How to properly process raw files. Adobe Camera Raw

Article text updated: 02/15/2019

The blog is already 4 years old. During this time, quite a few lessons for beginner amateur photographers have been published on its pages, having mastered which you can significantly improve the quality of your photos. Perhaps it's time to talk about why it's almost impossible to get the perfect shot when photographing in JPEG. Today's photography tutorial is designed for complete beginners: we will reveal the secrets of why the pictures of experienced photographers often look juicier and sharper, even if they shoot with the exact same camera and lens that you have in your camera bag.

Something after returning from I can not write short articles. Get ready, there will be a lot of text below. So that you do not drown in it, I will first give the content.

1.0. RAW vs JPEG formats. Advantages and disadvantages

The debate over whether to shoot RAW or JPEG seems like a never ending discussion in photography. Some photographers prefer RAW, others prefer JPEG. What is the RAW format in digital photography? What are the advantages and disadvantages of RAW over JPEG and why? Should we shoot in RAW or JPEG format? Will shooting in RAW complicate post-processing? Here are some of the most common questions new amateur photographers ask when they buy their first DSLR or mirrorless camera and learn how to set it up. Hopefully, having a full understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of both formats, photographers can decide whether to use RAW in their work.

Note. Hereinafter, in the description of the settings when shooting, the following order is used: 1/100 - shutter speed in seconds, 9.0 - aperture, 100 - ISO value, 22 - focal length in millimeters. All shots in this tutorial were taken on an entry-level amateur DSLR Nikon D5100 with the simplest Nikon 18-55mm f / 3.5-5.6G AF-S VR DX kit lens.

I remember the first time I looked through the camera settings and read the manual for the Nikon D5100, thinking about what the NEF file (as Nikon refers to RAV) is for and why I should use it. JPEG is the default image format used in most compact cameras and we are all very familiar with it, view and share JIPEG images online and upload/download them to our and our mobile devices.

But I wanted to know something about RAW right away. Maybe it was the word “raw” (so you can translate the meaning of this word from English), which sounded intriguing, maybe it was the desire to definitely get the sharpest, highest quality and best photos. Regardless of what it was, I changed the image quality to "RAW+F" in the camera settings (shooting in NEF + JPEG excellent quality) and tried to take a picture.

The first thing I noticed was how small my memory card got. Wait a minute! Why did the number of photos decrease from 959 to 270? Did the LCD look exactly the same, but take up three times as much memory? I was disappointed. Then I took the memory card and inserted it into my computer. To my surprise, in the folder each file is presented in two forms: JPEG and NEF. And I couldn't even open that NEF! It's good that I didn't decide: "This is no good, we should leave only JPEG" - because later, when I learned how to work in an NEF editing program called Lightroom, I redid all the frames again.

Sounds familiar? If you are in a similar situation, do not immediately give up RAW, in the future you will bite your elbows. We really need to understand all the advantages and disadvantages of both formats before making a decision so that we don't regret it later.

1.1. What is the RAW format?

RAW images, also known as "digital negatives", are actually raw files taken directly from the camera's sensor. They are really "raw", like iron ore that needs to be processed to get pig iron or steel. Unlike JPEG files, which can be easily opened, viewed, and printed by most image viewing and editing programs, RAW is a proprietary format that is tied to the camera manufacturer and sensor, and is therefore not supported by all software products.

RAV files retain the most image information and typically contain more colors and cover a wider dynamic range than JPEG images. To display the recorded image on the camera's LCD, RAW files usually consist of two parts - the actual RAW data from the camera sensor and the processed JPEG image for preview. Many image viewing applications, including the camera screen, then use this JPEG embedded in the RAW file to display it.

1.2. Benefits of the RAW format

1. Compared to 8-bit JPEG, which can contain up to 256 shades of red, green, and blue (16.8 million in total), 12-bit RAW images contain the most information, with 4,096 shades of red, green, and blue (equivalent to 68 billion flowers!) or even more. On the Nikon D610, I can record 14-bit RAW files, which is equivalent to about 4.3 trillion. possible colors. This is just a huge number compared to 16 million!
2. RAW files contain the widest dynamic range (the ratio between maximum and minimum brightness of highlights and shadows) and can then be used to restore underexposed or overexposed images or parts of an image.
3. When creating a RAW image, all shooting parameters (also called metadata or EXIF), including information about a particular camera and manufacturer, are simply added to the file. This means that the image itself remains unchanged - the settings are provided as information only, and you can make any changes to them later in post-processing applications such as Lightroom and Photoshop. This is a huge advantage of using RAW, because if we accidentally apply the wrong setting (like white balance) in the camera, we will have the opportunity to change it later.
4. Due to the number of colors stored in RAW images, the type of color space set in the camera settings (sRGB or Adobe RGB) is also not important when shooting in RAW format - we can change it to any value during processing.
5. Unlike JPEG, RAW files use lossless compression, meaning they do not suffer from image compression artifacts.
6. When shooting in RAW, there is no sharpening of the image, which means that you can use better and more complex algorithms on your computer to do this.
7. RAV files can be used as proof of your authorship and the authenticity (unmodified) of the image. If you met a bigfoot in the taiga and took a picture in RAW, no one will be able to tell that you used Photoshop to add a humanoid to the photo. 🙂

1.3. Disadvantages of the RAW format

1. RAW files require post-processing and conversion before viewing, which adds significant time to the process of obtaining photos.
2. RAW takes up much more camera memory and flash drive space than JPEG. This means that the card can store fewer images and the camera's buffer may fill up quickly, resulting in slower shooting speed. To work with RAV images, we also need more RAM and a lot more disk space on the computer.
3. RAW files do not have a common standard across manufacturers. For example, Nikon software cannot read RAW files from a Canon camera and vice versa. Also, not all image viewers and editors can open RAW files. If we have a brand new camera that has just been released for sale, it may take some time for the software companies to update it to support our model. Here are the main designations of the RAV format from different manufacturers: NEF - from Nikon; CRW, CR2 for Canon cameras, ARW, SRF and SR2 for Sony, RAF for Fujifilm, ORF for Olympus, RW2 for Panasonic, PTX, PEF for Pentax, SRW for Samsung, 3FR for Hasselblad (if there are owners of these medium format cameras that do not know what RAW is) and DNG is a universal Adobe format.
4. We will need to convert RAW files to a compatible format such as JPEG or TIFF before we can show them to friends and clients as they may not have the right viewers.
5. Since RAW files cannot be processed by third party software, the settings must be saved in a separate XMP file, which means more storage space and more complicated file management (unless we convert our RAW files to DNG format).
6. Due to the size of RAW images, the archiving and backup procedure takes much longer.

1.4. What is JPEG?

Today, JPEG is the most popular format, capable of displaying millions of colors in a highly compressed file. JPEG uses a "lossy" compression method, which means that certain information is removed from the image. For this format, different compression ratios (in percentage) are applied, which affects the quality and size of the image. The more details saved, the larger the file.

1.5. Benefits of the JPEG format

1. JPEG images are processed in-camera and all settings such as white balance, color saturation, tone curves, sharpness and color space are already taken into account in the image. So you don't have to spend time post-processing the image - all you need to do is extract the image from the memory card and it's ready to use.
2. Jeeps are much smaller than RAW files, and therefore the former take up much less memory and require much less processing power.
3. Due to their smaller size, cameras can write JPEG files much faster, which increases the camera's buffer space. This means that compared to RAW, we can shoot faster and for longer periods of time.
4. Most modern devices and programs support the Jpeg format, which makes it convenient to use.
5. Digital cameras support various compression and size options for JPEG files, which gives us the ability to choose between image quality and image size.
6. Smaller file size also means faster copying.

1.6. Disadvantages of the JPEG format

1. The "lossy" compression algorithm means that we lose some detail from the photos. This loss of detail, especially in highly compressed files, will show up as "artifacts" in images and be quite noticeable to the eye.
2. JPEG images are 8-bit, which imposes a limit of 16 million possible colors. This means that all other colors that the camera is capable of producing are essentially discarded when the image is converted to jeep format.
3. JPEG images also have a narrower dynamic range than RAW images, which means that recovering overexposed/underexposed images and shadows will be difficult, if not impossible.
4. Since the cameras process jeep images completely, any errors in camera setup will be almost irreversible. For example, if we sharpen too much, we will not be able to do the reverse transformation later.

1.7. Which format to choose, RAW or JPEG?

Let's move on to the most important question: should we use RAW or JPEG?

For me, the benefits of shooting in RAW far outweigh the benefits of using JPEG. File storage devices are relatively inexpensive these days and I don't worry about file size even when backing up. Since I already spend a significant amount of time on photography, I don't mind spending a little more time and effort on photo editing. True, if I had to process images in Photoshop one by one, I would refuse RAW altogether, because I would not have time to process several hundred photos from each trip. Thanks to great post-processing programs like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, we can work with images in batch mode and spend a minimum amount of time on individual post-processing (when necessary) - for example, my record is 600 shots in 3 hours.

But processing time and file size are not that big of an issue compared to being able to recover details from RAW files. Like other photographers, I've had situations with bad lighting where I couldn't trust the camera and didn't have time to adjust the exposure, resulting in poorly exposed images. If I shot in JPEG, such details would be irretrievably lost, and I would get poor quality photos. But since I shoot in RAW, I can easily adjust the exposure and other settings and get a good shot. This makes a huge difference, especially in the case of rare, exceptional moments that cannot be recaptured.

