FREE WITH

SHOOTING Practical
Photography

RAW
on your D-SLR
From this...

...to this
in 60 seconds!

HOW TO
Get the best quality
& ultimate control
✔ RAW converter help ✔ Workflow advice ✔ Sharpness tips
✔ White balance answers ✔ Easy exposure ✔ Contrast skills
CONTENTS

By shooting RAW, Andrew was able to

give the original blue-tinted scene a much
warmer appearance by adjusting the
white balance and boosting saturation.
RAW BASICS
■ What is RAW? 6

■ Camera settings 8

■ What’s possible with RAW 10

RAW CONVERSION
■ Choosing a RAW converter 14

■ Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 18

■ Canon Digital Photo Professional 20

■ Capture One Pro 22

IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
■ White balance 26

■ Exposure 30

■ Contrast 32

■ Saturation 34

■ Sharpening 36

EXTRA SETTINGS
■ Advanced contrast adjustments 40
Welcome from Practical Photography editor Andrew James processing decisions for you and
presenting you with a JPEG, you can
■ There’s more... 42

OWNING A DIGITAL SLR and never you had the facility to develop and take the RAW file and enhance it to
��������
���������

shooting RAW files is, I believe, a bit print your own pictures, you handed your heart’s content. Why wouldn’t THIS GUIDE IS
���������
����������

���
�

like never taking the camera off auto. control of that process over to a third you want to? If anyone feels that BROUGHT TO YOU BY...
You’re simply allowing an inanimate party. But now the opportunity to �������������
changing white balance, enhancing Shooting RAW on your D-SLR is brought to you by
Practical Photography and is published by EMAP Active ������������

object to control your creativity. I’m control the whole image-making contrast or boosting colours is Limited. No part of this booklet can be reproduced
without the publisher’s permission. For more about PP,
not suggesting that you should only process, from capture to print, is cheating, then in evidence I submit visit: www.practicalphotography.co.uk �����������
��������������

ever shoot RAW, but I do believe that
when a new technology comes along
it’s up to us to make the most of it. In
easily available to all. When you start
shooting RAW you do add in an extra
layer of work. Instead of allowing the
filters, darkroom techniques, and
even the choice of films like Fuji
Velvia. Anyway, enjoy this booklet
Field guide editor: Ben Hawkins
Field guide art editor: Chris Rigby
Additional words/photography: Andrew James,
������
Chris Rutter, Ben Turner & Bob Martin ���������������������
Additional production: Shane Collins ������������������
Additional design: Rob Holmes ��������������������� �
� ���������������������������
�����

the days when it was all film, unless camera to make many of those and have fun with your photography.
�����������������������������������
����������������������

2 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR 3

RAW BASICS

SHOOTING RAW ON YOUR D-SLR

RAW basics
RAW files are your gateway to ultimate image quality and
maximum control. Let’s start by weighing up the pros and
cons, and seeing exactly what can be achieved and how...
RAW BASICS
What is RAW?
What you’re about to learn in this booklet could change your photography forever, as we’re
going to show you everything that you need to know in order to master RAW. But don’t jump
into the deep end just yet. If you’re not sure what all the fuss is about then you need to bring
your knowledge up to date. Here’s our in a nutshell explanation of RAW and its key benefits...
RAW ingredients
RAW is the name given to a whole group of image
file formats, including CRW, CR2 and NEF, which are
produced by digital cameras. Unlike normal image
formats, such as JPEG and TIFF, RAWs don’t contain the
finished image ready for viewing. Instead they contain
the unprocessed data that’s read directly from the
camera’s image sensor. At this stage it’s not really an
image, much like a beef sirloin joint isn’t roast beef,
but the finest quality raw ingredients are there waiting
to be turned into the finished article for all to enjoy. To
‘cook’ our RAWs we use a RAW converter software
package and this gives us loads of creative flexibility
for changing the appearance of our photos.
The benefits
QUALITY
RAW is a lossless format, unlike JPEG, which means
that all image detail is preserved. Correctly
processed RAW images are sharper, more detailed,
and contain more accurate colours. RAWs are also
recorded in a higher bit depth, commonly 12-bit or
14-bit, rather than the usual 8-bit. This extra
information can hold brighter highlights and darker
shadow details, and the tonality is smoother.
FLEXIBILITY
The RAW data is hardly touched by the camera’s
image processors before it is saved to the memory
card, which allows our computer to perform a lot of
the camera’s usual corrections post-capture. So if
we don’t get the white balance, contrast or
sharpness settings right when we take the shot, we
can correct this on the PC (turn to page 10). Even
poor exposures can be sorted, to a point.
6 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR
ORIGINAL RAW
This original scene looks okay, but it’s flatter than we remember it and
a bit blue. All of the ingredients are here though, so a quick tweak in
the RAW converter and you get the punchy image on the right.
CONTROL
It’s not just the usual contrast and white balance
settings that we get to play with on the PC. Using a
decent RAW converter package (turn to page 14)
you have a massive amount of control, from
contrast adjustments with curves through to noise
smoothing. Also, some adjustments, such as
sharpening, are often far more sophisticated than
the methods employed by your camera so the
pictures look even better.
EASY ENHANCEMENTS
Making good-looking corrections and
enhancements to RAWs in a RAW converter is much
easier then the equivalent enhancement to a JPEG
using Photoshop or Elements. In just a couple of
minutes you can completely overhaul an image to
give it much more impact. Most corrections can be
made by dragging a few simple sliders.
ENHANCED RAW
The drawbacks
FILE SIZE
Probably the biggest problem with RAW is the
saved file size. They are roughly three to four times
larger then the equivalent JPEG, so less images will
fit on a memory card. However, CompactFlash and
SD memory cards are becoming cheaper and
cheaper, so a couple of 1GB cards will cure this
problem for most people.
WRITE TIMES
Large files take longer to write to the memory card,
which means that you’ll rely heavily on your
camera’s buffer. The buffer is used to temporarily
store new shots as others are being saved.
However, the buffer is limited and can easily fill up
when taking loads of pictures in quick succession as
you would when shooting sports and wildlife. If it
does fill up, you’ll have to wait a few moments
before you can take another shot.
COMPATIBILITY
JPEGs are compatible with most software packages
because they have been around for years and are
strictly standardised. RAWs aren’t so accessible
however, because every model of camera produces
its own RAW file to a different specification.
Unfortunately, you need to install a compatible RAW
converter on your computer to view and enhance
the RAW images.
PROCESSING TIME
A RAW image generally needs to be converted into
a standard TIFF or JPEG before you can do much else
with it. This potentially adds an extra step to your
digital workflow and could hold up a busy pro
shooting press pictures. However, if you do need to
make any corrections to your images, you’ll
probably save hours with RAW because most
enhancements are quicker to make.
7
RAW BASICS

