by
Chuck_S » Sat Nov 10, 2007 9:51 pm
Wags, I'll give you the short story on this one. Some digital cameras, mostly the DSLR's and some higher end point-and-shoots, have a mode for image capture called Raw, which basically is a copy of what comes through the lens and strikes the sensor - without any substantial in-camera processing for color balance, sharpness, contrast, etc. As a result of being 'raw', the images need additional processing before they're ready for opening in Elements or CS. For that purpose, Adobe developed a plug-in (Adobe Camera Raw)that processes the raw image before it goes into the Editor. The plug-in is free, and it works in both Elements and CS, although somewhat differently.
OK, so I don't have Raw capability in my camera - why should I care about Adobe Camera Raw? Well, starting with PSE5 and ACR version 4, JPEG images as well as RAW images can be opened in the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in. The plug-in includes numerous sliders for white balance, brightness, contrast, clarity, sharpness, noise reduction, etc. It's very easy to use, and in many cases can provide most or all the processing you need for a photo. With PSE6, some additional capabilities are provided in the ACR module, including cropping. It almost becomes one-stop shopping for images that aren't going to need to have a bunch of filters or layers.
If you have PSE5 or 6, download the latest plug-in from the Adobe website, follow the simple installation instructions, then re-open Elements and then, from the Editor, do File>Save As, and select Camera Raw from the dropdown and your image from the box above the dropdown. Have fun - I love it!