Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS4

Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS4

by Bruce Fraser, Jeff Schewe
Released December 2008
Publisher(s): Peachpit Press
ISBN: 9780321618436

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Book description

The Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in for Adobe Photoshop has changed the way photographers work with images. Shooting in the raw format gives digital photographers complete control over every aspect of image quality. Camera Raw makes the process of using raw files easier by providing a standardized way of accessing and working with these uncompressed digital negatives. Today serious photographers shoot raw images only. Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop was the first book devoted exclusively to the topic, explaining the advantages and challenges of using Camera Raw to produce magnificent images. Real World Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop CS4 keeps pace with new directions in digital photography and raw image processing. Jeff Schewe, a contributor to the development of Camera Raw from its beginnings, updates Bruce Fraser’s bestselling book with inside knowledge of how new features let photographers optimize and convert images for the best results in Adobe Photoshop CS4. Hands-on techniques show readers how to expose and shoot for raw image capture as well as use new features. Readers will also learn how to use the latest version of Adobe Bridge to manage the thousands of images--and gigabytes of data--that result from raw shooting. Finally, Schewe discusses how Adobe’s latest revolutionary imaging software Photoshop Lightroom adds to the raw equation.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
    1. Dedication
  2. Preface: Real World Raw
    1. Teach a Man to Fish
      1. You Are the Lab
      2. Drowning in Data
      3. Making Images Smarter
      4. Starting Out Right
    2. Bruce Fraser’s Legacy
    3. How the Book Is Organized
    4. A Word to Windows Users
    5. The Pace of Innovation
    6. Downloads
    7. Camera Raw Credits
    8. Thank You!
  3. One. Digital Camera Raw
    1. Exploiting the Digital Negative
    2. What Is a Digital Raw File?
      1. The Camera Sensor
      2. Raw Files Are Grayscale
    3. Exposure and Linear Capture
      1. Exposure
    4. Why Shoot Raw?
      1. Using All the Bits
      2. White Balance Control
      3. Colorimetric Interpretation
      4. Exposure
      5. Detail and Noise
    5. Raw Limitations
      1. Processing Time
      2. File Size
      3. Longevity
    6. Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw
      1. Universal Converter
      2. Industrial-Strength Features
      3. Integration with Photoshop
    7. The Digital Negative
  4. Two. How Camera Raw Works
    1. What Lies Under the Hood
    2. Digital Image Anatomy
      1. Pixels and Resolution
      2. Bit Depth, Dynamic Range, and Color
        1. Bit Depth
        2. Dynamic Range
        3. Color
      3. Gamma and Tone Mapping
    3. Image Editing and Image Degradation
      1. Losing Data and Limiting Options
        1. Clipping
        2. Tonal range compression
        3. Tonal range expansion
      2. Color Space Conversions
      3. The Camera Raw Advantage
    4. From Raw to Color
      1. Demosaicing and Colorimetric Interpretation
      2. White Balance and Calibrate Adjustments
      3. Tone-Mapping Controls
        1. Exposure
        2. Blacks
        3. Fill Light
        4. Brightness and Contrast
      4. Saturation
      5. Size
      6. Sharpening
      7. Luminance and Color Noise Reduction
    5. Watch the Histogram!
  5. Three. Raw System Overview
    1. Camera Raw, Bridge, Photoshop, and DNG
    2. Adobe Bridge CS4
      1. The Virtual Light Table
      2. Managing Metadata
      3. Hosting Camera Raw
    3. Camera Raw
      1. Camera Raw Defaults
    4. Adobe DNG Converter
      1. To DNG or Not to DNG
        1. Archival format
        2. Metadata-friendly
        3. Third-party support
        4. Downsides
      2. Using Adobe DNG Converter
    5. Photoshop
      1. Automation and Actions
    6. Putting It All Together
  6. Four. Camera Raw Controls
    1. Digital Darkroom Tools
    2. Camera Raw, Photoshop, and Bridge
    3. Camera Raw Anatomy
    4. Examining the Camera Raw Tools in Depth
      1. The Adjustment Panel Icons
      2. The Basic Panel
        1. The White Balance Adjustments
          1. White Balance
          2. Auto button
          3. Default button
        2. The Tone Adjustment Sliders
          1. Exposure
          2. Recovery
          3. Fill Light
          4. Blacks
          5. Brightness
          6. Contrast
        3. Clarity, Vibrance, and Saturation
          1. Clarity
          2. Vibrance
          3. Saturation
      3. The Tone Curve Panel
        1. Parametric
          1. Point
      4. The Detail Panel
        1. The Sharpening Controls
          1. Sharpening
          2. Amount
          3. Radius
          4. Detail
          5. Masking
        2. The Noise Reduction Controls
      5. The HSL/Grayscale Panel
        1. The HSL Controls
          1. Hue
          2. Saturation
          3. Luminance
        2. The Grayscale Controls
          1. Auto
      6. The Split Toning Panel
      7. The Lens Corrections Panel