Camera settings
OLYMPUS
E-400

Before you can start to explore the creative potential the file format menu. This isn’t a complicated process,
of RAW files you need to set your camera to shoot the but it’s still worth checking the options available on
right image format. Every digital SLR and even some your camera. Here’s how to set the Canon EOS 400D,
compact cameras give you the choice of RAW mode in Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400 to shoot RAW files…

CANON
400D
Step 1: The easiest way to access the file formats on
the E-400 is to press the OK button while in any
shooting mode. This will activate the camera settings
on the rear LCD screen. Using the four-way navigation
buttons, highlight the file settings at the bottom of
the screen and then press OK again.
Step 2: This will open the file format options on the
rear LCD with the current format highlighted. To
change these you can scroll through the options
using the main input dial or the four-way navigation
buttons. Highlighting the RAW setting then pressing
the OK button will set the camera to RAW mode.

STEP 1: Before you can set the RAW format on the
EOS 400D you must be in one of the creative
exposure modes such as aperture-priority, shutter-
priority, program or manual. It doesn’t allow you to
use RAW in the automatic scene modes or the fully
automatic ‘green’ mode.
NIKON
D80
STEP 1: All Nikon cameras allow you to use RAW in
any of the exposure modes, but there are two ways
of setting the file format. The quickest way is to press
and hold the QUAL button on the bottom left of the
back of the camera.
Step 2: Once you’ve set the exposure mode, press
the Menu button on the back of the camera to bring
up the first camera settings screen. Go to the Quality
menu and use the four navigation buttons to scroll
through to highlight the RAW option, and then press
the right-hand button to confirm the setting.
STEP 2: While holding the QUAL button turn the rear
input dial to scroll through the format options on the
top LCD screen (shown in the bottom left corner)
until RAW is displayed, then release the QUAL button.
RAWTIP
You don’t have to sacrifice the convenience of shooting JPEG
images when you want to use RAW files. Most cameras allow
you to shoot both file formats simultaneously by setting
the appropriate option in the file format menu.
But why would you want to record duplicate
files of the same images? While there is no
doubt that RAW offers many more options
and potentially improved quality over JPEG,
you need the right software and extra
time to view and process RAW files. By
shooting JPEG images as well you can
quickly sort through your images, share
them with friends and family or even
get prints directly from your camera (or
memory card). Shooting two files for
each image does mean that you’ll need
more memory, but many cameras allow
you to choose a low quality JPEG option
to make these files as small as possible.
While these files won’t give you the
best images they will still be okay for
small prints or screen use.

8 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR |9

RAW BASICS

What’s possible
ENHANCED RAW

with RAW
Shooting RAW opens up a huge range of exciting corrections and
enhancements that you can apply to your pictures post-capture. You can
salvage pictures with poor colours and bring flat shots to life, but RAW
converters can’t perform miracles. There are still many things that you
must get right while you’re taking the shot to ensure your images are of
the highest quality. So what must you get right in-camera and what can
you get away with sorting back on the computer? Find out here…

Get it right in-camera

Here are the major things that you
ORIGINAL RAW
need to get right in-camera – if you
forget to pay attention to any of this
then RAW won’t help you at all.

Aperture
You can’t change depth-of-field
once you’ve taken the shot. If you
want both close and distant objects
to be in sharp focus then you’ve no
option but to use a small aperture
(f/22). On the flip side, a wide
aperture (f/2.8) is needed if you
want just a thin band in your image
to be in sharp focus.
Shutter speed
Freezing quick subjects with a fast
shutter speed or blurring moving
subjects with a slow shutter speed
are other effects that are impossible
to accurately recreate using a RAW
conversion software package.
RAW files allow you to change
white balance post-capture
for improved colours.
Exposure
Get the exposure as close as
possible in-camera. If you
overexpose a stop or so then your
The White balance/tint
It doesn’t matter what white
to get your shots just right.
Darkening a touch may even
RAW converters are far superior to
the options offered by your camera.
highlights may block-out to pure
white and the detail will be
possibilities balance you have selected when
you take the shot, you can always
reduce noise levels. Just ignore your camera’s settings
as the RAW converter can override
obliterated – not good! Drastically
underexposed shots will be too
of RAW override it in the RAW converter.
White balance is a software effect,
Contrast
Don’t bother with any contrast
this without degrading the quality.

ISO
Using a fast ISO creates a grainy
effect known as noise. Although
many RAW converters have tools to
suppress the levels of noise, there
really is no substitute for using a
slow ISO (such as ISO 100) for really
smooth tones.
noisy to be useful once brightened.
Focus
You can’t make a soft image sharp.
Once the detail has been blurred, it’s
lost forever. If you’ve focused poorly
or have visible camera shake in your
shots, then forget it.
Although we’d always
recommend that you get the
shot as close as possible in-
camera, you can actually control
quite a lot of settings back in the
RAW converter. Let’s take a quick
look at your post-capture options.
so opting to change it won’t
degrade the image at all.
Fine-tune exposure
Small adjustments to the exposure
won’t degrade the quality much at
all so you can tweak the exposure
settings in your camera. Use the
contrast sliders, along with the
Levels and Curves tools, to get the
perfect contrast post-capture.
Sharpness
The sharpening controls offered in
Colour saturation
Whether you want to tone down a
colourful scene or give a flat shot
more impact, it makes sense to
make colour adjustments in the
RAW converter where you can
really see what you’re doing.

