Teach Yourself RAW in Photoshop 2015

223 PAGES OF EXPERT PHOTO ADVICE
Use Adobe Camera Raw to perfect your images

in Photoshop, Elements and Lightroom
Unlock your cameras raw potential

Learn the key image processing steps
Make the best possible photo prints
PMZ38
2014
Welcome to your
digital edition
Three easy ways to read this digital book
Double click
to zoom
When zoomed
in, drag to pan
Click the page

to turn over
To get the best image quality from your

SLR or compact system camera, you need
to be shooting in the raw image format.
Raw files contain much more detail in
the scene compared with a simple JPEG,
and provide far more flexibility to adjust
contrast, colour and exposure at the
editing stage. If you tried to do the same with a JPEG, youll
soon end up with a pixelated mess!
There are many ways to process your raw files, and the
most popular and best software is one of the Photoshop
family of programs. Whether you use Photoshop CS or CC,
Photoshop Lightroom or Photoshop Elements, the conversion
process is powered using the powerful built-in plugin called
Adobe Camera Raw.
The range of controls you get in Adobe Camera Raw
depends on the version of Photoshop youre using. You get
a greater range of features with Photoshop CC, for instance,
than you do with Photoshop Elements 12. But the core
functionality is available in all versions, so whatever version
of Photoshop youre using, youll be sure to find plenty in
this book to improve your photo-editing skills.
We hope you enjoy learning with this guide. And because
you bought this book wed also like to offer you a 40%
discount off our extended 50-part Teach yourself
Raw in Photoshop interactive DVD training course.
To claim the discount, simply use the voucher code
MFMDVD at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/photo
George Cairns, Author
Teach yourself Raw in Photoshop
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CHAPTER 1
Organise with Bridge
CHAPTER 8
Introducing the Bridge workspace............................................. 8

Import your photos into Bridge................................................. 10
Add metadata and keywords to your images.........................12
Organise your images in Bridge.................................................16
CHAPTER 2
Introducing the Camera Raw editor
18
Raw versus JPEG: which is the better format? ......................20

Introducing the Camera Raw panels .......................................22
Introducing the Camera Raw toolbar ......................................24
Master preferences and workflow settings ...........................26
A typical Camera Raw workflow ...............................................28
CHAPTER 3
Camera Raw basic editing
30
Introducing the magnifier and grab tools ...............................32

Use the Histogram to assess exposure ..................................34
Batch process your raw files......................................................36
Improve colour and tone locally ................................................38
Resize and save your processed raw files ..............................42
CHAPTER 4
Fix photo problems
44
Improve image composition......................................................46

Improve the tonal quality of your photos ................................50
Improve image colours with the Basic panel .........................52
Remove unwanted spots and marks.......................................54
Remove large distractions .........................................................56
CHAPTER 5
Essential corrections
60
Reduce unsightly image noise...................................................62

Correct lens distortion and vignetting.....................................64
Correct perspectival distortion.................................................68
Recreate in-camera picture styles ...........................................70
Sharpen up your images ............................................................ 74
CHAPTER 6
Improve tones
76
Improve exposure and contrast ...............................................78

Adjust highlights and shadows .................................................82
Improve tones with curves.........................................................84
Dodge and burn with the Adjustment Brush.........................88
Reproduce the solarisation effect ............................................92
CHAPTER 7
Improve colour
96
Understand white balance .........................................................98

Create spot-colour special effects..........................................102
Selectively adjust colour saturation.......................................104
Enhance colours in portraits ...................................................106
Recreate the cross-processed look .......................................108
Selective adjustments
110
The Adjustment Brush tool.......................................................112

Enhance plain-looking skies......................................................116
Mask areas for selective edits...................................................118
Make selective white balance adjustments .........................122
Focus attention on your subject .............................................124
CHAPTER 9
Get the look
126
Convert your photos to black and white ...............................128

Apply the split-tone effect to your mono images ................132
Reveal fine detail using Clarity .................................................134
Create a 32-bit HDR image.......................................................136
Replicate the infrared effect.....................................................140
CHAPTER 10
Creative effects
144
Create retro special effects ......................................................146

Make stunning portraits using Camera Raw .......................150
Turn a daytime scene into a night photo ...............................156
Make creative adjustments to portraits................................160
Double process a raw file to improve exposure...................164
CHAPTER 11
Advanced tips & tricks
168
Share your processed raw files ...............................................170

Process JPEGs in Camera Raw .............................................. 172
Open a raw file as a Smart Object............................................174
Save time with custom raw presets ....................................... 178
Correct distortions with a lens profile ....................................180
CHAPTER 12
Raw editing in Lightroom
182
The Lightroom interface...........................................................186

Introducing the Library module ..............................................188
Lightrooms Metadata panels .................................................190
The Quick Develop tools ............................................................191
Introducing the Develop module ............................................192
Make selective adjustments ....................................................194
Make better prints in Lightroom .............................................196
Share your images directly from Lightroom........................198
CHAPTER 13
The Gallery
202
Inspirational pictures created by enthusiasts....................202

ORGANISE WITH BRIDGE

Organise
with Bridge
Get started in raw processing fast by learning the
best ways to import and organise your images
08
Introducing the
Bridge workspace
Get to know the key areas of Bridges

photo-organising workspace and discover how to
customise it to suit your needs
10
Import your photos

into Bridge
Import images from your camera

into Bridge, and organise and convert them in
preparation for editing in Photoshop
12
Add metadata and

keywords to your images
16
Organise your
images in Bridge
Discover how to protect your photos

and make them easier to find in the future using
embedded image metadata
Use Bridges asset management tools

to help you find particular pictures quickly and
easily using Collections

GET THE FILES HERE: http://bit.ly/PMZ38_ACR
Introducing the
Bridge workspace
Get to know the key areas of Bridges photo-organising workspace
and discover how to customise it to suit your needs
ne of the biggest problems we face
as digital photographers is our
ever-growing collections of images.
We may have thousands of photos
scattered across hundreds of folders on our
computers. These folders tend to display
images according to when they were captured,
so we have to rely on our memory of what was
shot when as we search for a particular photo.
youll need to download the Bridge

application separately.
Bridge is a powerful image browser that
enables you to take control over your digital
assets before exporting them to Photoshop
for editing. On this spread well introduce you
to the key features of Bridge, and demonstrate
how to customise the workspace to display
images in a more useful way.
All versions of Photoshop attempt to deal

with this asset management problem
using similar tools. The Photoshop Elements
Organizer allows you to add star ratings and
keywords. Lightrooms Library module does
a similar job. Photoshop CC and CS use a
companion application called Bridge. If you
access the full version of Photoshop as a
download via the Creative Cloud service,
Photoshop Anatomy The Bridge workspace

Get to know the key features of Adobe Bridge
4 METADATA
3
This panel emulates the display on your

digital SLR. It reads the metadata stored
in the currently active thumbnail so that
you can discover what shutter speed,
ISO and aperture settings where used
to capture the image. It also shows the
metering modes.
6
5
5 FILTERS
This panel enables you to present files
that meet specific criteria, such as
those with a specific star rating. You
can also filter the files metadata and
discover images that were captured
with a particular shutter speed setting,
for example.
6 KEYWORDS
2
1 FOLDERS
2 THUMBNAILS
3 WORKSPACES
Click the Folders tab to browse to

any folder of images stored on your
PC. Drag your most commonly used
folders into the Favorites panel.
Bridge displays your images as

thumbnails. You can use the slider
at the bottom of the workspace to
increase the thumbnail size.
These links enable you to change the

way panels and images are displayed
in Bridge. For example, the Filmstrip
option gives you larger previews.
This panel enables you to quickly assign

descriptive keywords to a photo. You
can then use the Filter panel to display
photos that contain a specific keyword.
Well demonstrate how to add and
search for keywords later in this chapter.

Overview Customising Adobe Bridge

Take a closer look at your pictures using the Filmstrip view
1
5
1 FILMSTRIP
4 EDITED IMAGES
By clicking the Filmstrip workspace icon you display the

selected thumbnail at a much larger size in the Preview window.
Shift-click to select and compare multiple images, as were
doing in this image.
If the colours, sharpness or tones of a raw format photo have

already been adjusted in Photoshop, youll see this icon. You
may also spot more specific icons that indicate that an image
has been cropped, for example.
2 LOUPE VIEW
5 THUMBNAIL QUALITY
The easiest way to see if an image is in focus is by looking at it

at 100% magnification. To do so, click the image to activate the
Loupe view. Drag the loupe to examine the image. We can see
that the image on the right is blurred.
By default you browse a raw files content by displaying the

low-resolution thumbnail that was embedded with the file
when it was captured. For a more accurate preview of colours
and tones, click here and choose High Quality display. This will
demand more processing power, however.
3 STACKING
6 SORT BY
To stop similar-looking images from cluttering up the

workspace, Shift-click to select them and then choose
Stacks>Group As Stack. Click the play icon to see each
thumbnail contained in a stack (or drag the scroll bar).
To see your files in chronological order (with the oldest ones

appearing on the left of the Filmstrip), set this Sort By dropdown menu to Date Created. You can also use this option in the
Essential workspace to display the oldest files at the top.
10

Import your
photos into Bridge
Import images from your camera into Bridge, then organise
and convert them in preparation for editing in Photoshop
ridge is a plugin that comes
included with all versions of
Photoshop. If youre not using
Lightroom to import, organise and
catalogue your images, then Bridge is the
perfect tool that fully integrates with
Photoshop. Under the File drop-down
menu on the main menu you can
either open Bridge as a
standalone window or use the
Mini Bridge option as a
panel within your Photoshop workspace.

Whichever option you choose you can easily
browse to your images and incorporate them
into your workflow.
However, Bridge is so much more than a
browser, you can also use it to add metadata,
create catalogues, image stacks, apply star
ratings and more. It also offers a host
of other useful features too, such
as the option to select multiple
images and merge them.
Attach your camera
On the previous pages we pointed out how to use Bridge to browse

images that are already stored on your computer, courtesy of the
Folders panel. This panel acts like any browser or finder window. You
can also use Bridge to import and store images directly from an attached
camera or memory card into folders on your PC. Kick off by attaching
your camera via a USB cable, and then click the Import Photos from
Camera icon in Bridge.
CONVERT TO DNG
If you choose the Convert to DNG option, the
Photo Downloader will convert third-party raw
format files (such as Canons CR2 or Nikons
NEF) into the Adobe Digital Negative format as
it imports them. It will preserve the original raw
format files and create a DNG copy in a
separate folder. We recommend you keep the
original raw files somewhere very safe.
Launch Photo Downloader
A dialog will appear, inviting you to make the Photo

Downloader launch automatically whenever a camera or card
reader is attached. Click Yes or No as desired. You can always change
this option later by choosing Adobe Bridge>Preferences>General and
then tick or clear When Camera is Connected, Launch Adobe Photo
Downloader. Whether you click Yes or No, the Photo Downloader
window will appear.

Choose a location and label
Advanced options
Click the Advanced Dialog button. Clear any thumbnails that

you dont want to import. In the Save Options section, click
Choose and browse to where you want to store the files, or leave it set
to the default Pictures folder. Set the Create Subfolders drop-down
menu to choose your preferred folder labelling format, such as Shot
Date (ddmmyy). You can also rename the source files to include the
Shot Date. They will then be numbered sequentially.
By default Adobe Bridge is set to open once youve imported

the files. You can set the Photo Downloader to delete the
original files on the memory card after theyve been imported,
so you can capture new images with the card without having to
reformat it. You can also save copies of the imported files onto an
external drive to create a backup of your photos. Click Choose to
select your backup location.
Convert to DNG
Apply metadata
In the Advanced Options panel you can decide to convert

raw files to the DNG format as they are imported. This
can be useful if youre planning to share your raw files with other
Photoshop users. Different camera manufacturers use different
formats to create a raw version of an image and some of these
cant be opened in older versions of Photoshop. Adobes DNG
format is also more compatible with third-party applications.
If you plan to share your images electronically, it makes

sense to attach your details and the copyright status,
such as Creative Commons or Royalty Free, to each photo as its
imported. This will save you the hassle of adding this information
to individual files at a later date. Well look at ways to add more
information to metadata on the following pages. Click Get Media
to import the selected files.
11
12

Add metadata
and keywords
Discover how to protect your photos and
make them easier to nd in the future
t the end of the workflow on the previous spread we
demonstrated how to quickly add your name and the
copyright status to each file as it was imported to your
computer by the Photo Downloader. This useful
information is stored inside each files metadata, so when the image is
shared online or emailed to a client they will know who it belongs to.
The Photo Downloader only enables you to add a limited amount
of information to a batch of images, but once youre browsing your
imported images in Bridge you can add much more useful data to
them, such as your contact details and website address. This helps
people contact you if they need to use the image, or at least credit you
as its creator. In this walkthrough well demonstrate how to edit fields
in the IPTC Core panel to assign your contact and copyright details to
a files metadata.
You can add other useful details to metadata in Bridge, such as
keywords that describe the contents of an image. This enables you to
find a file according to its subject, instead of having to scroll through
a chronological list of images trying to remember when you shot a
particular picture. Keywords remain embedded in a files metadata,
so they can be used by others to locate an image, which is handy if
you want to sell your work as stock photography, for example. Well
demonstrate quick ways to add keywords and then search for them
using the filter tools in Bridge.

13
14

Examine the metadata
When importing images into Lightroom you can type your

name into the Photo Downloaders Creator field. If youve
chosen this option, you can check that your name is attached to
the file. Click the thumbnail of an image and then toggle open
the IPTC Core section of the Metadata panel. Next to the Creator
label youll see your name. If you didnt add your name while
importing, you can still do so by typing in the adjacent text field.
Apply the changes
If your image contains a person or a place, then you can add

the appropriate details in Bridges IPTC Extension panel. This
panel also enables you to inform viewers of the image if theres
a model or property release form available, which is useful for
purchasers of stock photography. Once youve finished editing the
metadata, click anywhere outside the Metadata panel. Youll then be
asked if you want to apply the changes. Click Apply.
Assign your copyright
You can also add your contact and website details to the
files metadata by typing in the appropriate fields. Scroll
down in the IPTC Core panel to find the Copyright Status popup menu. Choose an option such as Copyrighted. When the
photograph is opened in Photoshop the image tab will display a
symbol, indicating that the image is copyrighted. Viewers of the
image can go to File>Info and read the info that youve added.
Create a metadata template
To speed up your workflow you can use Bridge to create a

metadata template that contains useful generic information,
such as your contact and copyright details. To do so, go to
Tools>Create Metadata Template. Give the template a name, such
as My contact details. Type in the information. Any properties
you add will automatically be checked. Click Save. You can create
as many custom metadata templates as you like.

Batch process the metadata
Once youve created a custom metadata template you can

apply it to multiple images. Shift-click to select a range of
thumbnails in Bridge. Go to Tools and choose Append Metadata.
You can then choose your custom metadata template. Your contact
details will then be added to all the selected files in an instant.
Click a thumbnail and check the Metadata panels IPTC Core
section to see the added information.
Create new keywords
To assign existing keywords to a selected image, tick the

box next to a keyword category, such as People, or a
subcategory, such as a persons name. If a keyword isnt available,
click the fly-out icon at the top right of the Keywords panel and
choose New Keyword. Type the keyword into the text field. Hit
Enter. Drag the new keyword into a particular category. Tick the
new keyword to assign it to the selected thumbnails.
Add keywords
Filter via keywords
The IPTC Core panel also has a keyword field, so you can
add a series of descriptive keywords to a particular file,
such as macro, butterfly, leaf etc. You could also add common
keywords, such as your name, to a metadata template. To help
you add keywords quickly, Bridge has a Keywords panel adjacent
to the Metadata tab. Here youll find a collection of useful preset
keywords, plus any that youve manually added to any images.
To find images that contain a particular keyword, go to

the Filter panel on the left of the Essentials workspace,
then simply click a keyword in the list to display the appropriate
thumbnails in the Preview window. Youll see a number next to
each keyword that indicates the number of files that contain that
particular keyword in their metadata. You can also type keywords
into the Search field at the top right of Bridges workspace.
15
16

Organise your
images in Bridge
Use Bridges asset management tools to help you nd
particular pictures quickly and easily using Collections
s we revealed on the previous pages, Bridge
enables you to create and assign keywords to
single images or batches of images so that you
can find them with ease using filters. Keywords
provide one of the most powerful and useful ways of
helping you to locate specific photographs, although
Bridge has other tools that will help you to organise
your ever-growing library of images.
In pre-digital days wed place our favourite prints into
photo albums. These tended to gather and present images
using particular themes, such as weddings or holidays, for
example. In these digital days we have many more images
to manage, so we can end up scrolling through hundreds

of thumbnails in search of a particular image. In this
walkthrough well demonstrate how to use the old photo
album model to collect themed images together so that they
are easier to access, courtesy of Bridges Collections panel.
Youll also learn how to use the powerful Smart Collections
feature to find photos according to specific metadata
information, such as the shutter speed or camera model used
to capture the images.
Well kick off by demonstrating how to quickly separate
the wheat from the chaff by assigning labels and star ratings
to particular pictures.

Assign ratings
Click the Filmstrip workspace so that you can get a good

look at each image when you click its thumbnail. If you
like an image, you can click the star icons below a thumbnail
to assign up to five stars. You can also assign star ratings by
pressing Cmd/Ctrl+ a number between 1 and 5.
Filter your photos
Create a Smart Collection
Once youve assigned ratings and labels, you can

search using them. Go to the Filter panel and click a
coloured label to see all the files with that label. Narrow down
your search by clicking other criteria such as a particular
rating. You can also use the Filter items by rating option.
Click the New Smart Collection icon. Choose a Source

for Bridge to look in. In Criteria, choose an attribute,
such as Rating equals five stars. Click the + icon to add other
criteria if necessary. Click Save. The Smart Collection will
automatically gather appropriate images together.
Label your images
Create a Collection
Export to Photoshop
You can also assign ratings by clicking the Label menu

at the top of the workspace. There are also colourcoded labels that indicate the status of a file. If a picture is
ready for print, you could apply a green Approved label.
Images that require editing might have a purple To Do label.
To create an album-style Collection, click the

Collections panel. Click the New Collection icon at
the bottom. Label the Collection with an appropriate name,
such as Landscape collection. Drag thumbnails from the
Filmstrip into the Landscape collections folder.
Once youve finished organising files in Bridge, you can

double click to take a specific file into Photoshop. You
can also go to Tools>Photoshop and use shortcuts that will
jump-start a variety of Photoshop edits, such as placing two
images into separate layers in the same document.
17
18

INTRODUCING THE CAMERA RAW EDITOR

The Camera
Raw editor
Familiarise yourself with the controls in Photoshops
professional-level image-processing digital darkroom
20
Raw versus JPEG: which

is the better format?
22
Introducing the
Camera Raw panels
24
Introducing the
Camera Raw toolbar
Discover the advantages of shooting

and editing photos using your cameras raw format,
compared with the JPEG format
Learn how to fix common photo

problems using the tools in the powerful imageprocessing panels in Camera Raw
Familiarise yourself with the wide

range of picture-processing tools placed in the
Camera Raw toolbar
26
Master preferences and

workflow settings
28
A typical Camera
Raw workflow
Set up Camera Raw with your

preferred colour space, bit depth and more to suit
your image-processing requirements
Discover how to open a raw file, fix its

colour and tone problems, sharpen it for print, and
then save the changes
19
20

Raw versus JPEG:

whats the difference?
Discover the advantages of shooting and editing photos using
your cameras raw format, compared with the JPEG format
hen your camera captures an
image, it saves it as a raw file or
a JPEG. JPEG format images are
compressed, so these files present
a shorthand description of the colours and
tones in the scene. If you shoot images using
your cameras raw format, then the photos
will be uncompressed, meaning much more
information about the colours and tones in
the images are captured.
Shooting in the JPEG format is comparable
to snapping your subject with a Polaroid
camera. Once the image has been developed

in-camera, youre stuck with the finished
print. Shooting in raw format is like using
print or slide film. You can take your negative
into the darkroom and recover missing tonal
detail more easily. Indeed, Adobes raw DNG
format reflects the nature of a raw file by
calling it a digital negative.
Like traditional negatives, your DNG
files need to be worked on before they look
their best. This is why we refer to the Camera
Raw workspace as the digital darkroom.
When you capture a photo as a JPEG, the

camera applies processing settings to the
image, and you risk adding unwanted
artefacts such as noise and blocky pixelated
areas when you try to improve the image.
By shooting in raw, you have more freedom
to make changes while preserving the
quality of the image. For example, you can
change the colour balance of a raw photo
with a click, as if you were back on location
experimenting with your cameras white
balance presets. Q

Photoshop Anatomy Head to head

Get better-looking pictures by shooting and editing in raw
1 TONAL RANGE
When shooting a high-contrast scene, your camera
will struggle to capture detail in the shadows and
highlights at the same time. With a raw file you have a
much better opportunity of restoring missing highlight
or shadow details.
2 DRAB COLOUR
2
After brightening a JPEGs under-exposed areas, youll
notice that they lack colour information, even after
boosting the Vibrance. A raw file will have more hidden
colours for you to reveal in Camera Raw.
3 ARTEFACTS
In a JPEG version of a scene, compression artefacts
can appear as jagged blocks or noticeable bands. In
the raw version, the same area will be displayed as a
smoother gradient.
1
6
4 NOISE
5 WHITE BALANCE
6 CLARITY
If theres an exposure problem with a JPEG, youll

struggle to restore tonal detail without adding artefacts
such as noise. The processed raw version of a scene
will feature less noise.
The whites in our processed JPEG look a little cold.

The White Balance presets and Temperature slider in
Camera Raw enable you to quickly get whites looking
white, creating tint-free colours in the rest of the image.
The Clarity slider in Camera Raw enables you to tease

out more fine midtone detail, such as the textures in
the water in this photo. It also adds contrast, creating
a much punchier image.
BELT AND BRACES
Understanding
RAW FORMATS
Different camera
manufacturers use
different processing
techniques to
produce raw
files, and the files
created by the latest
cameras may not
be compatible with
older versions of
Photoshop. Adobe
introduced the DNG
(digital negative)
raw format [1] to
make it possible
for photographers
to open raw files
using older versions
of Photoshop.
Canon cameras
save raw files with
a CR2 suffix [2]
(which stands for
Canon Raw 2).
Nikon cameras
save raw files
with a NEF suffix
(Nikon Electronic
Format) [3]. Some
of the latest Nikon
cameras produce
NRW (Nikon Raw)
files [4]. You
can open any of
these formats in
Photoshop CC.
Like a traditional print or film

negative, a raw file will need to be
processed in Photoshop before
its ready to be shared. This will
take time. You can set your
camera to create a raw and JPEG
version of a photo at the same
time. The JPEG will feature the
results of the cameras current
scene mode. For example, the
cameras Landscape scene
mode will boost the saturation
of natural colours such as blues
and greens. You can instantly
upload the processed JPEG to an
online gallery or mail it to a client.
If you need to make changes to
the photo, then you have a highquality raw file to work on at your
leisure. You can also use the raw
file to experiment with different
looks and effects.
21
22

Introducing the
Camera Raw panels
Learn how to fix common photo problems using the tools
in the powerful image-processing panels in Camera Raw
f you open a raw file in Bridge or
by using File>Open in Photoshop,
Photoshop will recognise the files
raw format and automatically
bring it into Camera Raw. This is your digital
darkroom, with a collection of tools designed
to help you process your photos.
In Camera Raw, you can claw back missing
tonal detail caused by incorrect camera
settings, thanks to the extra information

packed into an uncompressed raw file. You
can easily correct problems with colour,
too. Inappropriate or ineffective camera
white-balance settings can produce washes
of cold blue or warm orange. You can use
the white balance presets in the Basic panel
to experiment with different white balance
settings and produce natural tint-free colours
with just a few clicks. Unlike a JPEG format

file, your raw format file is free from the
processing applied by the cameras chosen
scene mode, so you can experiment with
different looks much more easily.
Well kick off by looking at the most
commonly used image-processing tools in
Camera Raws Basic panel, and then move on
to introduce the other tabbed panels.
Photoshop Anatomy The Basic panel

Fix common photo problems using the tools in this key panel
4 EXPOSURE
1
2
3
4
5
This slider enables you to

make global changes to the
photographs exposure in
a similar way to opening or
closing the cameras aperture
on location. The value in the
box equates to your cameras
exposure compensation setting.
5 HIGHLIGHTS
AND SHADOWS
6
These Basic panel Highlights

and Shadows sliders enable you
to target and fix specific tones,
such as over-exposed highlights,
without altering other parts of
the photo.
6 CLARITY,
VIBRANCE AND
SATURATION
1 TABS
2 WHITE BALANCE
3 AUTO
Click the icon on a tab to access its

raw-editing tools. The Basic panel is
selected by default because it features
the most commonly required tools.
This basic drop-down menu enables you to

access white-balance presets that will help
you to produce natural-looking colours in
various lighting conditions.
Click here and Camera Raw will adjust

the sliders automatically in an attempt
to create a healthy spread of tones
and tint-free colours.
This separate panel section

is designed to help you boost
colour saturation. Vibrance
is designed to boost weaker
colours without over-saturating
stronger ones, which helps you
to keep the colours within a
printable range.

Overview Other key editing panels

Discover other tabs that can help you to improve or creatively process your images
1 TONE CURVE
4 SPLIT-TONING
This tab gives you access to even more powerful tone-tweaking

tools that enable you to make selective tonal adjustments by
dragging sliders or manipulating points on a curve. It also has a
collection of Point Curve presets.
After desaturating a photo using the HSL/Grayscale tab, you

can add washes of colour to the shadows and highlights to
change the mood of the monochrome conversion.
2 DETAIL
This useful tab enables you to sharpen up a soft-looking
photo to tease out more fine detail. This is an effective way of
producing a print with more punch. You can also reduce the
presence of colour and luminance noise in shots captured using
a high ISO setting.
3 HSL/GRAYSCALE
This tab enables you to target and tweak the hue, saturation
and luminance of specific colours. It also enables you to create
a more effective monochrome conversion by using colour
sliders to lighten or darken particular parts of the image based
on their original colour information.
5 LENS CORRECTION
This panel enables you to use lens profiles to correct lensrelated distortions. It also features sliders to help you
counteract distortions manually, and remove artefacts
such as chromatic aberration.
6 EFFECTS
This panel enables you to mimic film effects by adding naturallooking grain. You can also add or counteract vignetted corners,
and these darkening or lightening corrections will still be
applied evenly to the corners even after you crop the image.
23
24

Introducing the
Camera Raw toolbar
Familiarise yourself with the wide range of picture-processing
tools with the icons placed on the Camera Raw toolbar
n a traditional print darkroom,
a photographer would have access
to a collection of tools that
enabled him to tweak the colours
and tones of a negative to produce a wellexposed print. For example, by placing bits
of card between the enlarger and the photo
paper, a photographer could vary the amount
of light hitting the paper and create selective
exposures that revealed detail in lighter or
darker parts of a scene.
Camera Raw has a toolbar thats packed full

of tools that do similar jobs to those tools
offered by the traditional darkroom. The
advantage of working with Camera Raw tools
is the fact that the adjustments that you make
are non-destructive. If a traditional darkroom
photographer makes a mistake, he has to
throw away the exposed photo paper and
start from scratch. A Camera Raw user can
experiment with more freedom, such as
trying out different compositions using the
Crop tool and then reverting the image to

the original composition (even if he closes
and then re-opens the processed raw file).
A raw files original information cant be
destroyed or altered by any of the Camera
Raw tools and panels. Camera Raw simply
records the changes that you make using its
tools, and then applies them to the raw file
when you re-open it. Here well introduce
you to the key image-processing tools in
Camera Raw.

