The last few versions of Adobe’s image editors, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, have come with a powerful Raw file converter, Adobe Camera Raw. This application is being constantly updated to cover the latest digital cameras as they are released and, although some cameras take a while to be supported, having a capable Raw file converter built into your favourite image editor is an incentive to shoot Raw files whenever possible.
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The last few versions of Adobe’s image editors, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, have come with a powerful Raw file converter, Adobe Camera Raw. This application is being constantly updated to cover the latest digital cameras as they are released and, although some cameras take a while to be supported, having a capable Raw file converter built into your favourite image editor is an incentive to shoot Raw files whenever possible. Photoshop Elements provides a basic introduction to Camera Raw but lacks certain functions that are found in the Photoshop plug-in. These additional controls will be covered in the next issue of Photo Review Australia. In this feature we will look at the controls you can access via Photoshop Elements. When you open a Raw file in either Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, Camera Raw is automatically activated and the image opens in a window that resembles the illustration on this page. Note: If you don’t see this window, check to see whether another plug-in is taking priority. Owners of Nikon cameras, in particular, will find Nikon’s supplied software over-rides Camera Raw and prevents it from being used. Remove the blocking software to allow Camera Raw to operate.
What’s in a Raw File? An examination of the Camera Raw interface shows what these tags are and how they can be over-ridden. Camera Raw displays the image with its own interpretation of the camera default settings, which may not be an exact match for the way you remember the subject. Sliders allow you to adjust certain image parameters.  The Camera Raw user interface in Photoshop Elements contains a main window that is filled with a preview of the selected image, a three-colour histogram, and controls for adjusting how the image is converted. Top of the list is the White Balance setting, which comes in two parts. You can use the drop-down menu to select the best setting for the shot and then tweak the slider controls below to fine-tune colour accuracy.  The drop-down White Balance menu allows you to match the white balance setting to the subject. Then sliders provide fine-tuning on two colour axes. The Temperature slider adjusts colour on an orange-to-blue axis, while the Tint slider covers green-to-purple. For most shots, the Temperature slider will provide all the adjustment you need. However, for shots taken under fluorescent lighting, the Tint slider should prove very useful. Care is required when adjusting shots taken at sunrise or sunset, where you may not wish to neutralise the inherent colour cast. For such shots, shifting the Temperature slider allows you to recreate the true colours of the time the shot was taken. Next step down is the Exposure slider, which works a lot like a Levels control but provides a wider range of adjustments without degrading the image. If you have checked the Highlights box above the image pane, clipped highlights (where no detail is present) will be shown as you adjust the slider, making it easy to ensure all highlight detail is captured when the image is processed. 
The default setting blocks out clipped highlights in red.  Clipped shadows are blocked out in blue. After setting the white and black points with the Exposure and Shadows sliders, the Brightness slider, which replicates the mid-point control, is used to adjust overall brightness of the image. If you have set the black and white points correctly with the Exposure and Shadows sliders, you probably won’t need to adjust the Contrast control. This slider works like a Curves control, changing the mid-tone slope without affecting the black and white points. The range of adjustments is somewhat less than the Curves control in Photoshop. The Saturation control is similar to the control of the same name in Photoshop but provides a smaller adjustment range. Its use is self-evident.
Other Controls Below the image pane is a depth window, which lets you select between 16 Bits/Channel and 8 Bits/Channel. The former requires the images to be saved as *psd or *tif files, while the latter is used for images that will be saved as JPEGs. Just above it is a control for zooming in to magnify parts of the image or out to restore the full-screen view. This replicates the Magnifying Glass tool above the image window and you can use the Hand tool for moving the image within the pane.  The Magnifying tools allow you to zoom in on part of the picture.  The Moving tool lets you move a zoomed area around the picture. The Detail tab in the Camera Raw dialog box provides sliders for adjusting Sharpness, Luminance Smoothing and Colour Noise Reduction. The Sharpness slider is rather savage so it’s best left set on zero. More control and greater subtlety are available through the Unsharp Mask filter in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. The Luminance Smoothing and Colour Noise Reduction sliders are used to reduce noise in images captured at high ISO settings. The former works on tonal variations, while the latter fixes noise that causes colour variations. When using either of these controls, zoom in on a dark shadowed area in the image, which is likely to show the most image noise. Once you have minimised noise in this area, check the rest of the image to ensure your adjustments have not caused excessive softening and loss of detail.  The Detail tab in the Camera Raw dialog box
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