10 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR 11

RAW CONVERSION

SHOOTING RAW ON YOUR D-SLR

RAW conversion
For the best possible results you’ll need a RAW
converter that offers control and quality. Let’s
take a look at the best options and the basic
features needed to convert your first RAW file.
RAW CONVERSION

Choosing a RAW converter

When you finally switch to shooting RAW instead of
JPEG, you will need to adjust your workflow slightly.
Unfortunately, this does mean adding one more step
early on but thankfully it will save you some time later
in the process and improve the end results too. To
make this step easier you need to choose the right
RAWTIP
If you buy a new D-SLR soon
cameras often have different
RAW files to other models, so
your software will need updating.
piece of software. Here are the best bundled – plus after its release, it’s likely that Check its website for updates or
one download-only software – RAW converters, and your RAW converter won’t click on the ‘Search for updates’
over the page what we consider to be the best RAW support it straight away. New options in your software’s menu.
converter software packages out there…

BUNDLED
SOFTWARE
CANON SONY IMAGE
DIGITAL PHOTO DATA CONVERTER
PROFESSIONAL SR BUNDLED
SOFT
Canon’s standard software is one of the most While the name may sound less
WARE
comprehensive packages supplied with any than appealing, the software that
D-SLR. There’s a complete Sony bundles with the α100 is
range of options available, one of the best you can get. All of
the workflow is easy to use
PROS AND CONS the options are accessible from the
PROS AND CONS
and there are some really ✔Very comprehensive Tools palette, so there’s no hunting ✔One click will send
for free software. the image to Photoshop.
nice touches. It offers you around for options. It’s not brilliant
the option of selecting the ✔ Enables you to make for first-time users but you’d ✔Simple to navigate
the best use of layout, with plenty of
PictureStyle, which can PictureStyles.
struggle to think of any options useful shortcuts.
produce some good results. that are missing – it even has a
Overall, DPP is a pretty
✘ Not very intuitive
‘Send to Photoshop’ command,
✘Could be confusing
editing views. for new users.
damn good package. which speeds up workflow.

BUNDLED
SOFTWARE
NIKON BIBBLE LITE DOWNLOAD
PICTURE PROJECT $69 (around £36) ONLY

Picture Project is supplied with all Nikon Only available as a download from www.
D-SLRs (even the pro models) but it offers bibblelabs.com Bibble Lite has a lot to offer.
little more than basic RAW adjustments. It’s The main window may look a little on the
useful for organising your images but RAW cluttered side but the
conversions can be a range of options is
pain in the backside. The PROS AND CONS second to none. In fact, PROS AND CONS
main reason for this is it even puts some of the ✔Amazing range of extra
that Nikon wants you to
✔Comes free with more expensive features such as NoiseNinja.
every Nikon D-SLR.
invest in Capture NX
✔ Excellent for
software to shame. ✔Has a set-up wizard to help
(turn the page for Download the trial you customise the software for
organising your files. your needs.
details), which is their ✘Converting RAWs is a version and give it a go
excellent commercially bit of a struggle. – we were quite ✘The layout is quite cluttered
with the multitude of options.
available software. impressed by it.

14 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR 15

RAW CONVERSION

Choosing a RAWsofco nverter APPLE

tware packages
The best RAW converter APERTURE £215
The question with Aperture was ‘can
Apple do for RAW workflow what it
did for the MP3 player?’. Well, PROS AND CONS
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 5 £70 Aperture is certainly a good stab at it.
It is one of the most stylish, well
✔Offers some clever
features, such as the
virtual loupe.
You can convert most thought-out RAW converters on the
types of RAW file using market right now but it’s doubtful that ✔Latest version can
browse multiple
Elements and it’s many amateurs will benefit from its
storage devices.
actually pretty many awesome features. It’s also
comprehensive. A aimed primarily at Mac-using pro
✘Workflow is more
suited for professionals.
RAW converter pops photographers.
up when you try to
open a RAW file,
where you can make
your adjustments and
then open the image
PROS AND CONS
✔You probably
CAPTURE
straight into Photoshop. already have
Elements installed.
ONE PRO £299
The controls are
✔Massive range of Perhaps the most comprehensive
extremely
RAW controls. RAW converter available, Capture
comprehensive and PROS AND CONS
✘Not great for One Pro offers just about
are laid out in a very ✔Offers excellent
converting batch loads everything you could want. There’s
simple and intuitive workflow for most
of RAWs. an excellent browser, and a whole
manner. photographers.
host of editing and adjustment
options that will really help you get ✔One of the most
comprehensive RAW
the best from your RAW files. It’s converters available.

NIKON CAPTURE NX £119

not the simplest package to use
but once you master it, you’ll be
✘Can be very confusing
for new users.
loathed to use anything else.
Capture NX is
something of a
revolution as RAW
converters go. The
main reasons for this ADOBE
are control points –
we think they are the
PHOTOSHOP
next big thing where
RAW converters are PROS AND CONS
CS2 £500
concerned. They offer ✔Control points have If you’re really into digital photography, PROS AND CONS
precise control over to be seen to be fully no doubt you will already have CS2 and ✔Plenty of
any part of your appreciated. there’s no surprise that it’s good for adjustment options.
image and allow you ✔Offers just about converting RAW files. The layout and ✔Produces great
unequalled editing everything you could options are pretty much the same as results with good levels
want from a RAW of sharpness.
capacity. If only it those in Elements but there are a
could convert files
converter.
couple of advanced extra options. ✘Expensive but the
from non-Nikon ✘Only converts Whether or not you’ll use options such
extra features make it
Nikon RAW files. more than worthwhile.
cameras... as Lens Correction is a different matter.

