Retouching RAW files in Photoshop: From and To. RAW processing: how to get the most out of your photos
If your camera supports the RAW photo format and you want to know why it is better than standard jpeg, then this article is written for you.
The main feature of the RAW format is that it records much more information about the image than jpeg. And complete information allows you to refine the photo, change the exposure, darken overexposures and brighten dark areas. And turn even the most ordinary photo into a masterpiece.
There are mainly two programs used for processing RAW format: Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom. Newer versions of Photoshop now have a built-in Camera Raw application for processing RAW formats. the most powerful program specifically designed for sorting and processing entire albums of RAW photos.
In general, the editing window is almost the same. At the end of the article in video lesson you can see how to process photos in RAW format using Adobe Photoshop.
Drag our RAW image into the Adobe Photoshop window. The Camera Raw add-on launches.
At the top of the window there are buttons such as: scaling, dragging, cropping. An adjustment brush allows you to make corrections in certain areas of the photo.
The main adjustments window is displayed on the right. Here you can adjust the exposure, temperature, color, and also lighten or darken various tones of the photo. It is this panel that brings the photo to life. Correctly selected settings allow you to “see” details that are lost in a regular photograph taken in JPEG format.
At the top there is a histogram of the image, and below it there is additional information about the image.
The next window is called "Tone Curve".
The next tab, “Details,” allows you to get rid of digital noise in your photo.
The next tab allows you to set the color tone of the shadows and highlights of the photo.
The post-crop vignetting effect lets you darken or lighten the edges of a photo to bring more attention to the center.
Let's click on the Y button under the photo and see what it was like and what it became. If you are satisfied with the result, click save or open it in Photoshop for further refinement.
The finished result looks like this:
In the next video lesson you will see how to process RAW photos in Adobe Photoshop:
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Processing RAW photos in Lightroom 6
In this series of lessons we will look at the starting process of processing RAW files using the Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) conversion module.
In Photoshop, starting with Creative Cloud (CC), the Camera RAW application has become a component and is represented as a separate filter in the Filter text menu.
This wonderful filter concentrates all the basic tools that allow you to process almost 90% of images without going deep into the Photoshop program itself.
Initially, the ACR module was intended for converting images in RAW format. Essentially, it allows you to correct photographs with any extension: JPG, DNG, TIFF and PSD, but better results can be obtained when working with RAW files, since they contain the maximum information that the camera’s matrix received when taking a picture.
For our work, we will use a raw frame uploaded directly from an amateur photographer’s camera.
The photo was taken with a budget DSLR camera and in automatic mode, as evidenced by EXIF data.
And now we provide you with an approximate algorithm for processing photographs.
ANALYSIS and EVALUATION of the image.
Before you apply any corrections to an image, you need to analyze it and decide what you want to do with it.
It is recommended to first apply those corrections that affect the image as a whole, then work with tonal ranges, then local corrections of exposure, brightness, contrast, and finally move on to working with color.
But you need to know that all corrections work interconnectedly, for example, when changing a color, you may need to make adjustments to the exposure. Other parameters also influence each other.
Another piece of advice is that you should first start with the parameter that has the strongest deviation in the image. These are mainly various kinds of geometric distortions, brightness and incorrect white balance. In this case, the first thing you need to do is make corrections that will bring the image closer to its normal appearance, which can be done more accurately later during the processing process.
So, let's start working with the parameters that make the most changes to the images.
DISTORTION CORRECTION.
The first step is to perform distortion correction, which helps correct the optical distortions introduced by the lens. To do this, go to the “Distortion Correction” tab by clicking on the button with the lens icon.
To eliminate distortions, you need to check the box to enable the “Activate profile correction” function. The program will try to automatically detect the profile and correct distortions.
Camera RAW has profiles for a variety of lenses, but if yours isn't included, make sure the app is up to date as the Adobe team periodically makes updates to add support for new lenses being released around the world.
Otherwise, and when you used a camera with a fixed lens (compact camera), you can select an option from the existing list of profiles on the “Lens Profile” tab, indicating the manufacturer of the lens (it is usually indicated on the lens itself), from drop-down list when you click the “Manufacturer” button.
In some cases, a decision may be made not to carry out correction. It all depends on which image geometry you like best.
Distortion and vignetting (darkening at the edges of the image) can be adjusted manually by moving the corresponding sliders.
To visually assess the correction of distortions, there is an auxiliary grid, which is included at the very bottom of the tab. The regulator can be used to change the cell size.
CORRECTING PERSPECTIVE.