Photoshop Anatomy The toolbar

Get to know the key digital darkroom tools Camera Raw offers
1 WHITE BALANCE
This tool enables you to fix a white-balance problem
by sampling something that should be white. If the
sampled pixels are too warm, the tool will cool down
the colours to make whites look white. This will remove
colour casts from the rest of the photograph.
1
2
2 TARGETED ADJUSTMENT
This powerful tool enables you to adjust the tones of a
particular area of the image. Click the image and drag
upwards to lighten the tones, or downwards to darken
them. You can set the tool to selectively adjust colour
saturation too.
3 CROP TOOL
This enables you to improve composition by
removing some of the edges of the frame. The tool
is non-destructive, so you can restore missing edge
details at any time. Hold down the mouse button
on the Crop tool icon to modify the way it behaves.
The neighbouring Straighten tool enables you to
counteract tilted horizons.
4 SPOT REMOVAL
5 ADJUSTMENT BRUSH
6 GRADUATED FILTER
This tool enables you to hide unwanted image

elements such as sensor spots in skies or spots on
the subjects face in a portrait. Its the Camera Raw
version of the main editors Clone Stamp and
Healing Brush tools.
This tool enables you to make selective brushbased adjustments, such as lightening (dodging)
or darkening (burning). Unlike traditional darkroom
dodge-and-burn tools, you can modify the results
produced by these digital versions.
This tool acts like a graduated neutral density filter on

a cameras lens, enabling you to darken bright skies
without blowing out a correctly exposed landscape.
Alternatively, you could use it to brighten an underexposed landscape without over-exposing the sky.
XMP
Understanding
OTHER RAW
TOOLS
If you rotate the
camera to shoot in
portrait or landscape
orientation, the
image will need to
be displayed the
right way up. Most
digital cameras will
store the orientation
of the camera in
the metadata of a
photo so that it will
automatically be
displayed correctly in
Camera Raw. However,
you can also click to
rotate the photo in

a clockwise [1] or
counter-clockwise [2]
direction. The Color
Sampler [3] enables
you to discover the
RGB values used to
create the colour of an
area. If the resulting
RGB values are equal,
the sampled colour is
a shade of grey. The
Radial Filter [4] is like
the Graduated Filter,
but it creates a
circular gradient.
When you process a raw format

image such as a Canon CR2 file or
a Nikon NEF file in Camera Raw,
Photoshop creates a sidecar XMP
file that stores all the Camera
Raw tool and slider settings used
to adjust the image. When you
re-open the image at a later date,
this XMP file ensures that the
settings are as you left them. You
can then continue fine-tuning the
raw file at your leisure. If you share
the raw file, but forget to include
the XMP file, then the settings
wont be applied. However, if you
save your edited raw file using
Adobes cross-platform DNG
(digital negative) file format then
the changes made by the tools and
panel sliders will be stored within
the DNG.
25
26

Master workflow
and preferences
Set up Camera Raw with your preferred colour space, bit
depth and more to suit your image-processing requirements
efore processing your photos in
Camera Raw, its worth taking
a little time to set up the
preferences and tailor its workflow
options to suit your specific image-editing
needs. This enables you to speed up the way
you work, and produce more effective results.
For example, if you plan to print your
pictures, youll benefit from setting up a
Camera Raw colour space that produces

printer-friendly colours. Your PC displays
millions of colours by mixing the red, green
and blue channels together. Printers, on
the other hand, create a narrower range of
colours by mixing cyan, magenta, yellow and
black. Set up Camera Raw to use a printercompatible colour space, such as Adobe RGB
(1998), and the prints of your carefully edited
images will look more similar to the onscreen versions.

You can also modify the Camera Raw
preferences to speed up your workflow. This
enables you to adjust the default settings so
that Camera Raw will automatically apply
tonal adjustments when you open an image,
for example. Well kick off by setting up
print-friendly and web-based workflows.
Photoshop Anatomy Workflow options

Set up workflow presets to meet various image-editing challenges
4 DEPTH
To access more information in your

raw files, consider increasing the Bit
Depth to 16/Bits Per Channel, although
this will reduce the number of menu
commands you can apply in the main
Photoshop editor.
5 RESIZE
If youre editing a series of photos that

are destined for print, set Camera Raw
to automatically resize them to typical
print-friendly dimensions. You can also
choose a high resolution to pack the
print with detail.
5
6
7
6 SHARPEN
A little sharpening will give printed
pictures more impact. Choose a suitable
paper type and sharpening amount
from the drop-down menu in this
section of the Workflow Options window.
7 SMART OBJECTS
1 WORKFLOW
2 PRESET
3 COLOR SPACE
Click here to open the Workflow

Options window. The edited workflow
settings will replace the Camera Raw
default values.
Click here and choose New Workflow

Preset. A New Workflow Preset window
will appear. Type in a suitable workflow
name such as Print or Web. Click OK.
Click here to choose a colour space. If

youre editing for print, choose Adobe
RGB (1998). If youre editing your
work for digital display, chose sRGB.
Once you open a raw file in Photoshop,

it behaves like an ordinary JPEG. By
ticking this box, you can edit the photo
in Photoshop and then re-open it in
camera Raw to fine-tune. To override
this preference for specific images,
press Shift when you click Open Image.

Overview Choose your preferences

Customise the way Camera Raw behaves to suit your way of working
1
2
4
5
6
1 PREFERENCES
4 AUTO TONE
To access the Camera Raw Preferences window, click here in

the toolbar. Alternatively, you can summon the Camera Raw
Preferences window while working in Photoshop by going to
Preferences>Camera Raw.
Tick this box to have Camera Raw analyse the exposure of

the image and automatically adjust the sliders in the Basic
panel to try to create a healthier spread of shadows, midtones
and highlights.
2 SIDECAR
Any Camera Raw slider or tool-related changes you make are
recorded in an XMP file thats stored in the same folder as the
raw file. If you move the raw file, you need to move the XMP file
too, to preserve the changes to the image.
3 DATABASE
You can store a record of any adjustments made to a raw file in
a database on your Mac or PC. This database is indexed by file
content, so the image will retain Camera Raw adjustments even
if the raw file is moved or renamed.
5 DEFAULTS
You can customise the Noise Reduction settings to apply
different amounts of default smoothing to photos captured with
fast or slow ISO speeds.
6 CACHE
The cache stores information about changes made in Camera
Raw, which helps speed up the opening of images in Camera
Raw. It also rebuilds previews in Bridge when an image is
adjusted in Camera Raw.
27
28

The Camera
Raw workflow
Discover how to open a raw le, x its colour and tone problems,
sharpen it for print, and then save the changes youve made
ll the information about the
colours and tones in a scene are
contained in the raw file, but
youll need to do some work to
display tones that are missing in darker or
brighter areas. You may also find that
colours suffer from a warm or cool tint due to
incorrect white-balance settings used by the
camera at the time of capture.
In this tutorial well show you a typical
photo-fixing workflow that will demonstrate
the ways you can use to analyse a raw file

for typical exposure and colour problems,
and then correct them using the sliders in
the Basic panel. Once your processed photo
looks more like the scene did on location,
you can build on this
basic workflow by
applying more
complex tools
and effects to
the image.
Open the image
If youre using Bridge, right click the supplied starting image and
choose Open in Camera raw from the context-sensitive pop-up
menu. Alternatively, if youre in Photoshop choose File>Open. Browse to
the starting image and click Open. The file is a DNG (digital negative),
so it will automatically open in Camera Raw. The shot looks underexposed, the contrast is flat, the colours are drab and the water looks
warm and muddy.
SAVING OPTIONS
Once youve improved your photo, you have
a variety of choices. Click Done to record the
slider changes and store them with the raw
file, so you can fine-tune them at a later date.
To continue editing the image in Photoshop,
choose Open Image. To save a JPEG version to
share online, click Save Image. Set the Format
drop-down menu to JPEG and click Save.
Boost the exposure
To understand the exposure problem more clearly, take a look

at the Histogram panel. In this instance, the graph is clumped
towards the shadows on the left, with no strong highlight information
on the right. This is a typical histogram shape for an under-exposed
photo. By dragging the Exposure slider right, the graphs underexposed tones slide towards the highlights, creating brighter highlights
in the image. A value of +1.5 does the trick in this instance.

Lighten the shadows
Increase Clarity
Our photo now has a wider spread of tones, but the shadows
lack detail. You can selectively target tones like these by
dragging the Shadows slider right to +81. If a photos highlights were
too bright, then youd drag the Highlights slider left to claw back
missing detail. Camera Raw enables you to make effective selective
tonal adjustments and create a stronger contrast. Drag Contrast to +17
for slightly blacker shadows and whiter highlights.
When you reveal tones in under-exposed scenes, the

colours can look drab. Pop down to the last section in the
Basic panel and drag Vibrance right to +46. This boosts blues and
greens in nature shots (while avoiding over-saturating warmer skin
tones in portraits). In the same section youll find the Clarity slider.
Use this to boost midtone contrast and tease out fine details and
textures. A value of +28 will do the trick in this example.
Improve the colour
Sharpen the image
If the colours look too warm or cold you can experiment

with different white-balance presets to produce
whiter whites. This will create more natural-looking tint-free
colours in the rest of the image. For this image, manually drag
Temperature left to 4600K to cool down the warm colour and
create neutral, less muddy-looking whites. Press Q to cycle the
Before and After views.
Camera Raw applies a little post-production sharpening to

your image. If you plan to print your photo, you can give
the hard copy extra impact by sharpening it a little more. Select the
Zoom tool and right click to see the image at 100%. This enables
you to see how sharp it is. Go to the Detail tab and increase the
Amount slider in the Sharpening section to around 44. Youre now
ready to save your processed picture.
29
30

CAMERA RAW BASIC EDITING

Camera Raw
basic editing
Learn how to open and process multiple raw files
and perform basic image-editing transformations
32
Introducing the magnifier

and grab tools
34
Use the Histogram

to assess exposure
36
Batch process
your raw files
Work more effectively on particular

parts of a raw file with help from the Camera Raw
image navigation tools
Discover how to use the Histogram

window to analyse the spread of tones in a raw
image, and then fix any exposure problems
Save time and effort by opening

and processing multiple photos taken at the same
time in the same lighting
38
Improve colour
and tone locally
42
Resize and save your

processed raw files
Target and tweak the hue, saturation

and brightness of specific regions of a photo using
the Targeted Adjustment tool
Discover how to save your edited

photos in different image formats at different sizes
to suit your file-sharing needs
31
32

The magnifier
& grab tools
Work more effectively on particular parts of a raw file
with help from the Camera Raw image-navigation tools
o successfully improve your raw
files, youll need to get to grips
with the Camera Raw navigation
tools. For example, if you look at a
raw file on your cameras LCD display, it may
look nice and sharp. However, the file may
be actually soft due to the cameras inability
to find a focal point, or because of a shallow
depth of field caused by a wide aperture setting. You can only discover how soft or sharp
a photo really is by opening it in Camera Raw
and then magnifying the image to see its

actual pixels.
As with the Photoshop workspace, Camera
Raw has a toolbar that contains a Zoom tool.
This navigation tool enables you to magnify
the image in a series of increments so that
you can take a closer look at soft-focus
areas, or tackle retouching challenges more
easily such as cloning out a small but
unsightly sensor spot. There are a range of
techniques that enable you to jump to a
closer look of a particular section of a

raw file, and well cover all of these in our
annotated image on the next page. You can
then experiment and decide which zooming
method you prefer.
Once youve zoomed in for a closer look,
youll need to pan around the magnified image
to discover more problematic areas to fix. The
Zoom tool works in tandem with the Hand
tool, so you can scrutinise and edit the pixels
of your picture quickly and effectively.

Photoshop Anatomy Navigation tools

Take a closer look at any part of a picture
1 ZOOM TOOL
If you need to take a closer look at an area, click this
icon in the Camera Raw toolbar to activate the Zoom
tool. Alternatively, press Z to summon it with the
keyboard shortcut.
2 HAND TOOL
Once youve magnified the image using the Zoom tool,
click this icon to summon the Hand tool (or press H).
You can temporarily summon the Hand tool when
using any other tool by holding down the space bar.
Let go of the space bar to jump back to the previously
active tool.
3 DRAG
6
When the Hand tool is active, this icon will appear over
the cursor. Drag the mouse to pan the magnified image
in any direction.
4 ZOOM LEVEL
5 CONTEXT-SENSITIVE MENU
6 SPECIFIC ZOOM
Click the plus or minus icons to zoom in or out in

increments, type a specific percentage value into
the field, or click the pop-up menu and choose a
magnification percentage.
Right clicking with the Zoom or Hand tools summons

the Zoom Level window wherever the cursor happens
to be, which saves your cursor a trip down to the
bottom left corner of the workspace.
The Zoom Level commands enable you to magnify the

image in specific incremental jumps. To zoom into a
specific object or area of the image, drag a rectangle
with the Zoom tool.
KEYBOARD
SHORTCUTS
Understanding
MAGNIFIED
PIXELS
The maximum
magnification that
you can achieve
using the Camera
Raw Zoom Level
options or the Zoom
tool is 400% [1].
At this extreme
magnification, you
can see the blocks
of colour and tone
[2] that create
the image. Each
photo is made up
of millions of these
pixels (hence the
term, megapixel).
Although each pixel
is square, they are
small enough to
create smoothly
curved shapes when
viewed at a lower
magnification such
as 100% or Fit in
View [4]. When
editing an image in
Photoshop, you can
zoom into a massive
3200%, which gives
you a much closer
look at the pixels.
3
2
4
1
When working with

any tool in Camera
Raw, you can zoom
in by simultaneously
pressing Cmd/Ctrl
and the + key, or
zoom out by pressing
Cmd/Ctrl and the
key. To quickly
zoom into 100%
magnification, double
click the Zoom tool
icon in the Camera
raw toolbar. In
Photoshops General
Preferences menu,
you can tick a box that
enables you to zoom
in using your mouses
scroll wheel, but this
option doesnt work in
Camera Raw.
33
34

Use the Histogram

to assess exposure
Discover how to use the Histogram window to analyse the spread
of tones in a raw image, and then fix any exposure problems
ne of the main challenges we face
when taking a photograph is to
meter the scene to capture detail
in the shadows, midtones and
highlights. After capturing an image, you may
discover that its under- or over-exposed.
Some cameras enable you to summon a
Histogram graph in the cameras Live View
display when setting up the shot. This graph
analyse the spread of tones in a picture so

that you can see precisely where the exposure
problems are. You can then use the Histogram
window to help you create a wider spread of
tones that reveals missing detail and creates
more contrast. In our first annotation, well
look at how to analyse our under-exposed
photos histogram, before moving on to fix it
in the second annotated image.
demonstrates the spread of tones in the

scene. A correctly set camera should display
a histogram graph that spreads from the far
left (where the darkest shadows are) to the far
right (where the brightest highlights are).
Despite your best efforts, you may capture
an image that has exposure problems, such
as our under-exposed starting image. Camera
Raws Histogram window enables you to
Photoshop Anatomy The Histogram

Discover the exposure problems in any image
4 GRAPH
2
The undulating graph shows the
strength and spread of the shadows,
midtones and highlights in the image.
3
4
5 HIGHLIGHTS
The brightest highlights peter out in
the middle of the histogram. In a wellexposed photo, theyd stretch to the
far right.
6 HIGHLIGHT CLIPPING
Click the Highlight Clipping warning to
reveal clipped (over-exposed) highlights
as patches of red.
1 OPEN IMAGE
2 SHADOW CLIPPING
3 SHADOWS
Choose File>Open, browse to our

PMZ61_histogram starting image.
It will open in Camera Raw. It looks
under-exposed to the naked eye.
Click the Shadow Clipping warning

to reveal clipped (under-exposed)
shadows as patches of blue.
The shot has plenty of midtone and

shadow information. The strength of
the darkest shadows are represented
at the far left.

Overview Create a correct exposure

Adjust the spread of tones in the histogram graph
1
2
1 REGIONS
4 REMAP
Place the cursor on part of the graph, and you can see which
tonal region is being represented as a lighter grey bar.
By boosting the Exposure and Highlights you remap the underexposed midtones and highlights and give them brighter values.
The graph now stretches further to the right, indicating a wider
spread of tones.
2 EXPOSURE
In this example, weve placed the cursor on the part of the
histogram graph that represents the tones controlled by the
Exposure slider.
3 DRAG
By dragging right inside a specific region (such as Exposure)
you can slide the graph right toward the highlights. This also
increases the value of the Exposure slider.
5 WHITES
You can target and tweak a narrow range of tones by using
sliders such as Whites. This slider brightens the lightest
pixels without interfering with tones in the rest of the image.
A correctly exposed photo should have some black shadows
and white highlights for a strong contrast.
6 BEFORE AND AFTER

Click here to toggle through the various before-and-after views
so you can compare your adjusted image with the original.
35
36

Batch process
your images
Save time and effort by opening and processing multiple
photos taken at the same time in the same lighting
hen shooting a series of shots in the same lighting
conditions (and using identical camera settings),
you may end up with a collection of images that
have similar problems with colour and tone (such
as our under-exposed starting images). You could open each
image in turn and manually tweak its colours and tones, but
this would be rather time-consuming.
Because our collection of images have similar problems
we can use the Basic Camera Raw sliders to apply the same
tonal and colour adjustments to every shot in the series
and theyll look consistently better. Adobe understand
that most photographers would prefer to spend more time
taking photographs and less time editing them, which is why
Camera Raw enables you to batch process multiple photos at
the same time.
As youll see from our walkthrough, Camera Raw
enables you to make manual adjustments to a photo that is
representative of the problems in a batch of similar images,
and it will simultaneously apply the adjustments to all of the
open files. If necessary you can then look through the batchprocessed files and fine-tune the adjustments to suit their
individual needs.
Open the images
In Bridge, Shift click to select our batch of three start

images - PMZ11_batch DNG, PMZ12_batch DNG and
PMZ13_batch DNG. Alternatively, in Photoshop choose
File>Open and Shift click to select the three files. Click Open.
The open files thumbnails will be visible in Camera Raw.
BEFORE
Tweak the colour and tone
Click PMZ11_batch DNG. Click Select All to include

the other images. Drag Exposure up to +0.70 to
brighten up the under-exposed image. Pull Highlights left to
-20 to avoid blowing out detail on the brighter petals. Cool
the Temperature to 4100 and drag Tint to +20.

BEFORE
BEFORE
Reduce Vibrance
Boost Clarity to +16 to increase contrast and reveal

fine details. For more natural-looking colours, drag
Vibrance down to -15. Vibrance selectively reduces the
saturation of the stronger colours without desaturating the
weaker ones. This helps to keep the colours printable.
Fine-tune individual images
The changes will be applied to all the files. Click the

other thumbnails to see if they need fine-tuning.
The other two images are slightly brighter, so tweak their
Exposure to -65. Drop Highlights to -70. Click the Before
and After icon to see how the edited images compare.
37
38

Improve colour
& tone locally
Alter the hue, saturation and brightness of specic
regions of a photo using the Targeted Adjustment tool
amera Raw is packed full of tools and sliders
that enable you to selectively target and adjust
properties such as colour or tone. However, it can
be quite daunting to decide which tool to pick or
slider to adjust. The beauty of the Targeted Adjustment tool
is that you can click a particular area to sample it, and then
drag to adjust a range of properties.
The Targeted Adjustment tool will tinker with the
Parametric Curve, which youll find in the Tone Curve
Brighten the highlights
Open PMZ61_targeted DNG. Click the Targeted

Adjustment tool in the Tools panel. To see how the tool
tweaks the photos curves, click the Tone Curve panel and
choose the Parametric Curve tab. Click to sample the eye
whites and drag upwards to brighten the highlights.
Adjust the colour
Click and hold the Targeted Adjustment tool icon and

choose Saturation. Click to sample a colour. Drag upwards to make that colour more saturated. Drag down to make
it less saturated. This automatically changes the appropriate
colour sliders in the HSL panels Saturation tab.
panel. This panel provides you with a powerful way to

adjust specific tones, but you can get carried away and end
up blowing out highlights or clipping shadows if youre
unfamiliar with curves. The Targeted Adjustment tool
enables you to tweak curves without using the sliders in the
Parametric Tone Curve panel, so its more intuitive to use.
Well show you how to tweak colour hue, saturation and
general tones simply by clicking them and dragging the
cursor up or down.
Darken the shadows
Click to sample a shadow and drag down to make

all the blacks in the image look blacker. These curve
tweaks give the image a stronger contrast. Notice that the
appropriate Highlights and Shadows sliders in the Parametric
Curve panel have been adjusted automatically.
Adjust the Hue
If you set the Targeted Adjustment tool to Hue, then

you can drag on a particular colour and quickly change
the hue of all similar colours. Here we dragged down on the
red top to change the hue of the Reds in the HSL panel to
pink. This turned the red lipstick pink too.

BEFORE
39
40

Want to know more?
NOW TRY THIS

After using the Targeted Adjustment tool to perform common
photo fixes such as increasing contrast and boosting colour
saturation, you can use it to experiment with more creative
looks. Here we set the Targeted Adjustment tool to alter
Hue and turned the sampled blues a more cross-processed
cyan [1]. We also altered the Hue of the Reds to turn them
orange. Heres an alternative cross-processed look with
greener graffiti, created by sampling and changing the Hue
of the Blues and Purples [2]. You can also set the Targeted
Adjustment tool to Grayscale Mix. This enables you to drag
down on a sampled colour to create darker tones in a
monochrome conversion, or up to lighten the tones. Here
weve created luminous white skin to make the model stand
out more in contrast with the darker background [3]. Here
weve sampled and darkened the Reds of her dress and lips
for a gothic look [4].
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42

Resize and save

your raw files
Discover how to save your edited photos in different image
formats at different sizes to suit your le-sharing needs
fter processing a raw file, you have a choice of
several image-saving options. By default, when
you make changes to a raw file and click Done
to close the image, Camera Raw will create an
XMP file thats stored in the same folder as your original
raw file. This sidecar file describes the position and value of
any sliders that were tweaked in Camera Raw, as well as any
modifications that youve made using tools to crop, clone or
selectively tone the raw image. When you re-open the raw
Process the picture
Open PMZ31_save DNG. Our raw file is too warm, so

drag Temperature to 450 for more natural skin tones.
The highlights are too bright, so drop Contrast to -23 and
Highlights to -43. Drag Blacks to -53 for more contrast. Set
Clarity to -11 for softer skin and boost Vibrance to +33.
Set the quality
The Format drop-down menu will change to the file

format youve chosen. To create a smaller JPEG you
could drop the Quality setting, though obviously, this creates
a lower quality image. If you plan to share the photo onscreen
set Color Space to sRGB. Use Adobe RGB for print.
file in the future, Camera raw will read the XMP file and then
automatically reapply all the image adjustments and slider
settings that you made earlier.
You may want to click Open Image to continue editing
the raw file using tools and filters that arent available in
Camera Raw. Alternatively, you might want to create a
compressed version of the processed picture thats suitable
for posting online. Heres how to save your raw file in a
variety of formats.
Choose a format
To save the image in a web-friendly format, click the

Save Image button at the bottom left. The Save Image
window will appear. In Destination, click Select Folder and
choose a folder to store your saved photo in. Click Select.
Label the photo and choose a format such as JPG.
Choose a size
Use Image Sizing to create a version of your raw file

with specific dimensions (such as a 4x7-inch print).
For a high-quality print, keep resolution at 300. For the web,
you can drop the resolution to 72. Sharpen the file for screen
or print. Click Save to create a resized JPEG version.

BEFORE
43
44

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
Fix photo
problems
Quickly improve composition, tones, and colour,
and remove unwanted elements from your photos
46
Improve image
composition
50
Improve the tonal quality

of your photos
Straighten tilted horizons and crop

your photos to give your subjects more impact
using Camera Raws composition tools
Discover how to brighten underexposed images and add punch with additional
contrast using the Basic panel
52
Improve image colours

with the Basic panel
Use the colour-enhancing tools in the

Basic panel to create strong and natural-looking
colours in your photos
54
Remove unwanted
spots and marks
56
Remove large
distractions
Discover how to identify and remove

unsightly spots, blemishes and other unwanted
artefacts in your photos
Remove large unwanted elements from

your images by combining the healing with cloning
functions in Camera Raw
45
46

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
Improve image
composition
Annotation/headers
Straighten tilted horizons and crop your photos to give your

subjects more impact using Camera Raws composition tools
hen capturing photos on location you may not
have time to consider the optimum composition
for your subject, especially when shooting a busy
event such as a wedding. If youre shooting
handheld then you might add a slight tilt to the images
horizon. Thanks to the large size and resolution of your
cameras raw files you can use the Camera Raw Crop tool to
re-compose a photos
Backgrounds
of subject
boxesat your leisure and change the
way that they are perceived in the frame. By removing some
of the images edges you can zoom in for a closer look at a
subject and make them more prominent in the frame. If you
forget to shoot both a portrait and landscape oriented photo
on location you can use the Crop tool to change the shots
aspect ratio and discover which shape best suits your subject.
As youll see from our walkthrough, the Crop tool enables
you to fix problems such as a tilted horizon. Alternatively,
you can crop to experiment with more creative composition
angles, as if youd deliberately tilted the camera on location.
Well show you how to crop using a range of presets and
create custom aspect ratios. Youll so learn how to crop to
create common print sizes so you can produce hard copy
pictures to fit in a frame or album. Well also demonstrate
how to darken the edges of the cropped frame to help draw
the eye to the main subject and create a natural border.
STRAIGHTEN
BEFORE

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
TILT
SQUARE
PORTRAIT
47
48

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
Straighten
Backgrounds
the horizon
of boxes
Go to File>Open and select PMZ3_compose. Click Open. The

digital negative format raw file will open in Camera Raw. If
youre using Bridge, click our starting images thumbnail and choose
File>Open in Camera Raw. The horizon is tilting down to the right.
To fix a wonky horizon, click to select the Straighten tool from the
Camera Raw toolbar. Drag the tool to draw a line that follows the tilt
of the horizon.
Save the straightened image
The image will still look tilted. To see the results of the
Crop tool, you need to click to choose any other tool in the
toolbar (such as the Hand tool). The image will then be cropped and
straightened. You can now click Save and produce a JPEG version of
your corrected image. As editing in Camera Raw is a non-destructive
process, you can click back on the Crop tool at any time and youll see
the original cropped edges.
Crop the shot
The Straighten tool will automatically rotate the shot to

counteract the angle of the tilt. The Crop tool will become active
and a crop overlay window will appear. The Crop tool needs to crop the
rotated image to avoid adding transparent edges to it. The edges of the
image that will be removed by the Crop tool appear as partially greyed
out. You could drag the crop overlays corner handles to fine-tune the
tightness of the crop.
Rotate the overlay
Click back on the Crop tool to summon the crop overlay that
you created with the Straighten tool. Place the cursor outside
the crop overlay to activate a rotate icon. Drag to rotate the crop
overlay clockwise until it creates a portrait-oriented shape. As you
rotate the crop overlay, a mesh will appear. Use the mesh to align
the rotated overlay with the tilted horizon. This will ensure that the
portrait-shaped image has a straight horizon.

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
Use the rule of thirds
Drag inside the crop overlay to recompose the image so that

the train of the brides dress is in shot. The crop overlays Rule
of Thirds grid enables you to make sure that the bride is in the centre
of the frame. Hold Shift to constrain the overlays shape and drag a
corner handle to tighten the composition. Drag inside the overlay to
place the sand in the Rule of Thirds grids bottom row. Click another
tool to view the new cropped composition.
Choose a new ratio
Go to the toolbar and hold down the mouse button on the

Crop tools icon. In the pop-up menu, choose a new aspect
ratio such as 1:1. Drag the square crop overlays corner handles to
resize the image. Drag inside the overlay to recompose the subject.
The Post Crop Vignette will automatically be re-applied to the
edges of your photographs new shape, so you dont need to spend
time fine-tuning it.
Add a vignette
Experiment with angles
Click the Effects panel. In the Post Crop Vignette section, set
the Style drop-down menu to Color Priority. This allows the
vignette to gently darken the shot's original edge colours rather than
just adding grey to them. Set Amount to -27 to add a natural-looking
vignette to the edges of the cropped image. Increase Midpoint to 63
to push the vignette effect out towards the edges while preserving the
vignetted corners. Save your portrait-oriented version of the scene.
After saving a square version of your cropped shot, experiment

by clicking the Crop tools icon and dragging the crop overlays
corner handles to zoom in for a tighter composition. Drag outside the
overlay to deliberately rotate the shot to produce a tilt that adds energy
and drama to the original images formal composition. Once youve
saved a range of new compositions, you can always choose Clear Crop
from the Crop tools drop-down menu.
49
50

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
Improve tones
Discover how to brighten under-exposed images and add
punch with additional contrast using the Basic panel
shot that looks correctly exposed on your cameras
illuminated display may look a little dull and
suffer from a lack of contrast when printed out as
a hard copy. Our starting image looks fairly
well-exposed to the naked eye, but if we look at the Camera
Raw Histogram we can see that the undulating graph doesnt
quite stretch to the far right. This indicates that while the
shot has plenty of shadow and midtone information, it lacks
strong highlights. Its a simple matter to tweak a few sliders
Boost highlight strength
Open PMZ09_tones in Camera Raw. The histogram

graph needs to stretch from the far left to the far right if
were to have a correctly exposed shot. As the highlights are
weak, drag the Highlights slider right to 100. This causes the
graphs weak highlights to slide right too, indicating that they
have been made stronger.
Reveal shadow detail
In this example the clipped highlights only appear in

the specular reflections in her eyes and earring, so
were not losing any important highlight detail. Its good to
have some bright highlights in an image if it gives a healthy
contrast. To reveal detail hidden in the photos shadows,
boost the Shadows slider to +55.
in the Camera Raw Basic panel to selectively boost the

strength of the weak highlights. Well also show you how to
reveal some extra detail in our subjects darkest shadows,
while creating an image that enjoys a strong contrast with
some black shadows and white highlights. This increase in
contrast will help the image look less flat and give it more
impact. As the Basic panels tone-tweaking sliders enable you
to target and adjust specific tonal ranges, you can use them to
fix common exposure problems quickly and effectively.
Discover clipped highlights
When boosting highlights you risk clipping (overexposing) them and losing detail. Clipped highlights
appear as a peak at the right of the graph. To reveal them in
the image, click the Highlight clipping warning icon at the
right of the Histogram, or press O for over-exposed. Clipped
highlights will appear as patches of red.
Tweak the contrast
For a healthy contrast we need some white whites

and black blacks. We could drag the Contrast slider
to darken shadows and lighten highlights equally. For more
control drag Whites to +17. Darken the Blacks slider to -10.
This allows a touch of blue shadow clipping patches to appear
in unimportant areas.