16 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR | 17

RAW CONVERSION
ing your first RAW
nvertPHOTOSHOP
CINoADOBE
ELEMENTS 5
Here’s your beginners’ guide to opening, editing and
saving your RAW files in Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.
OPEN...
In Elements all you need to do
to bring your image into the
RAW converter is open it up as
you would any other image. This
can be done by first importing
them into the Organizer, or by
opening them directly, which is
what we’ll look at here.
Open Elements and go into
the Editor by clicking on Edit and
Enhance Photos from the
Welcome screen. Now all you
need to do is go to the File
menu at the top of the screen
and click Open. Browse through
to find your RAW files, as
normal, and double click on the
picture you want to open once
you’ve located it. In Windows
XP, you may be able to see a
preview of the selected image
at the bottom of the window,
which will help you determine
whether or not you’ve got the
right picture.
18 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR
EDIT...
Working on your RAW files in
Elements is very simple as all of
the controls are pretty much on
the one screen. Down the right-
hand side you’ll see the main
controls, which adjust the
appearance of your image.
Before changing anything,
however, we’d always
3 4
recommend that you uncheck
the Auto boxes as these seldom
give good results.
1 These controls affect your
image’s white balance. The
white balance eyedropper is
located in the top-left corner of
the window.
5 a few more sliders, which
2 The Exposure and Brightness
sliders are used for fine-tuning
the exposure of the photo. The
Shadows and Contrast sliders are
mainly used for getting the
contrast of your shot just right.
Saturation is used to adjust the
strength of the colours.
3 At the top right is the Zoom
tool, which allows you to view the
fine detail. Double-click it to view
the image at 100% so every
image pixel is visible. Hold Alt and
click on the image to zoom out.
4 When zoomed in, use the Hand
tool to pan around the image to
inspect other areas.
5 The Shadows and Highlights
6 degrade the quality.
1
2
boxes show you areas of the
image that are so bright, dark or
overly saturated that detail is
being lost.
6 This can be used to change the
default positions for the sliders
and can also load the settings
from your previous conversion.
Click the Detail tab to reveal
handle the fine detail in the
image. Before you move any
of these ensure you’re
viewing your image at 100%.
SAVE...
Once you’ve finished making
adjustments don’t be
tempted to click the Save
button as all this will do is
save a copy of the image in
Adobe’s digital negative
format. Instead click OK to
open the converted RAW
straight into Photoshop – this
is great if you want to do
some more work on the
image, which is usually the
case. When you’re ready, save
the picture as you would any
other by going to File>Save
As. From the Format menu
select one of the following –
TIFF for maximum quality, PSD
if you’ve used layers and
want to keep them intact, or
JPEG to compress the images
so it takes up less disk space.
If you do decide to use JPEG
ensure that you use the
maximum quality setting and
try to only use it for images
that are ready for print as
re-saving JPEGs as JPEGs can
If you’re saving your
shots as JPEGs,
select the maximum
quality setting.
19
RAW CONVERSION

nverting your first RAW

CINoDIGITAL Click the RGB image
adjustment tab to view
more controls to enhance
SAVE...
When you’re done editing,

PHOTO PROFESSIONAL the converted RAW. Here

you gain access to a great
A good quality RAW converter need not cost the world. Here’s an introduction curves tool and also the
to Canon’s Digital Photo Professional, which comes free with its D-SLRs. option to add more colour
saturation to your image –
the other options here are
click the cross at the top-right
of the image to close the
window – don’t worry, your
changes have already been
saved. Back in DPP’s browser,
select the image or images
you want to process and click

OPEN... generally best ignored. the Batch process icon at the

top right of the screen. You’ll
When you load Digital Photo RAW and JPEG files located in now see a new window that
Professional (DPP) your screen the selected folder. First, use lets you decide the batch

should be separated into two
windows. On the left is the
directory tree (click the folders
icon if you can’t see it) and on
the right is a list of thumbnail
images displaying all of the
RAWTIP
the directory tree to find the settings. From the top, click
folder containing your RAW Browse to choose a save
images and, once the location for the images. For
To reset the RAW sliders
thumbnails have loaded up, the File format select either
and settings if you’ve
double-click one to open it into TIFF or JPEG and tick Embed
make a mistake, go to
a separate editor window. ICC profile to ensure colour
Adjustment>Revert to
accuracy. Now you have the
shot settings.
option of giving your batched
images a new name by

EDIT... ticking New file name. When

DPP is not the most intuitive package but
it’s all there if you know where to look. If
you can‘t see the tools and options at first
glance, then go to the main menu and
select View>Toolbar to bring them up. It’s
also helpful to remember that you can
either have a floating palette or a docked
one, as we have here – to achieve this go
to Tools>Preferences, click the Tools
palette tab and select Docking display.
1 At the top of the Tools palette is a
Brightness adjustment slider to change
the exposure of the image and below
this are options for setting the white
balance. You can either use the drop-
down menu of presets or click where it
says Click to directly select a neutral tone
in the image.
2 The Picture Style menu changes the
look and colours in the image to optimise
it for different situations such as
landscapes and portraits – they don’t
you’re ready, click Execute to
always work though, so use your own 4 5 save your image, which may
judgement. Try the landscape setting if take a few minutes.
1
there’s lots of blue sky in your shot.
3 Below the histogram, next to where it
says Linier, you can set the contrast of the
image. At the bottom of the dialogue box 2
are options to change the tone, colour
saturation and sharpness.
4 There is no zoom tool, so to zoom in on
your image use the options found under
the View menu or use these shortcuts –
Ctrl+1 to zoom 50%, Ctrl+2 to zoom
100%, Ctrl+3 to zoom 200% and Ctrl+4 to 3
fit the image to the window.
5 Under the Tools menu are options to
trim (crop) your image or to use the
Stamp tool, which helps remove marks
and blemishes from your RAWs. However, Select your images and
this is not as effective as the Healing then click Batch Process to
Brush Tool and Clone Stamp Tool in save your edited RAWS as
Photoshop Elements. TIFFs or JPEGs.

