+ Camera Raw Feature Requests +

Report · Sep 22, 2005

UPDATE:

We're interested in what changes you would like see in our products. Do you have an idea for a feature that would help your workflow? Is there a small change that could be made to make your life a little easier? Let us know! Share an Idea, Ask a Question or Report a Problem and get feedback from the Product Development Team and other passionate users on the Photoshop Family product Feedback Site on Photoshop.com.

In future it would helpful if you could use this thread as a means to add

"Features" that you would like to see in future releases of Adobe Camera Raw.

Please do NOT create additional new Topics and try not to duplicate requests by other users. Also, be thorough in your description of the feature and why you think Adobe should consider it.

Oh, and if you find it necessary to comment on someone's feature request/suggestion, try not to get into a shouting match. The penalty for doing so is...

b If you're asking that a particular camera is supported in a future release or just taking the opportunity to carp that yours isn't then please do so in another thread!

IanLyons

Forum Host

Report · Jan 10, 2009

John Not sure but it was early, maybe 1. something or 2 .I remember going to a Graphics show with a bunch of guys, we were paintbox operators.There were High end scanners etc etc.
We looked at Photoshop 1 and had a chat with the guy on the stand telling him all the down falls compared with the System we had..
adobe must have been listening because it started to improve.I mean there was no pen tool ...we had that and masks etc.
I got a copy at work to mess about with..then came 2 but you still had to save and open in another piece of software to get layers....Photoshop came out with the layers the most important thing ever.I was well converted by then, teaching in my spare time.

Report · Jan 10, 2009

PS John I have been retouching for way longer than Photoshop.

Report · Jan 10, 2009

PS so rather than saying I need glasses or spending time trying to nitpick..Get with the program and help improve an already brilliant piece of software.

I am sure we are all on the same team.

Report · Jan 11, 2009

Can someone in authority knock this squabble on the head, please? It's polluting the Feature Requests topic.

Report · Jan 11, 2009

>PS Troy
Who said I bought a new Camera?
Please read carefully.
I could call names like you but.......my man I an much better than that.
Gretch

Obviously not, judging by that childish comment.

You only need the upgrade you request as someone in your department bought a 5DII - I did read post correctly and realise you personally do not have one, obviously you are being a bit literal. You is singular as well as plural in English.
And once again, you ignored all the points I mentioned as to why your are moaning ignorantly and inappropriately about Adobe not doing things for nothing. Moan at Canon, they are the reason for the problem, not Adobe.

>If you're asking that a particular camera is supported in a future release or just taking the opportunity to carp that yours isn't then please do so in another thread!

FYI - This is part of the original ACR request post by Ian Lyons

>I have a couple of ideas which would help my workflow..
Gretch

So why not post them rather than whining about irrelevencies and being rude to people?

Report · Jan 11, 2009

Is there an Ignore button on this site

Report · Jan 11, 2009

Troy Troy......
childish, ignorantly,Moan,Whining,etc etc.Can you see this is name calling , something we learnt as children.
Why does it upset you so, move on.

In my view and the view of many on other sites CS4 is a poor upgrade...it happens.
Remember Illustrator 7...or did you like that upgrade.
Feedback is essential to Adobe so there it is...Maybe we can relabel Feedback as Moaning I am OK with that...

The ideas I have given them a couple already through a different avenue.......for very obvious reasons.

Report · Jan 11, 2009

I would like to ask a question, is it possible that people who answer be understanding and not rude, even though the question may seem silly to some of you.I cant believe the unpleasantness of some people on this site.
Can anyone tell me if there is a loss of quality by using DNG rather than ACR?
I too dont have CS4 yet I cant afford it just now, so please, please can I just get an answer.

Report · Jan 11, 2009

Hi Alex,

As far as I understand, DNG is a 'lossless' RAW file format, and no quality is lost. (I have certainly not seen any loss of quality myself). DNG files are also compressed, which is a bonus if your camera does not compress its RAW files. (My Olympus E1 doesn't).

However, I have found that some of the Exif (camera) data is lost when I convert the RAW files from my E1, but that is a minor problem.

There is an added benefit, in that ACR 4.? does not create sidecar 'XMP' files when DNG files are opened and adjusted, but changes the DNG file instead.

However, this might mean that your backup system needs to copy the whole DNG file, rather than the XMP file, which is typically only a few KB.

I hope this helps you.

Nigel.

Report · Jan 11, 2009

Alex - DNG is a RAW file format and ACR [Adobe Camera RAW] is a tool to develop RAW file. ACR can develop .dng files, as can many RAW processors.
All RAW files are unaltered by developing, so you never lose quality. The data regarding the developing is kep separate from the actual file.

