bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Adobe publishes two charts about cameras and software. One says the 80D needs ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) 9.5 and Lightroom 6.5. The other says that Photoshop Elements 2018 was delivered with ACR 9.12 and was updated during it's product year to 10.0.

Knowing that, your Elements should open a RAW file from your camera with the ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) program that is part of the Elements kit. There is an 8 bit versus 16 bit argument and discussion. In some images it may matter a lot (like lots of blue sky) and in other images, not so much. Regardles of the bits, Photoshop Elements provides the tools to discover and learn RAW processing workflows.

Your Lightroom 5.7 will not directly open your files. I think it was mentioned that Adobe provides a free utility program called DNG converter. It is quick and easy to make copies of your 80D RAW files in a new format called "DNG". There is no degradation in quality at all. The primary advantage of the DNG converted file is that it will open directly in eight your Elements 2018 or Lightroom 5.7.

Having written all that, I am a proponent of the Adobe photographers $10 a month plan. You get the "real" photoshop and all the Lightroom versions with their connectivity. It has evolved into a ecosystem of, more than ever, connected parts.

If you can put the $10 per month into the perspective of phone plans, internet plans, TV plans and the price of everything else we consume, it provides a lot of value, joy and entertainment.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

kstephens43

Assuming you are using a digital SLR or mirrorless camera, your camera will have a RAW setting. You typically can choose whether you want to shoot RAW only or RAW and jpeg. Each manufacturer has its own RAW format. Once you have produced the RAW file, you must process the file using either your manufacturer's own software, which is typically provided with the camera, or some third-party software that recognizes all the major manufacturers' RAW files. Some people do it with Photoshop. I happen to use Paint Shop Pro, so I process my RAW files using their software.

All the above information is general. How you specifically use the RAW processing software is highly dependent on your brand of camera and the processing software you have chosen to use.

All the camera brands are covered by users of this web site. I am sure a number of people would be happy to discuss how they process RAW files.

The reason to use RAW in the first place is because all digital cameras process the information recorded by the camera. If you are using jpeg only, your camera makes the processing decisions for you. If you use RAW, you get to control the process. For example, if a portion of your photo is in danger of being so over-exposed that it is "blown out," that is, pure white, processing in RAW may give you the option of recovering what jpeg could not.

The bottom-line is that you can experiment with RAW and see what it can do for you. Once I started shooting in RAW, I never went back to jpeg only. Once the photo has been processed to your liking in RAW, you can produce a jpg file if you wish, but it will be in higher quality than it would have been if you had let the camera produce the jpg directly.

rambler Loc: Masssachusetts

Cannot add to Kaib's description and I had the same question several years ago when I first heard about RAW and read up on how to convert my camera to shoot in RAW. So, I just bought a camera that did shoot RAW. Jpegs work great, too, but, the RAW processing path has been very rewarding. It does not take much learning to create photos that "pop" in color, and then the process can lead to other amazing improvements to photos. But, as you progress in post processing do not stop learning about composition and all the elements that help you start your work with wonderful images right out of your camera. What's the best camera? As someone said, "The best camera is the one in your hand!"

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

If you do your own Post Production (PP) image processing already, it should not be much of a change for except you will gain control of everything as mentioned by other replies. If you don't do PP, you have a very steep hill to climb up the learning curve. Believe me, it's worth it!

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

Linda don’t despair. I am sure either now or within the foreseeable future your camera will clean your house, using the appropriate APP of course.

You might remember in the Sunday funny papers that Dick Tracy used a wrist radio. How appropriate that today we have iwatches that do even more.

Patience is the key.

Dennis

bleirer

It's not that big of a deal to try it once you are set up. If you want to keep it simple you can, or as you learn you can join us down here in the rabbit hole.

You start the software, plug the camera in and pictures appear on your screen. You pick one, scroll through some preset choices or click auto or both, slide some sliders left or right until it looks nice and hit ctrl s to save. You can export to jpeg or convert to other formats no problem.

tcthome Loc: NJ

Personally, I'm disappointed that my camera doesn't clean my house 😇[/quote]



me too !!!

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Even if you do not upgrade software now, add RAW to your settings. You can always come back and post process the files a year from now if you want. However, you can't go back and change the format you shot in.

rochephoto

Somebody on this forum should write up a definitive answer to the "Raw" question and should be applied automatically to any query regarding raw files and then no other comments should be allowed. This question crops up FAR TOO OFTEN!!!!

Amadeus Loc: New York

I don't think that is the correct spirit for the forum. New people are always coming in, and old questions come up. I don't see anything wrong with that. Any thread can be ignored. If a thread doesn't interest someone, then don't bother looking at it.

rochephoto

Yes, Mozart, you are correct. New people are always coming into the forum. I don't think my suggestion is intended to dispirit the forum. On the contrary, the new person would get the answer they need and then we could all ignore the thread. Peace on earth!

Amadeus Loc: New York

Well I'm fairly new to the forum and very new to RAW processing. So I follow the threads for that subject and glean all I can from them. There's a wealth of information contained in people's comments that others would pass by because they are so familiar with the topic. I apologize if you took my comment as a criticism. That wasn't my intent.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

And varies based on the needs of each shooter and situation. So your one answer idea will not work.

wham121736 Loc: Long Island, New York

Shooting RAW is the easy part. You need to learn to process the raw images. One approach is to shoot in Raw AND jpg, then in PP browse the jpg Images to find those with good composition etc. and then try to process the Raw file to improve upon the camera jpg version. If you can do better with your PPing then stick with it. If you find that your efforts do not result in a significant improvement then stick with the jpgs.
There are many tutorials on processing Raw files which you need to look at before you give up. It is not a simple process as it encompasses all those choices the camera guessed at in creating the jpg. Look at the jpg exif data used and decide if you would have made the same choices? Sorry if this is rambling. I'm sure other hoggers will give you a more complete or better explanation.