The basics

3.01 Enabling your Raw camera
Suitable for Elements – 5.0, 4.0, 3.0, 2.0, 1.0 | Diffi culty level – Basic
With most Raw-enabled cameras, switching from one
capture format to another is a simple matter of entering
the camera Set up menu and selecting the Raw entry
from the Image Quality or File Format options. With
some models you can also make this change via a Quality
toggle or switch elsewhere on the camera.
ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 5.0 FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
Occasionally there is also a choice between saving
compressed and non-compressed versions of the Raw fi le. Unlike the algorithms used for
compressing JPEG fi les, the method used when compressing Raw fi les is ‘lossless’, meaning that
all the detail that was captured is retained in the compressed fi le. Compressing will mean that
pictures will take up less space on the memory card, but the process of compression does result
in longer saving times. For most shooters this isn’t an issue but if you like to photograph sports
or action, then the extra time taken to compress the fi le will reduce the frames per second rate
of your camera. In practice most Raw shooters opt for non-compressed fi les and just buy more
memory cards to accommodate the larger fi le sizes that need to be saved.
CAPTURE
FILE SIZE
COMPARISONS
JPEG
fi le size
(Fine setting)
JPEG
fi le size
(Normal setting)
JPEG
fi le size
(Basic setting)
TIFF
fi le size
Raw
fi le size
Raw
fi le size
(compressed)
Example fi le 1 2997 Kb 1555 Kb 782 Kb 17708 Kb 9777 Kb 5093 Kb
Example fi le 2 2466 Kb 1575 Kb 748 Kb 17712 Kb 9776 Kb 4275 Kb
Capture format versus fi le size >> The capture format you select directly affects not only the way the fi le is
saved and its visual quality but also the size of the fi nal fi le. JPEG produces the smallest fi les but uses a ‘lossy’
compression system to do so. In the JPEG format you can adjust the level of compression used when saving the
photo. In this table the Fine setting uses the least compression and the Basic option the most. Both TIFF and
Raw formats preserve all the image detail and any compression used with these formats is ‘lossless’.
There are several cameras on the market that also have the ability to save both Raw and JPEG
versions of the same fi le at the time of capture. This option can be a real time saver if you need
to access your pictures quickly, but the feature is less of an advantage if you regularly perform
many enhancement steps to your fi les, as in the end the captured JPEG will not resemble the
processed Raw fi le.
At the big end of town most of the high-resolution camera backs, which are destined for use
with medium format camera bodies, only capture in Raw formats. Many make use of dedicated
software to control the camera, capture the photo and then process the Raw fi le. Other
manufacturers, such as Hasselblad, Samsung, Richo and Leica even use Adobe’s DNG format as
the capture format, making the transition to Elements a simple one.
Book resources at: www.adv-elements.com
57
PROCESSING Raw FILES