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
BEFORE
51
52

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
Improve
image colour
Use the colour-enhancing tools in the Basic panel to
create strong and natural-looking colours in your photos
f you capture your photos in JPEG format then
the colour settings that you choose in your
cameras menu will be applied to the image
as it's saved onto the memory card. This
means that it will be harder for you to change a photos
pre-processed colours in Photoshop. By using in-camera
colour settings such as Vivid or Natural youll produce a
range of dramatically different looking colours. If you use
an inappropriate white-balance setting when shooting
JPEGS then your photos may suffer from colour casts too.
These warm or blue tints in a compressed JPEG will also
be more challenging to correct in Photoshop compared
to working with a raw file.
By photographing in raw you have more colour
information to work with. The colour boosting and
correcting tools in the Camera Raw Basic panel can be
used to produce a range of different looks, from a vivid
colour palette to a more natural, less saturated look.
This gives you more freedom and quality than youd
get by applying an in-camera colour preset to a JPEG
version of the image. Heres a quick colour-enhancing
walkthrough you can apply to your photos.
Open the image
Open PMZ76_colour in Camera Raw. Our unprocessed

starting images colours look very drab, so we need to
reveal the extra colour information hidden in the raw file. The
colours look a little cold too, so well need to warm them up
slightly to remove the slightly blue colour cast.
BEFORE
Warm up the colours
Go to the White Balance drop-down menu. Here youll

find a series of settings that are similar to those you
can select in camera. Experiment to see which produces the
most tint-free colours. In this instance Auto does a good job
of removing the cold blue colour cast.

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
Correct the exposure
From the histogram we can see that the image is

under-exposed. Its always worth fixing exposure
problems before adjusting colour saturation, because this
can reveal more colour problems. Drag Exposure up to +0.50.
Increase Highlights to +32 and Whites to +36.
Boost the saturation
Drag Vibrance up to +19. This selectively boosts the

saturation of weaker colours without over-saturating
stronger ones. This makes the colours look more evenly
saturated. Give the colours a global boost by pushing
Saturation up to +36. A Clarity of +15 reveals more texture.
53
54

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
Remove unwanted
spots and marks
Discover how to identify and remove unsightly spots,
blemishes and other unwanted artefacts in your photos
hen shooting subjects that feature a large
clear expanse of bright colour or tone, such
as a sky or a studio backdrop, then you may
notice small grey blobs in these sections of
the image. Unsightly sensor spots are caused when
specks of dust enter the camera body (when changing
lenses, for example) and come to rest on the sensor.
Your SLR may enable you to vibrate the sensor in an
attempt to clean it, but this may not be enough to shake
the more tenacious spots. You could attempt to clean
the sensor by removing the lens, opening the shutter
and blasting the sensor with a gust of air from a blower
brush. However, this physical fix wont remove sensor
spots from older photos in your collection.
If shooting a portrait, then your subject may suffer
from spots and pimples on the skin. Although these
types of spots arent a camera-induced artefact, you
may still want to flatter the subject by creating
a spot-free complexion.
Camera Raw has a spot-removal tool that can
eradicate skin or sensor spots quickly and effectively.
It works by sampling clean pixels and placing them over
an adjacent spot. Well show you how to modify the
tool to reveal the location of spots more effectively, so
that you can remove them with a few clicks.
BEFORE

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
Find the spots
Open PMZ83_spot. Click the Spot Removal tool in

the toolbar (or press B to summon it). To discover the
location of the most unsightly spots, tick the Visualize Spots
box in the Spot Removal panel. By default only the most
contrasting edges will be visible in white.
Set up the tip
Fine-tune the size
Increase the Size slider so that the Spot Removal

tools tip is large enough to cover the average spot.
Set the Type drop-down menu to Heal. This will cause
sampled and relocated skin to be seamlessly blended with its
new surroundings. Click a white spot to turn it black.
Drag the edge of an overlay to resize it. To restore

a missing birth mark or freckle thats a permanent
part of the subjects character, click an overlay and hit the
Backspace key to delete it. To get a clearer look at the subject,
tick the Show Overlay box.
Adjust the tolerance
Reposition the overlays
Remove lines
To reveal more subtly contrasting spots lurking in

smooth patches of skin, drag the Visualize Spots slider
right. This makes it more sensitive. The trick here is to get a
balance between revealing spots in patches of white, without
including other details such as skin pores.
Untick Visualize Spots to see the image. As you click

a spot, a red overlay surrounds it. The attached green
overlay automatically samples a clear patch of skin to place it
over the unwanted spot. Reposition a green overlay to find a
cleaner patch of skin.
The latest version of Camera Raw enables you to draw

irregular shapes with the Spot Removal tool, so that
you can select and remove lines and wrinkles in a single
stroke. These longer strokes are represented by pins. Click a
pin to activate and edit the attached overlay.
55
56

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
Remove
unwanted
distractions
Remove large unwanted elements
from your images with healing tools
s its name suggests, the Spot Removal tool was primarily
designed to help you remove tiny spots and blemishes from
your images. You could use it to replace sensor spots with
clear patches of sky or hide an unsightly pimple with a
couple of clicks. Before the release of Photoshop CC 2014, the Spot
Removal tool was generally limited to this type of subtle cosmetic
photo fixing. If you needed to remove a more complex object (such as a
lamppost sticking out from behind a subjects head) then you needed to
open the image in Photoshop to access its more versatile brush-based
Clone Stamp tool. This meant that you lost the quality benefit of
editing in Camera Raw.
With the advent of Camera Raw 8.4.1, the Spot Removal tool has
been updated and enhanced to bring it in line with the version that
appeared in Lightroom 5. You can now change the size and shape of the
Camera Raw Spot Removal tool to paint over an unwanted object using
longer strokes instead of lots of circular overlays. This enables you to
hide complex objects more easily, without having to leave Camera Raw.
In this walkthrough well combine the healing powers of the Spot
Removal tool with its capacity to clone. Healing relocates and blends
sampled pixels, but that can create unwanted texture artefacts in
complex subjects such as our piglets textured snout. Cloning relocates
sampled pixels without blending them with their new neighbours, so
you can preserve more complex details. By combining the two modes,
you can create seamless results.
BEFORE

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
57
58

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
Magnify the image
In Bridge, right click PMZ80_clone and choose Open in Camera

Raw. Alternatively, you can double click the photos thumbnail.
As its a digital negative format file it will automatically open in
Camera Raw, Photoshops digital darkroom. To get a closer look at the
unwanted piece of straw over the piglet's face, use the Zoom Level
option to magnify the shot to 40%. Drag using the Hand tool to get a
clear look at the straw.
Sample a section
Click and paint downwards to cover the first section of straw as

it overlaps the fur. This will create a red overlay. An identically
shaped green overlay will automatically sample an adjacent selection
of pixels and place them inside the red overlay. Choose a more suitable
selection of pixels to sample, drag inside the green overlay, and place it
alongside the red. This makes the top of the sampled snout replace the
details hidden by the straw.
Set the size
Grab the Spot Removal tool from the Camera Raw toolbar
(or press B to summon it with a keyboard shortcut). The
Spot Removal panel will appear. Set the Type drop-down menu
to Heal. Move the cursor over the distracting piece of straw to see
how large it is. Set the Size to 16 so that the Spot removal tools
overlay is large enough to cover the width of the straw. Set Feather
to 84 and Opacity to 100.
Reposition the overlay
Click and drag to draw over the next section of straw. You
cant start drawing inside an existing overlay, but you can draw
outside an existing overlay and then make your new stroke overlap it.
The second overlay should automatically sample pixels from a more
suitable area, but feel free to reposition the green overlay if necessary
to place appropriate details (such as a wrinkle) over the straw. The
healing wont be perfect, but well fine-tune the results later.

FIX PHOTO PROBLEMS
Change to cloning
Sample little and often
When moving over more complex areas such as the nose,

change the Type menu in the Spot Removal panel to Clone.
This creates cleaner edges to the sampled and relocated pixels.
Draw over the next section of nose. Drag the green overlay to make
the right nostril overlap the missing left nostril hidden by the straw.
Drag Feather to a sharper 68 to include more sampled nostril detail
and hide traces of unwanted straw.
Once youve cloned out the largest sections of straw using

long strokes, drop the Spot Removal tools tip Size to around
7 pixels and click to place circular overlays over the remaining traces
of straw. Reposition each green overlay to place appropriate bits of
piglet skin into the circular overlays. The pins from the longer strokes
can obscure your retouching work, so feel free to Untick the Show
Overlay box for a clearer view.
Extend the snout
Add the finishing touches
Draw a horizontal stroke over the obstructed section of

the piglets snout and then click the green overlays pin
to select it. Drag the green overlay to the right so that it samples
and extends the bottom of the clean snout into the red overlay.
By cloning in smaller sections, you can begin to place parts of
the piglets features over the unwanted piece of straw to create
a suitable new patch.
If an overlay doesnt do a good job, click its red or green

pin and hit the Backspace key to delete it. You can also
adjust an existing overlays Feather value to fine-tune the way it
conceals an unwanted object. Continue clicking and stroking to
replace traces of straw with patches of piglet until the unwanted
object has been removed. Reposition existing green or red pins to
fine-tune the way they perform.
59
60

ESSENTIAL CORRECTIONS

Essential
corrections
There are some adjustments youll need to make to almost
every photo. Find out what they are and how to apply them
62
Reduce unsightly
image noise
64
Correct lens distortion

and vignetting
68
Correct perspectival
distortion
Smooth away distracting luminance

and chrominance noise caused by using high ISO
settings in low-light conditions
Remove unwanted lens effects

from your photos such as image distortion
and vignetting using lens profiles
Straighten converging verticals in

your photos of buildings using the powerful
Upright command in Camera Raw
70
Recreate in-camera
picture styles
Make changes to the colours and tones

of a photograph with just a few clicks by applying
different camera profiles
74
Sharpen up
your images
Discover how to make your photos

appear crisp and sharp without introducing image
noise in blurred areas
61
62

BEFORE
Reduce
unsightly image noise
Smooth away distracting luminance and chrominance noise
caused by using high ISO settings in low-light conditions
hen shooting in low lighting
conditions your camera will
struggle to capture a correct
exposure. You could pop up the
flash to add artificial light, but this may not
always help. Flash wont illuminate distant
objects and may not be permitted in certain
locations. By setting your camera to a faster
ISO speed you can make it more sensitive to
available light. This enables you to use a
narrower aperture and a faster shutter speed
in low light, but it can result in pictures
suffering from noise. There are two types of
digital noise present in a photo captured

using a high ISO. The most distracting is
Chrominance (or colour) noise. This appears
as rainbow-coloured dots scattered
throughout the image. Fortunately, this
unsightly type of noise is easy to remove
without smoothing out important details.
The second type of noise is Luminance
noise. This appears as greyscale specks of
digital grain. Camera Raw counteracts this
type of noise by smoothing it using the Detail
panels Noise Reduction sliders. However, this
operation can also smooth out fine details in
the image, so you need to juggle the sliders

to get a balance between smoothing noise
while preserving detail.
There are lots of different ISO speeds to
choose from on most modern digital
cameras. However, the higher the ISO speed,
the noisier the results. After showing you
how to smooth noise while preserving detail,
well demonstrate how to set up the Camera
Raw preferences so that the correct amount
of noise reduction will be applied to suit the
specific ISO speed of any picture that you
open in future.
63
Photoshop Anatomy Noise Reduction

Remove luminance and chrominance noise using the Detail panel
1 COLOUR NOISE
Chrominance noise is visible
as specks of colour. By default
the Camera Raw Color slider
is automatically set to 25 to
remove colour noise from all
photos. To remove it from this
image a Color value of 35 is
sufficient.
2
3
2 LUMINANCE
NOISE
This type of greyscale digital

noise equates to the grain
produced by fast ISO speed
film, although clumps of grain
are considered more attractive
than sharp dots of digital noise.
3 LUMINANCE
Drag this slider right to smooth
out noise. Drag it left to restore
fine detail. This is the most useful
slider to start working with.
A value of 69 dramatically
reduces the presence of noise,
especially in the background blur.
4 LUMINANCE DETAIL
5 COLOR DETAIL
6 COLOR SMOOTHNESS
Enables you to get a balance between smoothing out luminance

noise while protecting important details. Drag right to sharpen
blurred details, or left to blur more noise. You can reveal fine detail by
increasing Luminance Contrast, though that will exaggerate noise.
This slider provides a balance between reducing

colour bleed and colour speckling. Drag it right
to reduce bleed or left to reduce speckling.
A value of 73 will be fine in this instance.
This slider is designed to remove lowfrequency colour mottling, though in the

case of this image the default setting of 50
produces good results.
GIVE IT 100%
Understanding
PREFERENCES
By default, the Camera
Raw Noise Reduction
sliders are set with
Luminance at 0 and
Color at 25. You can
tailor these Noise
Reduction defaults to
apply suitable settings
to different ISO speed
images. Go to Camera
Raw preferences and
tick Make defaults
specific to camera
ISO setting. Click OK.
Open an image with a
particular ISO speed
(such as our lizards

ISO of 1000). Set
the Noise Reduction
sliders to smooth out
the noise [1]. Click the
fly-out icon [2]. Click
Save New Camera
Raw Defaults [3].
Click Done to close
the raw file. When you
open another ISO1000
image, click here [4] to
apply the appropriate
Noise Reduction
settings that you
applied previously.
4
2
To see precisely how much noise

is blighting your photograph, you
need to view the shot at 100%.
This actual-size magnification
enables you to use the Noise
Reduction sliders to smooth
out noise more accurately while
preserving important details in the
scene. Click the Select Zoom Level
pop-up menu and choose 100%
from there. Alternatively, you can
double click the Zoom tool icon
in the toolbar, and the image will
automatically jump to 100%. You
can then press H to summon the
Hand tool and drag the magnified
image to find a noisy area to
work on. We chose a section that
showed a mixture of smooth
background and the lizards
detailed texture.
64

Fix lens
distortion
Remove unwanted lens effects
from your photos such as image
distortion and vignetting
hat you see with the naked eye isnt always what you get
in a photo. This is due to problems produced by the
cameras lens. When shooting with a wide-angle lens,
horizontal and vertical lines can look curved instead of
straight. This distortion is especially noticeable when shooting
architecture. Barrel distortion causes the edges of the frame to bulge
outwards (as if youd wrapped the photo around a barrel). Pincushion
distortion causes the edges to bulge inwards. These types of
lens-related problems are referred to as geometric distortion.
Due to the way a lens is manufactured, you may find that less
light enters at the edges. The resulting uneven exposure can cause
the edges of the frame to look darker (or vignetted). You may find
fringes of green or purple clinging to the contrasting edges of your
subject. This ugly and distracting chromatic aberration is caused
by the lenss inability to focus different wavelengths of light onto the
same spot on your cameras sensor. Its more noticeable when using
cheap lenses, but even the L-series lens used to take our starting
image features a little fringing. Well show you how to use the Lens
Correction panels Color tab to remove colour fringes automatically,
or take manual control where necessary. The aptly named Lens
Correction panel also has tools dedicated to counteracting geometric
distortion and vignetted corners. One of the most useful tools is the
Profile tab, because it enables you to remove lens-induced artefacts
with a click.
BEFORE

65
66

Open the image
Open PMZ15_lens correction in Camera Raw. If you look below

the Histogram window you can see that a wide-angle lens was
used to capture the picture. The additional @24 information tells us
that the lens was at its widest setting. This will cause some geometric
distortion and possibly lead to vignetting around the edges. Thanks
to the lenss wide-angle setting, the buildings edges also suffer from
perspectival distortion.
Before and after
If your lenss make and model details dont automatically appear,

choose your lenss manufacturer (such as Canon) from the Make
drop-down menu. This should be enough for Camera Raw to find the
precise lens used, and apply a profile that counteracts any geometric
distortions that the lens produces. Toggle the profile on and off to see a
before-and-after version of the shot. You can see that the image suffers
from vignetted edges and barrel distortion when the profile is off.
Use a profile
Click the Lens Corrections panel. Click the Profile tab. You can
use this tab to make a lens profile from the metadata stored in
the raw file. Once Camera Raw knows which lens and focal length you
used to capture the image, it will automatically be able to counteract
geometric distortion and create more evenly exposed edges. Tick
Enable lens Profile Corrections. Your lenss manufacturer and lens
model details should appear.
Fine-tune the corrections
In the uncorrected version of the image, the sky is darker at

the top left corner. The profile counteracts this vignetting and
creates a more evenly exposed sky. You can fine-tune the effect of
the profile using the Correction Amount sliders at the bottom. To
counteract the barrelling even more, push the Distortion slider right
to 143. To gently reduce the strength of the vignette correction, drag
Vignetting left to 66.

Create a custom profile
After tweaking the Correction Amount sliders, youll have created

a custom profile. Youll see the word Custom appear in the Setup
drop-down menu. If you want to apply the same corrections to other
images captured with this lens, click the Setup drop-down menu. Click
Save New Lens Profile Defaults. Setup will change to Default, but now
when you apply the Default profile to a shot, it will use the numerical
values you applied to the Correction Amount sliders.
Remove the coloured fringes
If the Remove Chromatic Aberration box doesnt work, you

can manually choose the colour of the fringes that you need to
remove. Untick the box. Drag the Green Amount slider right to 16. The
green fringe is still visible. To widen the range of the tool to include
more green hues, drag the Green Hue slider to the right. In this case a
value of 86 is enough to include and remove the colour of the unwanted
green fringe. Set Purple Amount to 9 to remove the purple fringe.
Remove the chromatic aberration
Correct the perspectival distortion
Grab the Zoom tool and click to magnify the image to 100%.
Hold down the spacebar to summon the Hand tool and drag
to view the church tower. Youll notice a green fringe clinging to the
right of the tower as the dark building contrasts against the lighter sky.
Clinging to the left of the tower is a less noticeable but still visible
purple fringe. In most cases you should be able to remove all traces of
fringing by clicking the Remove Chromatic Aberration box.
Zoom out to see the whole image. The churchs walls are
converging inwards towards the top. To straighten them, click
the Manual tab. Drag the Vertical slider to the left to counteract the
perspectival distortion a value of -30 does the trick in this example.
After manually adjusting the verticals, youll need to use the Crop tool
to hide the transparent corners at the bottom of the frame. Well look
at this panel in more detail on the next spread.
67
68

Correct
perspectival
distortion
Straighten converging verticals in your photos of buildings
using the powerful Upright command in Camera Raw
e take it for granted that most buildings have
vertical walls that extend at a 90-degree angle
from the ground. However, in photographs, the
walls often appear wider apart at the ground, but
tilt inwards towards the top (as you can see in our starting
image). These converging vertical lines are created by
perspectival distortion.
As you get closer to a building, youll need to tilt your
camera at a steeper angle to get the top of the structure
in shot. This will create the perspectival distortion.
Converging lines can also be exaggerated when you use
a wide-angle lens to fit the building into the frame.
The Manual tab on the Lens Correction panel contains
a Distortion slider that enables you to counteract
converging verticals. However, this can create large
transparent areas at the bottom of the image that will
need to be cropped out. The Upright tools enable you to
distort your image automatically to make the subjects
verticals actually look vertical. They can also produce
results that need less cropping. If you do need to crop a
corrected shot, well show you a trick that enables you
to fill in the transparent edges with appropriate detail.
Straighten the building
Open PMZ16_upright DNG. Open the Lens Corrections

panel and click Manual. Tick Show Grid. By dragging
Vertical left to -22 you can make the towers vertical lines
run parallel with the frame edge. If the corrected building
looks a little too squat, drag the Aspect slider right to slim
it down a little.
BEFORE
Auto correction
Although the tower is corrected, the

walls at the far left and right are still converging, and
weve created transparent edges that need cropping. As an
alternative, tick the Auto button in the Upright section. This
produces a similar perspectival correction and scales up the
shot to remove the transparent edges.

Force the verticals
The Auto button produces a subtle, balanced

perspective correction. This means that the edge
verticals will still tilt a little. To force all the walls of the
building to run parallel with the edge of the frame, click the
Vertical button. You can then drag the Scale slider left to
reveal more of the frames edge details.
Remove the transparent edges
Click Open>Image. To fill any transparent edges

with appropriate pixels, grab the Magic Wand tool.
Untick Contiguous. Click to select the edges. Choose
Select>Modify>Expand. Type in a value of 15. Click OK.
Choose Edit>Fill. Set Use to Content-Aware. Click OK. This
fills the transparent edges with grass.
69
70

Recreate in-camera
picture styles
Make changes to the colours and tones of a photograph
with just a few clicks by applying different camera proles
any digital cameras provide the
opportunity to process a shot as they
capture it, using a range of preset
applied adjustments such as Portrait,
Landscape, Neutral and so on. These presets change
the look of the captured shots colours and tones.
For example, a cameras Landscape preset might
boost the saturation of natural colours such as
blues and greens. The Neutral preset will avoid
boosting the colour and contrast so that you can
get the look you want manually by adjusting the
sliders in Camera Raw.
If you shoot in JPEG format, then the results
of these in-camera presets will be harder to alter
in Photoshop. However, if you shoot in your
cameras raw format then you can experiment with
different looks quickly and effectively, courtesy of
the profiles and sliders in the Camera Calibration
panel. This panel provides you with a springboard
for quickly adjusting a raw files colour and tone.
You can then fine-tune the results of a particular
preset profile using the Basic panels sliders.
BEFORE
Choose your processing options
Open PMZ20_calibration. Click the Camera Calibration

panel. Camera Raw 8 uses the 2012 processing engine,
but you could jump back to the 2010 process to replace the
Basic panels Highlights and Shadows slider with the older
Recovery and Fill light sliders.
Choose a profile
Leave Process set to 2012 (Current) to use the latest

raw processing tools. Camera Landscape increases
contrast and boosts the colour saturation of natural colours
such as greens without over-saturating the subjects skin
tones, so settle with that profile as a starting point.

Fine-tune the profile
Draw attention to the vegetation by boosting Vibrance

to +40. This selectively boosts the saturation of typical
landscape colours without over-saturating any skin tones that
may be present. Click the Presets tab. Click the New Preset
icon at the bottom of the tab.
Back to Basic
Pop back to the Basic panel to finish improving the

image. Set the Shadows slider to +34 to reveal more
detail in the dark irises. Drop Clarity to -13 to smooth skin
pores. Push Vibrance to +17 to boost weaker colours without
over-saturating stronger ones (or skin tones).
71
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Want to know more?
NOW TRY THIS

If you want to take more manual control over the colours and
tones of an image, use the Camera Neutral profile. This gives
you a very flat contrast and helps avoid clipping detail in the
shadows and highlights [1]. It also produces desaturated
colours. You can then boost the colour saturation and increase
the contrast using the sliders in the Basic panel. For an instant
high-contrast shot with vivid colours, choose the Vibrant profile
as your starting point [2]. For more creative looks, experiment

with the mix of Primary Reds, Primary Greens and Primary
Blues. Here [3] weve adjusted the Hue and Saturation values to
create a shift towards a predominantly yellow hue. You can also
use the Camera Calibration panel to tint the photos shadows
green or magenta, courtesy of the Tints slider. Weve boosted the
presence of the magentas in this example [4].
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74

BEFORE
Sharpen
your images
Discover how to make your photos appear crisp and
sharp without introducing image noise in blurred areas
t can be a challenge to get your shots looking
sharp. For starters, some digital cameras have a
built-in filter that blurs the shot a little in an
attempt to avoid producing moir patterns. This
low-pass (or anti-aliasing) filter can also soften important
details such as the fine textures in an insects eye. If you
shoot with a wide aperture then key details may become
blurred due to the resulting shallow depth of field. An image
that may look nice and sharp on your cameras display can
turn out to be soft when viewed on a larger PC monitor.
The Camera Raw Detail panel has a Sharpening section that
has a collection of sliders designed to tease out fine details
in a soft shot. These post-production sharpening techniques

work by increasing the contrast around the edge of details
in the image, giving them more impact. However, when you
digitally sharpen an image, you risk exaggerating picture
noise in smooth areas such as our starting images clean
blurred background. You can also introduce artefacts such as
blown-out highlights, clipped shadows and distracting haloes
clinging to the edge of the sharpened areas.
Well demonstrate how to use the Detail panel to restrict
the sharpening to key areas, while protecting other sections
of the image from being sharpened (and therefore minimising
unwanted artefacts).

Magnify the image
Open PMZ46_sharpen in Camera Raw. To see exactly

how sharp the shot really is, grab the Zoom tool. Right
click and choose 100% from the pop-up menu. Hold down
the space bar to summon the Hand tool and drag to view the
eye. Click the Detail panels tab.
Reduce the noise
Adjust the Detail
By increasing the Amount you increase the strength

of the contrast change around details in the image.
This makes the flys eye look sharper, but it also exaggerates
the picture noise in the smooth blurred background. Drop the
Amount to a lower 96 to reduce the noise.
The Detail slider helps you get a balance between

sharpening the shot while keeping noise to a
minimum. Drag it left to soften the scene and remove the
noise, or right to reveal more detail and noise. Hold Alt as you
drag to get a greyscale preview of the details being revealed.
Increase the sharpening
By default Camera Raw applies a sharpening Amount

of 25 to give the picture a bit more punch. Weve set
Amount to 0 so that you can see how soft the subject really
looks. By dragging Amount to the maximum of 150 you can
tease out the fine textures in the moths eye.
Adjust the Radius
Adjust the Masking
Experiment by dragging Radius back and forth. This

increases the spread of the contrast change, which
helps make contrasting details look sharper. If you combine a
high Amount with a high Radius you add black or white lines
(or haloes) to edges in the scene. Set Radius to 2.0.
This slider stops noise in smooth areas from being

sharpened. Hold Alt and drag the Masking slider until
the background appears in black and the fly in white. Now
the sharpening adjustments will only be applied to the white
areas. You can now boost the Amount to 130.
75
76

IMPROVE TONES

IMPROVE TONES
Improve
tones
Adjust the highlights, shadows and midtones
of a photo either globally or in selected areas
78
Improve exposure
and contrast
82
Reveal detail in the

highlights and shadows
84
Improve tones
with curves
Diagnose a photographs tonal

problems, reveal missing tonal detail, and avoid
clipping the highlights and shadows
Target and tweak the highlights

and shadows of a photo independently to reveal
missing tonal detail
Target and adjust specific tones

in an image by editing the shape of the tone
curve in Camera Raw
88
Dodge and burn with

the Adjustment Brush
92
Reproduce the
solarisation effect
Learn how to make selective brushbased tonal adjustments to tease out detail in your
photos where its needed
Harness the power of the Tone Curve

panel to mimic a traditional darkroom imageprocessing technique
77
78

IMPROVE TONES
Improve contrast
& exposure
Diagnose a photographs tonal problems, reveal missing
tonal detail, and avoid clipping the highlights and shadows
ne of the most common challenges we face as
photographers is to capture a correctly exposed
scene. If we shoot in manual mode, we may find
that the image is either over- or under-exposed.
In this walkthrough well demonstrate how to analyse the
spread of tones in a photo courtesy of the Histogram, and
then use this tool to create a correctly exposed image.
When adjusting tones, you risk clipping the darkest
shadows or brightest highlights. Clipped shadows will
lack detail and print out as pure black. Clipped highlights
will also lack detail and print out as pure white. Well
demonstrate how to use the Histograms clipping warning
tools so that you can avoid losing detail in important areas
while increasing contrast in the scene.
In contrasting lighting conditions your camera may
struggle to correctly expose both the shadows and the
highlights at the same time. In our starting image we have
a bright sky, a distant sunlit hill and a large section of
foreground river in shadow. The camera has metered to
capture sky detail, but this has caused the shaded foreground
to be very under-exposed. The details in the foreground lack
contrast too.
Camera Raw is packed full of selective tone-tweaking tools
that enable you to create a more balanced exposure, with
detail in both the shadows and the highlights. Well also
demonstrate how to increase the contrast between shadows
and highlights, which will help make objects and textures in
the scene stand out more effectively.
BEFORE

IMPROVE TONES
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IMPROVE TONES
Analyse the histogram
Open PMZ102_exposure in Camera Raw by double clicking the

thumbnail in Adobe Bridge. Take a look at the Histogram graph.
The graph peaks towards the left, indicating that there are lots of
strong shadows in the image. The graph dips in the middle, indicating
some midtone detail. It plummets towards the right, indicating a
few weak highlights. This is exactly as expected with a dark, gloomy
image like this one.
Boost Exposure
The clipping warnings will help you keep clipping to a

minimum as you reveal detail where its needed. On location we
could have opened up our cameras aperture to let more light hit the
sensor. The Exposure slider lets us do a similar job. If you drag it to
2.00 its the equivalent of opening the aperture by two f-stops. This
lightens up the shadows, but red highlight clipping warnings indicate
that were losing some sky detail.
Shadow clipping
Click the blue Shadow clipping warning icon at the top left of
the Histogram (or press U for Under-exposed). Any clipped
shadows will show up as patches of blue. You can see a few clipped
shadows at the right of the photo. Press O (Over-exposed) to turn
on the highlight clipping warning. This will display over-exposed
highlights in patches of red. At this stage, there are no clipped
highlights in our unprocessed under-exposed image.
Brighten the shadows
Drop the Exposure slider to +1.00. This loses the red highlight
clipping warning but reintroduces some blue shadow clipping.
You can brighten up the shadows without over-exposing the
highlights using the Shadows slider. Drag it to+84. You can now see
more shadow detail in the foreground. Its worth leaving a hint of
shadow clipping because this means that the shot has some black
pixels in the shadows.