20 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR 21

RAW CONVERSION

CINoCAPTURE g your first RAW

nvertinONE
PRO
Learn the basics of Capture One Pro, one of the most powerful RAW packages
available, and enjoy unparalleled control and headache-free workflow.
OPEN...
Capture One contains its own file
browser, which makes the
workflow amazingly efficient.
First click on the yellow folder
icon found at the top right
above the thumbnail images.
This will bring up the directory
tree shown on the left-hand side
of the screen (see below).
Navigate through the folders
and highlight the one that
contains your RAW images.
Capture One will then look
through it and bring up a list of
preview thumbnails. Simply click
on a thumbnail image to start
working on it.
EDIT...
The majority of Capture One’s
image editing tools are found
under the tabs located at the
right of the screen. Click onto
these to see a whole bunch of
additional options and sliders in
the grey pane on the far right
of the screen. Here we’ve
clicked on the Exposure tab...
The Focus tab is used for
sharpening the fine detail. At
the top you can see a close-up
preview of an area of your
image with the sharpness
effect applied. Click on your
image to change the preview
area. The Amount slider is used
to change the intensity of the
sharpening, and Threshold is
used to reduce sharpening on
1 Click the White Balance tab smoother areas to reduce
to view a comprehensive set of visible noise.
controls for fine-tuning and
removing colour casts. With this 2 The Exposure tab contains the
option selected you can use the all-important contrast and colour
eyedropper icon, found just saturation controls, including
above the image, to select a Curve and Levels. The three
neutral tone for a quick white sliders seen at the top are for
balance correction. exposure compensation (EC),
contrast (CC) and colour
saturation (CS or Sat).
3 3 Above the main image
preview you have controls for
rotating your image, zooming in
and out of your image, and
1 cropping them down. The
majority of the other icons here
2 are used for toggling various
preview modes on and off so are
not as important – hover over
these to reveal a brief insight into
what they do.
SAVE...
To save your image, you must
first click the Process tab.
Enter a title for the image and
then select either TIFF of JPEG
from the File format menu.
Now click on the icon, which
looks like an open folder – it’s
the second icon from the left
under the Batch Editor
heading. This will bring up a
dialogue box that allows you
to choose where you want to
save your images. Either click
on the Select folder and
browse to choose your own
save location, or just click
Inside active collection, which
will create a Develops folder
in the same location as your
original RAW files. Click OK to
go back and click the icon on
the left, which looks like a red
cross hovering above a
rectangle. Your image will
begin processing and will be
saved into the chosen folder.

Before you can process your

pics make sure you choose a
folder to save them in. Click on
the green folder icon to do this.

22 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR 23

IMAGE ENHANCEMENT

Dull. Drab. Lifeless. But it’s

nothing a few tweaks on a RAW
conversion software package
can’t solve. A little saturation
enhancement here, a quick
exposure tweak there and, hey
presto, a brand new shot.

SHOOTING RAW ON YOUR D-SLR

Image
enhancement
To maximise the potential of every image you’ll need to
familiarise yourself with the white balance, exposure and
contrast, saturation and sharpening controls. Here’s how...
IMAGE ENHANCEMENT

White balance
AUTO WB

The ability to fine-tune the colour of your images is
one of the main advantages of shooting RAW. This
gives you the option of either getting a result that
accurately matches the colour of the original scene or,
just like using warm-up and cooling-down filters, to
create a particular mood or feel to your image.
Almost all RAW processing software gives you three
main ways of adjusting the white balance. As with
your camera, you can select from a range of preset
options such as daylight or cloudy, but unless you
forget to set it on your camera when you take the
shot, these don’t offer many advantages over shooting
JPEG. The two other options are to select a colour
temperature and tint using sliders, or using an
eyedropper to take a measurement from a neutral
area of your image.
There are pros and cons for all three options, but the
great thing about this is that you can always use a
combination of options to get the result you want. The
presets are the simplest to use, but offer few of the
creative or subtle adjustments of the individual sliders.
Using the color temperature sliders offers full control
and creativity, but relies on your judgment (and an
accurate monitor) to get the right results. And to make
use of the eyedropper you need a neutral tone in your
image to take a reading from. Let’s take a look at the
best way to use white balance to produce both neutral
and more creative results…

Auto white balance can work with

Neutral or correct white balance
Matching the white balance to
the light source is the key to
getting neutral results. Using the
pre-set options will usually get
you close to the right colours,
although you’ll find that fine-
tuning the colour temperature
and tint sliders will allow you to
further fine-tune the results. This
does rely on your judgement and
an accurate screen though.
A better option, assuming
there’s a neutral grey or white
area in your image, is to use the
eyedropper tool. This is more
accurate and controllable than
using a basic automatic function,
as you can choose the area that
the software samples from. You
simply click the eyedropper on a
neutral area in the image and the
software does the rest.
some subjects, but in this case the
large area of blue has caused the
This technique relies on colour of the image to be too warm.
selecting the right area to take a
reading from, and even areas
that look neutral can contain
different coloured pixels, so you DAYLIGHT WB
will often find it easier if you
zoom in on the neutral area to
make sure that you click on the
right tone. It won’t always get it
right first time, so don’t be afraid
to click on the area a few times.