Let's look at this frame:

I made a mistake and the image above is underexposed by 1 to 1.5 stops. But thanks to the fact that I shot in RAW, in the Lightroom program you can almost completely restore the loss of detail. Below on the right is a restored RAW frame (I increased the "exposure" and "fill light" in Lightroom, masked the light sky and darkened it).

As you can see, the frame on the right contains a lot more color and detail than the frame on the left. The color change in the shadows is especially noticeable because the JPEG file is 8-bit and contains much less information to restore colors and details. If we take a picture that is underexposed by 2 stops or even more, we will see that it is almost impossible to restore it from JPEG, while from RAW we can get some of the colors and details.

Another common problem besides exposure is getting the white balance right. If it is poorly configured, then in this case we will get a poor-quality photo.

The image above was taken with standard camera settings.

In any case, my take on the RAW versus JPEG debate is that if we take our passion for photography seriously and plan to sell or showcase our work in the future, we should shoot in RAW. If you shoot photos for a family archive or fun, and there is no time for post-processing, then you can limit yourself to JPEG.

2.0. How do I edit my photos?

In this article, I will explain what post-processing is and what steps it consists of in digital photography. It must be taken into account that the technique of work can be very different for different photographers, since there are so many variables and there is no standard workflow that would suit everyone. Therefore, the information presented here should be used only as a guide, so that you can generally understand what photo processing is. It is up to us to choose the most optimal processing method for our needs.

The photos in today's article were taken in November 2012, when my wife and I flew on vacation to Mexico with a one and a half day stopover in New York. I had a Nikon D5100 KIT 18-55 VR camera with me. I didn’t really understand the settings, so I usually shot in scene mode: “Portrait”, “Landscape”, “Night landscape”, etc.

On vacation, I always take pictures in two formats: “RAW + F”, that is, each frame is presented on a flash drive with two frames: NEF and in-camera JPEG with a low compression ratio (I view it in the hotel on a netbook in the evenings).

Since when shooting in RAV, such parameters as white balance (WB), the degree of elaboration of shadows and highlights (the main thing is that there is no clipping), my Jeep comes out of the camera is not as beautiful as it could be if I would specifically introduce settings for the situation: the correct WB, using the Active D-Lighting function to “pull out” details from dark areas of the image, etc.

Nevertheless, I think that a beginner who is too lazy to read the instructions for the camera and understand the settings in practice, get approximately the same JPEG pictures as you will see below. I hope my NEF photo processing examples will show you the potential for better image quality in your camera.

2.1. Processing in digital photography

Processing in this case is all stages of working with digital images from shooting to presentation to the audience. It consists of a series of interrelated steps designed by photographers to simplify and streamline their work. Simplification and standardization are two key words, as a well-established image processing workflow not only helps you simplify and speed up your imaging workflow, but also helps you stay organized, increase efficiency, and keep your work consistent. The number of steps in this process may vary, but they are generally as follows:

1. Camera setup and shooting.
2. Copying images to a computer.
3. Importing pictures into the processing program.
4. Organizing and sorting images.
5. Post-processing.
6. Export images.
7. Backup.
8. Printing or publishing photos on the Internet.

Let's consider each of the steps separately.

2.2. Camera setup and shooting

The process of capturing a picture starts with the camera, so the settings and how we take pictures will definitely affect the workflow. For example, if we're shooting in RAW format, the workflow will be a bit more complicated than if we're shooting in JPEG. Why? Because RAV files need to be processed before they can be printed or published. Also, RAW files take up a lot of memory, which will certainly slow down their import, export, and backup.

If you shoot in Jeep format, then you need to decide which color profile to use, compression and file size, white balance, and so on. Both options have their advantages and disadvantages, but we will have to decide which is better in this case.

To get a high-quality image, even before pressing the camera shutter button, the photographer must adjust many processing parameters: white balance, Picture Control mode (it includes sharpness, contrast, brightness, saturation, tint), the degree of lightening of shadows (Active D-lighting ) and how strong the noise reduction will be.

The names "Picture Control" and "Active D-lighting" refer to the processing menu items in Nikon cameras. In Canon EOS cameras, these are "Picture Styles" and "Auto Lighting Optimizer", respectively. In Sony mirrorless cameras, the shadow highlighting feature is called DRO (Dynamic Range Optimization). In Fujifilm X mirrorless cameras, shadow processing is set by three items: "DR", "H tone" and "S tone" in the "Q" (quick menu) quick settings menu.

In addition, if we decide to shoot HDR or panoramas, we will have to photograph a series of frames, which adds another point to the processing process - HDR images or panorama stitching. Therefore, we should decide in advance which camera settings we want to use and how we will shoot.

2.3. Copying images to a computer

There are many ways to transfer images to a computer. The first step is to connect an SD or CompactFlash memory card using a card reader or USB cable.

The second is the actual process of copying files from a card or camera to a computer. This can be done in many ways. You can copy files to a specific folder on your hard drive using the operating system, or use programs such as Adobe Bridge, Lightroom, or Aperture to do this.

Many photographers prefer to use the second method for importing. They rely on Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for this, and this application greatly simplifies the workflow because many of the steps in this article are done within a single program.

For each photo session, I create a separate folder, which I name according to the following principle: “Year, month, date, keyword”. Within each of them there can be subsections: “Photos in JPEG”, “Photos in RAW”. In the example in the picture above, my section is called “2017 04 22 Photo Editing”.

2.4. Importing pictures into the processing program

This step depends on how we transfer the pictures to the computer, because some programs perform this procedure in one step. For example, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Apple Aperture both copy images to a computer and import them into a catalog, saving us time.

The advantage of using such software is that you can customize the import process and add certain keywords, metadata to the images and even set some presets for each image on import, which will save even more processing time.

The picture above shows that when importing photos into Lightroom, you can select the necessary frames and import only them. The second approach is to load all the available photos from this section into the editor in order to sort them later at the next processing step. The third is to pre-select the desired frames by viewing them in a special RAV viewer program called "FastStone Image Viewer"; delete defective and duplicate ones, leave only the best ones, with which to work in the future.

2.5. Organizing and sorting images

Once the images are on our computer, we must decide how to organize and sort them so that they are not scattered all over the hard drive. Adobe Photoshop's Lightroom and Aperture programs offer various ways to manage your photo catalog.

We can do everything from adding keywords to ranking favorite images with stars, color-coding images, creating custom image groups, and more. In Lightroom and Aperture, all image information is stored in a database, making it very easy to find an image. It's also a good way to quickly review photos and spot bad, blurry, and out-of-focus shots. Now let's move on to the next step - post-processing images.

The Lightroom program has the ability to rate with "asterisks" and flags to highlight different categories of images: 1) photos that we process first; 2) pictures that we don’t touch yet, but we won’t delete from the computer either; 3) unnecessary frames that we will delete.

To be honest, after I flagged defective frames a couple of times, and then accidentally deleted the originals from the first category along with them, I don’t use this tool. Most often, I use approach number 3 described in the previous section: I looked at RAW in the viewer, immediately deleted the marriage (cropped hands, closed eyes, blurry frames, repeated shots, etc.) and uploaded only the necessary photos to Lightroom so as not to waste time to deal with mediocre staff. The FastStone Image Viewer shows my NEF photos faster than Lightroom.

2.6. Photo post-processing

Now that we have organized the photos on the computer using the selected application, it is time to process them. Is this step necessary if the image already looks good straight from the camera? I think it's definitely needed if we shoot in RAW, and it probably won't hurt if we shoot in JPEG, since most images will still need some work to make them better ().

Let's try to show a few examples of the RAW processing sequence in Lightroom, so that it is clear how powerfully this program can affect image quality.

An example of processing in Lightroom No. 1. urban landscape

Have you noticed that the term “in-camera JPEG” is constantly found in the text? It means that this is a photograph obtained from the camera "without processing" when shooting in a Jeep. I put the phrase “no processing” in quotation marks, because the generally accepted opinion among beginners that the picture is not processed in the camera is a profound misconception - in the next section I will explain why.

What I don't like about this picture:

• When reducing the size for a blog post (up to 1400px on the long side), the sharpness of the image decreased.
• The horizon is littered - you need to align the photo so that the Brooklyn Bridge does not stand tilted.
• There is not enough contrast, the study of clouds in the blue sky.

Let's start post-processing. First, let's align the horizon with the Ruler tool in one click and crop the photo the way we want. In the "Geometric Distortions" section, we will correct the distortion caused by shooting at a wide angle with the lens tilted.

Secondly, we will apply the preliminary image quality settings that I read in the post-processing lesson from the famous photographer and traveler Sergey Doli:

• We increase the clarity of the image: Clarity +17;
• We increase the saturation of secondary colors: Vibrance +25;
• Set sharpness (Sharpening): Amount 40; Radius 0.8; Detail 50; Masking 0. Actually, I still need to work with the "Masking" parameter (Masking), which allows you to prevent unnecessary sharpening of "smooth" details, but in this example I forgot to do this.
• I set the noise reduction (Noise Reduction): Luminance 65.
• In the “Tone curve” section, I set the Medium contrast. At the same time, my shadows are too black - I put “Shadows” +41.
• White balance - "Daylight" (Daylight).
• I automatically correct chromatic aberrations, lens distortion in the “Lens corrections” section. As you can see, the Lightroom editor recognized the Nikon 18-55 kit lens and applied corrections to it.
• In the “Camera Calibration” section, I set the color profile to “Camera standard”.

