RAW workflow help needed!

[Hacker]

Need some help here. I've just started shooting in RAW and I'm having a few problems trying to figure out a workflow. I've always shot JPEG then adjusted levels, contrast, sharpening etc in Elements v.3 but when I shoot RAW I get this window opening:

For some reason (and I know it's me ) I appear to have quite a bit of noise in the images and I need to know if I should be manipulating them using the buttons and sliders on the right.

• Should the Auto box be ticked?
• How many of these controls should I use on this interface as opposed to the standard edit page?
• If I change exposure etc on this page should I then have to adjust levels later when the standard page opens?
• How about sharpening, do it on this page or USM as I usually do?

Hope you can help.

Thanks,

Colin.

 

[stepheno]

I don't use CS2, since I'm an RSP fan but for what it's worth here's my flow in RSP

1 Prioritise images
2 Delete duds
3 Crop, if necessary
4 Adjust White Balance
5 Adjust Exposure
6 Adjust Curves and Levels against the histogram
7 Muck about with Fill, Shadows and Highlights if necessary
8 Reset Sharpness, Noise Reduction to zero
9 Look at Saturation, Hue, Vibrance etc
10Rename & Convert to Tif, psd or dng etc

then in Cs2 I'll -

1 Apply Noise reduction, if necessary
2 USM or Smartsharpen, if necessary
3 Save to format appropriate to usage.

The page you are showing is the RAW Converter in Elements. As to what you do where it's entirely down to what you prefer. I prefer to do as much as possible with the Raw file except for sharpening. If you untick the boxes it means you can adjust them as much as you like or if you leave ticked that's as it comes out of the camera.

Unfortunately Elements Raw Converter doesn't appear to have levels/curves adjustment so you will have to do it later. RAW conversion is quite a personal thing and you are likely to get as many opinions as there are members. I hope I haven't confused you even more and as said I don't use CS2 for RAW conversion so you'll probably get a better answer from someone who does.

regards

 

[Gandhi]

Hi Colin.

Firstly, you may find it easier to download Rawshooter essentials and use that instead of the RAW convertor in elements. RSE is a free program and slightly better than the convertor in elements as it has more functionality. I also find RSE 'flows' a little better than the photoshop one, it also comes with a handy workflow guide

As for the setting in the photoshop raw convertor......

When I used to use it I would generally leave all the settings on auto, as it did a pretty good job of producing the image I wanted. Best thing is to have a play around with all of the settings, especially the ones for noise reduction if you're having a problem with it. I'd be doing all of these adjustments at 100% magnification too so you can see more clearly the impact the processing is having on the image quality. Ultimately, making adjustments in raw causes less image degradation than doing it in photoshop proper.


One final thing, I'd turn off sharpening in the raw convertor and just sharpen once at the end of your workflow as sharpening will highlight any noise massively.

Sorry the above is a bit fragmented. I do stream of conciousness better than I do planned responses!

 

[Hacker]

Thanks Ghandi, I've downloaded Rawshooter Essential and it's a much better bit of kit, the first two attempts are in the First Fingers of dawn thread.