>childish, ignorantly,Moan,Whining,etc etc.Can you see this is name calling , something we learnt as children.
Gretch

No, I'm simply being descriptive of your behaviour.
And yet again you ignore any relevant points made about your complaints.

Report · Jan 11, 2009

Hello

As a feature I think that the adjustment brush pins should have a layers palette,so that they can be turned on and off, just as in Photoshop layers. There is a lot of space further down the tab.
I am not convinced by the colour slider in the adjustment palette. A simple slider similar to colour temperature would be sufficient.

Mike Engles

Report · Jan 11, 2009

Thank You.

Report · Jan 19, 2009

The possibility of a temporary disabling of all adjustments with shortcut .It would accelerate adjustment brush.

Report · Feb 04, 2009

Virtual Copies with Camera Raw:

Lightroom 2 can save virtual copies of a raw image as metadata in the Lightroom 2 database, with each copy having different image settings. Camera Raw should have a similar feature for saving virtual copies of a raw image with different image settings in the Camera Raw database, a DNG file, or one or more XMP files.

Raw files with different image settings have many uses, including extending an images dynamic range, creating a black and white or tinted version, split toning, etc.

Currently, outside of Lightroom 2, the only way to save multiple versions of a raw file or a derivative DNG file is to copy the raw/DNG file with a new name, and then use that new file to create a new version. Those duplicate image files waste a lot of hard drive space and unnecessarily add to the ever-growing digital data overload, when all that is needed to describe the new version is the original raw/DNG file and a relatively small amount of new metadata.

A better alternative would be to have Camera Raw store and apply multiple, named sets of image settings that are tagged to a single raw/DNG file. That could be done in any number of ways, including locating the image settings in folders in the Camera Raw database, in the images DNG file, or in a single XMP file, or in multiple XMP files tagged to a single image.

Any such system should give users the option to name, browse, rename, and modify each set of image settings for the raw/DNG file, to independently open each version of the raw/DNG file in Camera Raw, and to open all versions of the raw/DNG file simultaneously in Camera Raw so they can be processed as a group, as currently can be done for multiple images.

Bridge and Lightroom 2 should treat these Camera Raw virtual copies as independent images, viewable either separately or, at the option of the user, as an image stack.

Report · Feb 04, 2009

Issue 1:

Camera Raw 5.2 provides a workflow option to "Open [Raw Files] in Photoshop as Smart Objects." The resulting default file name includes the phrase, "as Smart Object-1".

Except as discussed below, I always open Raw files as Smart Objects, so the added phrase provides no useful information, but only makes the default file name excessively long. As a result, I waste time deleting the phrase from the name before saving the file.

Suggestion 1: Provide an option to open raw files as Smart Objects while retaining only the original file name as the Photoshop default.

Issue 2:

The "Open Copy" command in Camera Raw 5.2 ignores the workflow option to "Open [Raw Files] in Photoshop as Smart Objects", and does not save any new development settings for the copies.

Whether I'm working on originals or copies, I want the files to open in Photoshop as Smart Objects.

When extending the dynamic range of an image, for example, I want to open files in Camera Raw with the original development settings, then save the modified development data for the copies in separate xmp files.

Suggestion 2: Enable Camera Raw to (a) open copies of raw files in Photoshop as Smart Objects, and (b) simultaneously save copies of the raw files and corresponding xmp files in the same folders that hold the original raw files.

Report · Feb 04, 2009

Following on from Pixel Trickster's post regarding virtual copies.
Lots of good points in the post and is very similar to what I've been thinking of lately. I find it frustrating in Bridge to duplicate files to do alternate RAW adjustments and even worse I cannot access my virtual copies outside of the LR datasbase. Particularly annoying when LR cannot access upgraded databases and all my versions are now lost!
Seeing as a virtual copy is simply a duplicate set of instructions, there is no reason why that is not in the XMP file along with primary adjustments. This means if imported into anotehr LR catalogue the variations area now there as well. Versions are as important as the original file at times.

Now Bridge being a File Browser and not a database makes showing duplicate files a bit trickier as a File Browser only shows what is actually there. But if ACR were to be integrated properly into Bridge as a panel, which it should have been all along, then maybe whilst in the ACR panel one could then view the alternate versions. Obviously whilst browsing normally you cannot see the versions but if a no. corresponding to the total variations were on the thumbnail, maybe like the develop symbol then that would help you spot files with multiple versions.

Report · Feb 04, 2009

Have you guys looked at Snapshots in ACR? You can save various different sets of developing settings in a single raw file.

