Combining DPP and ACR somehow!

[ed_hurst]

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>For a few years, I have used ACR to process my raw files. It's generally been pretty good. I especially like the 'Clarity' function which (I think) works on mid-range contrast to give pictures a certain type of 'snap' to them that I love - if used carefully, it creates an effect I like. I also love the ability to work on colours selectively (e.g. 'darken blues only without darkening any other colours' or 'change the hue of greens without touching other colours' or 'change the saturation of oranges only').</p>

<p>Recently, I have started using Canon's DPP and, in a range of ways, prefer the quality it produces (handling noise, bringing out the optimum detail resolution, correcting easily for lens distortions from Canon's own database). It just seems to produce better results more easily in a variety of ways.</p>

<p>Overall, I have started to subscribe to the view that Canon's own code just has the edge when it comes to squeezing the optimum quality from Canon raw files. They know them best and frankly will bother to optimise things best for their own equipment.</p>

<p>But I miss some of the ACR functions...</p>

<p>Firstly does anyone know of a way to get DPP to do something like the Clarity function in ACR? And what about selectively working on colours (as described above)? If that's possible, then I'd get the best of both worlds.</p>

<p>Alternatively, one option I can think of is to use DPP to process the raws, thus producing TIFFs, then bring those into ACR. I know that then ACR would be working on the TIFF data not the raw, so would theoretically be producing results from slightly poorer data - but with the functions I care about I believe that this would not be a problem. But how do I bring TIFFs into ACR? I don't use Bridge - is that how I would have to do it? Is there another way of bringing TIFFs in directly from ACR?</p>

<p>All advice much appreciated on this.</p>

<p>Just one thing - I am not really looking for answers based on recommendations for other raw converters that might do it all. I am sure there are some excellent options out there, but I am pretty convinced that DPP does Canon files better than anything else I have seen (at least in some ways). It's just I want to do that then still be able to use some of the ACR functionality!</p>

<p>Best wishes,</p>

<p>Ed</p>

[ed_hurst]

<p>P.S. I know the selective colour editing can be done within Photoshop, but there is no direct or easy equivalent to the Clarity function I believe!</p>

[William Kahn]

<p>Ed, I may be betraying my ignorance here (again), but: As far as I know, the only way to open TIFF files in ACR is via Bridge. You can open JPEG files in ACR from Photoshop (see Edit>Preferences>File Handling), but not TIFFs.</p>

<p>Also, I suspect that the only way you'd be able to open RAW files directly from DPP to ACR would be if Canon and/or Adobe agreed to establish protocols for doing that. Or, at least if Canon would offer a routine in DPP for converting proprietary RAW files to DNG format. But, since it's a turf war thing, I don't think it's gonna happen soon.</p>

<p>What you can do is download the free, stand-alone DNG converter from Adobe and use it to convert your CR2 files to DNG, which will then open automatically in ACR. That way you can bypass DPP altogether. (And, that's one clue as to why Canon might not be too anxious to cooperate with Adobe on this issue.)</p>

<p>I should mention that I'm still using CS3. There may be some updated TIFF file handling routines in CS4/CS5 that I'm not aware of...</p>

[massimo_foti]

<p>I don't have Photoshop on this PC, so I may be wrong. But I think you may open a TIFF in ACR using the "Open as" menu, and selecting "Camera raw" as type.<br />Again, please correct me if I am wrong<br>

Massimo</p>

[William Kahn]

<p>Massimo, the "Open With" list does not include ACR, just Photoshop (and a few other options). Not surprising, since ACR is an integral part of Photoshop, not a stand-alone program.</p>

[massimo_foti]

<p>William, I guess I failed to explain it well. I am not referring to the contextual menu in the file manager, I am referring to the "Open as" entry in Photoshop's menu itself. I'll try again, with additional details:<br>

- Open Photoshop<br>

- Select: "File > Open as" from the menu<br>

- Select "Camera raw" from the drop-down box<br>

- Select the .TIFF or even .JPEG file<br>

- Click OK<br>

This should open the file in ACR. Again, I can't test it on this PC, and maybe the menu entries and labels are a bit different. But I am pretty positive it should work. Please give it a try and let us know<br>

Massimo</p>

[paddler4]

<p>Massimo's suggestion works in Photoshop CS5 on a PC. Massimo--thanks. I had wasted some time trying to figure out how to do this and had put it aside until I found your posting.</p>

[paddler4]

<p>PS: Ed--I think 'clarity' is just Adobe-speak for local contrast. You can adjust this in PS or any other pixel-level editing program without the ACR/Lightroom 'clarity' controls. For an explanation of how to do it, check http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/techniques/local-contrast-enhancement.htm.</p>

[massimo_foti]

<p>Glad to be of help. It works on Photoshop CS 3 on PC as well. I have no reason to believe it doesn't works on either CS 4 or a Mac, but I would love to hear from Mac users. I guess this could also be handy for people stuck with older versions of ACR.</p>

 

[PuppyDigs]

<p>I prefer the control in Aperture 3 (& NR has vastly improved over Aperture 2) but still use DPP and ARC from time to time. They all have quirks and features that make them useful, especially for troublesome conversions.</p>

<p>As for adjusting individual color channels in DPP, it is easily done but you don't have a dozen ways of doing it like PS. Open the DPP tool palette and click on the RGB panel. You can adjust individual color channels in the histogram either automatically, by tugging on the curve indictor, clicking adjustment points or using the eyedrop tool.</p>

[William Kahn]

<p>Massimo, I stand corrected, and thanks for the info. As I said, betraying my ignorance again...</p>

[ed_hurst]

<p>Thank you all for your help - much appreciated!</p>

[channel_49]

<p>Here is how you open TIFFs in ACR by default.</p>

<p>In one of the main menus in <strong>Photoshop</strong> (don't have it here), it should have a submenu called <strong>Preferences</strong>. Within that menu, go down to <strong>Camera Raw</strong> and click it. It should open up a dialog box, then just change the TIFF drop down to "<strong>Open all supported TIFF formats</strong>" or something like that. Now just set the default program for .tif in windows to Photoshop and it will always open in Camera Raw. Same can be done for all your JPGs as well.</p>

<p>In terms of working from DPP to ACR, I personally just do the RAW converting in DPP and save it as a 14-bit tiff with EXIF, then open it up in ACR. But I wish there was a way for ACR to preserve all the EXIF data DPP has inputted and just work from that, instead of assigning the default Adobe ACR profile to it.</p>