IMPROVE TONES
Recover the highlights
The exposure boost we created in step three has brightened the

sky a little too much, and were losing some detail. To claw back
more highlight information without altering the shadows, drag the
Highlights slider left to -55. This helps restore colour and detail to the
brighter sky. The histogram graph has slid to the right, indicating that
our processed picture now has a healthier spread of shadows, midtones
and highlights.
Enhance the colour
When making dramatic tonal changes its worth pressing Q to

cycle between before and after views of the processed picture.
This helps you see how your image is shaping up. Boost Vibrance
to +43 to make the various colours stand out. The foaming water
looks a little green, so counteract this unhealthy tint by going to the
White Balance section of the Basic panel and dragging Tint to +11.
Go back to Single View.
Adjust Clarity
Make a contrast tweak
Once youve created a more wider spread of shadows and

highlights, turn your attention to the midtones. By increasing
the midtone contrast, you can make subtle textures and details stand
out more effectively. Drag Clarity to +42. This brightens the foam on
the water and darkens the midtones on the rocks. This subtle increase
in midtone contrast gives the water more impact. It also adds a few
clipped shadows, but were not losing important detail in these areas.
You may find it confusing to understand the difference

between the Highlights and Shadows sliders and the similar
Whites and Blacks. For maximum contrast, a photo should feature
some black pixels and some white ones. If you drag Whites to
+6 then a red highlight clipping warning patch will appear on the
brightest cloud. This is fine because theres no crucial detail being
lost here. Drop Blacks to -4 for a hint of shadow clipping.
81
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IMPROVE TONES
Reveal detail
Target and tweak the highlights and shadows of
a photo independently to reveal missing tonal detail
n the starting image for this tutorial the
foreground mountains are in shadow due to the
clouds, but the distant sunlit hills and sky are
much brighter. If we meter the camera to capture
detail in the shadows then we blow out the highlights in the
distance. As its harder to recover missing highlight detail
than it is shadow, weve prioritised the highlights when
setting the exposure. As a result, our unprocessed raw file
features a large area of under-exposed shadows that lack
Adjust Exposure
Open PMZ92_shadowhighlight in Camera Raw. You can

see from the histogram that the image features strong
shadows and a few weak highlights. Drag the Exposure slider
to +0.85. This reveals more shadow detail, but the highlights
now look a little too bright.
Boost the colour
When you brighten up under-exposed shadows, the

colours that are revealed in these areas tend to look
drab. By dragging Vibrance to +48 you can boost weaker
colours in the shadows without over-saturating strong
highlights in the brighter areas.
detail. We need to brighten up the shadows without overexposing the highlights. The Camera Raw Basic tab enables
you to combine global exposure adjustments that brighten or
darken the entire image with local adjustments that enable
you to adjust the shadows or highlights independently. By
combining global and local adjustments, you can reveal detail
precisely where its needed and produce a photo with
correctly exposed shadows and highlights. Youre editing a
raw file, so there will be much more tonal detail to work with.
Adjust the shadows
Drag the Highlights slider down to -30 to correctly

expose them. To reveal more shadow detail without
interfering with the correctly exposed highlights, drag the
Shadows slider right to +50. The shadows in the histogram
have slid right a little, indicating their brighter status.
Increase the midtone contrast
Drag the Clarity slider right to +18. This increases the

midtone contrast and makes the textures in the rocky
shadows stand out more effectively. Were only adjusting the
midtones so the correctly exposed shadows and highlights
remain unaltered. Boost Saturation to +8 for extra colour.

IMPROVE TONES
BEFORE
83
84

IMPROVE TONES
BEFORE
Use curves to
improve tones
Target and adjust specic tones in an image by
editing the shape of the tone curve in Camera Raw
amera Raw recreates a photos shadows,
midtones and highlights using a range of tonal
levels. The darkest blacks have a level of 0,
while the brightest highlights have a level of
255. All the shades in a picture are produced using levels
that fall between these two extremes. When you import
an unprocessed raw image into Camera Raw, you will see
the tones created by its input levels. These are tones that
are captured using the cameras aperture and shutter
speed settings. In the case of our starting image, the shot
is under-exposed. The shadow input levels are too low
and lacking in detail. We need to remap these low (dark)
input levels to higher (brighter) output levels. In the
Histogram window, our starting images highlights peter
out before they hit the far right of the graph.
This indicates that the highlight input levels arent as

strong as they could be, so we can remap these too.
The Basic panels tone-tweaking tools (such as the
Shadows and Highlights sliders) are designed to target
a specific range of input levels and remap them to new
output levels. In most cases you can overcome typical
problems with exposure using these sliders. An alternative
way to target and adjust a specific range of levels can
be found in the Tone Curve panel. This tool also uses a
histogram to present the images current input levels as
an undulating graph. A diagonal straight line crosses the
histogram, from the darkest section at the bottom left to
the brightest section at the top right. By making parts of
the line curve up or down you can lighten or darken the
levels of specific tones on the underlying histogram.

IMPROVE TONES
85
86

IMPROVE TONES
Examine the levels
Open PMZ52_curves in Adobe Camera Raw. To get a clearer

understanding of the tonal levels that make up the shot, grab
the Zoom tool. Move the Zoom tool over the brightest area that
you can find, such as the white patch on the dress. Below the
Histogram youll see the RGB values of the sampled area. In this
example we have a value of 214, 211 and 188. A pure white area
would have levels of 255, 255, and 255.
Open the Tone Curve panel
To brighten up this under-exposed shot and reveal more

detail in the shadows and midtones, click the Tone Curve
panel. Curves come in two categories a Parametric curve and a
Point curve. The Parametric curve is easier to use because it breaks
the curve up into four tonal regions Shadows, Darks, Lights and
Highlights. You can use sliders to target and adjust a specific region
without altering tones with different levels.
Sample the shadows
From the sampled level we can see that the brightest whites
are quite dull and under-exposed. Press U to turn on the
shadow clipping warning. Youll notice a blue patch of clipped pixels
on the dress. Move the Zoom tool over this area to take an RGB
reading. This clipped section has RGB values of 0,0, and 0. This
indicates that this part of the picture is pure black, and will print
with no detail.
Adjust the shadows
Initially, our curve is a straight diagonal line. To start curving

it (and remapping the input levels to new output levels) drag
the Shadows slider right to +30. This causes the lower left section of
the diagonal line to curve upwards. As this part of the curve overlaps
the darker sections of the histogram graph, it remaps these shadow
areas to brighter output levels. The remapped shadow tones in the
Histogram window will slide right a little.

IMPROVE TONES
Adjust the midtones
To lighten up the midtones, drag the Darks slider to +50. This

pushes the middle of the curve upwards. This section of the
curve overlaps the midtones on the histogram, so they are remapped to
a lighter level. The subjects midtones and shadows now look lighter,
and more detail is visible. We still have a little shadow clipping on the
dress, but theres no important detail here, and its good to have some
black shadows for contrast.
Fine-tune the look
You can fine-tune the effect of the four sliders by tweaking

the range of levels that they alter. To let more midtones fall
under the influence of the Shadows slider, go to the bottom of the
Parametric curves histogram. Here youll find triangular control points
that indicate the boundary between each sliders region. Drag the left
control point from its default value of 25 to 38. This lightens up the
midtones a little more.
Adjust the highlights
Add contrast with a Point curve
Press O (for over-exposed) to turn on the Highlight clipping

warning so that you can spot blown-out (pure white) highlights
as patches of red. To make the highlights slightly brighter, push the
Lights slider to +10 and the Highlights slider to +4. The top right of
the curve will move upwards, brightening levels at the far right of the
histogram graph. Dont push the highlights too far or youll exaggerate
the unflattering sweat reflections on the skin.
The adjacent Point Curve tab is handy if you have a shot that
lacks contrast. The Curve drop-down menu allows you to
choose preset point curve adjustments such as Strong Contrast. This
creates a classic S-curve shape. A point pulls the curve down at the
left to darken the shadows. Another point pulls the curve up at the
top right to lighten the highlights. You can drag the points to finetune the results.
87
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IMPROVE TONES
Dodge and burn with

the Adjustment Brush
Learn how to make selective brush-based tonal adjustments
to tease out detail in your photos where its needed
he Camera Raw Basic panel has plenty of tonetargeting sliders that are designed to selectively
adjust a shots shadows, midtones and highlights.
The Shadows slider lightens shadows without
over-exposing stronger highlights. You can claw back missing
highlight detail without under-exposing correctly exposed
shadows thanks to the Highlights slider. The Clarity slider
enables you to increase midtone contrast and make subtle
textures and details pop out from the processed picture.
Camera Raw also has tools that enable you to make gradated
tonal adjustments, so you can darken a bright sky without
altering the correctly exposed terrain in the bottom section
of the scene. You can even click the Histogram and see which
tonal region is represented by a particular part of the graph.
If you drag to the right you can brighten the selected region
of tones (such as shadows), or drag left to darken them.
Most tone-related problems can be tackled by applying a
combination of the tools or techniques mentioned above, but
for even more selective tonal corrections, you can use Camera
Raw to mimic the traditional darkroom technique of dodging
and burning. By placing a shaped piece of card between the
enlarger and photo paper, a photographer could reduce the
amount of light hitting parts of the print. This dodging
would lighten the masked sections. To darken a particular
area, the photographer would cut a shape in a piece of card.
The extra light travelling through the hole would darken (or
burn) details in the print. We can recreate these dodging and
burning techniques using the Adjustment Brush.

IMPROVE TONES
BEFORE
89
90

IMPROVE TONES
Open the image
Open PMZ100_dodge and burn in Camera Raw. The Histogram

indicates the presence of strong shadows on the left of the
graph, but the tones peter out towards the highlights on the right.
The image is under-exposed. Before we make time-consuming
selective brush-based adjustments, we should use the Basic panels
sliders to give the photograph a healthier looking histogram with a
wider tonal range.
Lighten the shadows
You now have a photo that possesses some bright highlights.

To reveal more detail in the shadows, click near the left of the
Histogram to target the Shadows. Drag right on the Histogram to
remap the original shadows to a brighter value. The Shadows slider
will move to the right. A Shadows value of +72 is a good starting
point. The Histogram graph now has a wider spread of tones, and the
image looks more correctly exposed as a result.
Boost the highlights
Place the cursor on the section of the Histogram graph that

represents and controls the Highlights. The label Highlights
will appear below the graph. Drag right to lighten the under-exposed
highlights. The highlight section of the graph will slide to the right,
indicating the presence of brighter tones. Drag until the Highlights
slider reads 100. Drag the Whites slider right until a hint of red
clipping warning appears in the brightest area.
Adjust the midtones
The picture is now correctly exposed, but it lacks contrast.

Textures such as the motion-blurred foamy water lack
impact. This area is a mass of flat contrast midtones. To tease out
more detail in the water, increase the Clarity slider to +45. This
increase in midtone contrast lightens the water and darkens the
greyscale rocks that were hidden just under the surface, making
them more visible.

IMPROVE TONES
Dodge the water
Use the Select Zoom Level tool to view the image at Fit In View.
Weve made all the selective tonal tweaks that we can using the
Basic panels sliders, so its time to grab the more versatile Adjustment
Brush from the toolbar. The Adjustment Brush panel will appear. Click
to place a pin on the greyscale foamy water. Push Exposure up to +0.15.
Set Contrast to +43. Set Highlights to +63. Boost Clarity to 60. Paint
with a soft-edged brush over the foamy water to lighten (dodge) it.
Burn the clouds
The distant grey clouds on the horizon are barely noticeable

because theyre lost in hazy midtones. We can darken the grey
clouds while boosting the contrast of their lighter surroundings to
help them stand out. Click New (or press N) to start making a new
adjustment. Click to place a pin on the distant clouds. Set Contrast to
+43 and Highlights to +63. Drop Shadows to -65. Boost Clarity to +60.
Tick Auto Mask.
Lighten the rocks
Use Auto Mask
Click the New button at the top of the Adjustment Brush

panel. To tease out more detail and colour in the rocks, click to
place a second pin. Set Shadows to +43 and boost Clarity to +57. Push
Saturation up to +6. Paint over any rocks poking out of the water. The
settings will lighten the rocks shadows and increase their contrast,
which helps emphasise their texture. A hint of shadow clipping will
appear, but there's no important detail to lose in these areas.
Paint with a small soft brush tip along the horizon to darken
the grey clouds and make them contrast with their lighter
surroundings. The Auto Masks option stops the effects of the
Adjustment Brush from straying below the distinct horizon line.
Turn on Show Mask to see which areas are being adjusted and which
are being left untouched by this particular pin. Well look at Auto
mask in more detail in the next chapter.
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IMPROVE TONES
The solarised look

Harness the power of the Tone Curve panel to mimic
a traditional darkroom image-processing technique
hroughout this chapter weve demonstrated how
to remap your photographs tones to reveal detail
were its needed, including using the Tone Curve
panel to selectively adjust shadows, midtones and
highlights. You can also use the Tone Curve panel to emulate
the darkroom-based solarisation technique made famous by
surrealist photographers such as Man Ray. This developing
technique harks back as far back as 1920s. At first glance,
a solarised photo may look like a negative version of a mono
Desaturate the image
Open PMZ107_solarise in Camera Raw. Kick off by

going to the HSL/Grayscale panel and clicking the
Convert to Grayscale box. Tick the Auto button to help
create a little more contrast. Push Oranges up to +14 to
lighten the skin a little.
Invert the highlights
Click the Tone Curve panel and then click the Point
Curve tab. Click to place a control point on the middle
of the linear diagonal line at an input and output value of 128.
Click the highlight control point at the top right of the line
and drag it down to an Output of 0 to create a curve.
image. However, in a negative all the shadows and highlights

are reversed so that blacks become white and vice versa. In
solarised images, only some of the tones are reversed.
Another distinctive property of a solarised photo is the sharp
white line that appears around high-contrast areas.
The solarisation effect was discovered by accident and is
tricky to produce in a traditional darkroom. By combining
the Camera Raw Basic sliders with the Point Curve, you can
create a solarised image with ease.
Increase the contrast
Go to the Basic panel. Pop Exposure up to +0.20.

Increase Contrast to +22. Boost the Highlights slider
to +70 to make the lightest skin tones stand out against the
darker background. For darker contrasting shadows, drop
Blacks to -30. Drop Clarity to -20 to smooth the skin.
Fine-tune the effect
By remapping the brightest highlights from a bright

255 to a dark 0, you've turned them black. For a more
striking contrast, drag the central control point upwards so it
has an Input of 128 and a brighter Output of 255. In the Basic
panel, drop Blacks to -50 for a darker background.

IMPROVE TONES
BEFORE
93
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96

IMPROVE COLOUR

IMPROVE COLOUR
Improve
colour
Sensitively enhance the colour rendition in your photos
and add extra interest with creative special effects
98
Understand
white balance
Discover how to diagnose colour-cast

problems in your photos, and correct them using
white-balance techniques
102
Create spot-colour
special effects
104
Selectively adjust
colour saturation
Isolate and preserve the colour of a

specific element in a monochrome conversion for a
stylish creative effect
Use the HSL sliders in Camera

Raw to target and tweak the saturation of specific
colours to make them pop!
106
Enhance colours
in portraits
108
Recreate the crossprocessed look
Use the Vibrance slider to

enhance weaker colours in a portrait without oversaturating the skin tones of the subject
Target and tweak the tone curves

of individual colour channels to get a creative
cross-processed effect
97
98

IMPROVE COLOUR
White balance
Discover how to diagnose colour-cast problems in your
photos, and correct them using white-balance techniques
ifferent light sources produce different colour
temperatures. To a camera, natural daylight is a
cold blue, while artificial indoor light is a warmer
orange. Your cameras automatic white balance
(AWB) setting attempts to get white details in the scene
looking white, so that other colours will be tint-free and
natural-looking. If the whites look too warm (orange) the
camera will cool them down. If theyre too cold (blue) then
the camera will warm them up to remove the cold blue colour
Sample the whites
Open PMZ32_white balance in Camera Raw. Grab the

Color Sampler tool. Click twice to sample the whites of
the eyes. If the RGB values are equal, the sampled areas will
be a neutral grey. The sampled RGB values are around 24, 168,
and 139 so we can see that a tint is present.
Balance the whites
If the RGB values taken by the Color Sampler are still

quite different, click the White Balance tool on a
different area until the values are more similar. Here we sampled an area that produced an RGB value of 170, 174, and 175.
Our whites are now more natural tint-free colours.
cast in the entire image. If the camera balances the whites

correctly, the resulting photograph will be tint-free and
present the scenes true colours. However, sometimes a photo
will look too cold or too warm despite the cameras best
efforts. Our starting image suffers from a warm colour cast,
which makes the subjects skin tones look too orange. Well
show you how to use the Color sampler tool to identify the
presence of colour casts and then apply the effective White
Balance tool to create tint-free shots.
Counteract the tint
Grab the White Balance tool. Click an area that should

be white (such as the eye) to sample it. If the tool
detects a tint, it will counteract the colour temperature to
warm up or cool down the shot to make whiter whites.
The sampled RGB values should become closer.
Boost the Vibrance
Our raw files colour temperature was a warm 6150.

Thanks to the White Balance tool, the Temperature
slider now reads a cooler 3800, creating a Custom White
Balance preset that suits the image. Boost Vibrance to +30 to
enhance the colours without over-saturating the skin tones.

IMPROVE COLOUR
BEFORE
99
100

IMPROVE COLOUR
Want to know more?
NOW TRY THIS

Your cameras menu has a series of white balance presets
designed to help it capture true colours in a range of lighting
conditions. Camera Raw also has white balance presets to
help counteract colour casts or change the mood of a shot
by deliberately adding tints. Daylight has an average colour
temperature of 5500 degrees K, so the Daylight preset cools
down our warmer 6150 starting image, but it still looks too orange
[1]. Artificial tungsten light adds a warm yellow hue, so the

tungsten preset counteracts this with a cold blue temperature
setting of 2850 [2]. Fluorescent lights can add a greenish hue, so
the Fluorescent preset adds a +21 hint of magenta to counteract
the green, as well as cooling the photo to 3800 [3]. Auto does
a similar job to the White Balance tool, which produces the best
results than the other presets in this instance [4].
102

IMPROVE COLOUR
Make spot
colour effects
Isolate and preserve the colour of a specic element in a
monochrome conversion for a stylish creative effect
ne way to draw the eye to a specific subject in a
photograph is to preserve that objects colour
information while converting the rest of the
images tones to monochrome. This spot colour
technique might be considered by some to be a bit tacky, but
for others its a popular creative processing technique thats
fun to indulge in. For example, you cant wander through a
London street without seeing spot-colour postcards that
feature iconic red buses against a monochrome backdrop.
The HSL panel enables you to target and tweak a
photographs colour strength (Saturation) and brightness
(Luminance), so you can enhance a landscapes drab sunset
by endowing it with more vibrant reds and oranges, while
lightening the tones of under-exposed green hills to make
them more prominent. In this creative walkthrough well
use these HSL controls to selectively desaturate all the
colours in our starting image except for those of the fly.
Well show you how to customise the selective slider-based
colour adjustments by applying desaturating strokes via
the Adjustment Brush. This enables you to restrict specific
colours to the main subject (in this case the fly) while
removing traces of the same colours from the background.
Desaturate the image
Open PMZ85_colour. Click the HSL/Grayscale tab.

Normally, wed create a monochrome image by clicking
the Convert to Grayscale box, but to preserve traces of colour
we need to desaturate the image manually. Click the
Saturation panel and drag all the sliders down to -100.
BEFORE
Restore selective colours
Grab the Targeted Adjustment tool from the tool bar.

Because you're working with the Saturation panel, this
tool will automatically be set to target and adjust saturation.
Click parts of the fly and drag upwards to restore colour to
the sampled sections.

IMPROVE COLOUR
Boost the greens
As you sample and drag the cursor, similar colours in

the rest of the frame will become saturated too, such
as the green stems. Well restore these to mono in the next
step. Avoid increasing the strength of the yellows to keep the
flower looking monochrome.
Desaturate background colours
Once most of the flys colours have been restored, grab

the Adjustment Brush. In the Adjustment Brush panel,
set the Saturation slider to -100. Set Size to 8 and choose a
Feather of 45. Set Flow and Density to 100. Paint to remove
unwanted traces of background colour.
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104

IMPROVE COLOUR
Adjust colours
Use the HSL sliders in Camera Raw to target and tweak
the saturation of specic colours to make them pop!
he colours that you see onscreen dont always look
the same when you print your picture. This is
because your computers display creates millions
of colours by mixing the red, green and blue
channels together while your printer combines cyan,
magenta, yellow and black ink to create fewer colours. If you
boost the saturation of a photo to create more vibrant
colours, you might make weaker colours look stronger, but
youll over-saturate the more vibrant colours and make them
Adjust Vibrance
Open the starting image in Camera Raw. Our portrait is

packed full of colours. Experiment by dragging
Saturation up to +50. The paint specks look more vibrant,
but the skin looks too orange. Reset Saturation to 0. Drag
Vibrance to +50. The paint and glasses look more saturated,
while the skin looks less orange.
Tweak the skin tones
Boost the Blues slider to +44 to make the blue paint

stand out more effectively. To contrast the colourful
paint specks with the subjects skin, drop Oranges down to
-21. This also creates more natural-looking skin tones, and
stops the shadows from looking too orange.
unprintable. You also risk making skin tones look too orange.
You can make selective colour adjustments to a photo using
the Vibrance slider. This selectively boosts the saturation of
weaker colours without over-saturating stronger ones.
Vibrance also leaves skin tones alone.
Vibrance is biased towards boosting typical landscape
colours such as blues and greens. If you need to boost the
saturation of other colours then you need the services of the
HSL panel and its colour-specific sliders.
Make selective adjustments
Some of the skin tones in the shadows look too orange,

so drop Vibrance to 0. For greater control over
saturation, click the HSL/Grayscale panel icon. Click the
Saturation tab. Drag the Purples slider up to +34 to give her
glasses more impact. Tease out green blobs of paint by
dragging the Greens slider up to +47.
Adjust the Hue
To make colours stand out even more, click the Hue

tab and set the Blues Hue to -23. This creates a colder
blue that contrasts with the warm skin. Drag the Purples
slider to -52. This makes the glasses look more blue, so the
warmer paint specks are more noticeable.

IMPROVE COLOUR
BEFORE
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106

IMPROVE COLOUR
Enhance colours
in portraits
Use the Vibrance slider to enhance weaker colours
in a portrait without over-saturating the skin tones
hen you shoot a JPEG your camera will apply
colour presets directly to the image. This can
make your photographs look too vibrant, or they
may look rather drab depending on the preset that
you assigned using the cameras menu options. Settings such
as Portrait are good for producing natural-looking skin tones,
whereas a Vivid mode might make skin tones look too
orange. By shooting in the raw format you can process your
images in Camera Raw and get the colours looking just the
way you want. This gives you the power to improve on
disappointing results produced by in-camera presets. After
removing colour casts using tools such as White Balance
presets or the White Balance tool, you can adjust the
saturation of the photos colours to give them more impact,
and draw the eye to specific objects in the frame.
The Saturation slider in the Basic panel enables you
to boost the colour saturation by an equal amount. This
provides a quick way of creating a more vividly coloured
image, but it can over-saturate skin tones. Some colours
(such as blues) dont print very accurately if they are too
saturated, so well show you how to make selective colour
saturation boosts.
Open the image
In Bridge, right click the PMZ54_vibrance thumbnail and

choose Open in Camera Raw from the context-sensitive
pop-up menu. Or choose File>Open in Photoshop and browse
to the shot. Choose Open. The digital negative format image
will open in Camera Raw.
BEFORE
Boost the Saturation
The womans face looks a little bright, so drag

Highlights to -41 to reveal more detail. By boosting the
Saturation slider to +43 you can reveal more blues in the
railings and enhance the greens of the plants, but this causes
the subjects skin tones to look too warm and orange.

IMPROVE COLOUR
Boost the Vibrance
Drop the Saturation slider down to 0 for the moment.

By increasing the value of the Vibrance slider you
can selectively boost the saturation of the weaker blues and
greens while leaving the skin tones as they are. This avoids
producing a print featuring an orange-looking couple.
Tweak the Saturation
Due to its bias towards altering natural colours such as

blues and greens, the Vibrance slider is great for
enhancing the colour in typical landscape photos. After
boosting Vibrance, tweak the global colour strength by
increasing Saturation to a more subtle +14.
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108

IMPROVE COLOUR
Get the crossprocessed look

Target and tweak the tone curves of individual colour
channels to get a creative cross-processed effect
photographs colours are created by mixing the
red, green and blue colour channels together. By
targeting and tweaking points on a particular
channels tone curve you can produce dramatic
changes in hue. This provides an effective way to create a
cross-processed look. The term cross-processing refers to a
developing technique used in chemical darkrooms. It involved
deliberately developing print negatives using chemicals that
were designed for use with slide film (or visa versa). The use
of incorrect chemicals resulted in a shift in colour hue,
leading to stylised and eye-catching images. Cross-processed
blues often took on a green hue, for example, while a shots
shadows might feature a hint of magenta.
This developing process (or at least the look that the
traditional cross-processing technique produced) is
still popular, especially with fine art, fashion and stock
photographers who want their work to stand out from the
crowd. In the days of the traditional darkroom, the results
could be a bit hit or miss, so you had to experiment to try
to get the desired shifts in colour and tone. By tweaking the
tone curve of individual colour channels, you can replicate
almost any chemical combination you might desire.
Choose a channel
Open PMZ02_cross process in Camera Raw. Click the

Tone Curve panel and then click the Point Curve tab. By
default youll see a curve that controls the RGB channels at
the same time. To target a specific colour channel, click the
Channel drop-down menu and choose Blue.
BEFORE
Tint the blues
Click the middle of the diagonal curve to place a

control point. The points Input and Output values
should read 128 each. Click the cursor on the lower half of the
curve where that the Input is 64. Drag the point upwards to
create an output value of 14. This adds a cyan tint.