Report · Feb 04, 2009

Snapshots are yet another way in which LR and ACR do things differently. They both need to treat/describe/handle/label files in a consistent manner.
If Snapshots were the same as LR versions and vice versa, then that would be cool.
What would make snapshots more functional is if the thumbnail showed that there were versions present and also if you could reload the snapshot, like with layer comps in PS. Or for idication in ACR - have the Snapshot tab have 3 states not the normal two - no snapshots, open [with or without snapshots] and snapshots present.
Going OT here - Layers Comps suffer from the same thing, there is no indication that layer comps are used in a file [when open]. So when returning to a file a while later, unless you look in the LC panel, you have no idea if there are any.

Report · Feb 06, 2009

I have been investigating Snapshots and Presets within ACR 5.3 Beta. All my NEFs are converted to DNGs prior to processing in ACR, so I don't need to deal with sidecar files. I found that Presets remain within ACR, such that any preset can be applied to ANY subsequently opened DNG. The settings saved in Snapshots remain with that image through subsequent opening and closing of that image. The Snapshot settings can be seen in the XMP data for the file.

Of even greater interest, I discovered that, when in Bridge, I can select an image and either right click on it, scroll down to Develop Settings and the Fly-out shows all the usual options PLUS all the presets that have been applied to ANY image. Similarly, accessing Develop Settings via the Edit menu provides the same functionality.

This allows one to view the images with the various Presets applied, and then by double clicking on the image in Bridge, to open the image in ACR with that set of presets already applied. Of course, once the image is open in ACR, it can be edited in the usual manner.

There seems to be no getting around the fact that to create a pseudo HDR image from a single RAW file, the file needs to be opened and saved twice in PS, once for the highlight Snapshot and once for the shadows Snapshot. The two files would be then processed in an approporiate manner.

Reed

Report · Feb 06, 2009

Actually you can cut out a lot of the requirement for HDR by "painting" in corrections for Exposure/Brightness/Contrast/Color Correction etc,.directly into the image in ACR 5.2 by using the local Adjustment Brush or the Graduated Filter.

VERY nice additions to the program!

Report · Feb 07, 2009

Since this is a Feature Request Thread, here is one: It would be useful if the available adjustments for the Adjustment Brush included a Vibrance slider. Some of the other missing adjustments from the Basic pane would be nice, too, but Vibrance would be most useful to me. Note that I am running ACR 5.3 Beta.

Reed

Report · Feb 09, 2009

When you select multiple files to open in ACR you get the list of thumbnails
on the left size of the ACR window. I would like to have the option of
removing files from this list so that I don't have to open the ones I don't
want. Yes, I know you can shift and control click to just select the ones
you open, but this assumes that you can later remember which ones it is that
you do want to open. This is an issue when you have more than just a couple
of images there and/or they are similar.

Robert

Report · Feb 09, 2009

Ramón, thanks for pointing out Snapshots. I had overlooked them, and they do most, but not all, of what I was looking for.

I experimented with processing multiple settings for a single Raw file in one image in Photoshop (e.g., shadows, midtones, highlights), and it works great. Here's the procedure:

1. Process the Raw file in Camera Raw with as many snapshots as needed.

2. Open one of the shapshots (e.g, shadows) as a Smart Object in Photoshop.

3. Right/control click on the Smart Object layer, in the empty area to the right of the Smart Object icon.

4. Click "New Smart Object via Copy."

5. Double click the new Smart Object layer to open the file in Camera Raw.

6. In Camera Raw, click the Snapshots tab, then the name of another snapshot (e.g., midtones).

7. Click "OK" to open that snapshot along with the previously-opened one in Photoshop.

8. Repeat those steps to include as many more snapshots of the same image as Photoshop can handle (I haven't tested its limits).

9. You can edit any of the layers in Camera Raw, and save a new snapshot associated with that layer, but the new snapshots don't affect the Snapshots for the other layers unless you replace the previous shapshot with the edited one. Also, the new snapshots only are available by clicking the corresponding layer in Photoshop, but don't appear when the Raw file is opened directly.

So, now for a feature request: why can't Camera Raw show the updated snapshots associated with all of the layers, both when Camera Raw is accessed from Photoshop and when the Raw file is opened directly in Camera Raw?

Report · Feb 09, 2009

As an addendum to my immediately-preceding feature request, it would be very useful if it were possible to simultaneously open all independent Smart Object layers (e.g., shadows, midtones, highlights) in Camera Raw and synchronize selected settings.

Report · Feb 09, 2009

In Bridge you can select several files and open into layers in a single PSD file, so being able to do that with several snapshots of a single image as you suggest would be very, very useful and not just for the HDR example you mention. And if you could dynamically tweak the layer snapshots in ACR and the layers update whilst in PS - wow how good would that be?

I guess the next stage would be opening several files with multiple snapshots into a single file - be very useful for compositing. Being able to select all or some of the snapshots would be key to this and if the layers took the snapshot name as well, even better.

Thanks for explaining that smart object scenario PixelTwister, I hadn't known that snapshot feature myself. And I doubt many others do either.