burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

ACR does not have a stand-alone INTERFACE. But it is a shared set of program routines. Bridge, Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and Photoshop all use the same basic engine. If you update it for one of them, it updates for all of them. If you have auto-updates turned off, you probably can update ACR before the others. I know I can update it on my Mac because I just updated all three programs I use, manually, starting with ACR.

photoman43

This is the same way the Adobe photography plan shows on my pc laptop. When I use Adobe software, I usually just use Bridge and ACR. I access ACR from Bridge. My recollection is that ACR updates are independent of updates for Bridge, PS and LR.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

A happy life is a simpler life .....

Exdeltalady Loc: San Diego

I can't imagine NOT shooting RAW.

terryMc Loc: Arizona's White Mountains

That is correct because sometimes Photoshop and Bridge get updates. especially minor ones like bug fixes, that don't change anything in Camera Raw, and so there's just no reason to update that plugin. The idea that an update to one means an update for all is flawed in that there will often be an update to one program completely independent of the others. I just got notice of an update to the Bridge beta version this morning, but that was the only one. Nothing else was changed, and neither Camera Raw nor Photoshop updated just because there was a new Bridge...

This is not rocket science...

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I think my earlier question derailed the OP's original intent. I think the question is why a newer version of ACR is needed to open Samsung S23 RAW/DNG files.

My sense was that all DNG files were generic enough that all Adobe programs would open them. Apparently that may not be true.

Adobe has a page that confirms the OP's statement that version 16 in October has different hardware requirements than previous versions. https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/system-requirements.html

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I can't imagine not intelligently using both raw and JPEG workflows, but for TOTALLY DIFFERENT reasons.

I normally work with raw files for the latitude of control and quality advantages it provides. But:

> When I'm photographing a high volume of similar subjects, under the exact same controlled lighting conditions, AND

> When I can set fixed manual exposure AND a fixed, manual, pre-set, custom white balance in reference to a suitable target, AND

> When the scene contrast range will fit within a six stop range, THEN

> I will use JPEG capture with in-camera processing.

I consider that a professional technique. When I'm doing this sort of work for pay (for example: high volume portraits, parts catalog photography, copy stand work for presentations…), I don't want the extra expense of post processing. When I control the lighting quality, intensity, and contrast ratios, I can get perfectly acceptable results from the camera. When I can't, I save raw files. In the event there is an immediate need for images, but the conditions are not ideal, I will record both raw files and in-camera generated JPEGs.

Workflow choices are personal. A lot of folks on UHH record JPEGs because they don't want to spend time with post-processing. Their image quality standards tolerate some mistakes, blown highlights, and plugged shadows, or a white balance that cannot be corrected because it is too far out of bounds, or the light source itself is not correctable. Maybe they are uncomfortable with computers, or don't want the mental challenge of learning software. That's okay... These are the same folks who accepted drugstore processing 30 years ago.

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

As originally typed the first “bullet” said that the interface with LrC differed from that with Bridge or Ps… But the word “Catalog” crept in there. Since catalog is toxic in this forum I replaced it with that nonsense.

I used to automatically apply all updates but some time years back Adobe replaced the entire Import dialog with hosed, technical term, with a virtually useless replacement. For a while I checked out all updates on a second machine before installing on my good machine. Just like our EIT folks did with say CAD software used every day by hundreds of designers. Lately I delay updates until The Lightroom Queen gives the OK. And I always update LrC first because it asks every time you open with an update pending.

BebuLamar

My intention was to say that you do need a good GPU to run the new Adobe Camera Raw. So unless you use other software to do your PP you would need a powerful computer to do your PP. I wanted to try out the raw feature of my new Samsung S23 and found that I need the new version of ACR to do that.

cahale Loc: San Angelo, TX

Look at the title of the post.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I also have a Samsung S23. My ACR version is 16.1. However, I have a 2 year old version of Photoshop Elements with whatever ACR is built into that. I can open RAW photos from my phone.

Do you have "High Efficiency Pictures" option turned off or on? If on, it might be using an HEIF option. "Normal" dng files should open in ACR versions before 16.

BebuLamar

No I don't have the high efficiency on. I don't care for the HEIF files. I just want the DNG files. My desktop computer can only support ACR 14.5 and I can't open the DNG files from my phone. I actually installed the 16.1 on my desktop but when I tried to use it it said my GPU doesn't meet the requirement. So I had to install 14.5 which is the newest one my desktop GPU can support.
My laptop can run 16.1 but it's screen isn't calibrated. I have the NEC calibrator and software and thus while working great with NEC monitors it doesn't calibrate other brands screens.

profbowman Loc: Harrisonburg, VA, USA

You might want to explore this Adobe site:
https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/kb/camera-raw-plug-in-installer.html --Richard

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

Ah, the plot thickens!

I have never seriously used ACR in Ps. I played with it to verify that it did everything the Develop module did and vice versa. My history with Adobe started in early 2007 when I retired from my day job and a friend gave me a gift certificate to the local camera store which I used to buy Nikon NX 2? to explore raw post processing. I learned that raw is worthwhile and Nikon is a camera company not a software company. So I eventually sprung for “Photoshop Lightroom 3.0” mostly for the database but also for raw Post. Ps was seriously beyond my budget until the subscription plan emerged. So when really necessary I conned another friends wife who was proficient with Ps to do work for me. So I almost never go directly to ACR in Ps. Furthermore I have opened a smart object in Ps a couple of times so I had never noticed ACR as a plug in. And for no good reason I put a brute of a GPU in my last computer I had built.

That is the basis of my observations . Nevertheless good to know. Thanks.