Camera Raw

Deke's Techniques 040: Filtering Images with Camera Raw

Submitted by deke on 4 October 2011 - 6:15am.
Deke's Techniques 040: Filtering Images with Camera Raw

I use the commands under Photoshop's Filter menu as much as the next guy. But as a collection, I have five problems with them: 1) Let's face it, most are gimmicks; 2) many of them are old as the hills, so they lack previews; 3) most of the filters don't create the effects that they're named for (Fresco? come on!); 4) in what way are they even remotely related? 5) and they rarely receive any attention. There are the exceptions---for example, Smart Sharpen (CS2), Gaussian Blur (1.0), and High Pass (1.0), although generally ancient, are flat-out indispensable---but for the most part, the Filter menu is riddled with cobwebs of our communal disinterest.

So it got me thinking: Might there be a better place to filter images than Photoshop? My answer: Camera Raw. The great thing about Camera Raw is that it offers precise edge-detection capabilities---the one tenuous string that binds Photoshop's best filters---as well as equally precise color modification options. Plus, the values have huge ranges (compared with, say, the Filter Gallery) and the options make sense (compared with, say, the Filter Gallery).

The result is this free video, in which I show you how to create five independent Camera Raw filtering, from which I imagine you can extrapolate a few hundred more.

Here's the official description from lynda.com, with copious graphics: Read more » 

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Camera Raw Does Local

Submitted by LouBrz on 1 September 2011 - 12:15am.

In my previous article, I gave you the skinny on how you can edit batches of images in one pass with Camera Raw, adjusting the white balance and tonal distribution "globally." What I mean is that the adjustments affect the entire surface of the photograph equally. When you want to adjust the appearance of one part of the image independently of the rest, that's known as a "local" adjustment, and it's something that Photoshop obviously excels at. But Camera Raw also has local adjustment tools that you can use in advance of, or instead of, taking your image into Photoshop.

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In Camera Raw, you can use brushes and simple tools to apply local adjustments to your images with relative ease. While they may not be as robust or as flexible as the tools available to you in Photoshop, they can make quick work of many tasks, and they're not difficult to master. In this article, we'll dive in deep and explore how they work.

This article is based on Chapter 24, Adobe Camera Raw, of Deke's video course Photoshop CS5 One-on-One: Advanced for lynda. com Read more » 

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Deke's Techniques 032: Capturing a Monster in Motion

Submitted by deke on 9 August 2011 - 12:15am.
Deke's Techniques 032: Capturing a Monster in Motion

Last week, I showed you how to combine three real-world animals into an entirely fictional creature. This week, I show you how to take last week's image and turn it into a plausible likeness of the one extraordinary shot that you were able to pull off before everything went all Blair Witch on you. I mean, who wouldn't extend at least a small amount of credence to the final result (below)? But you'll have to come up with one hell of a yarn about how you managed to live to tell the tale. Because, according to legend, El Terrible (as the bilingual natives call him) is so tactical and massive that he intentionally blots out the moonlight for a solid panic-inducing second before he casually crushes your rib cage and releases his appetite on your face.

The final El Terrible

Here's the official description from lynda.com: Read more » 

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Photoshop World 2010 Las Vegas Session Notes

Submitted by deke on 20 September 2010 - 12:15am.

A mere three weeks ago---seriously? has it been that long?---I joined a few dozen of my fellow self-appointed experts for the largest gathering of Photoshop users on the planet: Photoshop World 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. At that event, I presented three all-new sessions on the topics of Photoshop CS5, the pen tool, and Camera Raw 6.

Photoshop World 2010 PDF notes for download

At that event, I distributed more than a thousand black-and-white notes that my illustrious sidekick, Colleen Wheeler, printed out for the attendees. But black-and-white goes only so far. Which is why I include the notes for all three sessions as full-color PDF documents that you can download from this post. The notes are altogether free to members of dekeOnline. Read more » 

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Martini Hour 076, In Which the Luminance Contrast Controls the Luminance Contrast

Submitted by colleen on 29 July 2010 - 12:15am.

Yes, of course, we've covered Adobe Camera Raw in the dekeLounge before, but this episode was inspired by the particular passage in the Adobe Help file gave its name to the title of this Martini Hour. Sure, it's succinct and...logical...I guess. But those of you who are fans of the spirit that pervades dekeWorld---where explanations should err on the side of completeness---would never be satisfied. The whole "push the button and see what happens" approach will simply not do. You need elaboration. You need clarification. In a word, you need Deke. 

Martini Hour 076: Photoshop Camera Raw 6

And so, this week, Deke and I set out to explore the features and controls in ACR in a dekeApproved fashion: Read more » 

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