In parallel with distortion correction, perspective correction may be necessary. In Camera RAW 9.6 filter version, this function is enabled by clicking the button in the top toolbar; in previous versions it is located on the same tab.
There are various ways to correct geometric distortion in the Perspective tab, but the Auto mode often works well, after which you can make manual adjustments as needed. The interface is quite intuitive, especially when you hover the cursor over one or another icon, text prompts for how the tools work pop up.
Here is the result BEFORE and AFTER the automatic perspective correction mode.
If perspective correction is not required, but you only need to straighten the image horizontally or vertically, you can use the “Straighten” tool in manual mode, or double-click on the icon with the left mouse button, and the program itself straightens the image, while providing the minimum possible cropping.
Press the Enter key and get a pretty decent result. The auxiliary grid can be removed by unchecking the “Grid” checkbox.
CHROMATIC ABERRATIONS.
An important parameter is the removal of chromatic aberrations - colored fringes at the edges of contrasting areas of the image. You can activate it by checking the box.
By going to the "Manual Mode" tab,
Using the “Remove Border” sliders, you can adjust the degree of impact and tonal range when removing aberrations.
As you noticed, on the same tab there are controls “Effect”, which allows you to eliminate the so-called barrel distortion, and “Vignetting”, with which you can create a dark or light vignette.
CAMERA CALIBRATION.
After eliminating the main distortions, you can go to the “Camera Calibration” tab by clicking on the icon with the image of the camera. Using this tab gives good results at the start of processing.
The top line with the inscription “Version” allows you to select the processing process, in the program version of 2003, 2010 or the current version of 2012. In previous versions, the correction was quite crude, but was close to the process of developing photographic film. During the 2012 process, the processing logic was completely changed, bringing it closer to a digital image.
By choosing a camera profile, you can choose the type of initial image, who will like what, depending on the plot. In most cases, the Camera Standard profile is optimal.
The controls located below are a kind of filters that can be used to globally correct the color tone or stylize the image.
The next stage is in part II of the lesson.
Happy creative success!
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I chose my friend as the victim. Even beauties have flaws that are better hidden in an artistic photo. So we will get rid of pimples and skin unevenness, create beautiful colors, highlight our strengths and decorate our photo in every possible way.
To work with RAW files, you can use a large number of plugins and programs. I work in Camera RAW. This is a fairly popular plugin for Photoshop (starting from Photoshop CS3 it is built into the program). You can download from the site www.adobe.com
Note: I recommend using higher versions CS2. The interface and functions are much more convenient.
Open our raw file in Photoshop and we see the interface in front of us Camera RAW:
Work with RAW file is much more convenient and flexible than c JPEG format. Having worked in Camera RAW, you will appreciate it quite quickly.
And so, let's start working with raw material!
Already in the first tab there are a huge number of settings:
First- white balance! Here you can choose from the standard set or by selecting Custom(Custom), using sliders Temperature And Tint, manually select the parameters you need. I adjusted the white balance manually using the temperature slider. Took my picture " colder».
Second the setting i used is this Exposure(Exposition). For my photo, I raised the exposure a little.
Third setting - Brightness(Brightness). Changing this value, as you may have guessed, changes the brightness of your photo.
And the last one the setting in this tab is Saturate(Saturation).
Move to the next tab Tone Curve(Color Curve):
This tab allows you to configure light/shadow. I tweaked the settings a little Lights(Sveta) and made the dark tones richer with the slider Darks(Shadows):
Next bookmark HSL/Grayscale(HSL/Grayscale) - working with colors.
There is 3 tabs:
In the first tab you can change the colors in your photo.
The second is to change the color saturation in your photo. I made some small adjustments:
The last tab helps you control the brightness of your colors.
These are few of the features Camera RAW, but I'll calm down on this. Press the button Open Image(Open image) and our photo is loaded directly into Photoshop!
I will start processing the photo with skin retouching. The first thing we do is copy the layer. Because if you mess up, you can easily remove the damaged layer and try again.
Shooting in RAW is one of the best ways to have complete control over your images in post-production.
A RAW file is an image visible through the eyes of the camera sensor. Think of it like raw photographic film. Instead of allowing the camera to convert the image for you into a JPEG image, shooting in RAW allows you to process the image to your liking.
Applying adjustments in RAW is a non-destructive method of photo editing, unlike JPEG editing.
Want the best of both worlds? Some digital cameras allow you to shoot in RAW+JPEG mode, capturing the raw photo at the same time as converting the image to JPEG for easy use.