I will use all of the above actions in 99% of cases. To speed up RAW processing in Lightroom, it is possible to record your preferred processing algorithm as a preset and use it with one mouse click. I named it "Import of photo".

I have two options. The first is to now select all the photos in the folder and synchronize the settings (three clicks), passing them the same parameters for white balance, sharpness, clarity, lens correction, etc. The second is to apply this preset at the stage of importing photos into Lightroom. Look at picture #8 - there, on the right side, the “Import of photo” preset is underlined in red.

On the screenshot you can see that you can always analyze the histogram, which is an indispensable tool for analyzing overexposure and underexposure in the image. In the left panel below is the processing history, at any time you can return to the step that we implemented earlier.

2.7. Export images

Once we have finished processing the images, the next step is to export the images for printing or publishing on the web. And there are many options here. If we are going to print images, we will have to find out which image formats are accepted for printing. These can be TIFF files in the Adobe RGB color space, or JPEG files in the sRGB or CMYK color space. Other important factors are the file size and the format of the photo we want to print.

If we export images for the Internet, for example, we publish photos on our blog, Yandex.Fotki, Vkontakte, etc., we need to decide what image size to use during the export process and select sRGB as the color space. Perhaps we should remove the EXIF ​​data from the image if we want to lighten the weight of the images.

When exporting, I chose the following settings: TIFF format, sRGB color profile, image reduction to 3500px on the long side at a density of 120 dpi. Since the sharpening will be done in Photoshop, this option is turned off here. Enabled the watermark preset "www..

In the first three years of blogging, photo processing ended at this stage. The only difference was that in the “Sharpen” section I set the parameters that are indicated above in the “Import of photo” preset, and when exporting I set “Sharpen for screen”, “Amount standard”. And the format of the exported image I had was JPEG.

About half a year ago I installed in Photoshop a set of free plug-ins “Google Nik Collection”, which I use from time to time, and for fine-tuning I began to use the previously mentioned “C3C Image Size”.

An example of processing in Photoshop No. 1. Basic stage

So we've exported the file as a TIFF, since it's almost as flexible in post-processing as RAW, unlike JPEG. Open the photo in Photoshop and apply the preset “Polarizing filter” (Polarisation) in the filter “Color Efex Pro 4” from the set “Google Nik Collection”.

As you can see, the "Polarization" filter from "Color Efex Pro 4" imitates the action of a real polarizing filter: it made the blue color of the sky more saturated, the clouds appeared more clearly. I don't like too acidic colors in this photo, so I lower the layer's opacity.

14.1. To prevent the sky from getting too acidic, in Photoshop I reduce the opacity of the layer with the "Polarization" filter.

The next step is to reduce the size of the image for blog posting (1400px for horizontal or 1000px for vertical shots along the long side) while increasing sharpness. I do this with one click in the "C3C Image Size" plugin.

For horizontal frames, I set the “Sharpness” value to “2”, for vertical frames, so that there is no oversharp, “1” is enough.

Everything! This completes the process of processing photos in RAW in Lightroom and preparing JPEG format in Photoshop for this particular image. I click “Save As” in Photoshop and save it to Jpeg with quality “8” (i.e. 80% is a high-quality picture, which usually weighs no more than 250-600 Kb). Here is the result we got.

Example of RAW processing in Lightroom and Photoshop #2. white balance

The next photo, due to the fact that I chose the wrong white balance in the Nikon D5100 settings, turned out to be an ugly blue color.

When shooting in JPEG, we would have trouble correcting the white balance. When photographing in RAW, the fix for this error is one click on the “White balance” button in the Lightroom editor. I apply exactly the same processing algorithm as in the previous picture, and I get this kind of candy.

Example of NEF processing in Lightroom and Photoshop #3. Radial filter

The following shot was taken of the famous bull near the New York Stock Exchange. Due to the fact that we were shooting against bright light, the portrait turned out dark, and the sky behind was almost knocked out, i.e. it is white, not blue. Other tourists were also in the frame, taking the picture.

In addition to the standard processing with the Import Photo preset, I had to play with the Shadows and Blacks sliders. The picture began to look nicer.

After I removed the interfering tourists around the edges, I decided to use the tool "Radial Gradient Filter" (Radial filter). With it, I lowered the brightness at the edges of the portrait (Exposure -0.56), and also lowered the sharpness (Sharpness -71). All this made it possible to focus the eye on the main object in the frame (i.e. me), by making it brighter and sharper than the background - the aunt, distracting the eye, became darker and less clear.

Well, here's what the final RAW-processed portrait of the traveler looks like.

An example of RAW processing in Lightroom and Photoshop No. 4. Toning in highlights

The next frame is an eagle in front of the Statue of Liberty in Battery Park in New York. Here is the same problem with a shaded foreground due to the fact that the back is a bright sky.

The processing is the same as in the previous case. But I don't like the color of the sky - it really was so nondescript. I would like a juicier sunset. Let's "draw" a bit: apply orange toning to the light areas of the image.

We intensify the effect after exporting to TIFF for processing in Photoshop: using the “Contrast color range” filter (adjusting contrast separately by color) in the “Google Nik Collection” set (Color Efex Pro 4 plugin), we increase the contrast of blue (Blue).

The final result, after processing in Lightroom and Photoshop, is as follows.

An example of RAW processing in Lightroom and Photoshop No. 5. Photo hunting

No need to think that when shooting in a Jeep, the pictures are always worse than in RAV. Sometimes you can "guess" and get a good photo in the camera right away.

An example of RAW processing in Lightroom and Photoshop No. 6. gradient filter

When we photograph scenes where there is both a bright sky and dark ground, it would be nice to attach a gradient filter to the lens, which allows both highlights and shadows to be correctly exposed. If we don’t have this device, in part, the Graduated filter tool in the Lightroom editor will help out. Naturally, we are talking about shooting in NEF.

I don't like that the upper left corner is almost blown out (bright sky) and that the seagull at the top almost touches the edge of the shot. Another disadvantage is the manhole cover, which distracts the viewer's eye.

Using the tool “Spot removal” (Spot removal) move the seagull lower from the edge of the photo, paint over the hatch in the foreground. To be honest, I like to perform this stage more in Photoshop - there the tool is called “Clone stamp”, and now I have demonstrated that the photographer, in principle, can get by with Lightroom alone.

And this is what a picture looks like if it is taken in RAW format and processed in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Did you notice that at the last stage in Photoshop, using the mentioned “Clone stamp”, I “painted over” the dirty spots on the concrete parapet in front, removed the step, the hatch and the autumn leaves on the sidewalk at the bottom right? It seems that I should have brushed over the face in Lightroom and lowered the definition so that the skin looks smoother. At the same time, it was possible to create a little brighter and clearer eyes.

An example of processing NEF in the editor Lightroom and Photoshop No. 7. Dealing with noise

What is the difference between a cropped camera and a full frame camera? Mainly, the fact that her working ISO is 2.5-3.0 times lower than that of a full frame. For an amateur camera Nikon D5100 ISO 4000 is a very difficult case: digital noise appears that spoils the image.

We see that we need to correct the white balance and try to “crush” digital noise by adjusting the parameters of the “Noise reduction” section (reducing digital noise). In addition, we will crop, pass the mask over the windows and lamps to reduce their brightness, brighten the eyes and make them sharp.

Sometimes I do the noise reduction operation in Photoshop using the Dfine 2 plugin from the Google Nik Collection.

Since the frame is still corrupted due to the high ISO, let's practice on it to translate the image into the "old film" style. We do this using the “Analog Efex Pro 2” filter from the Google Nik Collection.

The final image, post-processed in Lightroom and Photoshop, looks like this.

An example of processing NEF in the editor Lightroom and Photoshop No. 8. Applying a mask

When we have to shoot in mountain gorges or in the urban jungle, the most difficult thing for a digital camera sensor is the wide dynamic range of scenes: when there are very bright and very dark objects in the frame at the same time. In this case, you need to use the HDR technique (shooting several frames with different exposures and then mixing them into one). But it is not suitable for shooting moving objects - Active D-lighting helps out when we photograph in JPEG.

We will process the image according to the following algorithm: in Lightroom, lighten the dark areas (Exposure +), and then take a brush and paint over the light sky, darken it (Exposure -). Then we make the slightly blue sky more attractive by using the "Polarisation" filter in the "Color Efex Pro 4" filter from the "Google Nik Collection", as we did with photo #14.

I note that the tools “Masks” (Adjustment brush) allows you to change the exposure in the selected area, but also the white balance, clarity, saturation, brightness of lights and shadows, and much more. This function is used when you need to lighten the eyes and whiten the teeth in a portrait, sharpen the model's hair and hide the unevenness of the skin. The scope is huge.

Another note: it's very difficult to select an area in Lightroom. Imagine that I needed to darken the sky not against the background of buildings, but against the background of pine branches with a thousand needles! It is impossible to do the procedure accurately. But in Photoshop, you create a layer, desaturate and get a mask that completely follows the contours of the object. Now you can edit individual parts of the image with high precision.

An example of processing NEF in the editor Lightroom and Photoshop No. 9. night photography

Well, let's see the last case: shooting at night. The problem is that we have very heavy lighting - a lot of dark and bright areas that make it difficult to correctly expose the frame.