RAWTIP
When using light or dark
neutral areas with the
eyedropper make sure that
the tones are within the
exposure limits of the image.
You can’t take readings from
burnt-out highlights or Similar to setting the white balance
When using the white balanct eyou shadows without any detail. on your camera, RAW converters
eyedropper make sure tha t to You’ll get the best results from offer preset options but you can
choose an area that you wange. grey subjects, or white ones adjust them to suit your image.
appear neutral in your ima that still contain some detail.

26 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR 27

IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
White balance
Creative white balance
Film photographers have been
manipulating colour by their
choice of film and filters for
years. So while neutral images
are technically correct, they
aren’t always right for the
subject or result that you want.
Adjusting the white balance of
your RAW files gives you the
option of warming up or cooling
down the colour of your images
without having to worry about
using filters.
DAYLIGHT WB
Choosing the correct preset
white balance for a neutral
result doesn’t always give
the best result.
28 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR
The simplest way to achieve
this is to use the preset white
balance settings. So for a sunset
or sunrise choose the cloudy
preset to add a little extra
warmth or shade for a more
pronounced effect. While these
presets offer a good starting
point, you can get even greater
control by using the colour
temperature and tint sliders to
precisely adjust the colour of
your images.
WARMER
Using a higher colour
temperature has a similar
effect to adding an 81B
warm-up filter.
With the colour temperature
slider, increasing the colour
temperature will produce
warmer results, and reducing it
will give cooler looking images.
The tint slider is used to adjust
the amount of green or magenta
in the image – moving it to the
right adds magenta that can be
useful for some sunrise or sunset
images, while moving it to the
left adds green.
COOLER
For a cooler look select a
lower colour temperature
setting to give your image
a blue tone.
AUTO WB EYEDROPPER
Mixed light
sources
One of the most difficult
situations to deal with is when
you are shooting under lighting
with different colour
temperatures. The automatic
setting can often give acceptable
results, but taking a sample from
a neutral or white area using the
eyedropper tool gives you more
control and more convincing
results. Choose an area that is lit
by all or as many light sources as
possible and click the
eyedropper to find the most
convincing colour possible.
RAWTIP
After adjusting the white balance make Red shows
sure that you check the exposure, as it can the burnt-out
affect the distribution of tones in your highlights, while
image. This can mean highlights that still blue shows the
retained detail at one white balance shadow areas
setting can be pushed into overexposure lacking detail.
when you change the colour temperature.
29
IMAGE ENHANCEMENT

Exposure
ENHANCED EXPOSURE

The exposure controls available in your RAW converter
are really a means of fine-tuning your images, rather
than a replacement for getting it right in-camera. This
is because there are limits to the range of adjustments
that you can apply to the exposure before you start to
affect the quality of the image. Also, although you can
retrieve more shadow and highlight detail than you
can from a JPEG image, it’s still limited, especially in
the highlights. So although you still need to get the
exposure as close as possible when shooting, here’s
what you can achieve with most RAW converters.
The first and most obvious control for adjusting the
exposure is usually an exposure compensation (or just
exposure) slider. This works in a similar way to
changing the exposure in-camera – slide the marker to
the right to make the image brighter or to the left to
make it darker. Many are also marked in stops just like
the exposure compensation on your camera.
The other controls available vary between software
packages, but are mainly there to control your images’
shadow detail, contrast and overall tonal distribution.
These controls will either take the form of sliders for
most adjustments, or curves for adjusting the contrast
and tones.

BASIC EXPOSURE ADJUSTMENT

The RAW converter in Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 uses sliders for all
adjustments, and works most effectively when used in the following order:

1 Exposure
Firstly, carefully adjust the Exposure
slider to get the highlights correctly
exposed. To do this move the slider
to the left or right until you can just
make out detail in the brightest
areas of your image.
2 Shadows
Once the highlights are correct you
can then move the Shadows slider
to the right to darken the shadows
if necessary. Again, it’s usually best
to move this until you can just make
out detail in the darkest areas of
your image.
3 Brightness
Similar to the Exposure slider, the
Brightness control lightens or
darkens your image when moved to
the left or right. The difference is
that unlike the Exposure control it
compresses either the highlights or
shadows to retain as much detail in
these as possible.
4 Contrast
This slider controls the contrast of
your image by adjusting the
ORIGINAL EXPOSURE
midtone contrast. Moving it to the
right increases contrast, while
moving it to the left reduces it.

SHADOW AND HIGHLIGHT CLIPPING

Although you can get an excellent idea of the exposure adjustments
needed on the preview image, most RAW converters also feature
warning facilities to ensure that you don’t lose highlight or shadow
detail. In Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 you can switch these on by using
the tick boxes at the top of the screen. These then display lost highlights
in red and shadows in blue. Rather than have these displays on all the
time, you can also hold down the Alt key while adjusting the exposure
or shadow sliders, and only the warnings will appear on the preview.

30 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR | 31

IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
UNPROCESSED RAW

Contrast
UNPROCESSED RAW
Most correctly exposed shots won’t need much
adjustment in your RAW converter. The exposure
controls come into their own when you want to make
the most of high or low contrast scenes that are almost
impossible to get right in-camera. Here’s how to use
the adjustments to deal with these types of shots…
DEALING WITH LOW
CONTRAST SCENES
Many average scenes can look a little flat and low
contrast when shooting in RAW. You’ll find that you
can boost the contrast a little to give your shots more
punch by adjusting them in your RAW converter. This
is where the Exposure, Shadow and Contrast sliders
really prove their worth. Follow these simple steps...