What is needed for this?
- A digital still camera that can shoot RAW.
- Imaging software such as Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, or the software that came with the camera.
If you don't have access to RAW editing software, there are also several web-based tools that can help you, such as WebRaw and Pics.io.
For the purposes of this article, we'll be using Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop CC, but the principles should be very similar no matter which version of the program you're using.
Major adjustments.
When you open a RAW image in Photoshop, Adobe Camera Raw launches automatically. The window will look something like this:
From here, you can adjust values such as exposure and temperature. Move the exposure slider to simulate the effect of adjusting it in camera. The results will be automatically reflected in the image.
Note that when you adjust most of these options, the histogram also changes.
Restoration of parts.
One of the most important reasons to shoot in RAW is the ability to restore image detail if something goes wrong. Has the exposure gone so bad that parts of the image are blown out? You'll likely be able to get some of those details back thanks to the RAW file.In the example below, you can see from the histogram that there are blown areas in the sky. If you need help reading your histogram, a little goes a long way.
The recovery slider is key here; moving it to the left will bring back details that were lost due to glare and flare. Additional image detail can also be restored using the exposure slider.
This same process can be used to bring back shadow detail in underexposed areas.
To restore details in the shadows, use the same technique as for restoring highlights. Just move the slider until you see the part again.
White balance.
Instead of setting the white balance value in camera when you shoot RAW, you can set the white balance to any value you want and then adjust it in post-processing. From the Camera Raw interface, select the option from the drop-down menu that best suits your needs.There is another tool available in Camera Raw that provides white balance adjustments - the white balance eyedropper. At the top of the window, simply select the white balance tool and click on the part of the image that you want to be perfectly white. Then, Camera Raw will automatically adjust the color temperature to make that component true white. This happens in the same way as when manually reading the white balance in the camera.
Focusing on the image.
The situations above were mostly examples of image manipulation with fairly obvious errors. Sometimes, there may be nothing wrong with your entire image, but sometimes it looks a little dull. Here's how to add emphasis with a few simple adjustments in RAW.Below is an image taken with the camera's metered exposure. It looks ok, but could use a little effort to make it look a little better.
First, let's brighten up the details a bit by increasing the shutter speed. I also increased the contrast a bit.
The image still looks a little cool, so I'm going to change the white balance option to warm up the image a little. For outdoor situations, the hazy white balance preset adds more warmth to the scene. You can also achieve a similar effect by moving the temperature adjustment slider. I also took this opportunity to increase the white value and restore some of the blown out highlights on the wall by lowering the highlight slider.
Finally, to really emphasize the details, let's move the clarity slider a little to the right. The Clarity tool looks for edges and determines the contrast of midtones. Use it carefully for best results.
Here's a comparison of a before and after image to give you an idea of how you can bring out the details in a RAW image:
Once you've applied some basic adjustments, click Open Image, go into Photoshop, and continue editing as much as you like.
Many modern professional and semi-professional digital cameras allow you to save images in RAW format. This standard differs significantly from the more popular JPEG format. RAW data is “pure” information received by the camera from the light sensor. Due to the fact that RAW images contain redundant information, without compression and corresponding losses, the chances of correcting a photo taken in this format are much greater than in the case of a JPEG image.
⇡ What is RAW?
To understand what the “raw information” embedded in this format means, you need to imagine the operating principle of the main element of the camera - the photosensitive matrix.
The photosensitive matrix of a conventional camera is an array of photocells. Each element of such a matrix is used to convert light energy into electrical energy. The more sensor elements on the matrix, the theoretically higher its resolution. They all work synchronously, but each photocell in the camera matrix captures its own region of the spectrum.
The order of arrangement of photodiodes that record a particular color, in most cases, is subject to an algorithm called the Bayer filter. This is the most popular arrangement of photocells, which uses three color components: red, blue and green. They are arranged in such a way that a square is formed with two green sensors and one each of red and blue.
As a result, when creating a photograph, you get a color mosaic image consisting of three combined single-color pictures. To get a full-fledged image, the camera processor applies an approximation filter on the fly, which eliminates color artifacts and “fills in” the missing image details. The lack of color information is compensated by an average value calculated based on data from neighboring color cells. The RAW format allows you to intercept the data stream even before applying the approximation filter.