When processing RAW, we will cut off extra people in the frame, use the “Shadows” and “Lights” sliders to even out the brightness.

But somehow I don't like red faces. It was possible to move the red slider in Lightroom, reducing the saturation and brightness. But I want to apply the "Cross Processing" filter in the "Color Efex Pro 4" plugin from the "Google Nik Collection".

The result is a softer, calmer shot that does not irritate the viewer's eyes.

You need to understand that the examples of photo processing in Lightroom presented in this article are not lessons. Therefore, I did not provide data on working with images quite step by step. To learn how to get a quality result, it will take from two weeks to a couple of months to systematically study the program.

You can self-study by studying photo tutorials on Youtube or on specialized sites. The disadvantage of this method is non-systematic, you will jump from one section to another. You can sign up for courses in photo-shock - in my opinion, money down the drain, because there you will not be shown anything that you can learn by doing it yourself.

The third option for learning the Lightroom editor is to buy a paper tutorial or video course that provides a huge amount of theoretical information and practical examples. Each genre of photography has its own peculiarities of processing: with a female portrait they work according to one rule, with a male one - according to others, with a landscape - according to the third, with a still life - according to the fourth, and so on.

A huge advantage of video courses over self-study on Youtube is that the information is systematized, presented from simple to complex; before the photo school - you can study at the pace that suits you, you don’t have to wait for lagging students.

For those who are familiar with the Lightroom program and would like to learn Photoshop, I can advise the video course "Photoshop for the Photographer".

You saw in the example of image #35 that it is more difficult to get a high-quality photo indoors than outdoors. Especially if you own a camera with a cropped sensor that produces a lot of digital noise. The problem is the lack of lighting. And you can solve it, firstly, by buying a fast lens. Secondly, by purchasing an external flash.

Professional indoor portrait photography using flash is also not easy to get, as the photographer must know a lot of nuances. I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the contents of the video course "The Secret of Flashlights". From it you can learn how to assemble a home photo studio, whether you need a TTL function (automatic flash power control), how to choose a radio synchronizer, how to control the light, how many external sources you need to start, and a lot of other useful information.

2.8. Backup

While the computer is exporting photos from the processing program, it's time to start backing up. If a backup has not yet been made, then this should be done as soon as possible. How can we evaluate processing if, in the event of a hard drive failure, we lose all our snapshots?

I used to back up to one external drive once a week, but after losing very important photos when my hard drive crashed in the middle of the week, I now back up to two hard drives at once and other external drives after each shoot.

In addition, once a month I take an external drive and duplicate its contents on another drive. It may seem redundant, but I am sure that my photos are safe and I will not lose them. Also don't forget to back up your Lightroom catalog. It's not enough to copy just the photos or just the catalog - you need to back up both.

If we have a lot of photos and need a good backup storage solution, today there are many great products made especially for photographers and videographers.

2.9. Printing or publishing photos on the Internet

The last step is to print the photos or post them online. To print, upload the exported images to a photo lab site (if available) or copy the files to a flash drive. If you have a printer, exporting from Lightroom and Aperture, or any other software package, may not be necessary, since most of them support printing directly from the application and provide all the tools you need to print.

When it comes to publishing to the Web, Lightroom and Aperture already provide the ability to publish directly to Flickr or Facebook. To publish a photo on a personal website or blog, in Odnoklassniki, you must use the images exported in step 2.6.

3.0. Which program to choose for processing: Photoshop or Lightroom

From readers of the blog, the same question periodically comes up - many beginners do not understand the differences between Lightroom and Photoshop. In this chapter, we will see the main differences between these two software packages from Adobe, what they are used for, and what we can do in Photoshop that we cannot do in Lightroom.

3.1. What is Photoshop?

Photoshop was originally created as a tool for simple image editing, but since 1990 has evolved into a grand set of programs with many features and capabilities for graphic designers, architects, animators, publishers, photographers, and even 3D graphic artists. It's probably the "Mercedes-Benz" of image editing, with unlimited potential that's increased not only with software updates, but also with special plug-ins or "filters" from Adobe and third parties.

Want to merge multiple photos into one panorama? Or create a high dynamic range (HDR) photo? Or get rid of skin defects in the picture? Or maybe make a person taller, shorter, thinner or fatter? Yes, Photoshop can do all of this; and many many others. It would be pointless to try to list what Photoshop can do, because the list would be endless. The term "photoshopped" is now part of our daily jargon because we constantly see edited images that look real - that's the power of Photoshop.

3.2. What can Lightroom do?

The full name of the Lightroom editor is "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom", which can be confusing since it has the word "Photoshop" in it. This can be explained by the fact that Lightroom is part of Photoshop with specific functionality that Photoshop doesn't have and probably never will.

Lightroom was created to manage a large number of images and conveniently put them in one place. Photoshop is a very advanced image editing tool, but when editing hundreds of photos, organizing them becomes a challenge over time.

Many photographers only work in Adobe Camera RAW (which lets you open, convert, and manage RAW files) and Photoshop (which is used for image processing) before they start using Lightroom. It's a complex, cumbersome, and inefficient process, even after you semi-automate it with batch processing in Photoshop.

The biggest challenge lies in organizing the edited images on the hard drive, sorting and cataloging them. We're not even talking about image search because it's an impossible task that requires browsing through thousands of thumbnails and image metadata to find what you're looking for. As your file directory grows, you realize you need to find a better way to organize your photos. And that's when you turn your eyes to Lightroom.

Lightroom is a database-based image management software that automatically reads metadata from a photo (such as camera brand and model, date and time taken, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, etc.) called EXIF ​​and writes information about each photo into a new database called a catalog.

When you import images, Lightroom can add additional information to each image, allowing you to tag images with specific keywords, flags, and star ratings. This makes it easy to sort through hundreds of images and select the best ones, edit them selectively or in batches, and then export the best photos directly to websites like Flickr and Facebook. This type of tagging and indexing is not available in Photoshop because Photoshop does not have a database of cataloged images.

In addition to its media management capabilities, Lightroom includes a set of tools that let you work with images. In short, Photoshop is an image editing tool while Lightroom is a photo management tool with some limited editing options.

3.3. Editing photos in Lightroom

Lightroom has a certain set of tools that make editing and managing photos easier. For example, here is a list of tools available in the “Develop Module” tab:

1. Sub-section “Histogram”: histogram, crop and equalize, dot removal, red-eye removal, gradient filter, adjustment brush.
2. Basic panel: white balance, color temperature and hue; exposure, restoration, fill light, black tones, brightness, contrast, sharpness, vibrance, saturation.
3. Tone Curve panel: Highlights, Highlights, Darks, Shadows, Tone Curve View.
4. Panel “HSL / Color / B&W”: Hue, Saturation, Luminosity.
5. “Split Toning” panel: hue and saturation of highlights, balance, hue and saturation of shadows.
6. “Detail” panel: value, radius, details, masking for sharpness; luminance, details, contrast, color, noise reduction details.
7. "Lens Corrections": lens profile, distortion, chromatic aberration, vignetting.
8. “Effects”: style, value, midpoint, roundness, feathering, lights to create a vignette; as well as the value, size and coarseness of the dots to give the image a grainy look.
9. “Camera Calibration”: process version, profile, hue for shadows, hue and saturation for red, green, and blue.

As you can see, the list of tools is quite long: from cropping and changing the base exposure to lens-related issues. Below are screenshots of the Histogram and Basic panels:

Specific changes can be saved as a preset (a given processing algorithm) and applied to an entire group of images. For example, you are shooting footwear (the same settings, the same lighting parameters, etc.): you processed one shot, selected all the frames and synchronized the parameters. That's it, a thousand pictures processed.

As Adobe develops new versions of Lightroom, new subsections and other special features become available.

In addition to the processing capabilities described above, Lightroom has built-in modules for creating slideshows, printing photos, exporting image galleries to the Internet, and more.

3.4. Editing photos in Photoshop

All of the above Lightroom image editing capabilities are automatically built into Adobe Camera RAW, which launches when you open a RAW file with Photoshop. Although this program is slightly different from Lightroom in appearance, every function is duplicated in Camera RAW. Adobe releases updates to Lightroom and Camera RAW at the same time, so even small changes like lens profiles appear in both programs at the same time. Here is a screenshot of the Camera RAW panel:

Here's a comparison of exposure adjustment panels:

As you can see, they have the same functionality.

To summarize, we can say that in Photoshop we can do everything that we can do in Lightroom, and even more. Some photographers use Adobe Bridge and Photoshop and don't use Lightroom. Although Adobe Bridge supports some Lightroom features, it is not a database and catalog. It's more like a browser or file manager. Searching for an image requires going through all the files and can take a long time, whereas a similar search in Lightroom can be done in seconds - again, because Lightroom's database is search-optimized. If you use Adobe Bridge, try Lightroom and you'll never go back to Adobe Bridge.

4.0. The main alternatives for Lightroom

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom isn't the only RAW converter available: there are quite a few alternatives out there. Apple Mac OS users can take advantage of Aperture, which is actually very similar to Lightroom, but only compatible with that operating system.

If you are a Windows user, you can use the Capture One editor from Phase One. I have heard studio photographers praise him. There is also a program "DxO Optics Pro". DxO is a very technological developer. Therefore, their software must be very accurate and efficient when it comes to correcting lens distortion, for example.