1 Highlights and shadows 2 Contrast

DEALING WITH HIGH With low contrast scenes you’ll find The Brightness slider generally

CONTRAST SCENES that you need to boost both the

highlights and the shadows to get
doesn’t need much adjustment
with low contrast images, but you
RAW files can contain much more highlight and results with more impact. Move the may want to give the image
shadow detail than JPEGs, so they can produce much Exposure slider until the brightest more punch by increasing the
better results when the brightness range of the scene highlights just retain some detail, Contrast slider until you are happy
exceeds the tonal range available from your digital then move the Shadow slider to with the image in the preview
camera. Follow these steps to enhance your images... the right until the darkest areas just window. How far you go with
start to lose detail. these adjustments is very much
down to personal preference,
1 Highlights PROCESSED RAW although watch out for noise if
and shadows your original image was
The first steps to underexposed.
making the most of
high contrast subjects PROCESSED RAW
is to adjust the
Exposure and Shadow
sliders so that the
maximum amount of
detail is shown in the image. You’ll usually find that you
have to reduce the Exposure slider, and this will often
mean that the Shadow slider can be set to zero as the
exposure adjustment will naturally give dark shadows.

2 Contrast
Once you’ve got the maximum highlight and shadow
detail you can then use the Brightness and Contrast
sliders to adjust the image. If most of the image is too
dark you can increase the Brightness slider to
compensate. You will
also find that reducing
the Contrast slider will
RAWTIP
help you to get the RAW files are much better at retaining shadow noise will be visible in the image. This becomes
maximum detail detail than highlights, so many people tend to even more visible if you boost the saturation and
through the whole underexpose their digital images to err on the apply high amounts of sharpening to your results.
tonal range (reducing safe side. This is generally a good idea, but be So when exposing your RAW images try to shoot
it too much can make careful not to underexpose your shots too much, so that the highlights just retain detail rather than
your image look flat). as the more you try to lighten the image the more simply underexposing every shot.

32 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR 33

IMAGE ENHANCEMENT

Saturation
FINAL IMAGE
OVER-
SATURATED
As the image is taken straight from the START IMAGE COLOURS
sensor without any in-camera processing, Take care not to go too far
even the most perfectly exposed RAW image when increasing saturation in
of a brightly coloured subject can look a little your RAW files. With brightly
flat and dull. Like most other aspects of RAW coloured subjects it’s easy for
processing the solution is simple, and can certain areas to go over the top
produce higher quality results than trying to and lose detail. In this example
boost the saturation of JPEG images. some of the red areas in
A saturation slider is the most common particular have become
control for this in RAW conversion software. unsightly blocks of colour.
The adjustments that you make to the
saturation of your images are largely down to
personal preference. You can move the slider
to the right for punchy, highly saturated
images, or you can move the slider to the left
to remove saturation, and even produce
mono results in most software packages.
Be aware that there are some pitfalls to
watch out for when increasing the saturation
of your images. Similar to adjusting the
exposure, increasing the saturation too much
will mean you’ll start to lose detail in the
brightest areas. Trying to boost the colour of a
low saturation original too much can also
BOOSTING COLOUR
Getting the saturation right in your RAW converter gives
cause noise in the final image. you better quality than later adjustments in Photoshop.
These problems aside, it’s still a better
quality option than boosting the saturation of Too much saturation
a JPEG, so here’s how to get the most out of 1 Adjust the 2 Adjust the saturation can result in blocking.
the saturation controls in Adobe Photoshop exposure, Once you’ve adjusted the
Elements 5… contrast and exposure you can start adjusting
white balance the colour saturation. For most
If you adjust the images you’ll find a value of
saturation first you’ll between +5 and +30 will be

RAWTIP find it difficult to get

your colours right, so
enough to give the colours a
boost. Increasing the saturation
Remember that the appearance of the before you change the can cause changes to the overall
end result isn’t just down to saturation. saturation make sure exposure, so it’s also useful to
It’s also a combination of using the the contrast, exposure tick the highlight clipping
exposure, contrast and saturation and white balance are warning box at the top of the
controls. There’s no point simply correct. They don’t screen which shows when the
boosting the saturation without have to be precisely colours have gone too far.
adjusting the other controls to get the right, but ensure that
most out of your image. So once you’ve the image contains a
made the initial saturation adjustments full range of tones
go back and check the exposure and with no blown
contrast again. highlights or shadows.

34 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR 35

IMAGE ENHANCEMENT

Sharpening
FINISHED IMAGE

Like many of the adjustments available with RAW,
sharpening can be applied in image-editing software
such as Photoshop. But applying it during the RAW
conversion stage produces sharper-looking images and
better quality results without increasing noise when
compared to JPEG or TIFF files. Even so, it’s always best
to apply the minimum amount of sharpening to your
images necessary to bring out detail, otherwise you’ll
still end up with noisy, over-sharpened results. Most
RAW conversion software packages offer a choice of
sharpening settings that use either presets such as
low, medium and high, or a slider control. Here’s how
to use the sharpening controls in Adobe Photoshop
Elements 5…

APPLYING SHARPNESS
RAW images can look a little soft when you come to print them,
but you need to get the settings right to avoid increased noise.

The controls in Elements 5 use a NO SHARPENING WITH SHARPENING

simple slider to apply the
amount of sharpening to your
image. For most RAW images a
value of between 20 and 40
will give your shots enough
sharpening without introducing
too much noise.
The Luminance Smoothing
and Color Noise Reduction
sliders can normally be left on
their default settings of 0 and
25 for most images shot at low
ISO settings. You can increase
these for images shot at higher
ISO settings on your camera,
but the Luminance Smoothing
slider in particular tends to blur
fine detail. This means that you TOO MUCH SHARPNESS
have to apply more sharpening Using high values of
sharpening can
OVER-SHARPENING
to try to overcome this, which
introduces more noise, so they cause ‘halos’ around
cancel each other out and you’ll the detail and
still get less actual detail in your increased noise, so
final image. don’t overdo it. It’s
tempting to use
these settings, but
using values above
50 on the Sharpness
slider in Elements 5
can lead to noise
and image quality
problems.

36 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR 37

EXTRA SETTINGS

SHOOTING RAW ON YOUR D-SLR

Extra settings
It’s time to discover a few more advanced settings that
will improve workflow, help you extract a greater range
of tones and find even more detail in your RAW files...