IMPROVE COLOUR
Adjust the reds
Set the drop-down menu to Red. Place a point at an

Input and Output value of 128. This central anchor
point allows you to target tones on one side of the point
without altering tones on the other. Drag another point to
an Input of 192 and an Output of 175.
Tint the shadows
On the Green curve, set an anchor point at an Input

and Output of 128. Place a new point at an Input of 63
and drag it to a lower Output of 53. This adds a magenta hue
to the photos shadows. You now have cross-processed cyan
blues and magenta tinted shadows.
109
110

SELECTIVE ADJUSTMENTS

Selective
adjustments
Discover how to isolate particular parts of a photo
so you can make localised image adjustments
112
The Adjustment
Brush tool
116
Enhance plainlooking skies
118
Mask areas for

selective edits
Lighten or darken specific regions

of an image using the Adjustment Brush tool in
Camera Raw
Fix dull-looking over-exposed skies

by applying a gradated tonal adjustment using the
Graduated Filter tool
Discover how to make selective

adjustments more accurately using Adjustment
Brush masks
122
Make selective white

balance adjustments
124
Focus attention
on your subject
Warm up or cool down the colours

in specific areas of a photo to remove localised
colour casts
Use the Radial filter to reduce the

impact of detail around the edges of your subject
to make it stand out
111
112

The power of the

Adjustment Brush
Lighten or darken specic regions of an image
using the Adjustment Brush tool in Camera Raw
hen shooting in mixed lighting conditions it can
be a challenge to capture an even exposure that
features detail throughout the entire tonal range.
In the location featured in our starting image we
were faced with a bright sky and a patch of hill that was
being directly illuminated by the sun. The rest of the hilly
location was plunged into shadow. By setting the camera to
its manual metering mode, we were able to capture detail in
the sunlit section of the hill. It makes sense to prioritise
capturing highlight detail because its harder to recover than
under-exposed shadows. We used a narrow aperture setting
so we could shoot in daylight with a slow shutter speed and
turn the moving water into foam. This narrow aperture also
contributed towards our under-exposed shadows.
Despite carefully setting up the camera, the unprocessed
image looks disappointing. It lacks strong highlights and the
shadows are hiding the main point of interest the foamy
water. However, because this is a raw file we can process it in
Camera Raw and reveal colour and detail where its required.
As the name digital negative suggests, our DNG format
image needs to be processed in the digital darkroom before it
can look its best.
In traditional film darkrooms, photographers could use
dodge and burn tools to vary the amount of light hitting
the photo paper. This enabled them to make selective tonal
adjustments to specific parts of high-contrast scenes. Well
perform a similar technique using the versatile Camera Raw
Adjustment Brush tool.
BEFORE

113
114

Open the image
Open PMZ28_adjustment in Camera Raw by double clicking

the thumbnail in Adobe Bridge. Before making selective
brush-based adjustments to specific tonal regions, it makes
sense to use the tone-targeting powers of the various sliders in
the Basic panel to fix as many problems as we can, because these
enable you to alter large areas quickly and easily, and the image
needs quite a bit of work.
Recover the highlights
We can see from the healthy spread of tones in the Histogram

that the brightened highlights arent technically clipped, but
some of the colour and details are now missing from the sky. By
dragging the Highlights slider left to -80 we can claw back missing
detail and colour in the sky without darkening the newly revealed
shadow details in the landscape. Pull Whites down to -40 to gently
darken the brightest pixels in the picture.
Boost the exposure
Normally, we might start processing a picture by fixing any

colour balance problems, but because the image is underexposed we cant clearly see the colours in the shaded areas. So with
this type of under-exposed image, well start by making a global tonal
adjustment and drag the Exposure slider right to +1.40. This operation
reveals more shadow detail, but it blows out detail in the highlights of
the sky and the sunlit section on the hill.
Lighten the shadows
Lighten the darkest shadows by dragging Blacks to +50. Press

Q to cycle between the before-and-after versions of the raw
file. Our selective tone-tweaking sliders have improved the shot
as best they can. We can see more detail in the shadows and weve
persevered most of the highlights. However, the sky and the water
lack contrast and look flat. We can use the Adjustment Brush to
selectively adjust the contrast in these areas.

Set up the adjustment properties
Press Q until only the edited version of the image is visible.

Grab the Adjustment Brush from the toolbar (or press K
to summon it). The Adjustment Brush panel will appear. Click to
place a pin on the shaded hill. Were going to selectively lighten
the shaded areas, so set the Exposure slider to +1.20. To produce
a stronger contrast, set Contrast to +74 and Clarity to +57. Push
Sharpness to +21.
Non-destructive editing
The Adjustment Brush is a non-destructive tool, so we can click

a particular pin to access its slider settings and fine-tune them.
The water is a little too bright, so drag Exposure down to +0.95 and
reduce Highlights to -22. To bring out fine textures in the sky, click
the New button (or press N). Click to place a pin on the sky. At this
stage it will use the previous slider settings, so well need to change
them to more suitable ones.
Reveal more shadow detail
Enhance the sky
To control the spread of the localised brush-based adjustment,

set Size to 12. Create a soft edge to help blend the edited areas
with their un-edited neighbours by choosing a Feather of 80. Paint
over the shaded hill and river to lighten these areas and boost their
contrast. Be careful not to paint on the sunlit section of hill or youll
over-expose it. We now have a more evenly balanced exposure, and we
can see more detail in the shadows.
Set the new pins Exposure to +0.50, Contrast to +0.74 and

Highlights to -43. To darken some of the greyer clouds set
Shadows to -35. Tease out more fine midtone texture and detail
in the clouds by setting Clarity to +57. Give the weak blues more
impact by setting Saturation to +45. You can use the same Size
settings to cover large areas quickly. Paint over the sky to selectively
reveal more texture and detail.
115
116

BEFORE
Enhance
plain-looking skies
Fix dull-looking over-exposed skies by applying a gradated
tonal adjustment using the Graduated Filter tool
n a bright day your camera can struggle to capture
detail in contrasting lighting conditions. You could
pop a neutral density filter over the lens to limit
the amount of light hitting the sensor at the top of
the frame. This physical filter enables you to set the cameras
aperture and shutter speed to reveal darker details in the lower
section of the frame without over-exposing the brighter sky
detail near the top. If you dont have an ND filter, you can
recreate the effects of one in Camera raw, courtesy of the
Graduated Filter tool. In many shots youll see an overcast sky
that appears to contain little detail. If you drag the Exposure
to the left youll notice that theres more cloud texture and
colour hidden in the raw files sky. However, this global
exposure adjustment will plunge your correctly exposed
landscape into darkness. The Graduated Filter tool enables
you to drop the exposure value at the top of the frame by a
desired f-stop or two. It gradually reduces the strength of the
exposure adjustment so that the brighter areas in the sky
blend seamlessly with the correctly exposed landscape. As you
can apply multiple Graduated Filters to the image, you can also
selectively adjust blown-out sky reflections in the lower part
of the frame, as youll see in our walkthrough.

Warm it up
Open PMZ_graduated. Before making gradated

adjustments to reveal sky detail, lets get the overexposed darker terrain looking its best using the Basic panel
sliders. The gradated sky adjustments will then blend with
the correctly exposed land. Drag Temperature to 5800.
Adjust the Clarity
Draw a gradient
To make the darker trees stand out more effectively

against the lighter mountain, drag Clarity right to +33.
This gentle midtone contrast adjustment makes the trees
slightly darker so they pop out in contrast. It also gives the
fine cloud textures more impact.
Grab the Graduated Filter from the toolbar. In the

Graduated Filter panel, set Exposure to -1.30. Drag
from the top of the frame down to the horizon to draw a
gradient. The exposure adjustment will be strongest near the
top green line, and will gradually drop to 0 by the red line.
Make exposure adjustments
Drag the Exposure slider to -1.60. By dropping the

Exposure, you reveal a hint of sky detail, but the
land is still looking too dark. Reveal more detail in the
land by dragging the Shadows slider to +53. The trees now
look better exposed.
Boost the colours
Fix the reflection
Our starting images colours look drab, but there are

colours hiding in the raw file that we can reveal. Boost
Vibrance up to +47 to enhance the natural blues and greens.
Increase Saturation to +27 to perform a global colour boost.
The stronger saturation reveals extra textures.
Set Clarity to 40 to tease out cloud detail. Click the

New button in the Graduated Filter panel. Draw a
second gradient from the bottom of the frame to the horizon.
Set Exposure to -1.5 to get a balanced reflection. Boost
Saturation to +20 to reveal more cloud colour.
117
118

BEFORE

Mask areas for

selective edits
Discover how to make selective adjustments more
accurately using Adjustment Brush masks
here are many ways to make selective
adjustments in Camera Raw. Sliders such as
Shadow or Highlight enable you to target and
tweak similar tones in every part of the image at
once. The Vibrance slider performs selective colour
enhancements. It can boost the saturation of weaker colours
without over-saturating stronger ones (and avoid causing
skin tones to become too warm and orange). The White
Balance tool finds and removes colour casts with a click.
All these tools have their own unique selective adjustment
role, and working together they can dramatically improve
the colours and tones in a raw file.
The Adjustment Brush is arguably the most versatile
selective adjustment tool in Camera Raw. Thank to the
Adjustment Brush panel, you can change the properties that
it selectively adjusts. Well show you how to use a negative

Clarity value to create a smoother skin complexion, and
then use the same tool to enhance lips. Unlike sliders such
as Shadow or Highlights, the Adjustment Brush can be
modified to edit other properties, such as the colours, tones
and clarity of specific regions.
To help restrict the Adjustment Brushs influence to
particular pixels, you can use masking. Masks appear as
a colour overlay to help you identify precisely which
areas are being adjusted. You can then use the mask to
fine-tune the spread of the adjustment. Thanks to the
Auto Mask option, you can stop the Adjustment Brush
tip from straying over a contrasting edge, which enables
you to quickly smooth skin without accidentally blurring
important facial features such as an eye.
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120

Analyse the problems
Open PMZ5_masking in Camera Raw. Before we selectively

smooth the models skin and whiten her eyes with the
Adjustment Brush, lets make some more global adjustments to
correct overall colour and tone. The photo has a warm, greenish tint
that doesnt flatter the subject. From the peaking graph at the right
of the Histogram, we can see that the highlights are too bright. The
image lacks strong shadows on the left of the graph.
As the photo is a little over-exposed, drop the Exposure slider

to -0.15. Reduce Highlights to -21. For more contrast, drop
the Blacks slider to -17. The Histogram now shows a wider spread
of tones. If you click the Before and After view youll see that the
colours in the edited version now look more natural compared with
the unprocessed original. Were now ready to make more selective
adjustments to improve the subjects complexion.
Correct the colours
Before adjusting any tone-related sliders, lets remove the

slight colour cast and create healthier looking skin tones.
Grab the White Balance tool. Click an area that should be white
(such as the whites of the models eyes). This will adjust the
Temperature and Tint sliders to create a neutral white in the
sampled area, creating tint-free colours in the rest of the image
at the same time.
Set up the Adjustment Brush
Go back to Single View. Zoom in to 33% for a closer look at

the subjects skin. Grab the Adjustment Brush (or press K
to summon it). In the Adjustment Brush panel, set Clarity to -58.
Boost Saturation to +15 to add more colour to the models cheeks.
Untick the Auto Mask box. Click to place a pin on her cheek. Paint
over the cheek to smooth the pores. Avoid painting over important
details such as the eyes.

Modify the mask
In the Adjustment Brush panel, tick the Show Mask box.

A translucent white patch will appear, indicating which areas
you have adjusted. This white mask has a soft edge, so it could easily
stray into other areas such as the models hair, which you want to
remain as sharp as possible. Tick the Erase button and paint over
areas that you dont want to smooth. The mask will change shape to
show the newly adjusted areas.
Use Auto Mask
To make the Adjustment Brushs mask more sensitive to

changes in contrast, tick the Auto Mask box. Click the pin
you placed earlier. Continue painting over the skin. Click the Add
button at the top of the Adjustment Brush panel. As you paint, the
brush will recognise contrasting edge details such as the lips and
eyes and avoid softening them. The more intelligent mask will have
a sharper edge to it.
Change the mask colour
Enhance the lips
The default white mask colour can be hard to spot if youre

working on white areas such as eyes. Click the Color Swatch
next to Show Mask. Choose a contrasting colour from the Color
Picker. We chose this luminous green. Click OK. You can change the
mask Opacity to make it more noticeable, but it helps to see some of
the original details through the mask, so leave this Opacity slider at
its default setting.
To see the smoothing affect of the Adjustment Brush

on the skin, untick Show Mask. Click the New button.
Boost the Saturation slider to +35. Push Temperature and Tint
to a warmer +25. Set Clarity to -10. Paint on the models lips
to give them more impact. The Auto Mask option will stop
adjacent areas such as the models teeth from being altered by
this selective adjustment.
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122
BEFORE
Selective white
balance editing
Warm up or cool down the colours in specic areas
of a photo to remove localised colour casts
ormally, white balance problems are easy to fix.
If a shot suffers from a cold blue (or warm orange)
colour cast, then you can drag the Basic panels
Temperature slider to counteract the tint by
warming up the image or cooling it down until the colours
look more natural. If the scene is cloudy or sunny then you
can experiment with various White Balance presets to remove
blue or orange colour casts.
However, in our supplied starting image we have a scene
featuring contrasting colours and lighting conditions. The
orange sunset contrasts with the cold blue sea. Due to the
mix of clear sky and clouds, some of the oceans colours are
neutral, and dont suffer from the blue colour cast thats
noticeable in the shaded foreground. If we warm up the
photos colour temperature to remove the foreground blues,
then the correct colours in the more distant part of the ocean
will look too warm. In this walkthrough well show you how
to use the Color Sampler tool to help identify areas of the
image that are suffering from colour casts, and which areas
that are tint-free. Youll then know which areas to selectively
warm up and cool down. To make the selective white balance
adjustments well use the Graduated and Radial Filters.

Take a neutral sample
Open PMZ93_selectiveWB. Grab the Color Sampler tool

from the toolbar. Click the cursor on a section of sea
that looks close to a neutral white. Weve sampled an area
that has RGB values of 152, 157 and 154. If the area was totally
tint-free then the RGB values would be identical.
Adjust the temperature
Draw a linear gradient
Grab the White Balance tool. Click the colder sample

2 icon. This tool will sample the RGB values, work
out that theres a colour cast and then adjust the values so
that they are equal. This creates a tint-free colour in similar
shaded sections of the sea.
Set the White Balance drop-down menu to As

Shot. Grab the Graduated Filter. Drag a diagonal
line from the bottom left towards the middle of the frame.
Drag the green start point to create a narrower gradient. Set
Temperature to +59 and Tint to +16.
Sample a colder spot
Click to sample a colder blue part of the ocean in the

foreground. This creates sample number 2. In our
example weve sampled an area with RGB values of 107, 131
and 153. The numbers are much farther apart, indicating that
this second sampled area has a colour cast.
Analyse the RGB values
Add a radial gradient
Although sample 2s RGB values are now balanced and

tint-free, sample 1s values are wider apart at 175, 157,
and 139. This indicates the presence of a colour cast in our
previously neutral area. We need to selectively warm up the
cold foreground without making the ocean look too orange.
To selectively colour correct smaller sections such as

the cold blue patch of sea on the right, grab the Radial
Filter. In the Radial Filter panel, tick the Inside button. Draw
an ellipse. Push Feather to 68. Tweak the Temperature values
to create a neutral colour inside the ellipse.
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Focus attention
Use the Radial lter to reduce the impact of detail around
the edges of your subjects to make them stand out
n Camera Raw you can deliberately darken (or
lighten) the edges of your images. By adding
vignette effects you can reduce the impact of
details around the edges of the frame and draw
attention to the central subject. If your main subject is
framed in the centre of the photo, then you can use the
Effects panels Post Crop Vignette sliders to lighten or darken
the images edges. If the subject is off-centre then the Radial
Filter can be used to produce a similar but off-set vignette
Correct the colour and tone
Open PMZ30_radial. Set the White Balance drop-down

menu to Auto to quickly cool down the orange colour
cast and create more natural-looking skin tones. The shot is
a little lacking in shadows so set Exposure to -30, Contrast
to +27 and Blacks to -28. Grab the Radial Filter.
Modify the effect
To create cool vignetted edges that contrast with the

warm subject, drop the Temperature slider to -50.
Push Highlights up to +64 to help over-expose the highlights
in the vignetted area. To reduce distracting detail outside the
Radial Filters ellipse, drop the Clarity slider to -100.
effect. Unlike the Post Crop Vignette tool, the Radial Filter
enables you to edit extra properties such as colour
temperature, so you can create cooler edges that contrast
with the subjects warmer palette.
In this tutorial well demonstrate how to use the Radial
Filter to brighten the edges in a way that complements
the photos sunny location, creating an abstract high-key
background that helps to focus attention on the correctly
exposed woman in the lower part of the frame.
Draw an ellipse
In the Radial Filter panel, set Exposure to +1.40 to

lighten the edges. To make the Radial Filter alter
details outside the ellipse, tick the Outside button at the
bottom of the panel. Draw an elliptical shape that centres on
the woman. Drag the filters control points to refine its shape.
Fine-tune the shape and size
If you decide to use the Crop tool to remove some of

the empty space around the subject, youll need to
reposition and resize the Radial Filter to suit the new composition. The alternative Post Crop Vignette will automatically
reapply the vignette to the recomposed image.

BEFORE
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GET THE LOOK

GET THE LOOK
Get the look

Discover how to transform your photos using
Camera Raws creative image-processing tools
128
Convert your photos

to black and white
132
Split-tone your
mono images
134
Reveal fine detail

using Clarity
Create stunning black-and-white

pictures using the Grayscale Mix panel to lighten
or darken specific colours
Add separate washes of colour

to the highlights and shadows of a monochrome
conversion to replicate the split-tone effect
Discover how to boost midtone

contrast and give distant details in landscape
images more impact
136
Create a 32-bit
HDR image
140
Replicate the
infrared effect
Combine three differently exposed

photos of the same scene to create a composite
with a high dynamic range
Create stunning pictures by

mimicking the distinctive colours and tones
produced by shooting on infrared film
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GET THE LOOK
Convert your
photos to mono
Create stunning black-and-white pictures using the
Grayscale Mix panel to lighten or darken specic colours
n pre-digital days photographers would shoot
with black-and-white film. By placing
coloured filters over the lens they could lighten
or darken greyscale tones in the captured
image based on the original colours. For example, a red
filter would darken blue skies, enabling white clouds to
stand out more clearly in contrast.
You could create a black-and-white version of a scene
in Camera Raw by dragging the Basic panels Saturation
slider down to 0. Although this technique would remove
all of the colour information, youd probably end up with
an indistinct wash of greyscale tones. Camera Raw enables
you to mimic the traditional colour filter technique so that
you can lighten or darken specific colours.
Well demonstrate how to use the Convert to Grayscale
panel to remove the distracting colour information, and
then adjust the colour sliders to lighten or darken specific
regions in the scene. This technique enables you to
produce mono conversions that draw attention to specific
shapes and textures in a photo.
Tweak the tones
Before converting an image to monochrome youll need

to create a well-exposed shot and tease out the colour
information so that you can use it to lighten or darken areas
later on. Open PMZ48_mono. Drag Shadows to +70. Set
Clarity to +30 for more midtone contrast.
BEFORE
Convert to grayscale
Boost the Vibrance slider to +35 to reveal more colours

in the shadows. Click the HSL/Grayscale panel and tick
the Convert to Grayscale box. This gives us a black-and-white
version of the correctly exposed image. Click Auto to make
the colour sliders lighten or darken particular areas.

GET THE LOOK
Lighten the yellows
Click default to reset the sliders to 0. We can manually

adjust the sliders to lighten specify areas and create
more contrast where its needed. Theres lots of vegetation in
the scene, and this tends to contain yellow. Drag the Yellow
slider right to lighten any vegetation and reveal its texture.
Target an adjustment
If youre not sure what colour to tweak, grab the

Targeted Adjustment tool. Click the water and drag
upwards to lighten any colours in the sampled area. This
brightens the Blues and helps make the water in the mono
conversion stand out in contrast against the darker rocks.
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GET THE LOOK
Want to know more?
NOW TRY THIS

By experimenting with the Convert to Grayscale panels
coloured sliders you can produce a range of different
looking monochrome prints from a single shot. This
enables you to draw attention to various areas in the
image and decide which look you prefer. These sliders
work best with shots that have lots of different colours
to play with, such as the colourful car in the image
below. Here the Grayscale Mix sliders are set to the
default of 0, so the conversion lacks contrast [1].

By clicking Auto, the results arent much different
[2]. By manually increasing the Yellows to +68 and
the Greens to +69 you can lighten the vegetation and
make the darker car stand out more effectively [3]. You
can create an even more striking contrast by selectively
darkening the cars paintwork [4]. To do so, set the
Oranges slider to -38 and the Reds to -71.
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GET THE LOOK
Split-tone
your images
Add separate washes of colour to the highlights and shadows
of a monochrome conversion to replicate the split-tone effect
traditional way of creating an eye-catching scene
is to remove the photographs original colour
information. This helps the eye focus on tonally
contrasting shapes and textures in the scene
instead of being distracted by colour. You can enhance your
monochrome conversions by gently reintroducing fine washes
of colour to the greyscale images shadows and highlights.
A hint of colour can make a monochrome shot look more
interesting. The split-toning effect also helps change the
Open PMZ58_split tone. The unprocessed image is very

under-exposed, so boost the Exposure slider to 2.25 to
reveal more detail and create a healthier spread of tones in the
Histogram. Boost Highlights to +84 and Whites to +42. Push
Clarity to +55 to reveal fine hair detail.
Tint the tones
Crop the image using a 1:1 ratio. Click the Split

Toning panels tab. Boost the saturation of the
Shadows and Highlights to 20. By default both the shadows
and highlights will be tinted red. Set the Highlights Hue to
60 for a wash of sepia.
mood evoked by the image. In the split-toned image on the

right, the goats shadows feature a cool blue tint while the
lighter highlights of the animals fur are tinted with a warmer
wash of sepia. These contrasting cool and warm colours help
tease out the different textures in the image.
Before adding a split-toned look to your image, youll
need to make sure that theres enough contrast between the
shadows and highlights to add colours to, so well kick off by
adjusting the image using the Basic panel.
Convert to monochrome
Click the HSL/Grayscale panel. Tick the Convert to

Grayscale box. Click Auto to let Camera Raw produce
a mono conversion based on the colours in the original shot.
To create more contrast between the goats darker fur and its
white markings, drag the Orange slider left to -46.
Fine-tune the results
Set the Shadows Hue to a cooler 224 to create a

contrasting wash of blue. Set Balance to -52 to tint a
wider range of shadows and midtones. You can then play with
different saturation values until you achieve the desired splittone look. Finish off by adding a post-crop vignette.

GET THE LOOK
BEFORE
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GET THE LOOK
Reveal fine detail

using Clarity
Discover how to boost midtone contrast and give
distant details in landscape images more impact
hen shooting a landscape, water particles in the
air can cause details to become diffused. Closer
objects will have a stronger contrast because
theres less moisture between them and your
camera, while more distant objects may lack contrast. The
most distant hills in our starting image nearly disappear
into the clouds due to their washed-out midtones. If we
boost the Camera Raw Contrast slider to try to darken
the distant hills then wed risk making the already darker
foreground shadows under-exposed while blowing out the
brighter highlights in the sky.
You can target and tweak the washed-out midtones in
the distant mountains without altering the photos darker
shadows and brighter highlights, courtesy of the Clarity
slider. This enables us to selectively increase the midtone
contrast and counteract the effects of the diffuse lighting
in the most distant parts of the background. As a bonus,
the Clarity slider also increases the midtone contrast in
other areas, which helps fine textures stand out more
effectively in our starting images rocks and water.
You can also make brush-based Clarity adjustments
to target areas with more precision.
Adjust the exposure
Open PMZ99_clarity in Camera Raw. We can see from

the histogram that the image lacks strong highlight
information, so its under-exposed. Drag Exposure to +0.40
to brighten everything up. Boost the Highlights to +89 to
selectively brighten them.
BEFORE
Increase Clarity
Our histogram now has tones stretching from the

shadows on the left to the highlights on the right.
This indicates that the picture is now better exposed. By
increasing the Clarity slider to +80, we increase midtone
contrast and make fine textures and details pop out.

GET THE LOOK
Select the Adjustment Brush
The increased Clarity setting creates more contrast

between the white foam and the green sea, but the
distant hills still look a bit washed out. To make a localised
Clarity adjustment that gives the hills more impact, grab the
Adjustment Brush from the Camera Raw toolbar.
Apply selective adjustments
In the Adjustment Brush panel, set Exposure to -0.15,

Contrast to +54 and Clarity to +100. Click to place a
pin on the distant hill and paint to selectively boost the
midtone contrast. Click the Zoom tool to exit the Adjustment
Brush panel. Boost Vibrance to +45.
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GET THE LOOK
Create a 32-bit
HDR image
Combine three differently exposed photos of the same
scene to create a composite with a high dynamic range
our camera can be set to reveal detail in shaded
areas, but this can cause lighter sections of the
scene to become over-exposed and lack detail.
If you meter to capture highlight detail, then the
shadows may become clipped and print out as pure black.
You could try revealing missing tonal detail using the Basic
panels Shadows and Highlights sliders, but there may still
not be enough information available in the darkest or lightest
parts of the image. Alternatively, you could try processing a
raw file twice to create versions of the scene that show detail
in the shadows and the highlights. You could then blend the
correctly exposed areas of the two together using layer masks.
However, to capture the widest range of tones you can set
your camera to shoot three bracketed exposures. One shot
will capture shadow detail (although its highlights will be

over-exposed), one will meter for the midtones, and the
third will look under-exposed, but will contain all the
locations highlight information. These separate exposures
will ensure that you have access to detail throughout a
scenes tonal range.
In this walkthrough well show you how to combine your
bracketed raw exposures together to create a single composite
image with a high dynamic range. This means that more
tonal detail will be visible in the composite shots shadows
and highlights. Well show you a workflow that enables you
to convert your raw source files into a 32-bit composite
that can be processed in Camera Raw, after a detour through
Photoshops Merge to HDR Pro command.

GET THE LOOK
BEFORE
BEFORE
BEFORE
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GET THE LOOK
Merge to HDR Pro
Browse to the three bracketed starting images in Bridge. Shift

click to select the three thumbnails. Go to the menu bar and
choose Tools>Photoshop>Merge to HDR Pro. This will open the three
images in Photoshop and place them into the same document to align
their contents. By aligning them youll be able to merge the correctly
exposed details from each shot. The images will then open in the
Merge to HDR Pro window.
Set the bit depth
By default the mode will be set to 16 bit. You could use the
Merge to HDR Pro commands sliders to mix the best bits
from each shot together, but because the source images are raw files
we want to squeeze more detail from them and do as much work as
we can in Camera Raw. To do so, set the Mode drop-down menu to
32-Bit. By default the Complete Toning in Camera Raw box will be
ticked. Click the Tone in ACR button.
Remove the ghosts
Your bracketed shots will be visible at the bottom of the

Merge to HDR Pro workspace. If your scene features moving
objects such as passing people or wind-blown trees, then you
might notice blurred areas in the composite HDR image. To avoid
the blur, tick the Remove ghosts box. A green box will appear
around the least blurred shot. You can click to choose another
image if you prefer.
Adjust the exposure
This procedure will merge the bracketed exposures together

into a 32-bit HDR file and open the composite image in the
Camera Raw filter. Youre now ready to fine-tune the 32-bit image
using the familiar Camera Raw tools and sliders to reveal detail in
the shadows, midtones and highlights. Drag the Shadows slider to
+80 to reveal more detail in the foreground terrain. Push Exposure
up to +0.65.

