Photoshop CS5 Trickery & FX: Simplifying The Interface - Part 3

In the third excerpt, Stephen Burns teaches us about Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) Interface.
Posted In | Magazines: VFXWorld | Site Categories: Technology, Visual Effects
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[Figure 1.66] Raw interface color Temperature cooling options.
[Figure 1.67] Raw interface color Temperature warming options.

3. Take a look at the color Temperature slider under the White Balance menu. Slide it to the right and then to the left. Notice that as you slide to the right, your image becomes warmer (yellow), and as you drag in the opposite direction, your image becomes cooler (blue). The histogram in the top right gives you an update as to how all of the colors are responding to any and all adjustments in the Raw interface (see Figures 1.66 and 1.67).

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[Figure 1.68] Raw interface color tinting toward magenta.
[Figure 1.69] Raw interface color tinting toward green.

4. Experiment with the Tint slider and see how you can control magenta and green. This is great for situations where textures are photographed near fluorescent lighting. Note how your histogram displays a dominant magenta or yellow, moving higher as you adjust the Tint slider to the right or left (see Figures 1.68 and 1.69).

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[Figure 1.70] Preview of where detail is being lost.
[Figure 1.71] The Recovery slider.

5. The Exposure slider will help you make adjustments to any overexposed or underexposed images. In Photoshop CS3, you had to click the Preview button for both the Shadows and the Highlights at the top of the interface to observe which areas were losing detail due to underexposure or overexposure. This capability was invaluable to photographers. However, the way ACR communicates which areas are losing detail due to underexposure or overexposure is through color mapping. Any shadow regions losing detail are designated with a blue tint, and any highlight areas losing detail have a red tint. If you look at the histogram in the top-right corner, you will see two arrows above the black point and the white point. Click these arrows to toggle the blue and red out of gamut preview (see Figure 1.70).

6. In a continuing effort to allow the photographer to have more control of detail in the shadow, midrange, and highlight areas of the image, Adobe has added Recovery. Experiment with the Recovery slider (see Figure 1.71) and notice that the midtone range information is becoming denser. This slider deals with the process of bringing back the midtone information by adding density in those areas.

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[Figure 1.72] The Fill Light slider.
[Figure 1.73] Results of the Convert to Grayscale option.

7. As recovery increases the middle range total detail, the Fill Light slider allows you to brighten the middle range tonal detail (see Figure 1.72). Often in a photographic image, the shuttle and highlight information are acceptable, but the midrange of information is too dark because of the environment’s extreme contrast. Adjust this slider to make changes to those areas.

8. Click the HSL/Grayscale tab and select the Convert to Grayscale button located at the top (see Figure 1.73). This is a convenient addition that will likely be very popular because it gives the photographer the ability to create black-and-white photos straight from camera raw files. You can even control the tonal values by selecting a color and shifting it toward dark or light.







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