The Basic RAW Image Processing Workflow In PSE 2018 This tutorial will illustrate the basic workflow or steps that are generally done when a RAW image is edited in PSE 2018. Saving the edited file as part of a Version Set, as well as an independent edited file will be covered. Since the steps are the emphasis here, little or no editing will be done to the files. That will be thoroughly addressed in other tutorials. You will see that the basic workflow is similar to processing a JPEG image, except the RAW imaged must first be pre-processed using the Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) editor. 1. Select a RAW image to be edited in the Organizer. 2. Click on the down arrow on the FIX tab in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and select Full Photo Edit, or use the shortcut, Ctrl+I. Because a RAW file has been selected, the Adobe Camera RAW editor opens displaying the image. 3. Since our purpose here is to concentrate on the overall steps in processing a RAW image, click on the Auto button as shown in the above figure, which applies a basic exposure/color correction to the image. 4. Click Open Image to then open the image in the PSE Editor. 2018 Basic Raw Process 1
5. The ACR edited image opens in the Full Editor, where additional editing can be done. Note, in the figure below, the image was opened in the Expert mode, and we will stay in that mode. 6. For our purposes, we will assume no additional editing is required. Click on File > Save As on the Menu bar to save the edited version in a Version Set in the usual manner. 2018 Basic Raw Process 2
7. Since the image is to be saved in a Version Set, make sure Include in the Organizer and Save as a Version Set as shown in the above figure are both checked. Then click Save. 8. Unless you have turned it off, the standard message describing a Version Set appears. Click on the OK button to continue. 9. Since we are saving the edited version as a JPEG, the dialog box below appears. Make sure there is a 12 in the Quality field; then press OK. 10. For the purposes of this exercise, we will do another edit on this image before returning to the Organizer. On the Menu bar, click on Enhance > Convert to Black and White, and then staying with the default, click OK. However, you may find that often you do not need to open the image in the Photo Editor. You can do all your editing within the ACR. If that is the case, click Done. You are returned to the Organizer, with your edits saved in an.xmp sidecar file. 2018 Basic Raw Process 3
11. We ll save this edited image, but not as a Version Set. Click on File > Save As to get the dialog box below. Navigate to where you want the image to be saved, name the edited image (e.g. add a BW to its file name), remove the Save in a Version Set check, and then click the Save button. 2018 Basic Raw Process 4
Notice in the above figure, the file name has the suffix _edited-1 prior to the BW you added, because you are editing the previously edited image not the original RAW image. 12. Repeat Steps 7-9. 13. Close the image and return to the Organizer. 14. After returning to the Organizer and searching/displaying the original and edited images appropriately, you will see you have three separate files, the unedited RAW image, an automatically adjusted edited version in a Version Set, and the black and white image that is not part of the Version Set as shown in the figure below. 2018 Basic Raw Process 5
Notice that in recent PSE versions, all of the edited images inherit whatever Tags were applied to the original, except for People. In earlier versions, only those edited images in a Version Set were automatically tagged. So, as this exercise has shown, the steps and results when working with a RAW image that must first pass through the ACR are exactly the same as processing JPEG or other image types after the image is opened in the Full editor. 2018 Basic Raw Process 6