GET THE LOOK
Boost the colour and contrast
Press O to activate the highlight clipping warning. The red

patches indicate that the sunsets highlights are blown out, so
drag Highlights down to -80 to claw back missing colour and detail.
Drop Whites to -10 to reduce the highlight clipping even more. Increase
Clarity to +66 to make midtone details pop out. Boost the Vibrance
slider to +43 and the Saturation to +18 for the strong colours associated
with HDR images.
Open it in Photoshop
This will open the processed 32-bit HDR composite image in

Photoshop. In the Layers panel youll see that the Camera Raw
filter settings have been stored as a Smart Filter. Double click the
Camera Raw Filter label to fine-tune any of the Camera Raw sliders or
tools. You can save the image as a Photoshop file or a TIFF to preserve
its 32-bit HDR quality and status. To save a JPEG version, follow the
next step.
Enhance the sky
Convert it to 8 bits
To reveal even more colour and detail in the lighter sky, grab
the Graduated Filter tool from the Camera Raw toolbar. Draw
a gradient from the top of the image to the horizon. In the Graduated
Filter panel, set the Exposure slider to -0.90. Boost the Clarity slider
to tease out more fine cloud texture and detail. Push Saturation up
to +15 to enhance the sky colour. Now that youve processed the raw
composite, click OK.
The HDR composite is a 32-bit image, so many of Photoshops

menu commands will be unavailable. To make your image
more editable in Photoshop, go to the Image menu and click Mode.
Tick the 8-Bits/Channel option. Click Merge. 32-bit images contain
more luminance information, so youll need to tone map the image
to convert it to 8 bit. Drop the Vibrance slider to -30 to make the
colours less garish. Click OK.
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GET THE LOOK
Recreate the
infrared effect
Create stunning pictures by mimicking the distinctive
colours and tones produced by shooting on infrared lm
he colours that we perceive are produced by
different wavelengths of light. At either end of
this visible rainbow spectrum are additional
wavelengths that our eyes cant see, including
infrared light. In theory, digital cameras are capable of
capturing infrared colours, but they wouldnt equate to those
that we see with the naked eye. To avoid capturing the false
infrared wavelength colours, manufacturers build filters into
cameras to block the effects of infrared light.
Analogue film photographers could use a filter that stops
the visible spectrum of light entering the lens but that
admits light with an infrared wavelength. When infrared
light hits infrared-sensitive film, a variety of interesting
effects can be captured. In monochrome infrared prints the
light bounces off trees and grass in a scene to create bright
white vegetation. This effect enables you to reveal organic
shapes and textures that contrast with darker, non-organic
objects in the image. This glowing vegetation phenomenon is
known as the Wood Effect.
By using colour infrared film, the effects are even more
dramatic. Vegetation still looks much brighter while blue
skies dramatically darken, making plants stand out even
more. A blue sky can also take on a more cyan look, while
vegetation tends to display a warmer orange hue.
In this walkthrough well demonstrate how to use the
HSL panels to target and adjust the hues and luminance
of various colours to produce a false colour infrared look.
Well also demonstrate how to recreate the Wood effect
in a monochrome conversion.
BEFORE

GET THE LOOK
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GET THE LOOK
Turn the sky green
Open the PMZ10_infrared starting image in Camera Raw

by double clicking the thumbnail in Bridge. Click the HSL/
Grayscale panel and then click the Hue tab. Drag the Blue slider to
-48 to give the blue sky a cyan hue. Colour infrared film can make
a sky look darker, so click the Luminance tab. Drag the Blue slider
left to -38. You now have a darker cyan sky, which is one of the
false colour hallmarks of colour infrared film.
Lighten the vegetation
To create the brighter tones of vegetation captured on infrared

film, click back on the Luminance slider. Drag the Red, Green
and Yellow sliders up to +100 to selectively brighten plants and
flowers featuring these colours. The vegetation looks too saturated,
so click the Saturation tab and drag the Yellows to -38 and the Greens
to -27. This makes the plants look less garish while preserving the
saturation of the cyan sky.
Adjust the colour of the plants
In colour infrared photography, organic subjects such as plants

can take on a warmer reddish hue. Go back to the Hue tab.
Theres a lot of yellow in the source images vegetation (as there is in
almost any summer landscape image), so drag the Yellows slider left
to -60 to add a more orange hue to the vegetation. Drag the Greens
slider to -70 to warm up more of the plants in the scene. Set the
Oranges slider to -50.
Reveal distant detail
After selectively tweaking the photos hue, luminance and

saturation to create false infrared colours, go to the Basic panel.
When shooting with infrared film, you can capture more contrasting
detail in distant mist-diffused midtones. Give the images midtones
more impact by dragging the Clarity slider right to +43. Drop the
Vibrance slider to -10 to desaturate stronger colours while preserving
the vibrancy of weaker ones.

GET THE LOOK
Save a snapshot
You now have a shot that features the false colour properties of
infrared film. Before recreating a monochrome infrared Wood
effect, lets save our colour version. Click Save Image. Set the Format
drop-down menu to JPEG. Keep Quality at 12. Click Select Folder and
choose a destination for your file. Click Save. Click the Snapshots
panel. Click the Create New Snapshot icon at the bottom. Label it
Colour Infrared.
Lighten the vegetation
To create the luminous-looking vegetation associated with

black-and-white infrared film, drag the Yellows and the Greens
right to +100. There are some red leaves in the image so we can lighten
these too by sliding Reds up to +100. Instead of using the sliders,
you can grab the Targeted Adjustment tool from the toolbar. Click
to sample a specific area (such as the sky). Drag down to darken the
sampled colours, or up to lighten them.
Create a mono conversion
Save a monochrome snapshot
Well now create a monochrome infrared version of our scene.

Click the fly-out icon on the right of the Basic panel and
choose the Camera Raw Defaults option. This will reset the image to
its original colours and tones. Click the HSL/Grayscale panel. Tick
the Convert to Grayscale box to access the Grayscale Mix tab. For the
darker sky associated with monochromatic infrared film, drag the Blue
slider left to -80.
To give distant details more punch, go to the Basic panel and

drag Clarity to +38. For a more striking contrast, go to the
Tone Curve panel and click the Point tab. Set the Curve drop-down
menu to Medium Contrast. Use the Save Image option to save a
JPEG version of your mono infrared scene. Go to the Snapshot
panel and create a new Mono Infrared snapshot. You can then toggle
between the settings for either version with a click.
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CREATIVE EFFECTS

CREATIVE EFFECTS
Creative
effects
Enhance your images with special effects using
advanced tools and techniques in Camera Raw
146
Create retro
special effects
150
Make stunning portraits

using Camera Raw
156
Turn a daytime scene

into a night photo
Give your digital images the filmic

look by adding analogue photography artefacts
using a host of techniques
Use a host of professional

retouching tools and techniques to make your
portraits perfect in Camera Raw
Change the colour temperature

and tones of a photo and add light effects to create
a simulated nocturnal scene
160
Make creative
adjustments to portraits
164
Double process a raw file

to improve exposure
Take your portrait enhancements

into the creative realm by subtly changing the
lighting and colours
Process a raw file twice to reveal

details in the highlights and shadows, and then
combine the best bits of both versions
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CREATIVE EFFECTS
Create retro
special effects
Give your digital images the lmic look by adding analogue
photography artefacts using a host of techniques
our digital cameras various shooting modes are
designed to help you capture a scenes true colours
and display detail throughout a wide range of
tones, while keeping artefacts such as digital noise
to a minimum. Each shot is stored digitally, so its colours and
tones wont fade over time, and the image will always look
as good as new. It therefore seems ironic to distress pristine
digital photographs and make them look like analogue film
prints that have faded over time, as well as producing images
that appear to have been blighted by in-camera artefacts such
as vignetted edges and foggy light leak patches. However,
applying retro film artefacts in Camera Raw adds character
to your digital shots and evokes a sense of nostalgia. In this
walkthrough well reveal how to use the Effects panel to add
realistic clumps of analogue film grain (rather than unwanted

dots of digital noise). This is akin to adding crackle and hiss
to a digital sound recording to conjure up a vintage vinyl
vibe. Well demonstrate how to fade colours and create
a flatter contrast. Well also show you how to use the
Adjustment Brush to mimic artefacts produced by less
sophisticated analogue lenses, such as by blurring around
the edges of the frame.
Well also demonstrate how to tinker with individual
colour channels to create the cross-processed colours that
are associated with old film stock and darkroom processing
techniques. After spending time creating a retro look, well
save it as a preset, so that you can apply your analogue film
effects to other pictures with a single click.

CREATIVE EFFECTS
BEFORE
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CREATIVE EFFECTS
Cross-process the reds
Open PMZ02_retro. Click the Tone Curve panel and then

click the Point Curve tab. Set the RGB drop-down menu to
Red. Click to place a point in the centre of the curve at an Input
and Output level of 128. Place a point lower down the curve with
an input of 64 and then drag to create a lower output of 46.
This operation adds a green hue to the shadows and magenta
to the skin tones.
Reduce the contrast
To reduce our digitally sourced photos strong range of tones,

go to the Basic panel and increase the Shadows slider to +30.
Lighten the Blacks to +30. Decrease the Contrast slider to -30 to
produce more washed-out looking tones. Drag the Clarity slider to
-15 to reduce the midtone contrast and produce a slightly softerlooking photograph. In essence, were doing the opposite of what
we would normally do to improve a photo.
Produce filmic colours
Go to the Blue channel and place an anchor point in the

middle of the curve line with the Input and Output levels
at 128. Place a second point in the top half of the curve line at
an Input of 192, and drag it down to a lower output of 154. By
reducing the blue highlights, you add a vintage wash of yellowy
green to the highlights. We now have a more filmic crossprocessed colour palette.
Over-expose the edges
Old film lenses could be less effective at exposing the

negative with a consistent amount of light, leading to a
change in edge exposure. To recreate this look, toggle open the
Effects panel. In Post-Crop Vignetting, set Amount to +40.
Set Style to Color Priority to include more of the cross-processed
colours in the vignetted edges. Increase Midpoint to 65 to push
the vignette towards the corners.

CREATIVE EFFECTS
Add film grain
Double click the Zoom tools icon to magnify the shot to

100%. This will help you to produce more effective-looking
film grain. In the Effects panel, push the Amount slider up to 20
for more noticeable grain. Set Size to 54 for larger chunks. Increase
Roughness to 78. This mimics the more organic-looking clumps of
film grain (instead of the sharp greyscale dots produced by highspeed ISO digital noise).
Add a light leak
To add a light leak effect, click the New button in the

Adjustment Brush panel. Set Sharpness and Clarity back
to 0. Increase the Exposure slider to 2.30. Click the Color
swatch. Choose an orange colour with a Hue of 44 degrees and
a Saturation of 90%. Set Density to 73. Click and paint down
the side of the frame to create the blown-out tones and colours
associated with fogged film.
Blur the edges
Create a preset
Zoom out to Fit in View. Click the Adjustment Brush icon.

Drag the Clarity slider left to -100. This decrease in midtone
contrast will add a blur effect to your brush strokes. Drop Sharpness
to -100 too. Set the brush tip size to 12. Use a Feather of 80 for a
soft edge. Paint around the edges of the frame. Image details will
become gently blurred, but the grain you applied in the previous
step will remain.
Once youve spent lots of time producing your retro look,

it makes sense to save all the adjustments as a customised
preset that you can apply to other shots with just a few clicks.
Go to the Presets panel and click the New Preset icon at the
bottom. In the New Preset window, label it Retro Preset. Leave
all the boxes ticked. Click OK. The new preset will appear in the
Presets panel.
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CREATIVE EFFECTS

CREATIVE EFFECTS
BEFORE
Retouch portraits
like a professional
Use a host of retouching tools and techniques
to make your portraits perfect in Camera Raw
hen processing a portrait in Camera Raw you may
feel under more pressure to produce great-looking
results, because youll want the photos subject
to be pleased with your image-editing skills.
However, there are a few factors that may conspire against
your plans to capture a perfect portrait. For starters, your
subject may be having a bad hair day and its not until
viewing the image at 100% that youll notice distracting
fly-away hairs obscuring their features. Your model may also
be suffering from spots, which they arent able to totally
conceal with make-up. If you use a burst of flash to bring
out the shape and form of your subjects face then you may
inadvertently create shiny hot spots on the skin that make
the subject look unflatteringly sweaty.
Camera Raw has all the tools youll need to counteract shiny
hotspots and remove other unsightly blemishes, as youll
see in our comprehensive portrait-retouching walkthrough
starting on the next page. Well also demonstrate how to set
up and store custom Adjustment Brush tips that perform a
range of selective enhancements, such as whitening teeth,
teasing out fine iris details and removing unsightly veins in
the eye whites. You can then call upon the services of these
custom portrait-enhancing brush tips in the future and
speed up your retouching workflow on other portraits.
Well also show you how to create a smoother, more youthful
complexion by selectively adjusting the Clarity of the skin
and creating healthier, more natural-looking skin tones with
help from the White Balance tool.
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CREATIVE EFFECTS
Improve the composition
Open PMZ51_portrait in Camera Raw. When shooting models

it can be a challenge to capture a well-framed composition. The
subject in this portrait looks off-balance as shes leaning left, but
looking right. Theres lots of empty space to her left too. Its good
practice to improve the composition first before you start fixing other
problems. This saves you wasting time editing an area that will be
cropped out later.
Tweak the tones
Click another tool (such as the Zoom tool) to apply the crop
and rotate the image. As well as straightening her up and
repositioning her, the subject now looks more prominent in the frame.
Her highlights are a little blown-out and lack detail, however, so
go to the Basic panel and drop the Exposure a little to -40. Pull the
Highlights slider down to -12. This restores more colour and detail in
the brighter parts of the portrait.
Rotate and reposition
Hold the mouse down on the Crop tool icon and choose 1:1.
This will create a square crop. Drag to crop out some of the
empty space around the subject. Drag just outside of the crop overlay
to rotate it. This will counteract the subjects lean and straighten
her up once we apply the crop. Drag inside the overlay to create
space on the right of the frame for the subject to look into, which is
conventional practice in portrait composition.
Balance the whites
Our subject looks a little warm due to an incorrect or

ineffective white-balance setting in-camera. This makes
her skin tones look too orange. You could experiment by applying
different White Balance presets in the Basic panel, but for more
healthy skin tones grab the White Balance tool and click her eye
whites. This cools down the warm tint in an instant and creates a
custom temperature of 4650 degrees.

CREATIVE EFFECTS
Set up the Adjustment Brush
Use the Zoom tool to magnify the shot to 100% so you

can work more effectively on the subjects eyes. Grab the
Adjustment Brush tool from the toolbar. The Basic panel will be
replaced with the Adjustment Brush panel. Click to place a pin on the
white of an eye. Drop Saturation to -53 to reduce the impact of veins.
Push Exposure up to +0.25 and increase Highlights to +16 to brighten
the whites. Set Size to 3 and Feather to 67.
Refine the mask
The mask will reveal which areas are being brightened and
desaturated as coloured patches. Auto Mask should protect
neighbouring regions from being adjusted, but if the brush has strayed
outside the eye whites or teeth, tick the Erase button. Paint over any
masked areas to stop them from being adjusted. You can also click the
Add button and paint to include areas of eye whites or teeth that you
may have missed.
Whiten the eyes and teeth
Fine-tune the adjustment
To lighten and desaturate the eye whites without altering the

iris, tick the Auto Mask box. This helps restrict the Adjustment
Brushs behaviour to alter just the sampled eye whites. Paint over the
whites of both eyes to lighten and desaturate them. Paint over the
teeth to whiten them and remove any staining. To see precisely which
areas are being adjusted, tick Show Mask. Chose a contrasting mask
colour from the adjacent swatch.
Once youve tidied up the mask, untick the Show Mask box
so that you can see the edited tones more clearly. When
retouching a portrait, its easy to go too far and create glowing white
eyes. To tweak the results produced by a particular pin, simply click
the pin to target it. The sliders in the Adjustment Brush panel will
change to the values attached to the pin. In this case, push Exposure
up to +0.35 for slightly brighter eye whites.
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CREATIVE EFFECTS
Save a preset
Once youve spent time tweaking the Adjustment Brushs

sliders to produce a specific result (such as whitening eyes and
teeth), you can save it as an easy-to-access preset. Click the little flyout icon at the top right of the Adjustment Brush panel. Choose New
Local Correction Settings. Label the preset as Brighten whites and
remove stains. Click OK. You can access this preset from the fly-out
icon at any time.
11
Save an iris preset
To help tease out fine midtone textures in the iris,

set Clarity to +35. To bring out more of the iriss blue
colouring, drag the Temperature slider to -18. Boost the Saturation
slider to +15. Now that youve set up the iris-enhancing brush
tip, save it by clicking the fly-out icon and creating a New Local
Connection preset called Iris Enhance. Click OK. Paint over the
subjects other iris to create a matching pair.
10
Enhance the irises
12
Discover spots
The eyes are the first thing that people notice, so its worth
enhancing the subjects irises to give them more impact.
With the Adjustment Brush still active, click the New icon in the
Adjustment Brush panel. Click to place a pin on an iris. Paint with a
small brush over the iris. If you keep Auto Mask ticked, the tip wont
stray past the contrasting edge of the iris. Set Exposure to +0.45 and
Contrast to +30. Boost Highlights to +26.
Select the Spot Removal tool from the toolbar. The

Spot Removal panel will appear. Set Size to 3. Set the
Type drop-down menu to Heal. This will help to create a seamless
skin graft when you transfer clean skin over an unwanted spot. To
discover spots more easily, tick the Visualize Spots box. Adjust the
slider to get a greyscale preview of potential spots. Contrasting spots
will stand out in white.

CREATIVE EFFECTS
13
Remove the spots
15
Resample a source
Click to place the cursor over a potential spot. A circular

red overlay will appear over the spot. A connected green
overlay will sample adjacent clean skin and place the sampled pixels
inside the red overlay to hide the spot. Drag inside an overlay to
reposition it. Drag the edge of an overlay to resize it. The white spots
in the Visualize Spots preview should be replaced by black, which
means theyve been eradicated.
When you click (or paint an irregular shape) to place

a spot-removal overlay on a spot or hair, the Spot
Removal tool will automatically attempt to choose a clean patch
of pixels that have a similar colour and tone to the areas around
the unwanted object. If it samples an area that isnt suitable,
try pressing the / key. This will cause the green overlay to
automatically sample a new area.
14
Remove unwanted hairs
16
Smooth the skin
In older versions of Camera Raw, you could only create

circular shapes when removing spots. From Camera Raw
8.4.1 onwards, you can paint over non-circular shapes to retouch
the image. Our subject has stray hairs hanging over her brow. Paint
irregularly shaped strokes over these hairs to replace them with
adjacent patches of clean skin. Tidy some of the fly-away hairs
around the edges of the hair.
Grab the Adjustment Brush once again. The New

button will automatically be ticked in the Adjustment
Brush panel. Zero the sliders apart from Clarity, which you
should set to -51. Drop Contrast to -15. Untick Auto Mask so
that you can smooth out contrasting shiny hot spots as well as
the midtones of skin pores. Paint over the subjects face for a
more flattering complexion.
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CREATIVE EFFECTS
Turn day
into night
Change the colour temperature and tones of a photo and
add light effects to create a simulated nocturnal scene
hooting a location at night can produce a photo
with a moody and atmospheric look, but it also
raises practical challenges in relation to your
camera settings. You could open the lenss
aperture to let in more light, but that will result in a shallow
depth of field that creates background or foreground blur.
By bumping up the ISO speed you can shoot handheld with
a faster shutter speed, but that could add unwanted and
distracting chroma and luminance noise to your photo. If you
have access to a tripod, you could use a lower ISO setting,
a slower shutter speed and a narrower aperture to get more
detail in focus, but that approach is more time-consuming
and it might limit your compositional choices.
By using the Camera Raw colour- and tone-adjusting tools
to fake a nocturnal look, you can capture any location during
the day without having to lug a tripod around. This frees

you up to capture spontaneous events with a wider choice
of composition. In daylight its also much easier to capture
a shot with both the foreground and background detail in
focus. Its also a fun project!
In this walkthrough well show you how to produce
a cooler, bluer colour temperature, which helps evoke a
nocturnal light source such as the moons sunlight-reflecting
surface. To help sell the nocturnal illusion, well show you
how to add a computer-generated moon using the Radial
filter, and then duplicate and modify the filter to add a
contrasting lunar corona. Youll use the Adjustment Brush
to add the moons reflection to the water. Youll also make
atmospheric shadows close in around the edges of the frame,
courtesy of the Camera Raw Effects panel.

CREATIVE EFFECTS
BEFORE
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CREATIVE EFFECTS
Cool down the colour
Open PMZ35_night in Camera Raw. Go to the Basic panel.

Our starting image has a colour temperature of 750, which
adds a warm hue to the scene. Drag the Temperature slider left to
a cooler value of 5400 degrees K (or you might find it quicker to
double click the Temperature field and type in the precise value).
Already the image is taking on a nocturnal look, just with
a simple temperature change.
Desaturate the colour
Our cold blue colours look a little too saturated and garish
(and may not print very well). For a more subtle blue cast, go
down to the lowest section of the Basic panel and reduce the Vibrance
slider to a value of -25. Drop the Saturation slider to -16. This should
help to create a weaker wash of blue and mimic the effect of sunlight
being reflected from the moon. You may need to tweak the settings
further depending on your own monitor.
Darken the shadows
The direct sunlight in our daytime-sourced starting image is

too intense for our purposes. To reduce the brightness and
evoke a weaker lunar light source, drag the Exposure slider left to
a value of -0.70. Boost Contrast to +21. Set Highlights to -30. For
darker shadows, drag Blacks to -45. Set Clarity to +35. Go to the
Tone Curve panels Point Curve tab and set the Curve drop-down
menu to Medium Contrast.
Vignette the edges
To create a more atmospheric-looking nocturnal scene, you

can make the shadows appear to close in around the edges
of the frame. To do so, toggle open the Effects panel. Go to Post
Crop Vignetting. Set the Style drop-down menu to Color Priority
to darken the edge colours in a more natural way instead of simply
tinting them with black. Set the Amount slider to -17 to add the
moody vignette effect.

CREATIVE EFFECTS
Add the moon
To add a convincing lunar light source, go to the toolbar and grab

the Radial Filter. Set Exposure to 4 for a bright light source. Drop
Feather to 11 for a relatively hard edge. Hold down Shift to constrain
the shape to a circle, and drag to draw the moon. The apparent size of
the moon varies naturally, so dont worry about getting the size exactly
right. You can reposition the moon to stop it overlapping the clouds by
dragging the green pin at its centre.
Create the reflection
Grab the Adjustment Brush from the Camera Raw toolbar. Set
Temperature to a cool -45. Set Exposure to +1.20. Set Highlights
to +47 to brighten the patches of blurred, foamy water. Drop Saturation
to -35. Set Size to 12. Choose a soft edge by setting Feather to 80.
Finally, set Density to 73. Paint over the sea to add a hint of the moons
reflection in the water. Ensure the centre of the reflection lines up with
the centre of the moon, or the effect will fail.
Add the corona
Add the stars
Right click the Radial Filters pin and choose Duplicate

from the context-sensitive pop-up menu. Hold down Shift
and drag an edge control point to increase the duplicated Radial
filters size. Drop Exposure to a weaker +1.65. Set Feather to 44 for
softer edges. Increase Highlights to +26 to lighten the overlapping
clouds. Increase Temperature to +95 for a warmer lunar corona that
contrasts with the cool blue sky.
You can fine-tune the position of the Adjustment Brushs

reflection by dragging its pin. You can click either pin and
tweak any of the associated sliders to refine the effect that they
produce. Finish off by grabbing the Radial Filter. Zoom in to 100%
magnification. Shift drag to add a few tiny stars. Untick the Show
Overlay box so you can see the stars more clearly as you draw. Resist
the temptation to make too many!
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CREATIVE EFFECTS
Transform
any portrait
Take your portrait enhancements into the creative
realm by subtly changing the lighting and colours
hen we process a portrait in Camera Raw we
attempt to edit its colours and tones to overcome
problems with exposure or colour balance, so that
the subject in the photo looks like they did in the
studio. We may retouch the image to tidy away temporary
problems, such as spots on the skin or stray fly-away hairs
that went unnoticed during the shoot. This subtle
retouching helps us get the subject to look their best.
When posing for a portrait, the subject may experiment
with different looks by the way that she applies make-up
or styles her hair, for example. As photographers we can also
experiment with different looks and moods by the way we
light the scene.
In this tutorial well demonstrate how you can continue
to experiment with different looks after a portrait has been
captured, thanks to the Camera Raw tool set. The model in
our starting image has already bleached her hair blond, but
she may want to see how she looks as a brunette. We could
try to tint the blonde hair a different colour by using the
HSL tab, but because the skin tones also contain yellows
wed end up tinting her face as well as her hair.
Well show you how to use the Adjustment Brush to
digitally dye her blond hair brown. Youll learn how to avoid
dying her adjacent skin tones (and the background) brown by
using the Adjustment Brushs mask tool.
In our starting image, the side-on flash creates strong
contrasting tones. For a more flattering portrait we could
light the subject from the front to fill in the harsh shadows.
By using the Adjustment Brush and Basic panel sliders, you
can create a more flattering high-key lighting effect.
BEFORE

CREATIVE EFFECTS
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CREATIVE EFFECTS
Open in Camera Raw
Open PMZ90_creative. Before recolouring the subjects hair

it makes sense to create our high-key lighting effect, because
this will restore detail to hair hidden in the shadows. In the Basic
panel, drag the Shadows slider to +66 to selectively lighten the
shadows. By dragging Highlights to +41 you can create a lighter,
more friendly backdrop. Drop the Vibrance slider to -26 for a more
subtle wash of colour.
Choose a colour
In the Adjustment Brush panel, click New. Click the Color

swatch. In the Color Picker, set Hue to 36 and Saturation to
54 to choose an orange colour. We cant see the brunette tint that
we need, but we can use orange as a starting point. Click OK. Set
Exposure to -3.35 for a darker tint. Drop Saturation to -100. Set
Density to 100. Tick Auto Mask. Click to place a pin on her hair
and paint to dye it brunette.
Fill in the shadows
Grab the Adjustment Brush. In the Adjustment Brush panel,

set Exposure to +1.00. Push Shadows up to +30. Untick Auto
Mask. Set Size to 10, Feather to 51 and Flow to 60. Set Density to
88. Click to place a pin on her cheek. Paint over the shadows on her
face and hair to lighten them. This creates less contrast and makes
the subject look like she was lit from the front, recreating a more
flattering high-key lighting setup.
Remove the stray paint
As you paint over the edges of the subject, the ticked Auto
Mask box helps to stop the brush strokes from dyeing the
background. Tick the Erase button and paint to remove any patches
of digital dye that have strayed over the skin. Click back on the Add
button and paint over any remaining traces of blonde hair. You may
need to untick the Auto Mask button to dye contrasting blonde hairs.
Its a fiddly job, but well worth taking extra time to get right.

CREATIVE EFFECTS
Soften the edges
Thanks to the Auto Mask option, youll notice sharp edges

where the dyed hair overlaps the background. To soften these
edges, click New in the Adjustment Brush panel. Click the Color
swatch and drop the Color Pickers Saturation slider to 0. Set the
Sharpness slider to -70. Click to place a pin at the edge of the hair,
and paint around the edges to soften any sharp sections where the hair
overlaps the background.
Smooth the skin
Click back on the Adjustment Brush icon in the toolbar. By

default it will be set to new in the Adjustment Brush panel. Drop
the Clarity slider to -100. Tick the Auto Mask button. Click to place a
pin on her face. Paint over the skin to create a smoother complexion.
Because youre using the Auto Mask option, the brush shouldnt
soften contrasting areas such as eyes and lips. Tick Show Mask to see
which areas are being smoothed.
Remove the stray hairs
Add the finishing touches
Some single blonde hairs will be tricky to dye brown, especially

if they overlap the face or background. To remove traces of the
original blonde hair, grab the Spot Removal tool. In the Spot Removal
panel, set Type to Heal. Set Feather to 83. Magnify the image to 50%
and set the Spot Removal tools Size to 4. Paint over unwanted strands
of hair to replace them with appropriate skin or background pixels.
Click unwanted spots to remove them.
Use the Zoom tool to magnify the shot at 33%. Click the
pin that controls the hair dye. The sliders and colour will
change back to the brunette dye settings. Reduce the Density slider
to 18 for a more subtle effect. Make sure that Auto mask is ticked.
Reduce the tip size to 3. Paint over the eyebrows to dye them a
subtler brown. Lighten the dye colour by setting Exposure to -2.70.
Push Shadows to +50. Set Saturation to -85.
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CREATIVE EFFECTS
Double
process
a raw file
Process a raw le twice to reveal
details throughout the image
hen shooting a high-contrast scene it can be a battle to
capture detail in both the shadows and the highlights. If you
expose to capture highlight detail in the sky then backlit
objects can appear as silhouettes. If you meter to capture the
darker details then you might clip the highlights. You could try
exposing for the sky and illuminating foreground objects with a blast of
flash, but this can cause lighter closer objects such as our starting
images stalks of wheat to become blown-out too.
By shooting in raw we know that there is more tonal and colour
information stored with the image than we can see when viewing the
unprocessed photo. We can claw back missing highlight information
with the Camera Raw Highlight slider while lightening the darker
details with the Shadow slider. However, in some cases these
selective tone-tweaking sliders might not be enough. We may need
to claw back even more tonal and colour detail by making a global
Exposure adjustment. This can cause us to lose detail in the shadows
or the highlights. If the sky and the landscape are separate, then the
Graduated Filter is the perfect tool to recover missing highlight detail
or selectively brighten a dark landscape. However in shots such as our
starting image, the darker foreground object overlaps the sky, making it
harder to make a gradated tonal adjustments.
In this tutorial well show you how to create two versions of a highcontrast scene. One version will expose for the highlights and the other
for the shadows. Well then take the two versions into Photoshop and
use layer masks to combine the correctly exposed parts of the image.
BEFORE

CREATIVE EFFECTS
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CREATIVE EFFECTS
Reveal shadow detail
Start by revealing colour and detail in the silhouetted farm

machinery. Drag the Shadows slider up to +80 to reveal more
shadow detail. To brighten up the foreground even more, increase
Exposure to +0.30. As were exposing for the shadows we dont need
to worry about highlight detail. In fact, push Highlights to +70 and
Contrast to +10 to make them brighter. This will help us select and
replace the highlights with a correctly exposed version later.
Save the shadow exposure
While youre accessing the Detail tab, drag the Luminance

noise slider to 17 to smooth out the noise caused by our
starting images ISO800 speed. When you brighten up dark areas, the
newly revealed colours will look rather drab. Set the Vibrance slider
to +45 to reveal more colour information. Set Clarity to +35 to reveal
fine details. Click Save Image. Name the image Shadow Exposure.
Save it as a Photoshop format file.
Remove the colour artefacts
When you brighten up under-exposed shadows youll reveal

more colour and detail. If you zoom into 100% magnification
youll notice that youve also revealed colour noise and chromatic
aberration purple colour fringes clinging to the edge of contrasting
objects. Click the Lens Corrections panel. Tick Enable Lens Profile
Correction. Click the Color tab and tick Remove Chromatic Aberration.
Go to the Detail panel and drag Color to 100 to remove colour noise.
Save a snapshot
Go to the Snapshots panel. Click the New Snapshot icon.