Finally, there is "Silkypix". A separate Silkypix based RAF converter is supplied with Fujifilm X-Trans sensor based cameras such as the Fujifilm X-T2. It is reasonable to expect that Silkypix will offer very good support for X-Trans sensor RAF files (these RAW files are slightly different from RAW files from other cameras due to different sensor structure and decoding algorithms).

These programs, along with Adobe Lightroom, are the most popular RAW converters. Each program has its own strengths and weaknesses. I first tried Lightroom and settled on this choice. Now using this program will take up most of my processing. This does not mean that this editor is better than its competitors in everything, it just started my acquaintance with professional photo processing, and I got used to it.

5.0. Camera settings when shooting in camera JPEG

Well, we have seen what great opportunities a photographer has by editing RAW images with the help of third-party image editors. But what about those amateur photographers who have neither the time nor the desire to understand all these programs? I think that they should carefully study the instructions for the camera and actively use fine-tuning for in-camera JPEG.

As you can see, the in-camera Jeep can also be quite flexible. At the same time, if you compare the menu items in the camera and in the programs Lightroom, Photoshop above in the article, which shows the algorithms for processing images, you can see that there is a lot in common. But there are some peculiarities...

1. No beginner or advanced photographer, unless they shoot 2,000 shots every day or are psychic, can capture a perfect photo using the JPEG format. Why? Because you have to predict before you press the shutter button how much you need to lighten the shadows, what white balance to do, and the like.
2. Even a professional who shoots 2000 frames a day, 9 times out of 10, will not be able to shoot a perfect JPEG photo. The reason is that in the camera settings there are no local processing tools that Lightroom has: a brush, a gradient and a radial filter, a patch to remove spots. In reviews of Fujifilm X mirrorless cameras, there are claims that the in-camera Jeep is so good that processing in the editor is not required. Nonsense! When editing a female portrait, I will whiten the whites of the eyes and teeth with several brushes, saturate the iris of the eyes and lips, increase the clarity on the hair and lower it on the skin so that defects are not visible, remove pimples and wrinkles. When processing the landscape, I will increase the saturation of the blue color in the sky, the clarity so that the clouds stand out better, I will highlight the shaded areas under the Christmas tree with a mask. In addition, for example, with noise reduction in the camera, only “enhanced”, “normal”, “moderate” and “off” are available, and when editing in Lightroom, we have 6 sliders that allow you to adjust the settings in 1% increments (see photo No. 33 above). The same goes for most of the other post-processing options in Lightroom.
3. On the forums, photographers often come across posting photos with pompous lips, emphasizing their high importance and superiority over those who edit pictures, saying: “Here is an in-camera JPEG. No processing has been done! Such amateur photographers are either incompetent or liars. Absolutely all digital cameras (cameras, camcorders, smartphones and phones) shoot in RAW format, after which, according to a given algorithm (similar to the one we used to process photo No. 10), they convert the pictures to Jpeg. An in-camera raw JPEG without processing looks like this: dull, neutral colors, zero sharpness and blurring of the image, no contrast and no color correction, strong digital noise is present, shadows fall into blackness and white balance is unclear. Such a photo will not impress anyone and the only thing for which it is necessary is for further processing in Photoshop. And then, for Photoshop, the TIFF format is more suitable, since it is easier to edit due to the greater amount of saved information.

6.0. RAW processing in the camera editor

For photographers, at least those who own Nikon DSLRs, there is one more image editing option available: NEF processing in the built-in RAW editor.

Why is this option better than the in-camera Jeepeg? The fact that after shooting you can, by pressing a few keys, get a picture of better quality than is generated with automatic JPEG (for example, you can change the brightness over a wide range). The finished result can be sent by mail if the photo is required very urgently.

In practice, I do not use the NEF editing option in the built-in editor. Firstly, the functionality is still poorer than in Lightroom. Secondly, the camera monitor is not perfect and does not correctly display brightness, contrast and other parameters - the picture will look different on a computer.

7.0. Conclusions to the lesson on photo processing in Lightroom and Photoshop

If you are a photographer who strives to create beautiful photographs, then the question is not whether you process your pictures or not (because you already do), but how well and consistently you do it. When I started photography, my processing was really terrible () and I suffered from a lot of problems, from not being able to find pictures on my computer's hard drive, to efficiently processing hundreds of images from my camera.

I learned the basics of photo editing in Lightroom in a couple of weeks, but it took me several years to develop a more or less coherent approach to post-processing that helps me edit photos efficiently, and even make it easier thanks to new tools that appear in new versions of Lightroom and Photoshop . Undoubtedly, my image processing style will change, and as new technologies such as cloud storage become more accessible, I will be sure to add and remove some steps to my workflow. I strongly recommend that you analyze your editing process and see what can be optimized and improved - I'm sure there are ways to make it even simpler, more efficient and more reliable. This article covers only the post-processing stages in general, it is not a photo tutorial on working with Lightroom and Photoshop. In reality, the processing is more detailed, with more specific steps at each stage.

If you are not subscribed to blog updates, I advise you to do this through the form below. Good articles I "hatch" for weeks and months. The next useful photo tutorial will be devoted to how to properly photograph with a wide-angle lens. Subscribing will help you not to miss that review. See you, colleagues and friends, on the pages of the site.

If your camera shoots in RAW, congratulations. You can get much more out of your shots than owners of compact cameras that can shoot only in JPEG.

This article does not pretend to be a complete guide to RAW processing, however, in our opinion, it will be useful for those who have not yet attached importance to the potential of working with RAW.

RAW and JPEG, which is better?

Of course, it is important to understand that RAW and JPEG were originally created to solve different problems, so it is impossible to argue that RAW is better than JPEG.

The JPEG image format was created in order to display the highest quality image with minimal memory consumption. When shooting in JPEG, you immediately get a finished picture, which you can immediately send to a forum, website, social network, or maybe even print. JPEG files take up relatively little space and are the unspoken standard for storing images in user albums.

The colors in your photos will be exactly as your camera's imaging system sees them. In the case of RAW, you will either have to resort to using a native RAW converter, or use the correct profiles in a software specially designed for this. If there are no profiles (this is possible in the short term, for example, if your camera is new, and the software company has not yet had time to prepare the correct profiles), you will need to configure the image parameters yourself.

It is important to know that absolutely all cameras shoot in RAW. It's just that saving in RAW is blocked for them, and the camera independently converts the signal to JPEG using its own algorithm known only to developers. Thus, JPEG is the final result of image processing by a camera, this process proceeds in several successive stages. This is done by the image processing system - this is how manufacturers now call a bunch of a special processor, additional microcircuits and software algorithms.

Knowing photographers love to shoot in JPEG, developers equip almost all modern cameras, including SLR and hybrid models, with advanced JPEG processing options. In Canon DSLRs, this is the Picture Style function, in Nikon DSLRs - Picture Control, in Sony DSLRs - image styles. In addition to several frequently used presets, it is possible to configure all the parameters yourself.

Of course, the processing power and intelligence of processing systems is constantly evolving. For example, the new processing system in Lumix cameras, called the Venus Engine VHD, and the image processing system in Casio cameras are equipped with three-core processors; Canon's DIGIC IV integrated circuit is equipped with fast memory and provides multi-channel reading from the sensor. The installation of these two processors in the Canon EOS 7D camera made it possible to achieve a data readout speed of 144 Mp / s.

Venus Engine FHD Tri-Core Processor

The software part is also important, and it is often based on an extensive database of typical shooting scenes. The camera compares the brightness composition of the shot against a database that already contains several thousand typical scenes and uses the optimal shooting settings. When recognizing a certain color in the frame, such as a blue sky, cameras increase the saturation of that particular blue color. It comes to the fact that cameras take into account the time zone, as well as the date and time of shooting. Thus, your camera can, for example, when shooting sunsets, automatically increase the saturation of reds and yellows, making the frame more “tasty” and the owner of the camera more joyful.

Unfortunately, often automatic programs fail or provide undesirable effects, greatly overestimating / underestimating the contrast or saturation of the image.

There are many situations in which shooting in JPEG is more appropriate. It makes sense to shoot in this format if you are sure that the photos do not need significant processing, when shooting large series (not the cheapest SLR models usually have a large RAW buffer, but compact cameras and budget SLR cameras traditionally have a RAW buffer). no more than 10 frames per burst), and also when the memory card is close to full.

What is the path from the moment of shooting to saving the image to the memory card?

The signal received from the sensor is interpolated to RGB, the processor performs color correction in accordance with the white balance settings, and then applies color correction based on the saturation, contrast and other color settings.

After that, the image processing system applies one of the special effects, if they have been selected by the user, for example, miniature effect, tilt-shift optics simulation, fisheye lens distortion. If special effects are not involved, then, on the contrary, software correction of vignetting, chromatic aberrations and optical distortions is carried out.

By the way, it was these software methods that made it possible to reduce the cost and size of such popular cameras as the Canon S90 and Lumix LX-3. In order to reduce the price of devices and their dimensions, manufacturing companies decided to abandon the complex optical design of lenses, which minimizes unwanted distortion.

Small dimensions and high image quality in the Canon S90
made possible by software correction of lens distortions

Finally, the camera applies the user-specified sharpening (sharpening) or blur settings, noise reduction settings at slow shutter speeds or high ISO, and only after that it converts the result into an 8-bit image, i.e. JPEG.

The saddest moment is that each stage of transformation leads to an irreversible loss of information in the photo. And if the pictures are of some value to you, then it is very stupid to give all these stages for processing by the camera.