        1. The Chromatic Aberration Controls
        2. The Lens Vignetting Controls
          1. Amount
          2. Midpoint
        3. The Post Crop Vignetting Controls
          1. Amount
          2. Midpoint
          3. Roundness
          4. Feather
      8. The Camera Calibration Panel
        1. Camera Profile
          1. The Camera Calibration Panel Adjustments
      9. The Presets Panel
      10. The Snapshots Panel
      11. The Camera Raw Flyout Menu
        1. Apply Preset
        2. Apply Snapshot
          1. Clear Imported Settings
          2. Export Settings to XMP
          3. Update DNG Previews
          4. Load and Save Settings
      12. The Camera Raw Main Buttons
      13. The Workflow Options
        1. Space
          1. Depth
          2. Size
          3. Units
          4. Sharpen For
          5. Sharpen Amount
          6. Open in Photoshop as Smart Objects
        2. The Save Button
          1. Destination
          2. File Naming
          3. File Extension
          4. File Format
        3. The File Format Options by Format
          1. Digital Negative
          2. JPEG
          3. TIFF
          4. PSD
      14. The Zoom Control
      15. The Camera Raw Toolbar
        1. Zoom and Hand Tools
          1. Zoom tool
          2. Hand tool
        2. White Balance Tool
        3. Color Sampler Tool
        4. Targeted Adjustment Tool (TAT)
          1. Parametric Tone Curves TAT Adjustment
          2. HSL/Grayscale TAT Adjustments
        5. Crop and Straighten Tools
        6. Spot Removal Tool
        7. Red Eye Removal Tool
        8. The Adjustment Brush
          1. Control Channels
          2. Control Channel Presets
          3. The Paint Brush Sizing
          4. Brush Feather
          5. Brush Flow
          6. Density vs. Flow
          7. Brush stroke and Mask relationship
          8. Erasing the Mask
          9. Auto Mask
        9. The Graduated Filter
          1. Color Picker
        10. Camera Raw Preferences
          1. General
          2. Default Image Settings
          3. Camera Raw Cache
          4. DNG File Handling
          5. JPEG and TIFF Handling
      16. The Camera Raw Keyboard Commands
      17. DNG Profile Editor
        1. Using the DNG Profile Editor
          1. Color Tables
          2. Tone Curve
          3. Color Matrices
          4. Options
          5. Chart
          6. Saving a recipe
          7. Exporting a DNG Profile
    5. The Darkroom Toolkit
  7. Five. Hands-on Camera Raw
    1. Evaluating and Editing Images
    2. Camera Raw Default
    3. Camera Raw Setup
      1. Preferences
      2. Workflow settings
    4. Evaluating Images
      1. The histogram
      2. Image preview
      3. RGB readout
      4. The evaluation process
    5. Editing Images
      1. Before and After Case Studies
        1. White Balance
          1. Image Evaluation
          2. Image Editing
        2. Point Curve
          1. Image Evaluation
          2. Image Editing
      2. Exposure Problems
        1. Overexposure
          1. Image Evaluation
          2. Image Edits
        2. Underexposure
          1. Image Evaluation
          2. Image Editing
        3. Wide Dynamic Range
          1. Image Evaluation
          2. Image Editing
        4. Narrow Dynamic Range
          1. Image Evaluation
          2. Image Edits
        5. Image Detailing
          1. Image Evaluation
          2. Image Edits
        6. Saturation Clipping
          1. Image Evaluation
          2. Image Edits
        7. Color Split Toning
          1. Image Evaluation
          2. Image Editing
        8. Local B&W Conversion
          1. Image Evaluation
          2. Image Edits
        9. Converting from Color to B&W
          1. Image Evaluation
          2. Image Edits: Tone
          3. Image Edits: Conversion
          4. Local Adjustments
        10. Landscape Sharpening
          1. Image Evaluation
          2. Image Edits
          3. Amount Setting
          4. Radius and Detail Settings
          5. Masking
          6. Noise Reduction
          7. Sharpening Preferences
        11. Portrait Sharpening
          1. Image Evaluation
          2. Image Editing: Global
          3. Image Editing: Local
          4. Amount
          5. Radius and Detail
          6. Masking
      3. Syncing Spot Healing
        1. Select and Synchronize
      4. Opening Multiple Files as Layers
        1. Aligning the images
        2. Working with the layers
        3. Working with layer masks
        4. Using Blend If
        5. Shadows/Highlights adjustment
      5. Really Smart Objects
        1. Combining Images into Layers
    6. Beyond Camera Raw
  8. Six. Adobe Bridge
    1. Your Digital Light Table
      1. Launching Bridge
    2. Configuring Bridge Windows
      1. Arranging Windows
      2. Bridge Window Components
      3. Image Thumbnails
        1. Performance and File Handling
        2. Details
        3. Thumbnail Quality Options
      4. Thumbnail Stacks
      5. Configuring Bridge Panels
      6. Bridge Filter and Sort
        1. Sort
        2. Filter
        3. Advanced Bridge Labels Preferences
        4. Additional Filter Criteria
          1. Ratings
          2. File Type Associations
        5. Metadata Panel
          1. Metadata placard
          2. Metadata readouts
          3. Metadata Preferences
