Using the Image Processor with RAW Files You may want to save processed RAW format images to different file formats for different purposes.. In fact, it's usually a very good idea to do
Trang 14.5 Using the Image Processor with RAW Files
You may want to save processed RAW format images to different file formats for different purposes In fact, it's usually a very good idea to do this because you can automatically process all open files, selected files, or files in a particular folder for different purposes, such as:
JPEG files destined for a web gallery to be used for client approval
TIF images at full or enhanced resolution for printed publication or for
delivery to the client (you probably don't want to give away your trade
secrets and send the client all the layers you use to adjust non-destructively)
PSD (Photoshop) images to be fine-tuned and enhanced in your own "digital darkroom"
There are a couple of ways you can access the image processor (see Figure 4-30) Figure 4-30 The Image Processor dialog
In Photoshop, choose File Scripts Image Processor Nothing needs to
be preopened in Photoshop The dialog will let you work on either all
currently opened files or on the files in any designated folder
From Bridge, choose Tools Photoshop Image Processor If you have several files selected, the dialog states the number of opened photos to be transferred If no image is selected, you can either translate all the images in the current folder or check the box labeled "Open First Image to Apply Settings." If the box is unchecked, all the images in the folder will be
processed according to whatever adjustments have already been made in either Camera Raw or Photoshop If it is checked, only the image(s) you choose after browsing will be processed
After completing one of those steps, change the rest of the settings in the dialog according to the file format you want to translate to and how But first, a close look
at the dialog in Figure 4-30
These are the rest of the steps for using the Image Processor:
1 In Section 2, select the location where you want the translated file to be saved Regardless of where you save the translated files, each file format will be saved to a subfolder named after that format The default choice is to
Trang 2have the "Save in Same Location" radio button active If you want to browse
to a different folder, click the Select Folder radio button, and click the Select Folder button to bring up a Browser dialog Use that dialog to navigate, and pick the folder in which you want to place the translated files
2 Image Processor will translate to any or all of the three file types at once In Section 3, check the boxes for the formats you want to use If you choose
"Resize to Fit" for any file type, the files will be resized to fit within your designated dimensions while maintaining their original proportions For JPEGs, you can choose the quality level by entering a number between 1 and
10 The lower the number, the faster files will load on the Internet If you are saving JPEGs to be printed as proofs, select a quality level between 8 and
10 Finally, JPEGs destined for the Internet should be saved to sRGB color profile so they look more consistent on a wide variety of monitors If you are saving to PSD, you will want to check the Maximize Compatibility box if those files will be shared with others who have different operating systems
or versions of Photoshop and other compatible image processors If you are saving as TIF, I recommend using LZW compression, since it is lossless and saves file space The only danger LZW poses is very rare incompatibility with some programs
3 You will rarely use Section 4, but it can be pretty jazzy It can run any
Action you've recorded on all the files you're translating Keep in mind that
it will run that Action on all the different types of files, which may be reason
to designate only one file type for translation in Section 3 You can also enter copyright text that will be saved in the image's metadata; type
"Copyright Your Name Year" in the Copyright Info field
Trang 34.6 Differences in Camera Raw in Photoshop CS2 and Photoshop Elements 4
Perhaps the most important thing you need to know about processing your RAW files in Photoshop Elements 4 versus Photoshop CS2 is that nothing you do to a RAW file is permanent So if you move up to the more plentiful and sophisticated features in Photoshop CS2, there's a chance that you'll be able to improve on what you could do with the same image in Elements 4 Figure 4-31 shows you the
Photoshop Elements 4 Camera Raw interface
Figure 4-31 The Camera Raw workspace in Photoshop Elements 4
If you're familiar with Camera Raw in Photoshop CS2, it's easy to see what most of the differences are From left to right, top to bottom:
There are no Color Sample, Crop, or Levels tools
You can't open multiple files in the same workspace, so you can't winnow and apply identical application settings to multiple files Instead, if you open multiple RAW files at once, you have to do the settings for the first file, push any button other than Cancel, and wait until the Camera Raw
workspace opens for the next file you selected You can then apply the same settings as for the previous file
No option for saving settings, except as a default
There are only two settings tabsAdjust and Detailbut they are identical to the same tabs in Camera Raw for Photoshop CS2
There are no Auto adjust boxes
There is no Show Workflow Options space, so you can't choose to assign a color space, change the output image size, or change the resolution
There is no 32-bit output option, only 8- and 16-bit
The bottom line: I wouldn't use Photoshop Elements 4 for "bulk" processing of high-volume shoots with numerous variations of the same image There is an
alternative, however, if you're not quite ready to invest in Photoshop CS2: Raw Shooter Essentials (free) or Premium (only $100 and even more capable than
Camera Raw CS2) You'd also have the option of using Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture You'll find more on these alternatives near the end of this chapter And
Chapter 6 is all about Lightroom, which you will want to download as soon as a beta is available for your computer
Trang 44.7 Opening and Adjusting Multiple RAW Files in Photoshop CS2
When you have multiple images that have the same exposure, brightness range, contrast, and color balance, you should open them all at once in Camera Raw Then click the Select All and Synchronize buttons so the settings applied to any one of the images will apply to all of them This situation especially applies to product, fashion, journalism, and event photography where many photographs are taken of the same subject to ensure capturing just the right "moment." You do not want to spend time adjusting each photo individually, since it could unnecessarily add hours to your processing time
You have to start in Bridge to get into Camera Raw If you jumped ahead to this chapter out of a rabid curiosity about Camera Raw, jump back to the "Applying Camera Raw Settings in Adobe Bridge" section earlier in this chapter and
familiarize yourself with the steps you ordinarily take in Bridge Then, if you're following my workflow rules as religiously as I dogmatically demand, you have already eliminated all the really obvious losers You've also used Bridge's lightbox feature (choose Window Workspace Lightbox) to physically place photos that should be adjusted in the same (or nearly the same) way next to one another Once you've done that, processing efficiency demands that you open all the related files in Camera Raw at the same time
You select a series of contiguous files by selecting the first file, pressing Shift, and then selecting the last file in the series Figure 4-32 shows you the Bridge Light Table workspace after putting contiguous files together
Figure 4-32 Using the lightbox workspace in Bridge, with similar images placed
so that they are next to one another on the "light table."
