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When your digital camera records in RAW format, it isn't actually creating an image file. Rather, it is creating a data file that contains the information collected by each individual photodiode on the imaging sensor during exposure. This is the reason RAW captures need to be converted in the first place.
Besides enabling you to produce an image file that can be adjusted, the RAW conversion process provides an opportunity to optimize the image. By making careful adjustments in the RAW conversion, you can assure yourself of the best quality possible. However, just because you need to be careful about these adjustments doesn't mean the RAW conversion process can't be incredibly efficient.
Utilizing the Camera Raw plug-in within Photoshop provides a distinct advantage in convenience and workflow efficiency. Bridge (the included file browser) allows you to preview your RAW captures, and starting the conversion process is as simple as opening the RAW file. Furthermore, the Camera Raw interface is designed efficiently to allow you to work quickly when establishing the optimal settings for RAW conversion (slide show, image 5). You can even batch process RAW captures that can be converted with the same settings, such as when the images were all captured under similar lighting conditions.
To get started with Camera Raw, simply open a RAW capture either from the File > Open dialog box or by double-clicking the image thumbnail in Bridge.
Camera Raw Settings
The first step I recommend when converting a RAW capture for the first time in Camera Raw is to remove the sharpening that is applied by default. To do so, click the Preferences button on the toolbar in Camera Raw to bring up the Camera Raw Preferences dialog box. Set the Apply Sharpening To dropdown to Preview Images Only (slide show, image 6) and click OK. I strongly recommend doing this for three reasons. First, using a single slider to adjust sharpening doesn't provide nearly the degree of control I'd like to exercise over the sharpening process. Second, the default setting is simply too aggressive and often creates halo artifacts at high-contrast edges within the image. Finally, I prefer not to apply any sharpening until the image is being prepared for final output, as will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 14, "Output Processing."
In addition to the sharpening setting, you might want to turn on the clipping preview options in the histogram display, so you'll see a color overlay on areas where detail has been lost in the highlights or shadows. I say that you might want to enable this display because you'll also have another option for seeing a clipping preview as I'll discuss later in this chapter. If you want to see a color overlay that identifies areas where clipping has occurred, simply click the triangle buttons at the top corners of the histogram display. The one on the left toggles the clipping display for shadows and the one on the right toggles the clipping display for highlights. A light gray box appears around the button when the clipping display is turned on.
You also might want to set the Camera Raw dialog box to fill as much space as possible and reserve as much space for the image and controls as possible. The button at the far right of the toolbar (just to the left of the histogram) allows you to toggle between full-screen view and normal view. Simply click the button to toggle.
Toolbar
The toolbar at the top of the Camera Raw dialog box provides a variety of tools for working with your image during the RAW conversion process. Some are very helpful as you're working to establish the best settings for the image in Camera Raw. I tend not to use some of the others in the RAW conversion process.
The first two buttons on the toolbar are the Zoom and Hand tools. These tools function exactly the same as the tools by the same name found within Photoshop. You can use them to zoom in to get a closer look at any portion of the image you'd like as you're making decisions about the best settings to use for a RAW conversion.
The next two buttons are the White Balance tool and the Color Sampler tool. Both can be used to adjust the color in your image to produce a perfectly neutral value in a specific location. In most cases, I recommend against using these tools. Just because something in your image really was a neutral gray doesn't mean it should appear neutral gray in your image. For the same reason that photographers tend to seek out warm light, such as that found in the early morning and late afternoon hours, you might not want to produce a perfectly neutral color tone in your image. Therefore, in most cases I'll simply work directly with the Temperature and Tint adjustments discussed later in this chapter.
Still, there are situations where these tools can be helpful. If you want to adjust the overall color tint in the image so a specific area of the image is neutral, select the White Balance tool and click on the area in the image you want to make neutral. The Temperature and Tint sliders (discussed later in this chapter) will be adjusted automatically so the pixel you clicked on becomes neutral.
If you want to apply a bit more control to the process, use the Color Sampler tool. Click the button for the tool, and then click in the image to place a color sampler in a spot that you feel should be neutral gray. A new bar will appear showing you the color sampler (you can add up to nine to the image) and the RGB pixel values for the pixel where you placed the sampler. You can then adjust the Temperature and Tint sliders (discussed later) to fine-tune the color. The idea is that you want to make the adjustments so all three values (red, green, and blue) for the desired color sampler have the same value, resulting in a neutral gray. However, you can also "override" that aim based on how the image actually looks. When you're done working with the color samplers, you can click the Clear Samplers button to remove them from the image.
The next four buttons offer adjustments I recommend not applying in Camera Raw. Instead, wait until after you have converted the image and start working through the rest of your workflow. The first of these buttons is the Crop tool, which behaves in an almost identical manner to the Photoshop Crop tool.
The next button is the Straighten tool, which allows you to rotate an image quickly and easily to straighten a crooked horizon or otherwise correct the rotation of an image. This tool will both crop and straighten at once. You operate it by simply dragging to define the line that should be perfectly horizontal or vertical. However, as with the Crop tool, I recommend waiting until after the RAW image is converted to use it.
The third of these buttons is the Retouch tool. I definitely don't recommend using this one in Camera Raw, because you'll effectively be altering the original pixel values. You could certainly go back and reconvert the RAW capture if you decide you made a mistake, but it is much better to work on a separate layer for these adjustments in my opinion. The same goes for the Red Eye Removal tool. If you need to apply this correction, wait until you get into Photoshop and use the Red Eye tool there.
The final two buttons on the toolbar in Camera Raw are rotation buttons that allow you to rotate your image in 90-degree increments counterclockwise and clockwise, respectively. Most digital cameras provide an automatic rotation feature, so the image will appear with the proper orientation in Camera Raw by default. However, if this doesn't work with your camera and you didn't already rotate the image elsewhere (such as in Bridge), you can apply that rotation here.
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