The basics

56 ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 5.0 FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
PROCESSING Raw FILES
Raw is the new buzz word in photographic circles the world over. Professionals and serious
amateurs alike are switching their cameras from the standard JPEG and TIFF capture
options to the Raw format. This is despite the fact that doing so will mean that they add an
another processing step to their digital photography workfl ow. It seems that the extra level
of control possible when processing your own Raw fi les (rather than letting the camera do
the work) is worth the effort. So how do Photoshop Elements users become part of the Raw
Revolution? Well this chapter will outline both the workfl ow and conversion techniques that
you can employ to make Raw capture and processing a regular part of your photographic
routine.
The Photoshop Elements approach to Raw processing
As we saw in Chapter 2 Raw fi les contain both the image and metadata along with the actual
picture information in a format which cannot be directly opened into Photoshop Elements.
Instead the Raw photo is opened fi rst into a conversion utility where global image characteristics
such as white balance, brightness, contrast, saturation, noise reduction and sharpness are
adjusted before the converted fi le is opened into the Full Edit workspace. Alternatively the
converted fi le can be saved as an Adobe Digital Negative or DNG fi le. Once the converted fi le
is opened in the Elements Editor workspace it is no longer a Raw fi le and can be edited and
enhanced just like an other photo.
This approach to Raw processing is often called Convert then Edit as the original Raw fi le must
be converted before any pixel-based or local editing can take place. In contrast other Raw
processing solutions such as Adobe LightRoom provide a full Raw workfl ow which includes
editing functions and output to print and web without ever converting the Raw fi le.
Capture Convert
Book resources at: www.adv-elements.com
Manage
/Edit
Output
/Share
Raw fi le Converted fi le (PSD, TIFF)
Adobe
Camera Raw
Raw Processing >> The Convert then Edit approach is the most popular workfl ow currently used by Raw
shooting photographers. The Raw fi le is downloaded from the camera and the fi rst task in the process is to
convert the fi le to a type that is more readily supported by photo editing programs such as TIFF or PSD.