Select a series of files that you haven't "lightboxed" into contiguous groups by selecting the first image, Cmd/Ctrl-clicking on another and then on all the files you want in that series To simultaneously transfer those files into Camera Raw, press Enter/Return
4.7.1 Adjust Similar Files at One Time
You can synchronize the open files so that when an adjustment is made to one, it is applied all If you've opened 15 files, that means that you've saved 15 times as
Trang 5much as if you'd done each file individually Doing this is a matter of:
1 Clicking the Select All button
2 Clicking the Synchronize button The Synchronize dialog appears, as seen in Figure 4-33
Figure 4-33 The Synchronize dialog in the Camera Raw workspace
3 Unchecking the boxes for the properties you don't want to synchronize
4 Making the adjustments for the image currently in the Preview window The images for all the thumbnails will be adjusted simultaneously for the
selected properties
If you are doing this for the first time, you probably want to keep all the boxes in the Synchronize dialog checked If you just want to change a setting or two for a group of files that you've already adjusted, uncheck all the settings except those you want to change If you only want to change one property for all the
synchronized files, choose that property from the Synchronize menu at the top of the dialog Now when you adjust any of the settings in any of the tabs, the same adjustment will take effect for all the images that are currently open, selected, and synchronized
4.7.2 Ranking and Deleting
You should have already done all your initial ranking and winnowing (deleting) in Bridge However, there's a big advantage to making your final choices after you open multiple files in Camera Raw: you can magnify all the images to whatever extent it is necessary to spot fatal flaws The most persistent of these include minor blurring due to focus, camera shake, or forgetting to stop down enough to increase depth of field to the degree necessary No matter how good the shots are in other respects, these shots are never going to be good enough (and don't fool yourself into thinking that you can recover them by sharpening)
Click the Select All button and then double-click the Zoom Tool icon You'll still see the whole image in the thumbnail, but when you choose an image for
previewing it will be enlarged to 100 percent in the Preview window Grab the Hand tool and pan the image to the place where focus is most critical As long as all the other images are still selected, they will be prepanned to the same location when you select them for previewing Now you see approximately the same
portion of the image when you preview each image using the arrow keys
Trang 6When you see an image that's technically unacceptable, just press
Delete/Backspace A red X will appear in the upper-right corner of the thumbnail
If you change your mind before leaving Camera Raw, select that image and press Delete/Backspace again The red X will be gone Don't leave Camera Raw until you're sure you want to delete the images in the Trash, because that's exactly what will happen Of course, you could still open the Trash and drag any images back to the folder they came from You just have to be able to identify them by their
filename since your system's file browser may not read RAW files
4.7.3 Using the Save Button
You do not want to click Save until you've done everything in Camera Raw to make the image look as much like the final image as possible The result of your Camera Raw adjustments will become the Background Layer of your Photoshop file This is because you want to avoid keeping track of multiple versions of a Photoshop file, which is because you can keep all the versions on layers inside the same file in psd format So when you have finished adjusting but need various versions for various purposes, automatically create a version for each of those purposes You do that by turning off the layers you don't need for that version, exporting the result to all the sizes, color spaces, quality settings (if they are
JPEGs), and sizes you need for the image's various intended purposes, and then number those versions
At the bottom right of the Camera Raw dialog is the only button that doesn't record any settings or changes made in the current Camera Raw session That button is the Cancel button Use it when and if you come to a point where you just know you have to take a deep breath and start over from a fresh point of view