Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers - Martin Evening [81]
Figure 3.15 The Synchronize dialog.
Once a photo has been edited in Camera Raw you will notice a badge icon appears in the top right corner ( Figure 3.13 ), which indicates that this photo has had Camera Raw edits applied to it.
Figure 3.13 After opening or applying ‘Done’ to an image via the Camera Raw dialog, you will see a settings badge appear in the top right corner of the image thumbnail (circled). This indicates that an image has been edited in Camera Raw.
Opening raw files as Smart Objects
One of the top requests we hear for Photoshop is to have Camera Raw style adjustment layers. It's a nice idea, but limited by the fact that some of the Camera Raw adjustments rely on masking methods and therefore can't be applied as layers, in the same way as filters can't be applied as adjustment layers (although, having said that, there is now a Vibrance adjustment control for Photoshop). What we can do though is to use the Smart Objects feature in Photoshop to convert raw images or layers into Smart Objects, which are like independent images within an image that can be processed non-destructively.
In the case of Camera Raw, Smart Object opening is almost like a hidden feature, but once discovered, can lead to all sorts of exciting possibilities. There are two ways to go about this. You can click on the Workflow options link highlighted in Figure 3.16 to open the Workflow Options dialog and select the ‘Open in Photoshop as Smart Objects’ option. If checked, this will make all Camera Raw processed images open as Smart Object layers in Photoshop whenever you click on the Open Image button. The other option is to simply hold down the key as you click on the Open Image button.
Figure 3.16 If you click on the Workflow options link (circled above), this opens the Workflow Options dialog, where you can check the ‘Open in Photoshop as Smart Objects’ option. Alternatively, hold down the key as you click the Open Image button.
Let's now look at a practical example of opening two raw images as Smart Object layers and merging them in Photoshop.
1.
In this first step, I opened a raw image of a building and held down the key as I clicked on the Open Image button, to open it as a Smart Object layer in Photoshop.
2.
In this next step, I selected a new image, this time a photo of a sky, and again, held key as I clicked on the Open Image button, to open this too as a Smart Object layer.
3.
In Photoshop I dragged the Smart Object layer of the sky across to the Smart Object layer image of the building, to add it as a new layer. I then made a selection of the outline of the building and applied it as a layer mask to create the merged photo shown here.
4.
Because both of these layers were raw image Smart Objects, I was able to double-click the top layer thumbnail (circled) to open the Camera Raw dialog and edit the settings. In this case I decided to give the sky look more of a sunset color balance.
5.
The same thing happened when I double-clicked the lower layer. This too opened the raw image Smart Object layer via Camera Raw and allowed me to warm the colors and add more contrast to the building.
6.
This shows the Photoshop image with the revised Smart Object layers. The thing to bear in mind here is that edits made to the Smart Object layers are completely non-destructive.
Saving photos from Camera Raw
When you click on the Save Images… button you have the option of choosing a folder destination to save the images to and a File Naming section to customize file naming. In the Format section you can choose which file format to use when rendering a pixel version from the raw master. These options include: PSD, TIFF, or JPEG. If you have used the crop tool to crop the image in Camera Raw, the PSD options allow you to preserve the cropped pixels by saving the image with