Shooting in RAW format allows you to edit the image beyond the limits of the JPEG format. You can correct the exposure, white balance settings, sharpen and remove noise in the image after. Roughly speaking, all you need when shooting in RAW is to get a technically satisfactory shot. The rest can be improved.

RAW is a specific format that stores information about the signal taken directly from the light sensor without further processing by the camera. Data in a RAW container can be either uncompressed or compressed, with or without loss. However, even in the worst case of lossy compression, a RAW file contains significantly more information than a maximum quality JPEG image: 12- or 14-bit RAW files are much more tolerant of user processing than highly compressed 8-bit JPEGs.

Almost all manufacturers have their own RAW formats: Canon has *.acr and *.cr2, Sony - *.arw, *.srf, *.sr2, Nikon - *.nef, *.nrw, Pentax - *. ptx and *.pef, while Samsung has *.srw. Many of the new models use Adobe's open DNG (Digital Negative) format.

RAW is a kind of undeveloped digital image. Although it is recognized by many modern viewers (with or without special plug-ins), it is unsuitable for printing, and the file itself can be interpreted differently by different editors. For example, the same RAW when viewed in ACDSee and Picasa is significantly different.

The RAW format provides extensive post-processing capabilities within some limits without loss of quality. All those operations that the camera's processor does on its own will need to be done manually. There is only one reward here - much better and more effective photos.

However, RAW files take up significantly more space, they are 3-6 times larger than similar JPEG files, and some knowledge and processing time are required for conversion. Fortunately, the process is quite fun, and if you have a good RAW source, you will definitely be happy with the final result.

RAW conversion using the example of Adobe Lightroom

We will look at RAW conversion using Adobe Lightroom version 3.2 as an example. This program deserves attention for several reasons: it is quite easy to use, it is regularly updated and it supports almost all released cameras capable of outputting RAW files. The application is well integrated with the Photoshop family and is very functional, it is equally convenient when working with individual photos or with a large number of images.

Of the disadvantages of Lightroom, it is worth noting the exactingness of computer computing resources and the need to purchase it. The lack of a Russian-language interface also often scares off novice photographers. You can download the program on the official website of Adobe.

Despite a fairly large number of programs of this type, of which we would note the free RawTherapee, Apple Aperture, Phase One Capture One and Bibble Pro, the Lightroom application, in our opinion, is the golden mean.

All of these programs deserve attention, as they are stronger at certain points. For example, Aperture is very easy to use, while Capture One gives you the best color control.

In a loose translation, the word lightroom is interpreted as a place for developing pictures. In principle, the way it is - it is a convenient and powerful interface for developing RAW images and even working with JPEGs. Lightroom is a non-destructive image processing algorithm. Until the moment of conversion, the pictures entered into the program remain untouched, and a preview of the effects and settings is available from the application cache. Each file is assigned a document with detailed user edits, which are written in instructions and then executed when converting images from RAW.

This approach is quite convenient, and thanks to it, an infinite history of actions with a snapshot or snapshots is implemented.

The Lightroom program allows you to synchronize the selected settings for a group of photos, which is very convenient, for example, if you have taken many shots of the same type and want to transfer editing to several pictures at once.

The Library module contains a feature of the program for cataloging images. We will not focus on it. We only note that frames can be sorted by creation time, title, shooting coordinates, lens, focal length, etc. It is possible to create dynamic collections that are automatically replenished according to selected criteria, and much more.

The Library module is very powerful and convenient, as are the modules for preparing for printing (Print), creating a slide show (Slide-show) and publishing on the Internet (Web). Their description would be enough for another article, so we will pay attention to the most important module - the processing module (Develop).

At the very top is an image histogram by color and shooting information. The histogram can be moved with the mouse, its certain areas are responsible for controlling the exposure, dark and light areas of the frame. The histogram is quite clear and allows you to quickly correct frames that were initially not very successful.

It should be noted that all settings follow in a logical order, and if you do not quite understand what you want to improve in the picture, you can move through the settings from top to bottom.

Basic panel

White balance (white balance). In this window, the user can choose one of the white balance presets available in your camera, or entrust the choice of optimal settings to automation, which provides a surprisingly high-quality result. If you are not satisfied with the above settings, you can use the sliders Temperature (color temperature) and Tint.

The easiest and most convenient way to correctly set the white balance is to use the White Balance Selector tool (eyedropper), which can be used to specify a neutral tone in the image, such as a white or gray area. This shows a greatly enlarged area under the pipette so that you can more accurately select the correct neutral area on inhomogeneous textures.

exposure- one of the most important tools in the conversion. It is with its help that the primary “pulling” of details from incorrectly exposed photographs is performed.

The parameter sets the overall brightness of the image and its white point. If you hold Alt while working, the areas of the frame that are knocked out into the light will be highlighted, i.e. they will not contain any information other than pure or almost pure white. If there is no artistic idea in this, the details lost in the lights should be tried to be returned. This applies to the bright white wedding dress as well as the texture of the clouds in the sky.

Tool Recovery called upon to help us. It removes overexposure exactly in the right places, almost without affecting the rest of the photo. If you have previously performed color correction, after applying Recovery, a light gray veil may appear in the picture or the colors may change slightly.

Tool fill light(fill light), on the contrary, increases the brightness of dark areas, while not affecting the light areas.

If Recovery can almost always be turned up to the maximum, then with Fill Light you should be careful - the unnatural brightness of dark areas can give even a good picture a flat and unnatural look. Both tools help to get into the histogram, and their judicious use can be considered a light variation of HDR, high dynamic range images.

Parameter Blacks sets the black point of the image.

Parameter brightness Many consider it a clone of the Fill Light tool, but this is not the case - it changes the brightness for the entire tonal range of your image.

Parameter contrast responsible for the contrast of the photo. Decreasing contrast makes tonal transitions softer, while increasing contrast makes them sharper.

Three interesting tools are in the subblock Presence(appearance), and changing them greatly changes the photo itself.

Tool Clarity affects the micro-contrast of the image, namely, the smoothness of contrast transitions, such as edges, contours of objects. Increasing the value of this setting creates the feeling of a sharp frame, while decreasing it creates the effect of a soft, almost out-of-focus image.

Tool Vibrance- this is perhaps one of the most effective, simple and beloved Lightroom tools. Following its success, Adobe implemented a similar tool in Photoshop CS4. Vibrance is a smart saturation enhancement feature. It does not affect already saturated colors, but selectively and non-linearly increases the saturation of dull shades. This approach avoids oversaturation, loss of shades and various artifacts in the image. In addition, Vibrance selectively enhances the saturation of skin tones and prevents people's skin from turning into a yellow-beige substance.

Tool Saturation increases the saturation of all colors at once. A slight increase in saturation along with the use of Vibrance will allow you to get even more juicy and vibrant colors. However, you should use Saturation carefully, you should not twist the parameter value to the maximum.

The next block is curves. The tone curve in Lightroom is used to adjust the contrast within a certain range of tones. Although it is a very powerful tool in terms of image enhancement, we won't go into it just yet because it's quite complex for beginners and the best way to learn it is just to experiment.

Color correction block

This block is designed to correct the hue, saturation and brightness (luminosity) of individual colors. Colors are initially divided into several shades: red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, cyan, violet, magenta.

On each options tab Hue(tone), Saturation(saturation), Luminance(brightness) there is a list with sliders to control each color. However, the most convenient way to selectively color correct is to use the dot tool. All you need is to move it to the desired color in the frame, for example, to the sky, and move it up and down with the mouse button held down. The result of the application is immediately displayed on the photo, and this approach makes the method of working by eye very convenient.

In mode grayscale all colors in the picture can also be varied and use the dot tool.

Split Toning Block

This block will be of interest to people who want to achieve creative processing comparable to effects such as sepia or film color simulation. Here, separate toning with a certain color of light and dark areas of the image is available. We invite you to experiment with the block yourself.

Block Details(detail) includes two very important items - Sharpening and Noise Reduction.

Tool sharpening responsible for sharpening the image. It works on the same principle as the Unsharp Mask tool in Adobe Photoshop. This tab contains a 1:1 scale image fragment and algorithm settings - Amount, Radius, Detail, Masking.

Parameter Amount is responsible for the intensity of the sharpening algorithm.

Parameter Radius is responsible for the thickness of the area on the boundaries of objects in which the algorithm will work. For modern SLR cameras with resolutions above 10 megapixels, the recommended values ​​are 0.8-1.

As we know, the RAW format is "raw", it requires additional processing and conversion to JPG or TIFF. To work with RAW, there are programs - RAW converters. And in this article we will answer the two most important questions:

• What are RAW converters?
• How and which RAW converter to choose?

What are RAW converters?

At its core, all RAW converters can be divided into two groups:

- "Native" RAW converters from camera manufacturers
- Universal RAW converters from third-party manufacturers.

When you bought your camera, you received a disc with your camera manufacturer's RAW converter with it. Almost every camera manufacturer has its own RAW file format and its own conversion software (Canon's DPP, Nikon's Nikon Capture, etc.). This does not mean at all that they make a really good, high-quality and multifunctional product. They are simply obliged to provide such software to their client (that is, you) and they provide it.

