Adobe RAW presets?

[FearlessFoto]

I shoot in RAW and when I go to edit my photos, they first go to the Adobe RAW area first. After that I choose "open" and then they go to Elements for editing.

Is it possible to apply a small amount of contrast and vibrance to the images as a whole? Currently I do one at a time, but it would be nice if I could create a preset and have that applied to several images at once.

Thanks,
Karen

[TonyW]

You can do one and then apply the same correction to the next. Or you can save a new set of camera defaults and apply that to all of them. But, unlike full Photoshop (and I think Lightroom) where you can have more than one profile I don't think there's a way to have more than one profile saved with Elements.

In PSE5/ACR4.1 you get at these options with the tiny down arrow at the top right of the tab - like this:

1207

Tony

[genevh]

Using Adobe RAW in PSE5 will only allow you to adjust one picture at a time, however you can configure a preset that will allow you to apply the same to change to all the pictures you want. Simply open your first RAW file and make your changes, then while still in RAW you want to save those changes as the RAW default.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1xCrQBEb3OXXmWC8qHKTn8kgpCq6_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1xCrQBEb3OXXmWC8qHKTn8kgpCq6)

Once the settings are the way you want them, click the drop down in the upper right corner of the Basic tab (highlighted in red), then click Save New Camera Raw defaults. This setting will then be applied to your RAW files until you change it, by either resetting the raw defaults in that same menu, or by changing the settings and then resaving the New Camera Raw defaults. Personally, if I have a new set of files to edit that were shot under different conditions, I would reset back to the default settings (all 0's on all sliders), then edit my first picture file, resave those settings to be the new default, and then continue editing the remaining pics.

Hope this helps. And as usual, there is probably more than one way around this.

[genevh]

lol...Tony posted while I was writing mine up! :)

[FearlessFoto]

Thanks so much, Tony. I need a little hand holding here though. I currently have my settings on "Camera Raw defaults." If I change it to "Image settings," then.....what happens from there? What do I click to make my settings apply to the next image?

I can't bring up more than one raw image into ACR4.1, can I?

Karen

[TonyW]

Gene: At least we agree :D . Must admit though that I finish up tweaking all my RAW files differently so I'm not further ahead changing anything but I only use RAW for pictures I know I'll want to tweak individually.

Tony

[FearlessFoto]

One of my questions was answered by Gene - posting at the same time.

Would I use "Custom settings" or "Save new camera raw defaults?" Ok, so then that would automatically be applied to my next image I bring into ACR. Would I then have to change my defaults every time I bring in different images? There's already a certain setting in my defaults as a general tweaking plan. So how is that better than my own tweaking? It's like tweaking twice, right. The ACR does it once and then I tweak a little more. I think I'm getting it.

So if I'm really tweaking twice (so to say) then shouldn't I tweak once, save those adjustments to apply to my other similar images, and then only tweak a second time if necessary?

Hopefully you've followed my thoughts.

Karen

[genevh]

Agreement is good.....:)

But I have to admit that I was tweaking each picture individually also. But in my case, when I haul out the camera and go shooting, I can end up with a LOT of pictures real quick, and I found I was taking too much time editing, so I have switched to Lightroom and use the Copy/Paste feature on my RAW settings, and/or Sync the photos that were shot the same. Its saving me a lot of time. And I'm not into the artistic side of PSE and was basically using it for my "developing". Now I get my basic developing out of the way in LR and if I want to do more, then take the pictures into PSE5 to finish them up.

So far, its working for me. And I'm getting better at exposing my shots in the camera, which is helping on the editing side also.

[TonyW]

Karen: I've done it both ways - start with some basic camera defaults and tweak from there but if you have a series of similar ones when you select apply previous correction it applies the last one you used for editing so you can tweak the first and then open the next and apply the same settings.

Tony

[genevh]

Karen:

Our posts crossed again, and I don't think I quite answered your questions so I will take another stab at this.

