Camera Raw 4.2 Settings

Enem178 · Feb 23, 2009

I have a 40d and I open up raw files in camera raw 4.2 then I open the image in elements 6. Right now I have my sliders set to the "camera raw default". Does that mean the setting are catered exclusively to my 40D or whatever camera that is being used? Also where do you guys have your sliders set to? Do you leave it on the default for your camera or did you customize your default settings?

Big Mike · Feb 23, 2009

Whatever program I'm using...I adjust the sliders so that the image looks like how I want it to look.

If I have several photos that are similar, I copy & paste (save & load, whatever) the settings from one to others.

Enem178 · Feb 23, 2009

O ok, so in your case there would be no reason to touch the default settings because you are going to edit on a pic by pic basis except when you are batch processing. Thanks for your reply!!

Flash Harry · Feb 24, 2009

No, you adjust the sliders/settings for the result you wish to obtain, I then use these as a start point if needed for further manipulation in PS. H

davebmck · Feb 24, 2009

In Camera Raw, go the camera calibration panel and set your profile to Adobe Standard. That should set the default settings that best matches your camera.

Enem178 · Feb 25, 2009

Really? Ok i'll give that a try. Thanks

davebmck · Feb 25, 2009

Yes, it should give you a starting color profile that closely matches what your camera would produce if you were shooting in jpeg format. That's not to say you won't want to make other adjustments, but it's a good starting point.

Enem178 · Feb 25, 2009

Ok I went into "camera raw preferences" and I set the default image settings so that it's specific to the camera serial number. It didnt ask me to enter the serial # so I'm guessing it gets it from the exif info?? Dave this is what your were talking about right?

davebmck · Feb 25, 2009

No. In Camera Raw you have different panels you bring up for each set of adjustments you may want to make to your image. Your Basic panel has white balance, exposure, etc. There is one for levels/curves adjustment, Details such as sharpening and noise, and others. One of these is for Camera Calibration. Select that one and near the top of the panel you will see Camera Profile (I think that's right, I'm not home now) and there is a little up/down icon next to that. Click on that and you will see a number of profiles. I think out of the box, it is set to ACR 4.2 or something like that. Select the one that says Adobe Standard. The program only displays profiles that are appropriate for your specific camera, so this will be the Adobe Standard for your camera. You can see an immediate improvement in reds and oranges over the ACR 4.2 profile.

Garbz · Mar 1, 2009

davebmck said:
In Camera Raw, go the camera calibration panel and set your profile to Adobe Standard. That should set the default settings that best matches your camera.

WRONG! Adobe standard is Adobe's Standard. It makes all images look the way Adobe wants them too (which btw I consider excellent).

But in ACR3.4 and above the way to match the camera is to select the "Camera Standard" profiles, which change depending on if you have a Canon, Nikon, Olympus or whatever. They are specifically designed to match the company's standard since most cameras from a company produce very similar colour anyway. The notable exception is the Nikon D2X which has it's own set of profiles if you open up a NEF file in ACR.

davebmck · Mar 1, 2009

I thought all the profiles were camera specific, including Adobe Standard. I'll take your word for it though. Anyway, this is the profile that gave me the best color reproduction of the objects I was photographing. I would suggest to anyone who is trying to select a profile to experiment with images that you can compare with real objects to find your best match.

davebmck · Mar 1, 2009

C&P from Adobe

For each camera model it supports, Camera Raw uses color profiles to process raw images. These profiles are produced by photographing color targets under standardized lighting conditions and are not ICC color profiles.
Camera Raw 5.2 automatically installs two types of profiles that are based on the Digital Negative (DNG) 1.2 specification: Adobe Standard and Camera Matching.
Adobe Standard camera profiles significantly improve color rendering, especially in warm tones such as reds, yellows, and oranges, from earlier Adobe camera profiles.
Camera Matching profiles attempt to match the camera manufacturers color appearance under specific settings. Use Camera Matching profiles if you prefer the color rendering offered by your camera manufacturers software.
Both Adobe Standard and Camera Matching camera profiles are intended to serve as a starting point for further image adjustments. Therefore, use the profiles in conjunction with the color and tone controls in the Basic, Tone Curve, HSL / Grayscale, and other image adjustment tabs.
Note: Adobe Standard and Camera Matching camera profiles require Camera Raw 4.5 or later and do not work with earlier versions of Camera Raw. To download the latest version of Camera Raw and install the profiles, go to www.adobe.com/go/learn_ps_cameraraw.

I stand corrected.

Garbz · Mar 1, 2009

davebmck said:
I thought all the profiles were camera specific, including Adobe Standard.

We may be talking about slightly different things. Adobe Standard profiles ARE camera specific but what I am talking about is the end result they achieve.

Adobe Standard profiles specifically make your camera appear consistent with Adobe's DNG specification, and their idea of what colour should look like. e.g A Canon and a Nikon camera should produce the same colour tones if both use Adobe Standard profiles.

Camera Standard profiles specifically make your camera appear in photoshop as the manufacturer intended. I.e. it makes CameraRAW process a Nikon photo in the same way as Nikon Capture NX, or the camera's own JPEG setting.