Shooting into the light was always

going to result in too much contrast.
But we can use the more advanced
RAW converter features to sort this.
EXTRA SETTINGS

Advanced LEVELS CURVES

ENHANCED RAW

contrast
Probably the easier of the two tools to get to grips Using Curves is more of an art
with, Levels is mainly used for setting the black than a science and mastering it
and white points in the image. This means that takes a bit of practice, but once

adjustments
we’re ensuring our darkest tones are black and you have you’ll have access to
the brightest tones are white, rather then varying one of the most powerful contrast
tones of grey as they often are in low contrast tools available. Curves enables
scenes. The effect of this is one that you’ll never you to change the brightness of
get tired of. The contrast will be lifted and you’ll different tones in your image by
have much more clarity and punch in your shots – changing the shape of the
One of the most exciting things about RAW is that you colours and shapes become much stronger as the curve. This is done by ORIGINAL RAW
have access to extra highlight and shadow detail difference between tones is exaggerated. simply clicking and
that’s not available in the equivalent JPEG image. But To gauge where to set the black and white dragging on the diagonal
that’s not the end of the story because the knock-on points we use the histogram, which is essentially line to add in little
affect of this is that there is a greater range of tones just a fancy bar chart. Look for gaps between the anchor points. The best
available in the midtones too. With all this extra body of the graph and edges of the bounding way to learn what’s
picture information available to us it would be a box, like the one shown here. If you spot any, going on is to try it out
shame not to make the most of it. So it’s time to bring then all you need to do is drag the sliders at the for yourself, but to get
out the big guns. When it comes to contrast, you may bottom corners of the histogram in to meet the you started here are a
not be restricted to just moving a couple of simple edges of the ‘mountain range’. With some few of the most useful
sliders. Packages such as Canon Digital Photo software there is also a third slider found in the shapes to try out…
Professional and Capture One Pro offer more advanced middle, which sets the brightness of the mid-
Levels and Curves controls that allow us to balance the tones. Drag it to the left to make them lighter or
contrast in even the most challenging scenes. to the right to darken them. Curve
up/
down
ENHANCED RAW A simple
curve like
this will
brighten
the midtones without affecting
the very dark tones or highlights
too much. Conversely, dragging
the line down to create the
opposite curve will darken the
midtones and make them richer.
Align the sliders
with the edges of ‘S’ curve Inverse
the histogram for This is ‘S’ curve
improved contrast. probably
the most
useful
Great for
contrasty
shots.
RAWTIP
If you have a landscape with a
shape. A Pulling up bright sky and dark foreground
ORIGINAL RAW simple ‘S’ the bottom you can convert two versions
will darken the dark tones and of the graph brightens the of the same image, one
brighten the lighter tones, shadows, while the top anchor exposed for the sky and the
increasing the midtone contrast. point ensures the highlights are other for the foreground, and
The deeper the ‘S’ the stronger not affected. Make sure the curve merge them in Photoshop
the effect. doesn’t flatten out in the middle. using a large soft-edged Eraser.

40 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR 41

EXTRA SETTINGS
There’s more...
Here are just a handful of the more advanced controls, options and
features that the leading RAW converters offer. Master these and you’ll
gain even more control over your images.
16-bit or 8-bit
Most converters give you the
option of saving your images as
8-bit or 16-bit TIFFs, while
Photoshop lets you choose the bit
depth before opening. On direct
comparison you probably won’t
notice any difference, but you just
have to know what to look for.
You may already know that
standard colour images offer 256
levels of brightness for each
channel – Red, Green and Blue.
This equates to 256 different
shades of grey. This is fine for the
majority of images because the
difference between tones is so
minimal that the pictures appear
perfectly smooth to the naked
eye. Problems arise, however, if
you want to make radical contrast
adjustments in Photoshop. The
difference between the grey
tones is exaggerated and the
42 | Shooting RAW on your D-SLR
Preserve your
colours
No matter what colour space
you use, you need to make sure
that Photoshop is looking at
your profile so it’s displaying
accurate colours. If you get a
warning when opening a picture
that says something along the
lines of ‘Embedded Profile
Mismatch’, select Use the
embedded profile and click OK.
smooth gradated areas turn into
obvious blocks of discrete colour –
this is known as banding.
16-bit files cope with this
much better. They contain double
the amount of information and
offer a whopping 65,536 shades Choosing the TAG YOUR
BEST IMAGES
of grey. With a tonality this
smooth, you’re much less likely to
right colour space Most browsers allow you to
experience problems with Colour space is a subject that will require this standard, as it contains flag, tag or check your
banding. 16-bit is ideal for any leave all but the most enthusiastic a wider range of colours. It’s also favourite images as you’re
images that you really want to and technical photographers stone useful if you want to do a lot of looking through them. This
push to the limits in Photoshop, cold. However, it is important to editing to your images in allows you to quickly see
or for black & white conversions know the basics because accurate Photoshop, as it’ll help to preserve which ones you want to work
where the tonal quality is much and attractive colours hang in the colour accuracy. on and save. There’s usually an
more important. There are balance. There are loads of different icon or menu item that will tag
drawbacks though. 16-bit files are colour spaces to choose from (also sRGB IEC61966-2.1 any pictures that you have
twice the size of 8-bit files and known as profiles) but there are It’s not the most catchy name to selected. If you want to process
there’s a limit to what you can only two you really need to know… remember, admittedly, but sRGB is the tagged images all at once,
actually do to a 16-bit picture. the best option for the majority of there’s usually a menu option
You won’t be able to access many Adobe 1998 us. It’s particularly useful if the that will automatically select
of the filters in Photoshop until This is mainly for the professional’s image is for web use or is ready to all tagged images so you can
you convert back to 8-bit. among us. Most image libraries be printed. click to batch process them.
43