Chapter 8. Processing Photos in the Camera Raw Workspace

IN THIS CHAPTER

  • Light settings

  • Color correction

  • Targeted adjustments

  • Fun effects

  • Finishing touches

Now that you are familiar with the Camera Raw workspace and the preferences and menus, it's time to jump in and start adjusting your raw images. In some cases, you will find the tools and controls so easy to use that you may start opening your JPEGs and TIFFs in Camera Raw in order to quickly make the basic adjustments. In other cases, if you are familiar with Photoshop, you will be frustrated that the tools are so completely foreign and have so little actual capability compared to what is available to you in Photoshop.

The Camera Raw Tools

Before you can make adjustments in Camera Raw, you must understand the tools and how they work. The tools are found at the top of Camera Raw, as shown in Figure 8.1. Some of them are fairly basic, and you are probably already familiar with how they work, such as the Zoom and Hand tools. Other tools have detailed functions, such as the Targeted Adjustment tool and the Graduated Filter. I cover the more detailed tools in depth later in this chapter. For now, I'll provide you with a quick reference list:

  • Zoom tool: Use this tool to get a closer look at an area of your photo. The photo zooms to the point where you click the Zoom tool. To zoom back out, just press and hold the Alt or Option key to change the plus sign in the magnifying glass to a minus sign. You also can use the Zoom menu at the bottom ...

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