Label it Shadow Exposure. Click OK. This enables you to
summon the shadow settings if you need to tweak them later. Go
to the Basic panel and click the Default button. This sets the Basic
panels tone-tweaking sliders to 0. Leave the Lens Correction and
Noise Reduction settings as they are. Youre now ready to create a
version of the scene that features detail in the brighter sky.

CREATIVE EFFECTS
Reveal sky detail
Set Exposure to -0.65 to darken the sky. Drop Highlights to

-46 to claw back more detail. Drag Temperature right to 7250
to enhance the warm sunset colours. Grab the Graduated Filter. Draw
a gradient down from the top of the frame. Set Exposure to -1.10 to
darken the top of the sky even more and add drama. Boost Temperature
and Saturation to +30 for even warmer colours. Save a version of the
image called Highlight Exposure. Click Done.
Refine the edges
Click to target the top layer. Grab the Magic Wand. Untick
Contiguous so that you can select similar sections of sky.
Increase Tolerance to 45 to select a wider range of highlights. Click
to select the sky. If some of the darker sky tones remain unselected,
hold Shift and click to add them to the selection marquee. Choose
Select>Inverse. Click Refine Edge. Set View to On Layers. Tick Smart
Radius. Set Radius to 2.7. Set Output to New Layer with Layer mask.
Layer the images
Tidy up the mask
In Photoshop, go to File>Open and browse to your Highlight

Exposure.PSD and Shadow Exposure.PSD files. Shift click to
select them and click Open. Click the Shadow Exposure documents
tab and choose Select>All. Choose Edit>Copy. Click the Highlight
Exposure documents tab and choose Edit>Paste. You now have a
layered document. Label the top layer Shadow Exposure. Label the
bottom layer Highlight Exposure.
The masks black sections hide the over-exposed sky on the

top layer, revealing the correctly exposed sky from the layer
below. Grab the Brush tool. Choose a soft-edged tip. Click the mask.
Set the foreground colour to black. Paint over any holes in the darker
stalks that overlap the sky to reveal missing detail from the lower
layer. Set the foreground colour to white. Paint over any holes in the
foreground to reveal missing shadow details from the top layer.
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ADVANCED TIPS & TRICKS

Advanced
tips & tricks
Save time and effort with our little-known Camera
Raw image-processing workflow shortcuts
170
Share your processed

raw files
172
Process JPEGs
in Camera Raw
174
Open a raw file

as a Smart Object
Discover how to ensure that the

processed raw files you wish to share are accessible
by anyone using any software
Open and edit your compressed

JPEGs as if they were raw files using Camera Raw
tools and techniques
Give yourself more editing options

later in the process by converting a raw file into a
Smart Object
178
Save time with

custom raw presets
Create and apply your own imageprocessing presets in Camera Raw and Bridge
to save time and effort
180
Correct distortions
with a lens profile
Discover how to set up Camera

Raw so that it applies lens profile corrections
to your photos automatically
169
170

Share your
processed images
Discover how to ensure that the processed raw files you
wish to share are accessible by anyone using any software
nce youve spent time processing
your raw files in the Camera Raw
editor, youll need to save and
share them. There are many
different raw format files that you can edit in
Camera Raw, from Nikons NEF format to
Canons CR2. If you edit one of these formats
using any of the Camera Raw tools and then
click Done, a sidecar file will be created and
stored alongside the edited raw image. This

XMP format file contains a record of every
tool and slider setting that you applied to the
raw image. If you share the raw file, then you
need to include the XMP file too if others are
to see and access the changes that youve
made. Different raw formats (and raw files
from newer cameras) can be harder to access
in older versions of Photoshop, which is why
it makes sense to save your processed files in

Adobes Digital Negative (DNG) format. This
embeds the Camera Raw adjustments inside a
single DNG file, so you can share it without
worrying about sidecar files. Digital Negatives
are also easier to open in older versions of
Photoshop. Well show you how to save files
in the DNG format and then explore other
sharing formats.
Photoshop Anatomy Save as a DNG

Store Camera Raw image settings inside your processed raw file
4 EMBED DATA
Clicking here enables Camera Raw to
open the file more quickly and apply
stored adjustments, though it will
increase the file size slightly. You can use
a smaller Camera Raw cache preference
setting if this option is regularly used.
5 LOSSY COMPRESSION
5
6
Ticking this option creates lighter DNG
files, but you will lose some data and
quality. Leave it unticked (or save a copy
as a JPEG if you need a smaller version).
6 EMBED ORIGINAL
By ticking this box you can store the
unprocessed raw files data inside your
DNG. Theres no real need to do this and
itll create a much larger file size.
1 SAVE IMAGE
2 DNG
3 COMPATIBILITY
If you want to export your processed

raw file as a Digital Negative, click
this button here to access the Save
Options window.
If you set the File Extension dropdown menu to DNG, the Format
drop-down menu will change to
Digital Negative.
To open DNG files in older versions

of Photoshop, click here. This setting
allows our DNG to be compatible with
CS6 and Lightroom 4.1 onwards.

Overview Save in other formats

Store and share copies of your edited work more easily
2
3
1 LOCATION
4 QUALITY
Click Select Folder to choose a location for the saved version of

your edited file. You can save it alongside the original raw file or
choose a new location.
You can create a smaller faster-to-download file by dropping

the quality value though this can add compression artefacts.
If posting a copy to Twitter, you can tick here and choose a File
Size limit of 100K.
2 JPEG
To save a lightweight version of your processed picture to
share on a web gallery, social media site or email to family and
friends, choose JPEG from this drop-down menu.
3 METADATA
All raw files contain data about the camera settings used to
capture the image. You can include all of that data (or a more
limited selection such as any attached copyright information)
by using this drop-down menu, but it wont make any difference
to the file size.
5 COLOR SPACE
If sharing online, use a screen-friendly colour space such as
sRGB. For more faithfully reproduced print colours, set this
option to Adobe RGB (1998).
6 RESIZE
If you plan to print a copy of your picture, you can resize it to fit
specific print dimensions such as a 10x8-inch print. Its worth
ticking the Sharpen for Screen or Glossy Paper option too,
depending on the images destination.
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Process JPEGs
in Camera Raw
Open and edit your compressed JPEGs as if they were
raw les using Camera Raw tools and techniques
nce youve become familiar with the tools that
you can access in Camera Raw, you may prefer to
edit all of your image formats in this workspace,
even compressed JPEGs. Although JPEGS lack
the extra information about colour and tone stored in a raw
file, Camera Raw still enables you to correct typical photo
problems quickly and easily. Colour- and tone-tweaking
tools are close to hand in the Basic panel. You can also
summon a handy before-and-after view.
By default a JPEG will open in Photoshop, but if you
go to Camera Raw and click the Preferences icon you
can go to the JPEG and TIFF Handling section of the
Preferences window and set the JPEG drop-down menu to
Automatically open all supported JPEGS. Click OK. Now
when you open a JPEG from within Photoshop, it will be
taken straight to Camera Raw.
Alternatively, you may prefer to start working on your
JPEGs in Photoshop and then take them into Camera Raw
to apply specific effects. The Camera Raw Filter enables you
to open your edited JPEG in Camera Raw so that you can
access tools that arent in the Photoshop workspace, such as
the Split Toning tab and the Clarity slider.
Access Camera Raw Filter
In Photoshop, go to File>Open and browse to select our

PMZ38_raw filter.jpg starting image. Click Open. By
default, the image will open in Photoshop (unless youve
changed the Camera Raw preferences). To take the shot into
Camera Raw, choose Filter>Camera Raw Filter.
BEFORE
Clipping and Clarity
The histogram demonstrates that our shot lacks strong

highlights, so drag Highlights to +39. The highlight
clipping warning helps you avoid blowing out the highlights
more effectively than the tools in Photoshop. Increase
Clarity to +36 to increase midtone contrast.

Selective contrast boost
Once youve tweaked the tones to create a stronger

contrast, you can be more creative. Click the HSL/
Grayscale panel and tick the Convert to Grayscale box. Push
the Green and Yellow sliders to the right to lighten the
vegetation and make it contrast with the darker rocks.
Add extra effects
The JPEGs compression artefacts are noticeable in the

sky. To disguise them and add character to the image,
go to the Effects panel. Set Grain Amount to 42 and Size to 43.
This is a much easier way to add grain than in Photoshop. Add a
vignette to atmospherically darken the edges. Click OK.
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174

Open a raw file

as a Smart Object
Give yourself more editing options later in the process
by converting a raw le into a Smart Object
ne bonus of editing in Camera Raw is the fact that
its a non-destructive editing process. Any
changes that you make using sliders or tools can
easily be reverted to the original settings that you
captured in the camera. A raw files non-destructive status
means you cant make any permanent mistakes and lose
original file data, so youre free to experiment with different
looks. When you click Done, the changes will be stored
alongside your edited raw file (or inside it if its you save it
as a DNG format file). You can then open the edited image at
any time in the future and fine-tune it, or reset it to its
original unedited state.
However, once youve done all you can using the tools
and sliders in Camera Raw, you may want to take the
processed picture into Photoshop to continue editing its
look with filters, or add text perhaps. By leaving Camera
Raw, you lose access to its non-destructive editing
abilities. You also lose access to the extra colour and
tonal information stored in the raw file.
By opening your edited raw file as a Smart Object, you
can continue enjoying the non-destructive power of the raw
format, and access valuable information, even after youve
started to edit the image in Photoshop. A Smart Object is a
separate file that stores all the information about the original
image, so you can edit in Photoshop and then pop back
to the Camera Raw file to tweak its sliders. You can then
continue editing the fine-tuned file in Photoshop. Heres a
Smart Object workflow
BEFORE

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176

Open the raw file
If you prefer to start your workflow from Bridge, select the

supplied raw files thumbnail and choose File>Open in Camera
Raw (or summon the same pop-up menu option by right clicking the
thumbnail). If you prefer to start from within Photoshop, then you
can choose File>Open As Smart Object. This will take the photo into
Camera Raw too. Bridge users can convert the edited raw file into a
Smart Object later, as well demonstrate in this walkthrough.
Increase the contrast
Warm up this cold shot by dragging the Temperature slider

to 5200. This setting also removes the starting images blue
colour cast. Drop Exposure to -0.40. For a more dramatic contrast
between shadows and highlights, drag the Contrast slider right to
+28. To create the clipped shadows produced by the bleach-bypass
process, drag the Blacks slider left to -19. We now have a more
high-contrast look.
Process the picture
However you decide to open your image into Camera Raw, you
can process it using the following steps. Well use Camera Raw
to emulate the subdued warm colours and the contrasting tones of
the Hollywood-style bleach-bypass film-processing technique and
then add a background bokeh to the portrait in Photoshop. Well
then show you how to take advantage of the Smart Object format
to go back into Camera Raw.
Tweak the colours
You can double check that you have the characteristic

clipped shadows produced by the bleach-bypass process
by pressing U to turn on the Shadow Clipping warning. Clipped
shadows will appear as patches of blue. To create the desaturated
colours that are also associated with this look, drag Saturation
down to -43. Boost Clarity up to +82 to increase the midtone
contrast and give details more punch.

Open it as a Smart Object
Well now take the processed raw file into Photoshop and
blur the background. If you chose to use Photoshop to open
the raw file as a Smart Object, then click the OK button at the
bottom left of Camera Raw. If you opened the DNG as normal, then
you wont see an OK button. Instead, hold down Shift and the Open
Image button will change to Open Object. Click the button to take
the raw file into Photoshop.
Add a bokeh effect
Click the Smart Object layers thumbnail to target it. Go to

Filter>Blur Gallery>Iris Blur. Set the Blur slider to 52 to blur
the area outside the subjects face. Drag the blur pins position,
edges and control points to fine-tune which areas are blurred and
which remain sharp. Increase the Blur Effects Light Bokeh slider
until the highlights in the blurred parts of the image begin to flare.
Click OK to apply the filter.
Embedded Smart Object
Back and forth
Your processed raw file will open in Photoshop, giving

you access to all the extra tools and filters that are
unavailable in Camera Raw. Look in the Layers panel. Youll see
a little icon in the corner of the preview thumbnail that
indicates the layers status as a Smart Object. Well use this
status later on to fine-tune the file in Camera Raw after weve
processed it a bit more in Photoshop.
By double clicking the Smart Object layer you can go back

into Camera Raw and claw back more highlight detail from
the original raw file. Click OK to go back into Photoshop. Because
youre working with a Smart Object, you can double click the Smart
Filters Blur gallery label and fine-tune the blur settings too. Thanks
to Smart Objects, you can change any edited attribute in both
Camera Raw or Photoshop.
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Save time with

custom raw presets
Create and apply image-processing presets in Adobe Camera
Raw and Adobe Bridge to save time and effort later
oull probably spend lots of time
correcting common problems in
Camera Raw over and over again.
Under-exposed photos will need
to be brightened up and have their colour
saturation boosted. Over-exposed images will
need their clipped highlight detail restored.
If you use the same camera settings to capture
a batch of images on location then they may
all need identical corrections in Camera Raw.

Applying these corrections to each photo is
unnecessarily time-consuming. After fixing a
photo thats representative of the problems in
the batch, you can record the position of the
various Camera Raw sliders as a preset and
then apply the look that they produce to the
other photos with a click. As well as typical
photo-fixing presets, you can store a range of
creative ones. This enables you to quickly

experiment by applying special effects to your
raw files, for example. Once youve created a
collection of photo-fixing presets in Camera
Raw, you can apply them to single shots or
groups of images from Bridge, without
needing to open Camera Raw. Check out our
annotations to discover how to create and
apply these time-saving presets.
Photoshop Anatomy Create a preset

Record slider settings and apply them with a click
4 SETTINGS
By default all the settings will be ticked.
You can choose to save some settings
but not others. Click to select a subset
such as the Basic sliders.
5 NAME
Give your preset a descriptive name
(such as Contrast and colour boost)
so that you can easily identify and apply
it to other images in Bridge or Camera
Raw. Click OK to save the preset.
4
2
6 PRESETS PANEL
1 ADJUST THE IMAGE
2 CROP
3 NEW PRESET
We boosted the Basic panels Contrast

slider to +18, increased Vibrance to
+62 and cooled down the Temperature
to 4300.
We cropped the shot to create a

portrait-oriented image. The preset
wont store the composition change,
just the colour and tonal adjustments.
After making adjustments, click here

to save them as a one-click preset.
The New Preset window will appear.
Any presets that you create will

appear here. To apply a presets stored
adjustments to a raw file, click its label.
You can also click the fly-out icon on
the right of the panel and choose
Apply Preset.

Overview Apply presets in Bridge

Edit colours and tones to a batch of files with a click
5
6
1 STORED ADJUSTMENTS
4 BATCH PROCESS
This icon indicates that the raw images colours and tones have
been adjusted. We can also see that the shot has been cropped.
After selecting a thumbnail (or multiple thumbnails), right click

one of them and choose Develop Settings. Here you can access
and apply any presets that you created in Camera Raw.
2 UPDATE THUMBNAIL
After making changes to a photo in camera Raw and clicking
Done, right click the thumbnail and choose Generate High
Quality Thumbnail. The thumbnail will update to show the
colour, tonal and composition changes.
3 SELECT MULTIPLE
Here we have other photos captured in the same location as the
edited image. To tweak their colours and tones using a preset,
you first need to Shift click to select them.
5 DEVELOP SETTINGS
You can also access and apply the Develop Settings menu to
the selected thumbnails by clicking here.
6 REMOVE PRESETS
You can restore a file to its original preset-free look by clicking
Clear Settings. It now reverts to its original state.
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180

Correct distortions
with a lens profile
Discover how to get Camera Raw to make lens
prole corrections to your photos automatically
amera lenses can add geometric
distortion to an image, especially
when shooting at a wide angle.
The edges of the frame might also
be vignetted, causing them to contain darker
colours and tones than the rest of the scene.
Fortunately, Camera Raw has a handy Lens
Correction panel that contains a Profile tab
that can counteract these lens-induced
distortions. By default, Camera Raw doesnt
automatically apply lens profile corrections to
your raw files, so you need to manually click

two tabs and then click a box. In this
walkthrough well demonstrate how to
change the Camera Raw default settings so
that it automatically applies lens corrections
using an appropriate profile. Well also
demonstrate how to make Camera Raw
automatically apply a lens-profile correction
to files produced by one camera, but leave
another cameras raw files uncorrected. Read
on to find out how
Open the image
Open a raw file. In this example our raw image was produced by
a Nikon D800 camera. Click the Open Preferences dialog button
in the Camera Raw toolbar. In Default Image Settings, Tick the Make
defaults specific to camera serial number box. Click Done. Now any
custom default settings that we create (including those using a lens
profile) will automatically be applied to other images that were taken
on our Nikon D800 camera.
METADATA
After opening a raw file in Camera Raw, click
Open Image to take the photo into Photoshop.
Go to File>File Info. In the Camera Data tab you
can see what lens and camera body were used to
capture the photo. The Profile tab in Camera Raw
uses the raw files metadata to discover which
camera and lens were used to take the photo.
Click OK and close the image without saving it.
Choose a lens profile
Click the Lens Corrections panel. Click the Profile tab. Tick
Enable Lens Profile Corrections. If the lens profile doesnt
appear automatically, choose an appropriate lens manufacturer (in
this instance Nikon) from the Make drop-down menu. The lens
model and a suitable lens profile will appear. Any image distortion
and vignetting will automatically be counteracted without the need
to manually adjust any sliders.

Save the new default
Test the correction
Go to the Set Up drop-down menu in the Profile tab and click

Save New Lens Profile Defaults. Click the little fly-out icon
on the right of the panel and choose Save New Camera Raw defaults.
Click the little fly-out icon at the top right of the Lens Corrections
panel and choose Save New Camera Raw defaults. Click Done. Thanks
to this new default setting, a lens profile will automatically be applied
to any unprocessed Nikon D800 raw files we open in Camera Raw.
Click the thumbnail and choose File>Open in Camera Raw.

You may instantly notice the change, but to check that the
lens profile corrections have been applied to our Nikon D800 image
by default, go to the Lens Corrections panel and click the Lens Profile
tab. The Enable Lens Profile Corrections box should already be ticked,
thanks to our camera-specific default settings. Click Done to close the
corrected image.
Clear the adjustments
Camera-specific corrections
Before we test the new lens profile default on another

Nikon D800 file, browse to the photo we've just
edited in Bridge and right click its thumbnail. Choose Develop
Settings>Clear Settings from the pop-up menu. This resets
the file to its original unprocessed state and clears out any
associated XMP file that might override the Camera Raw
defaults that weve just set up.
If you own another camera (such as a Canon), you may not

want lens profile corrections to be applied by default. Open
an unprocessed CR2 file and make sure that the Enable Lens Profile
Corrections box is unticked. Choose Save New Camera Raw Defaults
from the fly-out menu. Click Done. Now, when you open a Nikon
D800 file, the profile corrections will be applied, but when you open
a Canon shot, the box will be unticked.
181
182

RAW EDITING IN LIGHTROOM

Raw editing
in Lightroom
Lightroom isnt just an alternative to Photoshop. Its a new
way of working that combines cataloguing and raw editing
186
The Lightroom
interface
188
Introducing the
Library module
190
Lightrooms
Metadata panels
Get to know the general layout

and purpose of Lightrooms photo organising,
editing and sharing modules
Locate, rate and keyword

images, and apply quick photo fixes with this
organisation module
Lightrooms metadata panels are

the engine room of its professional search tools.
We explain how they work
191
Lightrooms Quick
Develop tools
Learn how to speed up your

workflow by getting to grips with the Quick
Develop tools
192
Introducing the
Develop module
194
Make selective
adjustments
196
Make better prints

in Lightroom
198
Share your images

directly from Lightroom
Discover how to make basic

adjustments to images quickly and easily with
this core module
Edit selected parts of an

image while leaving the rest of the image
completely untouched
Discover how to make perfect

prints of your photographs using Lightrooms
Print module
Prints, Facebook and Flickr arent

the only way to share your photos with others
Lightroom has three more
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184

Master Lightroom
Lightroom isnt just an alternative to Photoshop. Its a whole
new way of working that combines image cataloguing, raw
le conversion and non-destructive editing

magine a fusion of Adobe

Bridge, Adobe Camera Raw and
Photoshop. A place where you
can organise your photos, search
for images and create themed Collections,
web albums and slideshows.
Lightroom also incorporates the nondestructive editing tools of Adobe Camera
Raw (ACR), including dynamic range/
tonal adjustments, curves, sophisticated
colour controls, localised adjustments and
more. But these tools are organised into

a simpler, more efficient and streamlined
user interface and they work on JPEGs
and TIFFs, too, so that all your file formats
are integrated into the same workflow.
The key point about Lightroom is that
all your adjustments are non-destructive
and stored within the Lightroom Catalog.
You can apply a colour adjustment to an
image, for example, and come back weeks
later to change it the sliders will be
exactly where you left them. Lightroom

also supports Photoshop round-tripping.
You can open an image in Photoshop from
within Lightroom, make your changes and
save the image, and the edited version
will appear alongside the original in your
Lightroom Catalog. Lightroom isnt a
Photoshop replacement, then, rather its a
complementary aid. And over the next 16
pages were going to give you a glimpse of
what it can do
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186

The interface
Theres a lot going on in the Lightroom
interface. Heres our compact rundown
01
Navigator
02
Catalog
03
Folders
When you zoom in on an image,

this displays a zoom marquee
which you can drag around to examine different
parts of the image. This, and all the other panels,
has a disclosure arrow to expand or collapse it to
make room for others.
Use this to display all your

photos, view the last batch of
imported images, or access Lightrooms Quick
Collection just click a shot and tap C to add
it to the Quick Collection. Images selected in
this way can then be added to a permanent
Collection if required.
This panel displays your images

in the locations where theyre
actually stored on your hard disk or external
drive. Its useful for basic organisation and
housekeeping, whereas Collections are best for
specific projects and themes.
04
Collections
These are the equivalent

of albums in other image
cataloguing programs. Theyre virtual
collections of images which are stored in many
different folders. A single image can be added to
many different Collections.
05
Publish services
06
Smart Collections
You can publish photos directly

to popular online services like
Facebook and Flickr, as well as Adobes own
subscription-based Revel services. Other
services, such as SmugMug, are supported by
downloadable plug-ins.
These use search criteria

to display matching images
automatically. For example, you might create a
Smart Collection to display images taken with a
specific camera or lens, or of a particular subject.
You dont add images manually Lightroom
finds them automatically.
07
Toolbar
This has buttons for changing

the viewing mode between Grid
(thumbnail), Loupe, Compare and Survey views.
You can choose additional buttons, too, for
adding star ratings, rotating images, changing
the sort order and much more.
08
Image display area
09
Filter Bar
9
1
This displays thumbnails in the

Library module and the image
youre working on in the Develop module.
Its the active screen area for the work you
do in Lightroom. In the Library module,
double click an image to view it and click again
to zoom in.
You can configure Lightroom

to display images with specific
ratings, keywords, labels and even more
information. Custom filters can then be saved
and accessed again in future via the drop-down
menu on the right.
10
Library module
This is where you import images,

browse, create Collections and
Smart Collections, and use the Filter Bar to
search for and display images. View images
as thumbnails in Grid view, as seen here,
individually in Loupe view, or sort them using
Compare and Survey views.
11
3
4
Develop module
When you select an image in the

Library module and switch to the
Develop module, you can use Lightrooms
image-editing tools. Your adjustments are
non-destructive, and can be undone and
re-done at any time.
12
Map module
13
Web module
Lightroom can display the location

of photos with geotagging as map
pins, but you can assign untagged images to
locations manually by finding a location with
the search box then assigning co-ordinates
to an image.
Use this to create ready-made web

galleries. A number of customisable
templates are available. Lightroom can even
upload them automatically, though youll have
to choose your own web host and enter the
FTP details.
14
Tools panel
Tools change according to the

module in use. In the Library
module they include a Histogram, Quick
Develop tools and Metadata. Click the arrow at
the right edge to display the panel permanently
or make it fly out on demand.
15
Print module
16
Slideshow module
Lightroom enables you to print

single images, contact sheets or
picture packages. It displays a preview of
how the images will print with a selected
page size and orientation, and includes
Colour Management options and Print
Sharpening for specific paper types.
Use this to design slide shows to

run on your PC or Mac, or to export

11
12
13
10
17
16
15
14
18
20
21
19
as videos to share online. You can choose

how images are cropped to fit the screen, and
what information you want to have displayed
alongside the images.
17
Book module
This works in conjunction with

online photo books specialist Blurb
Books. Instead of using an external application
or a web browser, you can design and order
books directly within Lightroom. Its ideal for
personal projects and jobs for clients, and its
dead easy to use.
18
Sync Settings
All the adjustments you make to

images in Lightroom are nondestructive and can be copied to other images.
You hold down Ctrl and click additional
images, then press this button Lightroom
prompts you to confirm the settings you
want to copy.
19
Filmstrip
This is particularly useful if

you want to view or compare
individual images in the main window.
20
Sync Metadata
If youve added keywords,

copyright information or
captions, you can hold down Ctrl and click
additional images and use this to apply the
same information to them.
21
Filter/navigation
controls
Use these to filter photos in a

filmstrip by flag status, rating or any criteria
already set up in the Filter Bar. This is brilliant
for finding particular images.
187
188

The Library
module
Heres a closer look at the key
panels and controls in this
key Lightroom component
large part of Lightrooms job is
keeping your images organised. This
becomes a progressively greater
challenge as your image library grows
in size, and the number of different ways you
want to use your pictures increases, too. It uses
industry-standard metadata embedded in your
images to help, consisting of keywords, captions,
copyright information and more. But it also
offers quick-access Flags, Ratings and Labels and
an interactive Filter Bar to help you quickly find
and isolate the pictures youre looking for.
Folders
This is where Lightroom displays the real

location of your photos on your computer
or your external drive. If you move photos and
folders here, you move them on your computer.
Its important to realise, though, that if you
move them on your computer instead, Lightroom
wont be able to find them any more and youll
have to manually relocate them within Lightroom
and re-establish the connection. You can use
Folders as your main organisational tool, though
many photographers prefer to use Collections
and Collection Sets instead.
Smart Collections
Smart Collections can be created and

stored alongside regular Collections, but
theyre a very different thing. You should think
of them as saved searches instead. Imagine you
want to find all pictures taken on a Nikon D700
containing the keyword snow and taken in the
Alps in 2011. This is quite a long-winded set
of search criteria you wouldnt want to have to
3
TETHERED SHOOTING
Normally, youd shoot pictures with your camera
and then transfer them to your computer and
then import them into Lightroom. Certain
D-SLRs, though, can be used tethered. You
connect the camera to the computer and then
control it from within Lightroom. This can be
useful when youre shooting in a studio with a
fixed setup and want to be able to control the
camera remotely. Lightroom does not display
a live image while you shoot, but it does enable
you to instantly view the photo youve taken
when Lightroom imports it.

