Camera Raw Presets saving incorrectly in 15.0

[katsoulis]

Presets saved in Camera Raw 15.0 are not preserving the actual data, seemingly at random. For example, I created some presets of some subtle color adjustments for studio work and when applied, the presets are remove all saturation and greatly increase the contrast, rending the images high contrast black and white. Not at all what I need for a project I need to get done — very frustrating. I quite and tried again and found it was changing every parameter under the basic column, even items I didn't adjust.

See below for an example. The settings on the left are what was saved as a preset. The settings on the right are what results. (other paramters are affected too.) They should be identical.



In its current state, this is not at all useful and is an impediment to getting work done. I've downgraded back to Camera Raw 14.5, which exhibits none of these issues, but doesn't like it when I touch the presets I created in 15. 

I'm running a 2020 iMac 5K with OS 12.6 and 64GB of ram. Photoshop 2023 with Camera Raw 15. 

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

I am unable to replicate your failure mode here. I created a preset with the identical values to your LH image and applied it to a new raw image and the settings were exact. 

This has the look of a preset that contains:

"As Shot" or "Auto" White Balance 

&

"Apply Auto-tone Adjustmensts: 

both checked. 

With out a copy of your preset it is not possible to determine what is going on. If you can share your preset one of the forum gurus can take a look and advise you. 

[katsoulis]

Thanks, Rikk, for looking into this. I had downgraded, so I reinstalled RAW 15 in order to provide you with some presets to futher investigate, but as I started my process I came across something rather startling. I suspect this is going to make tracking the problem down rather more complicated.

I started by saving a preset without any adjustments as a baseline (or control, if you will) so I could add parameters one by one to see if the issue was attached to a particular parameter. However, instantly, the color was removed. Many other parameters shifted. The preset settings simply did not match what I had input. I tried it again, and this time it saved the settings correctly. 

I tried again, repeating the steps above and the problem was almost the same. Almost. It adjusted the parameters again, making a black and white image when I had made no such adjustments at all, but I recogized the look.

I've tried it a few more times. For some reason, it is saving the parameters, based on other parameters I have saved, not the ones I'm inputing. I could provide the .xmp files, but looking at them won't tell you anything other than, yes, they are .xmp files with a full set of parmeters saved. What should look like this:

crs:ProcessVersion="11.0"
crs:WhiteBalance="As Shot"
crs:Exposure2012="0.00"
crs:Contrast2012="0"
crs:Highlights2012="0"
crs:Shadows2012="0"
crs:Whites2012="0"
crs:Blacks2012="0"
crs:Texture="0"
crs:Clarity2012="0"
crs:Dehaze="0"
crs:Vibrance="0"
crs:Saturation="0"
crs:ParametricShadows="0"
etc.

Is pulling values from somewhere else and, in one example, set to this.

crs:ProcessVersion="11.0"
crs:WhiteBalance="Custom"
crs:Temperature="34000"
crs:Tint="+76"
crs:Exposure2012="+0.25"
crs:Contrast2012="+76"
crs:Highlights2012="-39"
crs:Shadows2012="-5"
crs:Whites2012="-19"
crs:Blacks2012="+52"
crs:Texture="+7"
crs:Clarity2012="+1"
crs:Dehaze="+37"
crs:Vibrance="0"
crs:Saturation="-100"
crs:ParametricShadows="0"
etc.


I'll note that this issue does not exist with Snapshots, nor does it exist with sidecar files. Also of note:I can move the sidecar files into the presets setting folder in the library, where they will function without issue. The problem is clearly something very confused about the saving process. Why it would access and use parameters from a different preset is unknown but I suspect someonewhere at Adobe someone will be able to read this description and the answer will be apparent to them rather quickly because they programmed that piece of the system.

Sadly, all of this was a lot of time consuming work for a process that was meant to save me time. 

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Based upon this, I am thinking you may have a corrupt Camera Raw preference file. 

See: https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/using/camera-raw-settings.html for instructions. 

[katsoulis]

That could be. I'd be happy to attempt to correct, but the link you provided does not contain the word "corrupt" or the phrase "preference" file, so I'm not sure what instructions I should follow.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography · Accepted solution]

 

 

[katsoulis]

At first blush, that appears to have solved it. Thank you. I'll report back if I find differently.