I generally shoot everything in RAW now. Not that all my pictures are top quality and I think they are all going to be exceptional, but for the practice mostly. And its helping me pay more attention to my in camera settings in an effort to minimize my editing time, and do better photography rather than to depend on PSE to try and fix up bad pictures to start with.

I kept my default settings in RAW set to all 0's. I found that the auto settings that the ACR was trying to apply to my photos weren't always close to what I wanted, and I had to change them anyway. So, for me starting at a baseline of 0 was easier than re-tweaking the auto settings continuously. And I found I never changed that baseline setting, even when I knew the photos I was going to be working on were shot under similar conditions and camera settings. I still found I would re-tweak from even my own settings. Go figure that one. :( For me anyway, it was just easier to start from 0, what with working only on one picture at a time.

Others may have other opinions, but for me, that is what worked in PSE. I'll not muddy up this discussion with my LR experiences (which I'm fairly new at, anyway!) :D

[FearlessFoto]

A "muddy" discussion about your LR experience sounds good. Will you tell me a little about Lightroom? Does it serve the same purpose as ACR4.1? But with it I could do several raw images roughly at the same time? And save them together into jpegs?

As I slowly master ACR and PSE5, I'm thinking the transition to LR might not be as traumatic as me trying to learn PSE5 from scratch. I can't wait until I'm out of this beginner stage.

[genevh]

Karen:

One thing to consider before making the switch to LR is exactly what you want to do with your photos. In my case, I am not that "artistic" when it comes to creating layouts, etc. and generally tend to stay within what I call a strictly photographic mode. I was using PSE mainly for "developing" my shots, i.e.: "fixing" my photos in much the same ways a photo lab would. Manipulating exposure, white balance, noise removal, etc.

I also have a tendency (good or bad) to shoot a lot of pictures when I am in picture taking mode, which was creating hours and hours of work afterwards in PSE. Part of that was my skill with the camera, which I hope is improving, and part because of my working on nearly every single one, getting rid of the bad as I went.

With that said, I started looking at LR as a time saver in getting my basic developing done quickly. LR uses the same controls that ACR4.1 has. And then some. You get more control over adjusting individual colors, hue, and saturation. And a whole lot more. One of its strengths comes in when you have pictures shot under similar conditions. Once you have developed one out of a set, you can then quickly apply those settings to as many pictures as you want with just a few clicks. This has saved me a significant amount of time.

LR is another tool which, as the advertising says, was developed "by photographers for photographers". If you are interested in creating the works of art and other creations you see on the forums here, LR will not do that for you. You will still need your favorite version of Photoshop for that. But, for getting your pictures out of your camera and making them worthy of displaying, LR is capable of doing an exceptional job. I am not an expert by any means in this yet, but I am pretty satisfied with my results so far. :)

The good part is that Adobe does allow you to download and try the full version for 30 days, with no limitations other than getting a nag screen asking you to register it every time you open it. I would suggest if you think LR may be something you are interested in, to download and try it. Be warned, though, it is a much more significant investment in $$ compared to PSE5 if you decide to keep it.

You may also want to check these links out if you haven't already:

Adobe's Photoshop LR Design page (http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/designcenter/search.cfm?product=Photoshop+Lightroom&term=Photoshop+Lightroom&topic=)

NAPP's Photoshop LR Learning Center (http://www.photoshopuser.com/lightroom/index.html)

Hope this helps!

Oh..and I almost forgot. Yes you can do bulk exports of photos into jpeg format. Also, if you use DNG, it will import and convert your particular camera's RAW format files into DNG files in one step.

[FearlessFoto]

Thanks Gene. That was exactly what I wanted to know. I simply take pictures for my family photo album with the possibility of one year taking pictures for others. I also take loads of pictures of my son's soccer games which is the main reason I'm looking to get through many similarly looking pictures relatively quickly. I don't do any of the scrapbook type of stuff, so I'm thinking LR might be a good thing for my needs.

I really appreciate your help!

Karen