In practice, the main and, in fact, the only plus of "native" converters is that they provide a fairly high-quality reproduction of colors and the whole picture as a whole. After all, camera manufacturers know the properties and features of their cameras like no one else. But in terms of processing capabilities, speed and overall functionality, native RAW converters are noticeably inferior to third-party products.

Therefore, if you work with a large amount of photos and you need extensive processing options, it’s better to forget about “native” converters right away ... and start reading the next paragraph of our article.

There are plenty of third-party RAW converters: Adobe Lightroom, Apple Aperture, Bibble Labs Pro, DxO Optics Pro, Lightcrafts LightZone, Nikon Capture NX, Phase One Capture One, and many more. All of them have their pros and cons, but like any other software niche, there are leaders here. So, there are a lot of programs for working with graphics, and there is a leader - Adobe Photoshop. There are three titans among RAW converters:

Why should you use them?

Firstly, all of which provide excellent RAW processing capabilities.
Secondly, each of these programs has great functionality, and also has its own unique "chips".
And thirdly are the most common RAW converters. So it is for them that you can find the most lessons, articles and plugins on the Internet. If you have any questions about how to use it, thousands of users of these programs will be able to help you with answers on forums or blogs.

Now let's look at the strengths and weaknesses of each of these converters.

Lightroom (hereinafter referred to as LR) is a "full cycle" program for working with photos. You can process photos, create a web page there - a gallery with your work and upload it to your site, and then without leaving the program you can send photos for printing.

• One of the very important features of LR is the extensive possibilities for cataloging photos (working with keywords, tags, ratings, groups).
• The main strength of LR in terms of photo processing is easy access to great color and black and white options. LR is ideal for photo color stylization, B/W conversion, and other artistic tasks.
• In LR it is possible to create presets - i.e. saved photo processing settings. Having done the processing on one photo, you can apply it with one blade to any of your other photos. On the Internet you can find a lot of presets created by photographers around the world, with interesting processing methods.
• Sophisticated integration with Photoshop. With one click, you can open a photo from LR in Photoshop.

• LR uses the Adobe Camera RAW “engine” for processing photos (the RAW converter built into Photoshop also works on it). And it does not always adequately interpret the colors and the image itself received from the camera. And as a result, really serious work with colors in LR is impossible. “Really serious” is the level of professional color grading. For normal work with colors and especially color stylizations, LR is great.
• Opportunities to eliminate noise in a photograph and also sharpening algorithms in LR are implemented very poorly. Because of this, the photo after LR has to be finalized in Photoshop.

At its core, Aperture is an analogue of LR and its main competitor. This is also a "full cycle" program, Aperture has no less possibilities for processing photos than LR. But unlike LR, which runs on an ACR engine, Aperture runs on its own engine. Color reproduction and interpretation of the entire picture from the camera is generally better than that of LR, although it also has its drawbacks. But at a non-professional level, these differences are more subjective. As they say, the taste and color. There are only a few objective pros and cons of Aperture over LR:

• Aperture's interface is one of the most user-friendly and thoughtful RAW converters out there today.
• The algorithms for removing noise and sharpening are an order of magnitude better than in LR.

• There is no possibility to create presets for processing photos.
• There is no such convenient integration with Photoshop as in LR.
• And finally, the most important disadvantage is that Aperture only works on Mac OS.

Capture One 4 (hereinafter referred to as C4) is a complete professional RAV converter. And precisely because of this, he has strong pluses and no less strong minuses in his work. Successful work with C4 requires an understanding of color and working with it. Successful work in C4 is possible only when the photographer has an idea of ​​what result he wants to get and what techniques need to be used for this. When these conditions are met, C4 becomes the most powerful tool for working with RAW files.

• C4 works with ICC profiles. For each camera model, Phase One has developed its own ICC profile, which gives the most accurate color reproduction and the most adequate picture from the camera as a whole. None of the third-party RAW converters can achieve this quality. That is why most professionals work with C4.
• C4 has very great opportunities for color correction and fine, thoughtful photo processing.
• Algorithms for working with Shadow / Highlights in C4 are the best among RAW converters at the moment.
• C4 has a convenient batch image processing system. This is a very important feature for reportage photographers.
• Denoising and sharpening algorithms show the best result among RAW converters.
• Algorithms for converting RAW files to C4 are made at a professional level. For example, increasing an image by 140% when converting from RAW to JPG or TIFF will have almost no effect on the quality of the picture.

• C4 is purely a RAV converter. Features for cataloging files, printing, creating pages for the web, etc. are almost non-existent.
• The C4 interface is rather ascetic. There is nothing superfluous in it, all tools are aimed at performing specific operations. At first, this may cause a feeling of inconvenience at work. C4 is designed for basic work using hotkeys. Not everyone likes it, but if you work a lot with photos, hotkeys are an indispensable thing.
• As mentioned above, working in C4 requires an understanding of color, as well as fairly deep knowledge in the field of processing and color correction.

Which RAW converter should you choose?

Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the most common RAW converters, it is important to decide what you need. Which functions in the RAW converter are paramount for you, and which ones are secondary.

If you shoot a lot and you want your photos to be conveniently and securely cataloged, Lightroom is your choice. Just as important, LR also provides the easiest possible access to extensive processing capabilities. And this is a very important parameter, because. in-depth and complex work with color, photo processing is the lot of professionals. Their tasks require appropriate tools - such as Capture 4. C4 is also indispensable for batch processing of reportage shooting. If you really feel the need for such a program, Capture 4 is exactly what you need.

Cameras and a variety of mobile gadgets that can take pictures have already become familiar everyday items. Who would think of, for example, rewriting some necessary text now, when you can just take out your smartphone and click off the necessary pages? Why try to explain in words what something looks like if you can shoot it and then just show the photo on the tablet? Today, only vacuum cleaners can’t take pictures - and it’s not a fact that manufacturers won’t teach them to do it soon either. Wow, cameras that do not require power, .

A completely natural stage in the improvement of digital technology was the fact that the RAW format broke out of the scope of professional SLR cameras and began to appear in soapboxes, compacts, and even smartphones / tablets. And if you are the owner of a device that supports shooting in RAW, but you don’t know what it is and what it is eaten with, you are under the cat. The RAW format is quite interesting and gives a lot of creative possibilities, although it requires the ability to handle yourself ...

The post is intended for beginners and those who are completely unfamiliar with RAW files. Photography lovers are unlikely to find anything new here, but they can help beginners in the comments. ;)

Achtung! Under the cut, heavy GIF "ki.

The essence and features of the RAW format

The RAW format (translated from English means "raw") is a set of clean signals received directly from the camera's matrix. This means that a file of this format, strictly speaking, is not a photograph. This is a kind of negative, which then needs to be “developed” - set its parameters (exposure, brightness, contrast, white balance, sharpness, saturation) and convert it to the final JPEG (or better TIFF) file, which can already be viewed, edited and type.

That is, in fact, even a simple amateur “soap box” camera, taking a picture at our command, initially saves to its internal memory precisely these very raw data (which have only undergone automatic calibration processing), but then immediately processes them according to a given algorithm ( in accordance with the set shooting program), saves and displays a preview of the finished image in JPEG or TIFF.

To achieve such beauty without post-processing is very difficult.

Technically it looks like this:

1. The photographer presses the shutter button, the camera matrix “shoots” the light flux, which is converted into an analog signal.
2. The signal is processed by the microprocessor, which interpolates the data from the sensors, applies the values ​​set by the user (or in auto mode) for white balance, exposure compensation, saturation, etc.
3. The results obtained are converted into digital form and stored in the camera's memory as a JPEG or TIFF file.

It is clear that after that it will be difficult to change the basic characteristics of the frame, such as white balance or contrast, since the shooting results are recorded in a format that excludes all “extra” information: only the final color of each specific point. JPEG deep editing is akin to scanning a finished thesis to correct one typo. But if the photographer has clean initial data from the matrix in his hands, it's another matter! Therefore, modern photographic equipment, as a rule, can save them too - in RAW format files.

What is it for? The answer is obvious - the photographer will be able to achieve a much higher quality of the final image and get a much wider field for creative experiments if he converts RAW manually on a powerful desktop computer or laptop using a special

To make an almost alien landscape out of an ordinary forest and a flower meadow? Easy peasy!

Therefore, professionals whenever possible and has the meaning, they shoot exactly in RAW, in order to then “squeeze out” the maximum of opportunities from the raw data without loss of image quality and, if necessary, correct some mistakes made during the shooting of the set parameters. After all, it's not a secret for anyone that even professionals can sometimes lose sight of some parameter - what can we say about ordinary users ...

Pros and cons of RAW

What are the advantages of the RAW format, that it is so popular in a professional environment? In addition to the very fact of the possibility of deep editing of images, the following advantages can be mentioned in a separate line:

• RAW saves all the obtained values ​​for each point for the entire period of exposure of the matrix - that is, the entire color gamut of the camera that is being shot is available in RAW;
• the ability to manually correct photo imperfections associated with the properties of the lens, as well as correct (up to certain values) exposure errors;
• when saving a snapshot, the conversion distortion does not exceed 1%;
• great opportunities for changing the frame made in ultraviolet or infrared light;
• the ability to lighten or darken individual parts of the frame (despite the fact that, for example, in the same JPEG, for the most part, only lightening is possible);
• the ability to select the final format for saving the image.

