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Adjustment Layers or Camera Raw


tfamok

Member
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Hi everybody, I hope you are keeping well.
I have gone through a lot of Photoshop tutorials and amslightly confused when it comes to correcting/adjusting images. The multipletutorials have taken me through adjustment layers such as Brightness/Contrast,Levels, curves which took a little while to understand. Then I took a fewtutorials on the histogram which also took a little while to get used to. Nextwas Camera Raw in PS. This is where I am a little confused. If I am wanting tocorrect or adjust any images do I use adjustment layers within PS (Brightness/Contrast,Levels, curves) or do I correct the image inside of Camera Raw.
I guess I am a little confused as to whether adjustmentlayers do exactly the same things as the Camera Raw plug-in or not or whether thereis an advantage to using the Camera Raw plug-in over adjustment layers. Iunderstand the plug-in is mainly used for raw image files although it can alsoprocess jpeg etc. Are adjustment layers used only for compressed image filessuch as jpeg etc?
Thank you very much for your time,
Teddy
 

SEI7390

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Hi Teddy,
If you're using ACR to adjust a JPG or a TIFF to adjust brightness or contrast, you're basically doing the same thing as you would be doing in Photoshop using the brightness or contrast tool.
If you're editing a RAW file in ACR it's something completely different.

A JPG out of the camera is an image file created from the data gathered by your camera
based on whatever camera profiles and settings you may use.

A RAW file "is" the data file that has not yet been processed into an image.

If you're editing a RAW file in ACR brightness adjustments, contrast adjustments, exposure adjustments, etc., etc., are much different then those adjustments in Photoshop.
A RAW image has a much higher dynamic range than a JPG because of that you can literally access and adjust data that doesn't exist in the JPG.

An example would be a washed out sky in an image.
If you have a RAW image, there may be some additional detail in the sky that exists that can be brought back with the brightness, exposure, or clipping settings in ACR but once you pass it on to Photoshop that information is gone.

The good news is that all adjustments made to the RAW file are non destructive, you can always go back and readjust.
 

tfamok

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Thank you so much , so from your advice, could I conclude that is a good idea to always shoot in raw (unless specified otherwise) and do any post work in ACR and leave levels/curves for when im working with jpeg etc?
Cheers Teddy
 

SEI7390

Well-Known Member
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Thank you so much , so from your advice, could I conclude that is a good idea to always shoot in raw (unless specified otherwise) and do any post work in ACR and leave levels/curves for when im working with jpeg etc?
Cheers Teddy
I always shoot RAW and do adjustments in ACR.
That doesn't necessarily mean there isn't a use for similar tools when you bring the image into Photoshop though.
 

Tom Mann

Guru
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Yes, as pointed out by SEI7390 in the 2nd post in this thread, there is vastly more data in a raw data file than in a version of that image that has been turned into a conventional image file, eg, a JPG, TIF, or even a PSD file. Once this is done, the conversion parameters are "baked in" to your image, and your options become much more limited. Not only (as he pointed out), you have increased dynamic range, but there is also the benefit of better (ie, much more realistic) color corrections, noise reduction, pespective and lens distortion corrections, etc.

So, to answer your question, memory cards are cheap, so if at all possible always save your photos as a raw file (eg, NEF, CR2, etc), and if you absolutely need to also have a quick, easy to view version, in most cameras, you can also simultaneously save the image as a JPG. The *only* time I ever completely forego saving RAW files is if I'm shooting sports at high frame rates on an older camera. In that case, since RAW files are much bigger than JPGs, the speed of writing to your memory card can limit the number of consecutive frames you can store, so you might miss a decisive sports moment.

Your guiding principle in deciding whether to make a correction in Camera Raw (on a raw file) or after it's in Photoshop (say, using the "Camera Raw" filter inside PS) is always do the first. Even if you don't have a RAW file to start with, and, say, only have a JPG, if you have to make major tonal or color corrections to the image, always do that first in ACR, before the image gets into PS, and only then, use the conventional PS adjustments to fine tune it, once the major changes are out of the way.

HTH,

Tom M
 

tfamok

Member
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Yes, as pointed out by SEI7390 in the 2nd post in this thread, there is vastly more data in a raw data file than in a version of that image that has been turned into a conventional image file, eg, a JPG, TIF, or even a PSD file. Once this is done, the conversion parameters are "baked in" to your image, and your options become much more limited. Not only (as he pointed out), you have increased dynamic range, but there is also the benefit of better (ie, much more realistic) color corrections, noise reduction, pespective and lens distortion corrections, etc.

So, to answer your question, memory cards are cheap, so if at all possible always save your photos as a raw file (eg, NEF, CR2, etc), and if you absolutely need to also have a quick, easy to view version, in most cameras, you can also simultaneously save the image as a JPG. The *only* time I ever completely forego saving RAW files is if I'm shooting sports at high frame rates on an older camera. In that case, since RAW files are much bigger than JPGs, the speed of writing to your memory card can limit the number of consecutive frames you can store, so you might miss a decisive sports moment.

Your guiding principle in deciding whether to make a correction in Camera Raw (on a raw file) or after it's in Photoshop (say, using the "Camera Raw" filter inside PS) is always do the first. Even if you don't have a RAW file to start with, and, say, only have a JPG, if you have to make major tonal or color corrections to the image, always do that first in ACR, before the image gets into PS, and only then, use the conventional PS adjustments to fine tune it, once the major changes are out of the way.

HTH,

Tom M

Thank you Tom,very informative. Helps a lot. Think i have a firm grasp now. Theres a lot of things to take in at first but im getting there.
Thanks again,
Teddy
 

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