Resolution field will also change. If it drops below 200 for prints larger than 8 x 10 inches (or 300 for smaller prints), then it's probably a good idea to select the Resample Image button and enter 200 (or 300 for smaller prints) in the Resolution field.

Once your image is resized, you're ready to apply any sharpening that you may need. Sharpening always needs to be performed at your final output size; therefore sharpening should be your very last step before saving.

Step 6: Save your images

Now you're ready to save your image in the appropriate file format. For e-mail, web, or delivery to an online printing service, you'll want to save in JPEG format. If you're saving a separate version for your own printing, save in Photoshop or TIFF format.

If you need separate versions for web and print, then you can return to your edited Photoshop document, resize and sharpen again at the appropriate size and then save yet another version. By the time you're done preparing all of the versions for your different types of output, you may have files in several formats.

COLOR CORRECTION FOR PRINTING

If your ultimate goal is printed output of your images using your own printer, then you may have a few extra steps to perform after you've resized and sharpened your images.

As you've probably already discovered, an image on your computer monitor looks very different from the image that comes out of your printer. Though you can use special calibrating and profiling software and hardware to build a monitor and printer combination that yields greater color accuracy, an image on even the most accurate monitor is still going to look different in print. A computer monitor is a bright light-emitting device capable of displaying a fairly large gamut of colors, typically sRGB, aRGB, or others. A color print is a reflective object with a smaller gamut.

So whether your monitor and printer are very closely calibrated or not, you'll still probably need to make a few test prints and apply a few adjustments to your images to get them to print precisely the way you want them to. If you've already heavily edited your image to get it to look good on the screen, then the idea of doing more color correction may be frustrating. However, as you gain printing experience, you'll get a better feel for how your monitor and printer correspond and so will be able to achieve the prints that you want with fewer test prints and adjustments.

If you're frustrated by the idea of using ink and paper simply to test color, take solace in the fact that wet darkroom photographers have to do the same thing, and their printing process is more expensive and more time consuming.

Adjustment layers make it very simple to create and adjust test prints. Begin by printing your resized, sharpened, flattened document on the paper of your choice. Evaluate the image for contrast and color and then choose an appropriate type of adjustment layer to tackle your problem.

If your printed image is too dark, then you'll probably want to add a Levels adjustment layer so that you can either boost the black point or alter the gamma.

If the color in your test print is offmaybe the image has an overall green cast or is too warmthen use a Curves or Hue/Saturation adjustment layer (Figure 5.42).

Figure 5.42. This image required a Levels adjustment layer to correct for an over-dark print, a Curves adjustment layer to remove a warmish cast, and a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer to tone down the yellow.


With this first round of layers applied, make another test print. Using its results, you can then alter your existing adjustment layers or add more layers to make more corrections.

As always, when editing, keep an eye peeled for posterization and tone breaks.

When you have the image the way you want it, save a copy of this file so that you can make more prints later. I usually save separate corrected versions for each type of paper that I print on. You'll probably find that glossy paper needs a very different set of adjustment layers than matte paper does.

Finally, if you find that you're consistently having to add the same type of Levels or Curves layers to correct your prints, consider building a Photoshop action to automatically add these layers to your document.


Step 7: Archive your images

When you are finally done with all of your image editing, printing, and outputting, you'll want to archive or back up your images. Copying to another hard drive is the fastest, easiest way to perform a simple backup. For long-term storage, burning to CD-ROM or DVD-ROM is the easiest and most cost-effective backup process.

If you set Camera Raw to save XMP data in sidecar files, be sure to archive these along with your raw files and final output files.

BACKING UP USING ORGANIZER

Organizer provides an automated backup facility that you can access by choosing File > Backup. The Backup command lets you either back up the entire catalog or simply copy or move a selection of files to a recordable CD or another hard drive. If you choose to back up the entire catalog, then Organizer will automatically keep track of what has already been archived, allowing you to perform incremental backups later (an incremental backup copies only new images that have not yet been backed up).

Just follow the simple onscreen instructions to create your backup.


That's it! You've now gone through a complete workflow from image transfer to archiving. Obviously, you may not need to perform all of these steps. You may not need to output several different versions, or your images may not require any additional Photoshop editing after your initial raw conversion.

Though this big list of steps may seem a little complex, raw workflow is actually fairly simple. To keep things easy to manage, it's worth getting in the habit of using Camera Raw's batch capabilities.

Incorporating DNG into your workflow

As discussed in Chapter 4, Adobe has developed the Digital Negative Specification, which provides an open standard for the formatting of raw camera data. Designed because there currently is no standard for the format of raw files, the Digital Negative Specification is intended to provide a safe format for raw images. Images in Adobe's DNG format will, in theory, always be readable even if Adobe or any particular camera manufacturer goes out of business.

So is there a place for DNG in your workflow? That partly depends on how paranoid you are. If you're worried that, 50 years from now, there will be no hardware or software left that knows how to read your raw files, and if you believe that there will still be a group of open-source hackers who will build a DNG reader that runs on whatever computer you might be using, then sure, why not convert your images to DNG format so future generations can pore over them?

In the short term, there is a practical advantage to using DNG files, though. The DNG format supports all of the metadata information that you've been working with in Camera Rawnot just IPTC and EXIF information, but Camera Raw settings as well. When you process a DNG file with Camera Raw, all of your conversion settings are saved in the DNG file, so you don't have to hassle with XMP sidecar files or worry about losing your settings if you copy your files to another drive. For this reason, it may be worth converting to DNG.

Whether you choose to or not, is up to you. Personally, though I laud Adobe for developing an open standard like this, I have yet to convert my images to DNG, simply because right now I have plenty of software support for my files. If the day comes when I feel that I may be losing the ability to read those files, I'll try to convert them then.

My approach may be careless, but there's no guarantee that converting to DNG for long-term image storage is the way to go, either. The fact is, we don't know much yet about the archival stability of recordable CDs and DVDs. It may turn out that archival prints are more durable than any of our electronic and optical media.

BETTER MAC WORKFLOW THROUGH AUTOMATOR

If you're a Mac user running OS X 10.4 (Tiger), then you have an additional workflow tool that you can turn to for complex batch processing jobs. Automator, an application that's preinstalled in your Applications folder, lets you quickly and easily build stand-alone applets and Finder plug-ins that can automatically perform all sorts of complex workflow chores (Figure 5.43).

Figure 5.43. Apple's Automator, a standard component of OS X 10.4 (Tiger), lets you create complex automated workflows for batch processing images. To get the most out of it, download My Free Photoshop actions for Automator.


Automator does not ship with any Photoshop support, and Adobe has not yet provided any. However, I have written a suite of 40+ Automator actions for Photoshop that you can install in Automator. With these actions, you can use Automator to drive Photoshop and create complex batch processing operations. In addition to resizing, sharpening, performing adjustments, and executing Photoshop's own internal actions, my Photoshop Action Pack includes Automator actions that let you filter a batch of images by EXIF or IPTC information, orientation, color mode, bit depth, and more. With these filter actions, you can create complex workflows that process images in different ways depending on their characteristics. This type of logic is not possible with Photoshop's internal actions.

You can download these Photoshop Automator actions for free from www.completedigitalphotography.com.





Getting Started with Camera Raw(c) How to make better pictures using Photoshop and Photoshop Elements
Getting Started with Camera Raw: How to make better pictures using Photoshop and Photoshop Elements (2nd Edition)
ISBN: 0321592131
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 76
Authors: Ben Long

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