By and large, it is incorrect to say whether a particular camera supports the RAW standard. All cameras use the same way of describing visual information, based on the calculation of the Bayer algorithm ( except that some cameras use a slightly different pixel grid. — approx. ed. ). However, not all cameras are capable of storing raw data, which we call RAW files. In the material “CHDK: the second youth of digital, or what is your Canon hiding?” We have already told site readers about the alternative CHDK firmware for Canon cameras. This program allows you to save pictures in RAW format to a memory card, even in cheap cameras that do not provide such a function. Therefore, if you want to “touch” RAW photos, but are not yet ready to exchange your IXUS or PowerShot for a more expensive model, be sure to pay attention to the capabilities of CHDK.
But it is worth keeping in mind that when shooting in RAW using CHDK, optical distortions due to the characteristics of the camera lens remain uncompensated. RAW converters usually have profiles for suppressing various types of distortion, but they are tied to specific lens models. It is clear that in the list of preset profiles you will not find templates for budget cameras that should not be able to shoot in RAW. Therefore, distortion will have to be suppressed manually, by eye.
⇡ Advantages and disadvantages of RAW
The RAW format has its advantages and disadvantages. First, about the shortcomings. Firstly, as mentioned above, such files contain redundant information, so their size is much larger compared to other standards. So, for example, with an image size of 2 MB in JPG format, a similar DNG (file in Adobe's open RAW format) can occupy 19 MB. It is clear that with the active work of a photographer who saves RAW photographs in good resolution, the capacity of even the largest memory card is quickly exhausted.
Another disadvantage of RAW files follows from the first. The large volume of recorded data interferes with high-speed continuous shooting. The device simply does not have time to record the saved data, and the number of frames recorded by the camera per unit of time is noticeably reduced compared to high-speed shooting in JPG. In addition, saving data in RAW uses additional hardware capacity, since the application must allocate more RAM to process redundant data.
It's also worth keeping in mind that many digital camera manufacturers use their own RAW specifications. Because of this, many incompatible formats were born. One possible solution to the format confusion is to use Adobe's Universal Digital Negative (DNG) format, which bills itself as an open standard. There are now cameras that save images directly to DNG. In addition, to convert to this format you can use special converters, for example Adobe DNG Converter.
The advantages of RAW to a certain extent compensate for its disadvantages. And RAW photos have a lot of advantages. First, this format allows you to restore exposure because the dynamic range is wider than with JPG. Moreover, setting up insufficient or excessive exposure in the case of RAW is not just “pulling out” dark or overexposed areas.
Actually, if there is a white light on the JPG, then if the brightness is reduced, the details will not appear on it - there is simply no information to restore the image in this white spot. Another thing is RAW. For a “raw” photo, adjusting the exposure comes down to choosing a new shutter speed. The result of this correction is almost always excellent - as if you took a photo and guessed exactly what the shutter time should be set.
The second important advantage of RAW is the large depth of the color palette. It gives the photographer a chance to better adjust the color rendition. It is also convenient to correct lens distortion on RAW photographs, combat noise, use alternative approaches to eliminating Bayer mosaics, and so on. But all these advantages become obvious only in cases where a good editor is used to process images in RAW format. Let's look at some of them.
⇡ Adobe Camera RAW 7
Adobe Camera RAW is a classic option for processing images in a “raw” format. The popularity of this tool is clear and obvious - the Adobe Camera RAW module is included in Adobe Photoshop, and almost everyone who is seriously involved in photography has this graphic editor. Despite the fact that Adobe Camera RAW can only be opened when Photoshop is running, the module makes it possible to process images and save them in JPEG, TIFF or PSD directly, without resorting to Photoshop tools.
Adobe Camera RAW is a pretty handy tool that includes a lot of useful settings. You can spend more than one hour selecting the desired image parameters. Perhaps the most important advantage of the module is that all edits that are made to an image can be easily undone, even if the RAW file was closed and then reopened. Non-destructive editing applies to all Adobe Camera RAW tools, including cropping and straightening.
One of the most popular tools in Adobe Camera RAW is the adjustment brush, designed for selective editing of photos. It is used to indicate areas that need to be adjusted - correct exposure, increase color saturation, select hue temperature, set white balance, etc. In this case, the most convenient method of selection is used - using the automatic creation of a mask. The module itself determines the areas that need to be edited. For example, if you want to make the sky in the gaps between tree branches bluer, you just need to go over them with an adjustment brush without worrying about hitting the branches - the program will not change the exposure for the trees.
Adobe Camera RAW also has a custom gradient filter - a tool that can be used in cases where the photo is partially darkened or overexposed. It is also convenient to use for landscapes, where it is often necessary to color the sky in certain shades of midtones.
