Processing RAW

[louisa_edwards]

<p>Would someone please recommend a great website that is basically a step by step guide for idiots that don't realize they were shooting RAW on how to process RAW photos?</p>

<p>I have CS3.</p>

<p>Thank you!<br /> L.</p>

[dbcooper]

if you have CS3, then you should automatically have Adobe Camera RAW for processing RAW files. Try this tutorial (movie) to learn how to use it. http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/tips/phs7rbrawbasics/index.html</p>

[louisa_edwards]

<p>I guess I should have mentioned that I do not know how to use CS3, oops!</p>

[dan_moughamian1]

<p>Louisa,<br>

If you are an absolute beginner with Photoshop, it may be be confusing or less than productive to try to jump right into raw processing. If you are serious about learning Photoshop, I would start out with a good basic reference book or video that explains the fundamentals to you first. How to set up Photoshop with the right preferences and computer settings, how to manage the size and resolution of documents, what color modes are, how to work with the basic brush tools and selections, etc. </p>

<p>From that point, you might decide it's better to be photographing with a raw format after all, because of ACR's ability to get the most from the tones, colors and details your sensor can capture. For serious photographers it's a far better option in most cases than using JPEG. If you go this route, there are a number of books and videos that you can use. In addition to the link above, get a copy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Real-World-Camera-Adobe-Photoshop/dp/0321518675/">Real World Camera Raw with Photoshop CS3</a>, from Bruce Fraser & Jeff Schewe. There's none better that focus on raw processing.</p>

<p>If you like to have a video reference with different tutorial topics that you can play from an iTunes-like interface, <a href="http://www.designprovideo.com/">designprovideo.com</a> offers a variety of Photoshop training products at very reasonable rates (note: I am biased here as I work with DPV, but I believe strongly in the products this company is creating... in the past they've been focused on creating very popular training titles for Apple's Final Cut Studio applications, audio workstations, and many others... so when they launched designProVideo in 2008, they opened up another great resource for people who want to learn Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, etc. All my opinion of course but if you check it out I think you'll see they have some good stuff there.)</p>

<p>Hope this helps.<br>

-Dan</p>

[freddy.tu]

<blockquote>

<p>for idiots that don't realize they were shooting RAW</p>

</blockquote>

<p>You're an idiot for that. In fact, it's a good thing you started right away to shoot in raw, because once you get use to the raw editing, you'll never go back to jpeg. Raw file gives your the opportunity to bring changes to your photo without losing image quality. That being said, go check out the tutorials Mr. Cooper and Dan suggested or just look around on google. There are plenty of sites that'll help you.</p>

<p>Also, for a bonus tip, I use Adobe Bridge to manage my raw photo. Bridge allow you to have preview of your raw files and have many other neat features that makes it quite useful. Some people also use Lightroom, but it requires additional download. So for now, Bridge/Photoshop is a pretty decent combo.</p>

<p>My 0.02$</p>

<p>Cheers!</p>

[freddy.tu]

<blockquote>

<p>for idiots that don't realize they were shooting RAW</p>

</blockquote>

<p>You're an idiot for that. In fact, it's a good thing you started right away shooting in raw, because once you get use to the raw editing, you'll never go back to jpeg. (True for me) Raw file gives your the opportunity to modify your photo to a certain extent without losing image quality. That being said, go check out the tutorials Mr. Cooper and Dan suggested or just look around on Google or even YouTube (ie. keyword: raw editing photoshop cs3 basic). There are plenty of sites that can help you.</p>

<p>Also, for a bonus tip, I use Adobe Bridge to manage my raw photo. Bridge allow you to have preview of your raw files and have many other neat features that makes it quite useful. Some people also use Lightroom, but it requires additional download. So for now, Bridge/Photoshop is a pretty decent combo.</p>

<p>My 0.02$</p>

<p>Cheers!</p>

[louisa_edwards]

<p>Thanks guys! I will be checking out those sites :)</p>