          4. IPTC metadata
          5. Creating Metadata Templates
          6. EXIF metadata
        6. Keywords Panel
          1. Keywords panel
          2. Keywords panel flyout menu
          3. Keyword Preferences
      7. Bridge CS4 Tools
        1. Batch Rename
          1. Preserve Current Filename in XMP Metadata
          2. Compatibility
          3. Renaming Preview
        2. Cache
          1. Cache Preferences
          2. Cache flyout menu
        3. Photoshop Tools
          1. Tool Scripts
          2. Scripts Preferences
      8. Bridge’s Edit Menu
        1. Develop Settings
          1. Paste Camera Raw Settings
        2. Find Command
          1. Find
          2. Results
        3. Quick Searching
          1. Quick Find
        4. Collections
          1. Smart Collection
          2. Collections
        5. Slideshow
          1. Slideshow
          2. Review Mode
    3. Output with Bridge
      1. Output
        1. Web Output
        2. PDF Output
    4. Image Ingestion with Bridge
      1. Photo Downloader dialog boxes
    5. Opening Images
    6. Working in Bridge
      1. Selecting and Sorting
        1. Yes/No sorting
        2. Further Ratings
        3. Sequencing
      2. Applying Camera Raw Settings
        1. Processing images
    7. It’s Smart to Be Lazy
  9. Seven. It’s All About the Workflow
    1. That’s Flow, Not Slow
      1. Image ingestion
      2. Image verification
      3. Preproduction
      4. Production
      5. Postproduction
    2. Workflow Principles
      1. Do Things Once
      2. Do Things Automatically
      3. Be Methodical
    3. Planning and Strategy
      1. Who Has the Cache?
      2. Strategies for Settings
      3. Working with DNG
        1. DNG Downsides and Advantages
        2. Camera Raw’s DNG File Handling
      4. What’s in a Name?
      5. Ratings and Labels
      6. Simplicity Is Its Own Strategy
    4. The Image Ingestion Phase
      1. Camera Media and Speed
        1. Compact Flash write speed
        2. Compact Flash read speed
        3. Microdrives
        4. Secure Digital (SD) cards
      2. Formatting Camera Media
      3. Camera Card Capacities
      4. Ingesting Images
    5. The Image Verification Phase
      1. Verifying Images
      2. Feeding the Cache
      3. Interrupting the Cache
      4. Caching Multiple Folders
    6. The Preproduction Phase
      1. Selecting and Editing
        1. Selecting by thumbnail
        2. Selecting by preview
        3. Selecting in Slide Show
        4. Comparing images
      2. Rating and Labeling
        1. One-star rating for binary sorts
        2. Multistar ratings
        3. Labels
      3. Applying Camera Raw Settings
        1. Edit by presets
        2. Edit by example in Bridge
        3. Edit in Camera Raw
      4. Sorting and Renaming
      5. Applying Keywords and Metadata
        1. IPTC metadata
        2. Keywords
    7. The Production Phase
      1. Background Processing
      2. Automated Conversions
        1. Batch
        2. PDF Output
        3. Image Processor
        4. Web Output
      3. Sample Production Workflow
      4. Tethered Shooting
    8. Postproduction
      1. Archiving Images
        1. When to archive
        2. What to archive
        3. Archive media
      2. Delivering Images
    9. Make the Work Flow
  10. Eight. Mastering Metadata
    1. The Smarter Image
    2. What Is XMP, and Why Should I Care?
      1. Growing Pains
      2. XMP Is Text
    3. XMP Uncovered
      1. Sidecar .xmp Decoded
    4. File Info Explained
      1. Schema Tabs
    5. Metadata Templates
    6. Custom File Info Palettes
    7. Editing XMP Metadata
    8. Keywords and Descriptions
      1. Keywords
      2. Description
    9. Making Images Smarter
  11. Nine. Exploiting Automation
    1. Working Smarter, Not Harder
    2. Batch Processing Rules
      1. Rules for Opening Files in a Batch Operation
      2. Rules for Saving Files in a Batch Operation
      3. Rules for Running a Batch Operation
      4. Playing by the Rules
    3. Recording Batch Actions
      1. Simple Action—Save as JPEG
        1. Creating an action and action set
        2. Creating a new action
        3. Recording the Open step
        4. Recording processing steps
        5. Recording the Save step
        6. Stop and Save
        7. Variants
      2. Complex Action—Save For Print
        1. Creating a new action
        2. Recording the Open step
        3. Adding the edits
        4. Recording the Save step
      3. Working with Actions
        1. Recording and editing actions
        2. Action palette controls
        3. Recording Insert Menu Item actions
        4. Action Options
        5. Playback Options
        6. Copying an action
        7. Start Recording
        8. Insert Stop
        9. Actions calling actions
    4. The Power of Droplets
      1. Create Droplet dialog box
    5. Script Events Manager
      1. Enabling the Script Events Manager
    6. Moving Actions to Another Computer
    7. Running Batch
      1. Source Settings
      2. Destination Settings
    8. Image Processor
    9. Advanced Automation

Product information

  • Title: Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS4
  • Author(s): Bruce Fraser, Jeff Schewe
  • Release date: December 2008
  • Publisher(s): Peachpit Press
  • ISBN: 9780321618436