Why should I use ACR

[Schewe]

I do have the 7 hour video back on my computer at home and must watch it even if I am put off a bit by the big guys Hawaii shirt.

The big guy with the Hawaii shirt is a little put off by your attitude...and frankly, from the questions you are asking, it looks like you need a basic Camera Raw tutorial. If you don't know why to use ACR vs doing stuff in Photoshop, I suspect you really don't understand raw image processing at all. Check the Adobe web site for a lot of ACR/LR tutorials to learn the basics...this forum isn't really an optimal place to learn ACR 101–there's simply too much you don't understand yet.

[Chris_Brown]

The big guy with the Hawaii shirt is a little put off by your attitude...

LOL

[Tim Lookingbill]

The big guy with the Hawaii shirt is a little put off by your attitude...and frankly, from the questions you are asking, it looks like you need a basic Camera Raw tutorial. If you don't know why to use ACR vs doing stuff in Photoshop, I suspect you really don't understand raw image processing at all. Check the Adobe web site for a lot of ACR/LR tutorials to learn the basics...this forum isn't really an optimal place to learn ACR 101–there's simply too much you don't understand yet.

Wonder if the big guy with the Hawaiian shirt was ever asked to play Santa Claus since he's got a great looking beard and all. I can just picture in my mind him telling kids...

"Yeah, bud, I'ld like a Power Ranger, too, but I ain't holding my breath. Now off my lap, kiddo'. You're giving me a charley horse...NEXT!"

[Schewe]

Wonder if the big guy with the Hawaiian shirt was ever asked to play Santa Claus since he's got a great looking beard and all. I can just picture in my mind him telling kids...

Yeah, ya know, Christmas ain't my favorite time of year...but the upside is I can really screw with little kids' heads. "I ain't "Santa", I'm Santa's evil brother but I can make darn sure you get nothing so shut up and behave yourself"...(actually, just looking stern and shaking my finger at them tends to keep them well behaved). Just so ya know, people who yell Santa at me get coal...be careful, I have a long memory!

[Tim Lookingbill]

Just so ya know, people who yell Santa at me get coal...be careful, I have a long memory!

YIKES! Thanks for the warning!

[stamper]

From ACR, open your photo in PS as a Smart Object.  From PS, you can then easily go back to ACR to make further edits, then back to PS again. 

Provided you are using PS CS6 and not an earlier version.

[john beardsworth]

Provided you are using PS CS6 and not an earlier version.

Smart objects were introduced many versions ago. CS 2?

[stamper]

John view this video.

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/the-complete-picture-with-julieanne-kost/the-difference-between-edit-in-photoshop-and-open-as-smart-object-

Smart objects have been around for a few years and you can open an image from LR 4 to PS as a smart object but only PS CS6 allows you to return the image to LR for further editing using a smart object and camera raw version 7. If you are using CS5 then it takes you back to version 6.7 Obviously they aren't compatible.

[stamper]

Quote Jeff

(actually, just looking stern and shaking my finger at them tends to keep them well behaved)

Unquote

It usually keeps the members here well behaved.

[john beardsworth]

Thanks, I know the LR-PS workflow perfectly well, though there's been no change for a number of cycles in the need to keep LR and PS versions in sync if you want to re-edit smart objects. The original post was about ACR/PS and I was responding to the posts quoted below, and since CS2 you've been able to "go back to ACR to make further edits" to a raw file in a smart object.

John



Quote from: dmerger on January 13, 2013, 05:20:03 PM
From ACR, open your photo in PS as a Smart Object.  From PS, you can then easily go back to ACR to make further edits, then back to PS again.

Quote from: stamper on Today at 03:19:54 AM
Provided you are using PS CS6 and not an earlier version.

[Ken Bennett]

If I open a RAW file to ACR I have the option of immediately opening it in Photoshop without making any edits.

I think this is the key misunderstanding right here - when you open a raw file in ACR and then click to open into Photoshop, you are making edits. You are making all kinds of final, irrevocable decisions -- setting the white and black points, baking in the color balance, making sharpening and noise reduction decisions, and far more -- and worse, you are choosing to use the default settings in ACR to do this. Some of these settings are just bad, like the default noise reduction. Others are simply not optimal. In any case, the raw processor gives you the best opportunity to make the most out of the raw data before it goes to Photoshop.

Just clicking through with the default settings is not some sort of "immaculate processing" that leaves you with an untouched raw file. It is for this reason that I never give my raw files to anyone else (cough-designers-cough) -- because they invariably just click through into Photoshop.

[Isaac]

The big guy with the Hawaii shirt is a little put off by your attitude...

That's understandable :-)

...there's simply too much you don't understand yet.

The good thing for me about such basic questions is that the answers uncover things I thought I knew but didn't, and things I thought I knew but was wrong about, and things I had worked out how to do but there's a better way.

[dirkpieters]

Yes I also love basic questions
My point of view!
I use ACR to get my basic processing done and then I save as a 16 bit file which I open up in PS to retouch. I like selecting areas with a feathered lasso and lightning or darkening, changing contrast and colour like we used to do in the darkroom.
Once the image is to my liking, I flatten it and convert to 8 bit. Working in 16 bit is a bit like working on a raw image, you have more image information to work with.
Having said that, Lightroom seems to give me better quality and tonality. I think it does more for you whereas ACR you have to decide more for yourself. So perhaps a way to do it would be to process in Lightroom to 16 bit and retouch in PS

[brandtb]

Actually about two years ago I did buy an ACR video on this site but was very disappointed. I felt I was just watching two guys congratulating all the software guys on what a good job they'd done. I don't think I even bothered to watch it all.

Wow - that doesn't sound like the LuLA video series I bought?!? I have all the LuLa tutorial programs on ACR, LR etc. - they are some of THE best available video tutorials (content-wise) -  at a very nominal cost. My suggestion would be simply to...watch them several times..then your "question" will be answered.

[sniper]

Couple of statements are these correct:

The moment the file goes to Photoshop it's no longer a RAW file.

Therefore none of the edits from ACR can be changed.

Is this true.

And Sniper you think I should be using Lightroom. Personally I think I should be using a box brownie.

Errr it was Jeremy who said you should be using lightroom, not me.  Why should I use a box brownie, I stopped using one of those many years ago?.