66
type in twice, but if you use a Smart Collection
instead, your search is saved permanently among
your other Collections. The key thing to know
about Smart Collections is that you cant add
or remove pictures manually theyre chosen
according to their properties, so the only way to
control what appears is to change the properties
(keywords, for example) of the picture.
Collections
& Collection Sets
These are like virtual folders. Theyre

completely independent of the folders on your
computer. You can create Collections for images
you want to use as a portfolio, photos to show a
client or as a way of bringing together pictures
that share a common theme. Deleting a photo
from a Collection doesnt delete the photo, only
that particular reference to it, and you can add
the same photo to many different collections
but its still the same photo, not a copy. So if
you apply any adjustments or effects to a photo,
these will show up in all the Collections where
the photo appears. Collection Sets are simply
folders to help you organise your Collections.
You can nest them one within another, just like
nesting folders on your computer.
Filter Bar
The Filter Bar appears at the top of the

main window in Develop module, and
it has drop-down menus to help you filter the
PUBLISH SERVICES
You can upload pictures to Facebook and
Flickr directly from within Lightroom.
Adobe Revel is also supported, but this
is a subscription-based service. Lets
say you want to upload a Collection to
Flickr first, you need to click the Setup
button, and go through an authorisation
process to link Lightroom to your Flickr
account. Once youve done that, you can
create new Photosets of images within
this Flickr section which Lightroom will
upload for you.
contents of your Collections or Folders according

to the image keywords, captions, location (if you
use the Map tools) and more. It has four buttons:
Text, Attribute, Metadata and None. You can use
the Text panel to carry out a simple free-form
search for text such as keywords and captions,
for example. The Attribute panel offers quick
and simple visual filtering tools including Flags,
Ratings and Labels, while the Metadata panel
takes a more structured approach to searches,
displaying drop-down menus which enable you
to select and combine criteria like the date, the
camera model, ISO setting, the lens used and
more. The fourth, None button on the Filter Bar
simply removes all search criteria.
Filter Presets
The drop-down menu on the far right

of the Filter Bar displays a list of default
filter presets, which you might find useful.
For example, the Exposure Info preset displays
the Metadata panel with the menus set up to
display camera shooting information. But you
can also save your own Filter Bar settings by first
setting them up manually and then using the
Save Current Settings as New Preset command
near the bottom of the presets menu. These
presets essentially do the same thing as Smart
Collections, but they are best reserved for
common wide-ranging filter options because
space on this menu is limited use Smart
Collections instead when your search is specific.
Flags
Flags are a very quick way of picking out

the images you want to be able to see all
the time, your best images and those you dont
want to keep seeing but that you dont want to
delete either. You can set the Flag status using
the badge displayed on image thumbnails in the
Develop modules Grid view (depending on your
viewing options) clicking the badge toggles
it between Unflagged and Flagged. Or you can
use the keyboard shortcuts, and this is probably
quicker. X rejects an image, P flags an image
(think P for Pick) and U unflags an image. You
can then use the Attribute panel on the Filter
Bar to quickly filter your photos to show only
Flagged or Flagged and Unflagged photos, for
example.
Ratings
This is another way of identifying your

best photos, and it enables you to sort
your photos by rating, so that you see your best
images first. You can also use the tools in the
Attribute panel to filter your photos by rating.
You just click on the number of stars for
example, clicking on three stars displays photos
with a rating of three stars or above. You could
use this alongside Flags, but its more likely that
youd choose one or the other. Ratings are also
displayed below the image thumbnails in Grid
view (depending on your view settings), and you
can set the star rating here, too.
189
190

Lightrooms
Metadata panels
Lightrooms metadata panels are the engine
room of its professional search tools
ightroom uses the industry standard
IPTC system for tagging photos with
keywords, captions, descriptions and
more as metadata or data
embedded invisibly in the image but available to
programs like Lightroom, and newspaper picture
editors, for example. It can also display the EXIF
(shooting information) data embedded by your
camera in every shot it takes.
Keywording
Keywords are at the heart of any serious

image cataloguing system. Theyre words
or short phrases which are embedded in the
photo and used later to help locate specific
images. You can use this panel to type in any
keyword or keywords you like with one or more
images selected. Lightroom will look for similar
METADATA PRESETS
These appear in a pop-up menu directly below
the Metadata panel title bar. A preset can
apply several metadata panels at once. For
example, you could create a preset to change
the Copyright Status to Copyrighted and the
Copyright to your name at the same time.
keywords youve already used as you type, to

help avoid duplication and save time. It will also
display recently-used keywords you can apply
with a single click, and user-defined Keyword
Sets which you use often.
Keyword List
You use this panel for large-scale keyword

organisation and editing. It shows all
the keywords that youve used in alphabetical
order, and it also allows you to organise them
hierarchically. To the right, Lightroom shows
how many images have that keyword, and you
can select a keyword and click the right-facing
arrow to show them. To the left of the keyword
name is a checkbox you check or uncheck
this to add or remove a keyword from a selected
image or images.
Metadata
This panel can display both the camera

shooting (EXIF) data and other IPTC
metadata fields, and you choose what you want
to see using the pop-up menu on the panels
title bar. For example, if you select Minimal, the
panel displays just the File Name, the Rating,
any Caption that youve added and a Copyright
message for example, your name.

Quick Develop
Learn how to speed up your workow by
getting to grips with the Quick Develop tools
3
1
White Balance
Choose As Shot to use the settings

embedded by the camera, or choose one of
Lightrooms presets from the menu. (RAW files
only). You can also adjust the Temperature and
Tint values manually.
Tone Control
Saved Preset
Use this menu to choose one of

Lightrooms preset Develop effects
theyre the same as the ones in the full Develop
module, organised into groups. You can also
change the Crop Ratio to suit different screen
or paper sizes.
Use Auto Tone or adjust the settings

manually. Single-arrow buttons make
small adjustments, double-arrow buttons
make large ones. Note the Reset All button
at the bottom.
Aged Photo
Bleach Bypass
Cross Process 1-3
This reduces the saturation, applies a warm tint

and makes adjustments to the tonal controls to
achieve a retro look for the image.
Creates a high-contrast, cold, under-saturated

and high-definition look that could be good
for urban landscapes or male portraits.
Simulates the effect of processing film in the

wrong chemicals and produces varying colour
shifts according to which one is chosen.
Direct Positive
B&W Look 1-5
B&W Sepia Tone
Produces a high-contrast, high-saturation look

reminiscent of low-speed transparency films,
and can give colour shots extra impact.
Delivers an instant black-and-white conversion

in five different styles you can try them all to
find the look that you want.
The classic black-and-white toned effect, but

delivered with more subtlety and control than
the sepia effects in other programs.
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192

The Develop module

The Develop module is where serious image-editing happens
03
10
04
05
06
07
08
02
09
6
8
7
9
he tools in the Develop module are

broadly the same as those in
Adobe Camera Raw, but the layout
is completely different. Lightroom
works with JPEG and TIFF files, too, treating
them just the same as raw files though you
need to shoot raw to take full advantage of the
highlight and shadow recovery tools.
All adjustments that you make in
Lightroom are non-destructive and can
be returned to even after youve moved
on to another image or quit and restarted
Lightroom. You never save your adjustments
theyre stored live as you make them.
Navigator
The Navigator has two uses here: if you

move the mouse over a Lightroom preset, it
displays a preview of the effect, and you can use
it to pan around an image if youre zoomed in.
Attributes
As youre working on your photos, you

may to want to change their attributes to
reflect your adjustments, such as their Rating,
Flag or Label.
Adjustment panels
These are where the serious image-editing

work is done. You can use them in any
order theres no specific workflow you have
to follow and youll find details on each
panel opposite.
Snapshots
Like Photoshop and Adobe Camera Raw,

Lightroom lets you take snapshots of
stages in the editing process to return to later.
Unlike the others, though, Lightroom stores
these indefinitely.
History
This panel displays everything youve

done to an image from the moment
you imported it, and this information is
saved indefinitely, or until you click the x
(Clear) button.
Collections
Lightroom doesnt display Folders in

the Develop module, but it does display
your Collections another reason for using
Collections as your primary organisational tool.
Copy and Paste
Once youve applied a set of adjustments

to an image, you can click this Copy
button, then select another image and Paste the
same set of adjustments on to that one.
Before & After
In the Library module, this button is

used to compare different images. In the
Develop module, you can use it to compare
before and after versions of the image youre
working on.
Filmstrip
Theres no Grid view in the Develop

module you have to swap back to the
Library module to display images as thumbnails
so the Filmstrip is a handy way to display the
contents of the current Collection.
10
Histogram
The histogram is effectively a bar

chart, showing how many pixels there
are at the different brightness levels in between.
The chief thing to check is that the histogram is
not cut off abruptly at each end.

Lightroom 5 brings
new Upright tools for
automatically correcting
vertical and horizontal
keystoning.
Effects
Post Crop
Vignetting tools
can create a vignette
effect on images after theyve been cropped
(hence the name), while Grain sliders can
replicate the look of old-fashioned films.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Tone curve
This works just like the Curves Panel

in Photoshop you drag on the curve
to reshape it and change the contrast
properties of the picture. But you can also use
the Point Curve gadget to drag up and down
directly on parts of the image to darken or
lighten those tones.
HSL/Color/B&W
HSL lets you adjust Hue, Saturation

and Lightness. Colour offers simpler
adjustments based on specific colours. The
B&W sliders can be used to adjust the colour
mix when converting colour images to black
and white.
Basic
These are your everyday tools. They

include Lightrooms redesigned
Highlights, Shadows, Whites and Blacks
sliders for more dynamic range control and
a more powerful Clarity slider for adding
localised contrast.
Detail
Lightrooms Sharpening tools

include an Amount slider, Radius,
Detail and Masking adjustments for
maximum control, while
the Noise Reduction
sliders allow you to
minimise both Colour
and Luminance noise.
Lens
Corrections
Lightroom can
correct distortion and
vignetting automatically
in a larger number of
lenses, or you can apply
corrections manually.
Camera Calibration
Lightroom applies Adobes own generic

interpretation for the colour and tonal
rendition of raw files, but you can choose
from a range of different camera-specific
profiles to get much closer to the cameras
own colour rendition.
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Selective adjustments
Did you know you could make selective adjustments in Lightroom?
oull find the selective adjustment
tools just below the Histogram
panel, and they consist of a Crop
tool, Spot Removal tool, Red Eye
Correction tool and most interesting of all
a Graduated Filter tool and Adjustment
Brush tool. Between them, these tools go a
long way towards closing the gap between
Lightroom and Photoshop. You cant layer
Camera Raw, but here in Lightroom theyre

much more streamlined. The other thing
weve not mentioned yet is Lightrooms
Virtual Copies. These are ideal for trying
out different treatments on the same image
without physically saving a new version to
your hard disk. Lightroom simply creates
a duplicate record of the same image and
displays it alongside the original.
images in Lightroom youll still need to

export them to Photoshop for that but you
can fix minor blemishes and also apply
localised adjustments.
Lightrooms Spot Removal tool is especially
effective, and after youve used the Graduated
Filter tool a few times on your landscapes,
youll never want to be without it again.
These tools are also available in Adobe
5
2
Crop tool
When you click on the

Crop tool, a series of
Crop and Straighten settings
open out beneath. You can use
the Angle slider to straighten
your shots, but its not very
precise, youll get better results
with the Angle gadget you
drag out a line on the image
corresponding to a horizontal
or vertical edge that should
be straight. Use the Constrain
to Warp box if youve applied
Lens Corrections. You can also
straighten images by rotating
the Crop marquee just move
the mouse pointer outside any
corner or edge control point.
The Aspect menu lets you
constrain the crop to a number
of common proportions, such as
4x6-inch prints or 16:9 TVs.
Spot Removal tool
You can use the Spot Removal tool to cover up sensor spots in digital
SLR images, and its extremely simple to use. First, choose a brush size
slightly larger than the spot
you want to cover up, then
dab away the spot with a
single click Lightroom will
automatically find a clean
area nearby to use as a source
for the repair. This will show
up as a second circle with a
thicker outline, and if you
need to, you can simply drag
it to a different area to get a
better result.
In Spot mode,
it matches the
source pixels to
the destination
area, while in
Clone mode it
preserves the
source pixels
tones as it is.

Red Eye Correction tool
Red-eye is less common than it used to be, as on-camera

flashes now use pre-flash to contract a subjects irises
ahead of the main flash, or distance the flash from the lens
with a pop-up mechanism. If you do have red-eye images, its
simple to rectify. If the tool is already set to the right size (use
edge markers as a guide), just click on the eye. If not, drag from
the eyes centre to adjust size. Lightroom now applies red-eye
correction and displays Pupil Size and Darken sliders in case you
need to make some further tweaks.
Graduated
Filter tool
The Graduated Filter tool

is most useful for darkening
bright skies in landscape shots.
With the tool selected, you
drag in the direction you want
the gradient to be applied. For
a landscape, for example, youd

click-and-drag upwards from
the horizon line.
The Graduated Filter panel
shows a range of adjustments
to darken a sky, for example,
you can reduce the Exposure
value. Once the gradated effect
Adjustment Brush tool
This offers the same adjustments as the Graduated Filter tool,

but with additional brush options. Simply select the tool,
brush size and start painting. Lightroom places a pin on the image
where you start painting, and as you continue to paint over different
areas, it adds to the adjustment mask. View the mask by moving the
mouse pointer over the pin. You can change the adjustment sliders
after youve used the brush, but you cant drag the pin to a new
position you must use the Erase and Brush tools to change the
area adjusted.
has been created, you can drag

on its pin to move it, drag on
the horizontal line through the
centre to rotate it, and drag up
or down on the outer lines to
adjust the distance over which
the gradient is applied. Far more
convenient than a real ND grad!
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Printing options
Everything you need to get perfect prints is in this Lightroom module
5
7
8
3
9
2
1
f youre used to printing a single
photo at a time on a single sheet of
paper, Lightrooms print layout
settings might seem quite
intimidating, but that doesnt have to be the
case. You can print multiple images on one
page, soft-proof with your printer profiles
and much more. Heres our guide...
Page Setup
This displays your printers standard Page

Setup dialog. Its important to set the paper
size first, or the rest of the layout options in
Lightroom will be affected. For example, if youre
printing on borderless A4 paper, you need to
select that here or Lightroom will display a white
border around your prints.
Template Browser
If you find yourself using the same print

layouts again and again, it could be worth
saving them as your own User Templates
to save time and effort on future projects.
Lightroom comes with a wide selection
of templates as standard.
Preview
This panel shows how your chosen

template will look each template is
made of up of cells within which pictures are
printed. A template for printing single images
just has one cell. The Preview panel doesnt
show your selected images live, but if you click
on a template to select it, you see them in place
in the main window.
Image Settings
Lightroom usually fits the whole image

within the print cell, leaving space around
the edges if the photos aspect ratio is different
to the cells dimensions. To fill it, check the

Zoom to Fill box you must do this to get
borderless prints. The Rotate to Fit box rotates
images to suit the page orientation in the Page
Setup dialog. If you want to select and print a
series of photos with the same settings, tick the
Repeat One Photo per Page box.
Layout style
There are several Layout Styles. To print

a single photo, choose a template with
a single cell. To print a contact sheet, choose
the number of cells in the Layout panel. Picture
Package prints a number of copies of the same
image on a single sheet. Custom Package enables
you to print a number of different pictures at
any size and in any configuration.

Guides
Displaying Guides helps you plan print

layouts and anticipate spacing between
cells and margins at page edges. Checking
the Dimensions box can be useful because
Lightroom will display the size of each cell at the
top left corner (you can change the units used in
the Layout panel).
Layout
The Layout panel offers detailed control

over cells in your print template. Use the
Margins sliders to control the space around the
edges of the print these need to be reduced
to zero for borderless printing, for example. The
Page Grid sliders are used to define the number
of cells in a contact sheet layout, and if these
are more than 1 then the Cells Spacing controls
below are activated. The Cell Size sliders are an
alternative way of adjusting the size of photos in
single prints and contact sheets.
Page
Here you can find options for customising

the print appearance and adding
information. For example, you can use a different
Page Background Color. There is some crossover
between Identity Plates and Watermarking.
Both enable you to stamp your printed images
with text, or with a graphical Identity Plate or
Watermark which you create separately and then
specify in this panel. The Photo Info option
is especially useful, in that you can add image
metadata to the print.
Print job
This is where you make final adjustments

to print settings, in particular the output
sharpening. The degree and type of sharpening
depends on print size. Choosing this at output
stage is preferable rather than sharpening by
eye during image editing. This is where you
choose printer profiles, too whether you use
the profiles in the printer driver, or your own
custom profiles. Lastly, if your prints are coming
out too dark or light, tweak the settings here.
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Sharing your images

Prints, Facebook and Flickr arent the only way to share
your photos with others Lightroom has three more
ightroom also offers the ability
to create Web Galleries,
Slideshows and new in
Lightroom 4 Books. The Web
Galleries module follows the now-familiar
Lightroom format of preset templates in
the left sidebar and manual customising
tools on the right. Each Web Gallery
consists of one or more index pages linked

to individual photos. Lightroom exports
finished HTML files, which it can then
upload directly to your web host (you will
need a web hosting account and FTP upload
details from your service provider).
Slideshows are a good way to show off your
pictures to friends or clients. Again, you
have a choice of templates on the left, and

manual controls on the right. The Book
module has been produced in conjunction
with online books publisher Blurb. Instead
of using web-based layout tools or a
separate program, you can design books
entirely within Lightroom. You then upload
and order your book from Blurb.
Create a website
ou can manually select individual
photos from within an existing
Collection or Folder, but its
generally easier to gather the
photos you want in a Collection of their own.
You can then select a template from the list
on the left [1], or start from scratch.
Over on the right, the Layout Style [2]
offers a choice of five main gallery types
three from SimpleViewer and generic Flash
and HTML galleries from Adobe. You can
download other galleries using the Find More

Galleries Online button.
Below this, the Site Info and Image Info
panels are used to input a title and
description for the site, and to choose the
metadata (captions, for example) displayed
alongside the photos.
The options will vary according to the
template that you have chosen with
Lightroom HTML Galleries, for example, you
can choose the size of the grid used on the
index pages and the size of the images on the

individual gallery pages.
The Upload Settings panel at the bottom
[3] is where you type in your web hosts
FTP upload details. Youll need to know the
name of the FTP server, your username and
password. If you click the Create Saved Web
Gallery button at the top right, your gallery
will be saved permanently in the Collections
panel, and you can return to it in the future to
update the images or associated information.

1
3
Create a slideshow
lideshows are a good way to
showcase your photography, and
you can either play them back on
your own computer or export
them in a format which you can send to other
people. The Sideshow module offers a small
selection of preset slideshow designs [1] in
the left-hand sidebar and, as usual with
Lightroom, you can adapt these or create your
own templates using the manual tools on the
right. Bear in mind that if you save a new
User Template, youre only saving the

slideshow layout, not the photos used in the
slideshow. To save the whole production, you
need to click the Create Saved Slideshow
button at the top right of the main window
[2]. Your slideshow is then saved in the
Collections panel on the left.
Lightroom doesnt offer a large array of
different transitions and themes. It relies
instead on a simple Fade effect, and you
adjust the duration of each slide and the
length of this fade effect in the Playback panel

[3]. The other panels Options, Layout,
Overlays, Backdrop and Titles are concerned

mainly with the arrangement of photos
within the slideshow window and the text
to be displayed alongside. At the bottom of
the left sidebar are two buttons. The Export
PDF button produces a PDF version of the
slideshow which will play back in Acrobat
Reader on other peoples computers, though
there wont be any music.
Create a book
here are no preset templates in the Book
module. Instead, you create books manually.
You start in the Book Settings panel [1]. Here,
you have the option of choosing a printed book,
a PDF or JPEG versions of your book pages. Below this are
Size, Cover and Paper Type options based around Blurbs
own book formats. At the bottom is an Estimated Price,
though this will change according to the number of pages
in your book. The Auto Layout panel [2] will populate the
book with your selected images, but if you want control
over the layout of the individual pages, youll need to
select them and use the Page panel and its drop-down
layout menu to choose from a variety of single and
multiple-photo layouts, some with text boxes. The
templates contain photo placeholders [3] which may
already contain a photo. You can drag photos from the
Filmstrip onto these placeholders. The Filmstrip displays a
number at the top of each thumbnail to show if its been
used in the book, and how often.
2
3
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200
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myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/photo
201
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THE GALLERY

THE GALLERY
The Gallery
Take inspiration from the best pictures created
by passionate photography enthusiasts
204
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208
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212
Cromer Pier
By Daniel Tink
UK
Titan Gate
By Michael Theophan Lujan

USA
My Little Horse Shoe

By Gal Trijasson
France
Early Spring
By Leszek Paradowski
Poland
Pier Storm 2
By Geoff Love
UK
214
216
218
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222
A Glass of Wine
By Els Baltjes
The Netherlands
Shes Got The Black

By Petko Petkov
Bulgaria
A Life in the Night

By Jean-Baptiste Rambaud
France
Blackness Boats
By David Queenan
UK
Fury
By Patrizia Burra
Italy
203
204
205
Cromer Pier
By Daniel Tink, UK
Using Photoshop CS2
Shot in raw, this is my first attempt at HDR
photography. My aim was to bring out the
detail and exposure of the pier from beginning
to end with an eye to keeping the shot as
symmetrical as possible. The resulting five
exposures covering the entire dynamic
range were blended in Photoshop CS2 using
layer masks. Although more post-processing
time is involved, I can officially say Im now a
huge fan of HDR. The increased dynamism
over flat images is truly amazing, and has
opened up a new and exciting world for me.
www.scenicnorfolk.co.uk
206
Titan Gate
By Michael Theophan Lujan, USA
Using Photoshop CS
Ive been shooting raw for about ten years now. I shoot almost
anything that strikes my fancy, although if it makes for a good
science fiction scenario, so much the better! If it provokes
a sense of wonder, I want to capture it. I took the original
raw image as is, properly-exposed and white-balanced, and
duplicated it into another layer, on top of the original. Then
I used the Vivid Light Blend mode on the duplicated layer to
heighten the contrast and saturation of the image. And lastly
I applied a Curves adjustment layer, using the individual
colour curves to increase the red and decrease the blue.
www.photomenon.com
207
208
209
My Little Horse Shoe

By Gal Trijasson, France
Using Photoshop CC
Why do I love photography so much? It is a simple way to
stop living in the moment. This is anti carpe-diem, in short.
Our environment provides us daily opportunities to marvel.
You just have to look at the right time! Today, I like to capture
the beautiful things to share. This is a panoramic photo made
from four pictures shot at 50mm. I used a panoramic head
mounted on a tripod and a remote control for trigger to avoid
camera shake. After developing the files using Camera Raw
(to fix the exposure and contrast) I assembled the photos
using Autopano-Pro. Then I added some filters and curves in
Photoshop to complete the picture.
www.gaelphoto.com
210
Early Spring
By Leszek Paradowski, Poland
Using Photoshop CS4
This was taken at the end of winter and the beginning of
spring, close to my home in north-west Poland. Its surreal
feel doesnt come from my own photographic skills, but from
the place where it was taken. However, I did use a wide-angle
lens so that I could highlight an interesting configuration of
clouds. The image was initially prepared with Camera Raw 5.7,
then I brought it into Photoshop CS4, where I increased the
contrast, sharpening and converted it to black and white.
www.paradowski.net.pl
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Pier Storm 2
By Geoff Love, UK
Using Photoshop CS
Despite the dark conditions I kept the ISO low for this shot
of Tynemouth lighthouse, giving a slow exposure that
retained some movement in the waves. A wide aperture
focusing on the lighthouse gave me the slightly softer
waves in the foreground. The raw file was processed twice.
Once for the main part of the image, and again to retain the
detail in the sky.
www.geofflove.co.uk
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A Glass of Wine
By Els Baltjes, The Netherlands
Using Lightroom 5
Taking pictures is a way of looking for me. I cannot look at
things without a frame around it. The world around me exists
because of so many beautiful things, great and small. I try to
capture this beauty and share it with everyone who wants to
see it! If thats you, then I hope you enjoy it!
This picture is shot in raw on an Olympus E-M1 for
1/250 sec using f/2.8 and ISO400. The model is sitting at
a table. You can see the dots in her clothes as well as on
the tablecloth. In front of her is a big vase in the shape of a
wine glass. By using the perspective, it looks like a normal
wine glass. The water in it causes the effect of a mirror. Its
just a matter of positioning to get her face reflected in the
vase. I imported the picture into Lightroom, and added some
contrast and Clarity. After that I turned it into black and
white using the neutral filter of Nik Silver Efex Pro, using the
sepia toning. Again, I added some contrast and brightness,
and I cropped a bit off the bottom of the picture. The final
touch is the light vignette.
www.eb-fotoart.nl
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216
217
Shes Got The Black

By Petko Petkov, Bulgaria
Using Photoshop CS6
I try to make photos that would stick in peoples
minds. I believe that in photography, quantity
has nothing to do with quality, and every
photograph speaks for itself. So I try to give my
best to every piece of work I make, hoping it will
be appreciated for what it is.
I wanted to create something provocative,
different and unusual. This is how the idea to
paint my girlfriends skin black occurred to me.
The lighting was very simple. I put two
softboxes right in front of the model and slightly
overhead. I wanted to achieve a natural look and
maximum symmetry. The session was easy for
both of us. It didnt take much time and I was
very pleased with the results.
www.ppetkov.com
218
A Life in the Night

By Jean-Baptiste Rambaud, France
Using Lightroom 5
This photo was taken in France, near Nantes with a Nikon
D300 and a 70-210mm lens. I used a wide aperture in order
to completely isolate the butterfly from the background. The
retouch allowed me to give a dream-like character to this
photo by changing the white balance to colder colours. The
rest of the work consists in modifying slightly the
lighting effects of the bokeh and the contrast with the
butterfly. http://500px.com/jbaptiste
219
220
Blackness Boats
By David Queenan, UK
Using Photoshop CS
As I was walking back up from the beach towards my car,
I stopped to clean the mud from my tripod legs. Turning
around, I saw this view. I decided I had just enough time for
one last shot before the light completely faded. Id normally
have taken this with a longer exposure, but my very old,
cheap tripod has seen better days. When I set up the camera
in portrait format, it sometimes starts to slip, so I had to
almost half-hold it in place and keep the shutter speed as fast
as possible hence the wide aperture and high ISO this was
taken with. I also used a 0.6 ND grad to darken the sky, then
further enhanced it in Photoshop by processing the sky and
foreground separately from the same raw file.
http://dqphotography.com
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Fury
By Patrizia Burra, Italy
Using Photoshop CS5.1
Initially, I used the Dodge and Burn tools in Lab mode on
this image. I then added a new layer with the Soft Light
Blend mode before desaturating it. I like to work with masks
because they allow me to hide parts of the layer without
harming a single pixel.
www.patriziaburra.com
9000
9001
223

Teach Yourself RAW in Photoshop 2015

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223 PAGES OF EXPERT PHOTO ADVICE

Use Adobe Camera Raw to perfect your images

 Unlock your cameras raw potential

Click the page

To get the best image quality from your

George Cairns, Author

Teach yourself Raw in Photoshop

Future Publishing Limited

FUTURE PUBLISHING LIMITED

Tel: +44 (0)1225 788186

CIRCULATION & MARKETING

PRINT & PRODUCTION

Future produces carefully targeted magazines,

Teach yourself Raw in Photoshop

Organise with Bridge

Introducing the Bridge workspace............................................. 8

Introducing the Camera Raw editor

Raw versus JPEG: which is the better format? ......................20

Camera Raw basic editing

Introducing the magnifier and grab tools ...............................32

Fix photo problems

Improve image composition......................................................46

Reduce unsightly image noise...................................................62

Improve exposure and contrast ...............................................78

Understand white balance .........................................................98

The Adjustment Brush tool.......................................................112

Get the look

Convert your photos to black and white ...............................128

Create retro special effects ......................................................146

Advanced tips & tricks

Share your processed raw files ...............................................170

Raw editing in Lightroom

The Lightroom interface...........................................................186

Inspirational pictures created by enthusiasts....................202

Teach yourself Raw in Photoshop

Teach yourself Raw in Photoshop

Get to know the key areas of Bridges

Import your photos

Import images from your camera

Add metadata and

Discover how to protect your photos

Use Bridges asset management tools

Teach yourself Raw in Photoshop

youll need to download the Bridge

All versions of Photoshop attempt to deal

Photoshop Anatomy The Bridge workspace

This panel emulates the display on your

Click the Folders tab to browse to

Bridge displays your images as

These links enable you to change the

This panel enables you to quickly assign

Teach yourself Raw in Photoshop

Overview Customising Adobe Bridge

By clicking the Filmstrip workspace icon you display the

If the colours, sharpness or tones of a raw format photo have

The easiest way to see if an image is in focus is by looking at it

By default you browse a raw files content by displaying the

To stop similar-looking images from cluttering up the

To see your files in chronological order (with the oldest ones

Teach yourself Raw in Photoshop

Unlock your cameras raw potential