Of course, RAW has its drawbacks. This:

• large file size, due to which the space on the card / in the camera's memory runs out faster than when shooting in JPEG;
• the previous point leads to the fact that continuous shooting requires a large memory buffer in the camera and a high-speed memory card;
• inexpensive cameras “think” for a long time when shooting in RAW (due to the slow buffer designed for JPEGs);
• the lack of unification of the encoding of the files themselves - each camera manufacturer has its own.

Working with RAW

As mentioned above, there is no single encoding format for RAW, since each manufacturer implements it in its own way: Canon has CR2, Nikon has NEF, Sony has ARW, and so on. Therefore, the choice of RAW processing software is chosen by each photographer based on the photographic equipment he uses. Usually the necessary software is supplied with the camera. Its main advantage is that it is free. But in addition, the software market also offers independent programs that support most RAW encodings, or are able to convert them to their own specific format. It does not make sense to dwell on all the popular RAW programs, we will only mention the two most suitable for beginners. The easiest way to take the first steps is with the help of native software for your camera, if the manufacturer provides one.

Owners of Nikon cameras can use the application from the manufacturer - Capture NX-D. This product is free and can be freely downloaded from Nikon's official website. The advantages of NX-D are its light weight, simple interface, as well as the ability to compare images and have batch processing in parallel with complex editing. Of the minuses - the inability to edit individual fragments of the photo.

To process pictures taken with Canon cameras, there is an official program Digital Photo Professional. This is a time-tested software that has existed for a long time, but is regularly and promptly updated. It is free (you only need to specify the serial number of the camera when downloading the program from the Canon website), while it has a fairly wide functionality and is popular not only among amateurs, but also among professionals. The main plus is a very simple interface, thanks to which the program is mastered very quickly.

Among the universal RAW converters, one should first of all highlight the open source Raw Therapee. Despite the fact that it is distributed free of charge, this application has functionality that is almost in no way inferior to most paid software: an integrated file manager, a preview of changes, a rating system for images, a convenient and understandable interface, and batch processing. Everything is simple, clear and understandable.

Well, the most popular converters among photographers all over the world are Adobe products (paid): Camera Raw and Lightroom. Working in Camera Raw makes sense for those who shoot a little and who need extensive refining of the finished image already using the traditional tools in Photoshop. If extensive retouching is not required, you can work in Lightroom: it is simpler, less resource-demanding, designed specifically for RAW development and has built-in cataloging and slideshow creation tools.

It should be noted separately that attempts have been made to unify the RAW encoding formats, and it was Adobe that achieved more or less stable results in this by developing its own DNG encoding. The development turned out to be quite successful, and today it is “digested” not only by third-party software, but also by many specialized programs from manufacturers of photographic equipment itself.

Editing RAW

Editing RAW (digital "development" of the received "negatives") in all editors looks about the same. The main manipulations are carried out using a histogram, several sliders responsible for setting certain photo parameters, as well as various additional menus in which you can do a little retouching without resorting to a photo editor. We will focus only on the most basic: directly editing the data received from the matrix.

Many RAW converters offer not only editing the overall exposure, but also separately increasing / decreasing the obtained values ​​for each point, depending on which group of shades it belongs to.

Most editors divide photos into five parts, four of which have their own names: blacks, shadows, highlights, and whites.

Everything between "shadows" and "highlights" (or "highlights") - midtones - is edited directly by the overall exposure setting.

By manipulating separate areas, you can expand or narrow the dynamic range of the image: get a pseudo-HDR from a single RAW frame or, conversely, a very contrasty image from an unremarkable overcast landscape.

Smoke would hardly be so contrasting and atmospheric when shooting in JPEG.

Why underexposure is better than overexposure

Let's forget for a moment that light is a wave, and imagine it as a stream of particles, and the photosensitive elements of the matrix as a kind of "accumulators" of these particles.

For greater clarity, let us have some extremely uneven rain, which we catch in a square of 100x100 neatly spaced glasses. At the start of the exposure, all glasses are empty. We remove the roof, which prevents drops from falling into the glasses, and the magic begins. If we close the roof in five seconds, each of the glasses will have some of its own value of the accumulated droplets-photons. We can double these values, and get about the same "picture", but brighter and more contrast. Thus, the "underexposed" frame can be improved by recalculating the value for each of the points using certain algorithms.

But what happens if we remove the “roof” for just a moment, and (due to incorrect camera settings) the light flux, rain, suddenly fills some glasses immediately to the brim? By reducing the obtained values, instead of certain shades, in most cases we will get different types of gray: since when the light-sensitive sensors overflow, they register the maximum value (white color). Even if the camera registers the luminous flux for the entire time and records not one value for each point, but a series of values ​​sequentially, due to the filling speed of light-sensitive sensors, it becomes almost impossible to get sane data with color indicators.

Overexposure at a short shutter speed is practically unavoidable, and in this case, RAW does not behave much better than JPEG: data from a JPEG image can be “enlarged”, brightening the result (albeit with large losses in quality), but it is completely useless to reduce: all light shades lose saturation and become gray spots, since there is only their resulting color, and not a history of accumulation of a certain signal level.

Shooting RAW on phones

Smartphones have learned to shoot in RAW format quite recently, and not all manufacturers have implemented this option in their phone cameras. Today, of the smartphones on the market, Nokia Lumia 930, 1020 and 1520, as well as some models of Google Nexus, OnePlus, ZTE, LG and Xiaomi, can shoot in RAW. Apple products are lagging behind in this regard and have not yet mastered this feature, but some applications allow you to open RAWs from external sources. Specifically, even fewer devices support the DNG encoding format and only after installing additional software (Mi2raw Camera for OnePlus One, ZTE Nubia Z5sn, LG G2, Xiaomi Mi2 and Mi3, as well as Camera FV-5 for Google Nexus 5 and 6).

Mi2raw Camera is a rather bulky application, which is also intended for a small number of smartphones, but has good functionality and generally takes good RAW pictures. Camera FV-5, in addition to the ability to save good RAWs, boasts a user-friendly interface, fully customizable shooting parameters and a bunch of features: convenient ready-made shooting programs, long shutter speeds, full exposure bracketing, infinite focus mode and much more, but they ask for several rubles.

For gadgets on Windows, there is an application RAWer. In the presence of support for a very large number of encoding formats and camera models, fast import of photos from the camera, a wide range of features, including cropping photos, and at the same time low system requirements and lightness. Unfortunately, the photo editing features are paid.

Conclusion

Of course, RAW is not an unambiguous replacement for other formats and not a panacea for solving shooting errors. But it is a really powerful tool for a photographer, the use of which will be appropriate in almost any field - whether we are talking about serious photography or ordinary mobile shots. In the end, it is the photographer who shoots, not the camera, and masterpieces can be created even on a matchbox with a hole and a piece of film inside. RAW is not a replacement for the basic rules of exposure, framing and working with light. But as a help for solving creative problems, this is a really useful and effective tool.

Bright and contrasting houses, not overexposed sky, wide dynamic range and beautiful colors - shooting in RAW was definitely not possible without shooting.

Of course, not everything is so simple here - it often happens that there is no time at all for high-quality post-processing of images (even using ready-made templates), and you have to immediately shoot in JPEG or TIFF. Teaching parents to shoot intelligently in RAW and then process it is also a non-trivial task, especially if they are far enough from photography and / or computers. Nevertheless, the ability to shoot in RAW gives a lot of creative opportunities, so mastering this skill makes sense not only for those who are going to monetize their hobby, but also for everyone who just wants to please themselves and loved ones with excellent quality pictures.

When shooting in JPEG, we would either get black spots instead of rocks, or a too bright sunset. RAW allows you to get a normal picture both in the shadows and in the bright areas of the frame.

Want a detailed article on RAW processing, with all sorts of white points, black points, color curves, levels, and other interesting things? :) Put a plus if the topic is interesting - we will definitely continue. Good luck.

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If your camera supports the RAW photo format and you want to know how it is better than the standard jpeg, then this article is written for you.

The main feature of the RAW format is that it records much more information about the picture than jpeg. And full information allows you to refine the picture, change the exposure, darken overexposure and brighten dark areas. And turn even the most ordinary picture into a masterpiece.

Two programs are mainly used for processing the RAW format: Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom. Newer versions of Photoshop have a built-in Camera Raw application for processing RAW format. the most powerful program specifically designed to sort and process entire albums of RAW photos.

In general, the editing window is almost the same. At the end of the article in video lesson You will be able to see how to process RAW photos using Adobe Photoshop.

We drag our RAW image into the Adobe Photoshop window. The Camera Raw add-on launches.

At the top of the window there are buttons such as: zoom, drag, crop. Adjustment brush, allows you to make corrections in certain areas of the photo.

The main adjustment window is displayed on the right. Here you can adjust the exposure, temperature, color, and lighten or darken the various tones of the photo. It is this panel that brings the photo to life. Properly selected settings allow you to "see" the details that are lost in a regular photograph taken in JPEG format.

At the top, there is a histogram of the image, and below it is additional information about the image.

The next window is called Tone Curve.

The next tab "Details" allows you to get rid of digital noise in the photo.

The next tab allows you to set the color tone for the shadows and highlights of the photo.

The Post-Crop Vignetting effect lets you darken or lighten the edges of a photo to draw more attention to the center.

Let's press the Y button under the picture and see how it was and how it has become. If the result suits, click save or open it in Photoshop for further refinement.

The finished result looks like this:

Next video lesson you will see how to edit raw photos in adobe photoshop:

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Processing RAW photos in Lightroom 6