Although Photoshop has a red-eye removal tool, Adobe's RAW module has a similar feature. Taking into account more correct work with color, eliminating such a defect at the stage of correcting a RAW image seems more logical to us than leaving this little detail for later.
For many settings, Adobe Camera RAW automatically selects the best values. And the most successful user settings can be saved as presets and exchanged with other users (presets are .xmp files that are stored in the folder C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CameraRAW\Settings\). There is also a function to save versions of images. In fact, these are the same saved sets of settings that are available only for the current photo.
Adobe Camera RAW can also be used for batch processing of files. Batch processing can be carried out both in the module interface itself (to do this, just open several RAW files at the same time), and using the usual means of Adobe Photoshop. For example, creating scripts (actions) and using droplets. When processing a group of files using Adobe Camera RAW, selected settings are synchronized. When this option is enabled, any changes made to one of the synced photos are automatically duplicated to all other photos in the group.
⇡ RAW Therapee 4.0.9 - free RAW converter
Recently, even those who used to carry a cheap digital point-and-shoot camera have stopped being afraid of the RAW format. Support for this standard can be seen not only in top cameras, but also in relatively inexpensive models. However, despite the growing popularity of “correct” photo processing, the price of tools for working with RAW is still high. For example, the same Adobe Lightroom costs $149.
It’s all the more pleasant to discover, among expensive applications, a free solution for professional image processing RAW Therapee. This program can be used not only on Windows, but also on Linux, as well as on Mac computers.
The RAW Therapee interface is Russified, but the localization is not ideal - many program items are left in English.
The first thing I would like to note is the high speed of processing RAW images. The program engine (developed by Hungarian programmer Gábor Horváth and a team of like-minded people) supports multi-threading algorithms, so any changes to settings are instantly displayed in the preview window.
When adjusting an image, it is convenient to use the “Before and After” display option, when in the preview window the final image is shown next to the picture before changing the exposure, correcting the color balance, suppressing distortion, noise, and adjusting other parameters.
A file browser is integrated into the program. Like Lightroom, RAW Therapee scans the media and shows its contents. The built-in viewer allows you to set a rating for pictures. With a quick command from the context menu, you can send images to the queue for batch processing.
The speed of the RAW converter is noticeable mainly when processing data, but when performing operations with files, the application often slows down. Contrary to the developers' claims that the program quickly generates thumbnails, when we first launched RAW Therapee we had to wait quite a long time until all the photos on the memory card were indexed.
One of the advantages of RAW Therapee is the availability of a set of alternative algorithms for converting a color mosaic of a Bayer filter into a full image. Demosaicing methods include AMaZE, DCB, fast, AHD, EAHD, HPHD and VNG4. Each of the listed options for converting RAW to a color image (remember that RAW is not a “picture”, but a set of information about the brightness level on each photodiode of the photosensitive matrix) makes it possible to select the number of steps to suppress false colors.
RAW Therapee successfully implements correction using curves. For an untrained user who has never used this tool before, it is very difficult to understand what shape the curve should take in order for the photo to turn out the desired way. In the tone curve settings, you can select the “parametric” option. In this curve control mode, you can forget about the control points that define the shape of the graph and use sliders with more understandable names for adjustments - highlights, dark tones, light tones, shadows. Tone curves can be saved, loaded, copied and pasted from the clipboard.
RAW Therapee stores the history of performed actions in the same way as it is implemented in Adobe Photoshop. You can roll back to the previous stage of image processing at any time.
By the way, the application can work in conjunction with a more powerful graphics editor, sending the converted file to GIMP or Adobe Photoshop.
The program interface allows you to edit several RAW files simultaneously on different tabs. It's also worth keeping in mind that RAW Therapee supports dual monitors. In addition to the main feature - RAW editing - the utility from the Hungarian developer can be used to work with JPEG, TIFF and PNG formats.
⇡ Conclusion
There is no doubt that the day will come when the cheapest cameras and even smartphones will be able to please their owners with support for the RAW standard. Already now RAW is confidently reaching the masses and support for such files can be found even in entry-level graphic editors built on the one-click principle. On the other hand, RAW is not a recipe for good photography. An ineptly chosen angle and trembling hands when pressing the shutter button can lead to the fact that no RAW converter will eliminate shooting defects. The RAW format is an opportunity not to lose a valuable frame due to incorrectly selected camera settings. RAW is also a chance to realize your talent as an artist, an opportunity to present your vision of the plot, to show your palette of feelings and moods in the photo. The main thing is to gain experience and not be afraid to experiment.
