Basic adjustments in RAW: What would the basic adjustments be, if any, that you would do when first opening a RAW file? My tendency on a first effort was to just fiddle with things...

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

What would the basic adjustments be, if any, that you would do when first opening a RAW file? My tendency on a first effort was to just fiddle with things until the pic looked better. After the basic, then are all subsequent changes done in RAW or at some point do you save as JPEG and then do additional adjustments? Do we save our original pristine RAW and the edited RAW as a separate file? I suspect that would be best but I've also read where anything done in RAW can be undone after it's saved in RAW so the original RAW might not be that necessary. Your advice would be appreciated.

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

What program are you using? The handling methods differ according to the software, but in essence if you discard your raw file you are stuck with the jpg if you saved one.

You cannot change a raw file, what happens is that you issue instructions to change the file, and those instruction are saved with the raw in the case of a dng file, or some programs save a sidecar file with the instructions, some programs just retain the information in a database.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

I'm using Elements 11

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

gvarner wrote:

I'm using Elements 11

When you edit a raw file in Elements 11, the image opens in ACR. At the top of the ACR screen, ( the 7th icon from the left, is the Camera Raw Preferences button. In the panel marked "general" you can choose whether to save the instructions in a sidecar file (xmp) or in the ACR database.

My choice would be the side car file because some other programs can read these xmp files. Also if you corrupt the catalogue, the xmp file will still remember your edits.

If you reopen an already edited raw file in PSE11, the ACR will read the raw file, read the xmp file and open the image as you last edited. If you delete the xmp file, the original raw file will open, without edits.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Thanks so much searcher. Helped fill in the gaps. As a newbie to RAW, it's all gaps right now. LOL

RichieC Loc: Adirondacks

Everything Searcher says is true, however, he'd have to write a book on the subject to cover it all.

Go to Lynda.com and join for a month, you get access to tutorials for just about any software there is... you will learn more in a week then a year on your own... A book would cost you at least $40, I promise you will not regret the $25 investment.

mldavis2

gvarner wrote:

What would the basic adjustments be, if any, that you would do when first opening a RAW file? My tendency on a first effort was to just fiddle with things until the pic looked better.

I usually limit my RAW edits to things that I won't likely want to change in Photoshop (or Elements in your case). Typically they include finding and setting a neutral point for color balance, straightening tilted horizons (my wife is bad about that), and doing some minor saturation, shadow and highlight adjustments to take advantage of RAW's greater tonal range before moving the image in PDF format into Photoshop, usually in 16-bit format.

All my sharpening, contrast, and touch up work is done in Photoshop before saving the image (after a final sharpening for output format) in an appropriate pixel dimension and RGB 8-bit.

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

Certain things, like white balance and some types of HDR can only be changed in RAW, not PhotoShop and these are the things I usually work on first. The contrast, color balance, sharpness and spot repairs are all done in PS.

mldavis2

WB can be adjusted in any editor with a neutral dropper if you can find a neutral gray surface. The best ones are concrete, the sidewall of a tire, or shaded white. Other colors are usually a guess.

mikegreenwald Loc: Illinois

For any substantial manipulation, and particularly true for inexperienced users, start with duplicating the image. Never modify one or the other of the images, so if anything becomes damaged you get a free "start over."

macquesta Loc: North Carolina

gvarner wrote:

What would the basic adjustments be, if any, that ... (show quote)

Check out the tutorials from Serge Ramelli on You Tube. He has a basic work flow for ACR or Lightroom that is easy to follow, provides great initial adjustments of your raw files. He then has subsequent adjustments in PS or LR for landscapes, portraits, macros, and other types of shots. He likes quite vibrant landscape adjustments that may or may not suit you or your photo, but his basic adjustments are where I always start when processing a raw file.

mldavis2

mikegreenwald wrote:

For any substantial manipulation, and particularly true for inexperienced users, start with duplicating the image. Never modify one or the other of the images, so if anything becomes damaged you get a free "start over."

That is not necessary with a RAW image since the original is never altered and you can always start over.

Psergel Loc: New Mexico

macquesta wrote:

Check out the tutorials from Serge Ramelli on You Tube. He has a basic work flow for ACR or Lightroom that is easy to follow, provides great initial adjustments of your raw files. He then has subsequent adjustments in PS or LR for landscapes, portraits, macros, and other types of shots. He likes quite vibrant landscape adjustments that may or may not suit you or your photo, but his basic adjustments are where I always start when processing a raw file.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

These same YouTube videos really helped me get started. Don't be put off by the rather extreme results Serge goes for....just take in what the capabilities are and how to use them.

Psergel Loc: New Mexico

mldavis2 wrote:

That is not necessary with a RAW image since the original is never altered and you can always start over.

On several occasions I've found that my adjustments had wandered off into the realm of insanity. I go to the "history", scroll back to the beginning and start again.
Is there any way to erase all the insanity that's been recorded in the history or...for that matter...is there any reason to?

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

Psergel wrote:

On several occasions I've found that my adjustments had wandered off into the realm of insanity. I go to the "history", scroll back to the beginning and start again.
Is there any way to erase all the insanity that's been recorded in the history or...for that matter...is there any reason to?

In LR develop module, click the reset button and the History evaporates without even a puff of smoke.

You get one chance - an instant Control + z - to return to the insane mad world.

Another way is to go mad with edits, then create a virtual copy, then press the reset button. The virtual copy will now be as the original imported image ready and waiting for a different approach.