CS2 RAW - Help! .....I'm in a pickle....

Gilly B

Gilly B

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,264
Name
Gillian
Edit My Images
Yes
Saturday I took IRO 500 RAW (only) images at a fun portrait session for families to help raise funds for their primary school. I have done it a couple of times in the past using Jpeg with lots of post shoot problems with blown highlights and the opposite. I was assured that there is a better way - shoot RAW!

There were 14 families with numerous different compositons. Apart from the hiccup with the first family and my key light It would not recycle and trigger the slaves by radio signal. I swapped heads around and all was well from then on.

Some of you guys will be aware that I have up to now always shot in Jpeg and spent days (or was that weeks) in CS2 trying to alter WB problems and colour casts etc. So I took the plunge and shot entirely in RAW.

Hmmm.... Now this is where I have come unstuck. Although I have read and read about processing and workflow etc., I am not sure what the default settings should be displaying when I first open an image from Adobe Bridge. This is a screen capture of a random image that requires considerable tweaking, and I am confident that with a little help to understand the conversion process, I should achieve my aim. ( Oh sugar! it didn't work) However, the settings always default to Adobe RGB (1998), and Depth shows 8 bit, but the Metadata says 16 bit. :shrug: Why did it change and what are the consequences? :shrug:

Is this the norm, or do I need to change the default settings to 16 or 8? and how do I change the colour space to sRGB as the default? OR - Am I panicking over nothing and the conversion sorts it all out? I am fine with changing the exposure, WB, saturation etc., just don't know what the ground rules for the starting place are. If anyone understands what I am drivvlin on about, then please come to my rescue - I have taken the day off work today to get to grips with this. pleeeze help. Thanks Gillian :help: :help: :help:

PS: I will try and post the 'print screen' shot when I work out how to do it.
 
Well colour space doesnt affect the shot with RAW, only when you convert it.

There are two schools of thought regarding the colour space issue. Some say, if youre doing it professionally, then AdobeRGB is the only way etc etc, and others say "Come oooooon, the difference is negligable".

16 Bit and 8 bit, I personally only ever leave 8 bit when displaying my web/jpeg output.
The common concensus is convert from RAW to 16 bit, as it holds a greater tonal range over 8 bit. Do your major tonal corrections, and THEN convert down to 8 bit if required.

ACR also defaults to 'auto' settings, which quite often (in my experience) gets it wrong. Untick the auto options, and select your required colour space and bit depth, then IIRC click the triangle for the flyout menu, then select "Save new defaults" (or some such phrase).


Hope that helps.
 
PS. Congrats on taking the RAW plunge...once you've gotten used to the couple of extra steps in your workflow, I'm sure you'll be pleased at the extra leeway and quality you now have :)
 
Thanks Marcel. I will have to study your response and give it a try. I KNOW I have made the correct decision to shoot in RAW, I just need to get over this learning curve. Aha! I have found CT's post on how to post an image in a thread - here is the screenshot:-

Raw_Screenshot_copy.jpg
 
Aha As I expected, ACR is defaulting to "Auto" for alot of the settings. Some people use this as a starting point for their tweaking, I personally prefer to turn it off.

Untick all four "Auto" options, so the sliders revert back to a neutral setting, set the workflow options at the bottom, and if you look on the right hand side you have the "Settings" dropdown set to "Camera Raw Defaults"...click the flyout icon (the small, right pointing triangle) next to that, and select "Save new defaults".
Your image will now look very much like an unprocessed RAW. Often flat and uninspiring, now you start tweaking.

Personally I favour Rawshooter, CaptureOne, and recently Lightroom for RAW processing (over ACR), but the way I've read to process in ACR is as follows.

Basically turn on clipping warning (highlight and shadow), and work downwards through the sliders. Adjust the WB(Temp/Tint) to your preference, then, adjust the exposure for the highlights (ignoring the shadows for the moment).
Then once the highlights are adjusted, adjust the shadows slider, adjusting for the shadows (the highlights wont be touched). I think this is pretty much like a levels command on a JPEG, you're tweaking to get the maximum tonal range from your shot.

Then you adjust the brightness/contrast/saturation etc to suit (although I would personally suggest you do that in Photoshop, much more control there).

Hope that helps :)
 
Cerlunk! - penny drops. Oh, well done for pointing out the auto settings and how to change them as defaults. I was amazed at the 'clipping' warnings - wow great help thanks.

Now the other coin that is stuck between the ears is over the 16 v 8 bit depth and Adobe RGB (1997) v sRGB. I understand what you say from a professional v website viewing perspective, but I need to get it right for sending images that end up as Tifs going to Colab for printing. Some of the images have been ordered as canvas 30"x20" so I must get it right. :eek:

My query is having checked all c500 images in Adobe Bridge Metadata, they are all displaying 16 bit depth. Most of the images when opened up from the Bridge appear as 16 bit, with a few exceptions displaying 8 bit. Any ideas why some should show 16 and others show 8? :shrug:

Do I leave them all at 16 or have to change them to 8? :thinking: This is what I am not sure of. The same question about the colour space. Do I leave it as Adobe RGB (1998) or change each image to sRGB IEC61966-1 from drop-down menu? I have a CRT Monitor.

I am sorry for sounding so thick, but I want to get it right before working on images people have chosen.

Thanks
 
Aha, Marcel, I have re-read your response and now understand the 16 v 8 Bit depth. Fine, I will leave at 16. Thanks.
 
Gilly B said:
Aha, Marcel, I have re-read your response and now understand the 16 v 8 Bit depth. Fine, I will leave at 16. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Just quicky. Colabs internet ordering system may have a problem with 16bit!
Give them a bell just to check before sending in the order might save a hitch.
 
I do all my photoshop stuff with it in 16 bit then change to 8 bit for sending to print.
 
Sharkey & Janice - I never thought about 16 Bit and printing. I will talk to Colab first. Thanks.

Janice - you just know what question is coming up next - Yup..... assuming you have converted image from RAW and you have worked on it in CS2. How do you then change to 8 Bit? Sorreee :(
 
In CS, IIRC it's in the Image > Mode > menu..... :)

Hope this helps. FWIW I read that the generally accepted way of doing things is first edit your image in 16 bit until all the tonal corrections are done, then switch to 8 bit for further editing and printing. I personally keep to 16 bit as long as I can. Space isn't an issue for me, so I like to give me that extra 'just incase'.
 
Marcel & Sharkey - You're stars. ...and Janice of course. :notworthy: Thanks Guys. :clap:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top