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How do I reset a RAW file to it's original settings?

Forum|Forum|16 years ago
August 9, 2009
4 replies
37316 views

Hello

[I use PS CS3 (Although I have access to CS4) and an intel imac]

I want to keep my RAW files unadulterated, in the state that they were shot, so that I can return to them at a later date to 'play' again, with a fresh point of view. However, when I open Bridge, i see they have the icon on them indicating that changes have been applied to them. I don't need the RAW files with the changes, I already have the jpgs and tiffs that i created from them.

Yes, i searched the forms here and found how to prevent the settings from being applied to RAW files that I open from now on: tested the method and it's good.

I also followed the remove xmp file advice and that worked, too.

However, I still have a couple of RAW files that didn't have xmp files associated with them, and I can't get rid of the little icon, hence i assume the changes are still there.

How can I recover the original unchanged RAW files for these?

What I've tried: in Camera Raw i 'reset camera raw defaults', because I thought that would return all the sliders to the unchanged state, but as you can see, it still indicates changes. The camera is panasonic, and came with Silky Pix to work with the RAW files: last night I tried SP on the same photo (created the spd file). Would the spd file have anything to do with my problem?

By the way, SP opened the raw file while it still had the CR changes applied and I think SP might have been working from the already-adjusted raw file. (Which is another reason why i want to keep the RAW files clean and original)

Hope someone can help me (And that this isn't too confusing)

Elizabeth

How to

visual communicator

New Participant

The only thing hat woks. Find the three dots within ACR and click reset to default.

A

Anonymous

Hi

I just upgraded to Photoshop Elements 6 and installed Camera Raw. I’m taking RAW photos since some time so I hope this will improve my workflow.

Like Elizbonn, I’m a bit lost about some features of Camera Raw and the files it manages.
I understand what a RAW file is and I think I understand what a DNG file is.
Is there a reference document more specific than the Help files?

I found out by myself a couple of stuff but I’m not quite sure I guessed correctlt and I have some questions here. Maybe they are answered some place.

1. The RAW file is never modified (by any soft that I know of actually). Right?

2. DNG is a universal format that stores the same data as the original RAW with no loss. Right?
2.1. Yet creating a DNG file is optional. I have a Canon camera so my RAWs are in CR2 format which is widely supported and since I’m just an amateur photographer I don’t need to go for DNGs. Right? Or I could just trash the CR2 files without losing anything. Right?

3. The xmp file stores parameters about both the RAW file and the DNG (if I create one). It has to remain in the same folder at all times. I tried renaming: it works if it's applied to all the files. Some under-the-hood details are still unclear with Camera Raw:
3.1. When a RAW image is opened, if I do no modification and I click the Open Image button, an xmp file is created. What for? If I trash it nothing happens.
3.2. When a RAW image is opened, if I do some modifications and I click the Open Image button the modifications I did are stored in the xmp file. In the future, whenever I open that RAW file, Camera Raw will display the modified image provided the xmp is in the same folder. Right? The only way to revert to the original image is by moving the xmp file somewhere else. Right?
3.3. The Undo function with Camera Raw goes only one step backward. Right?

4. Camera Raw’s functions are in part similar to Photoshop Element’s and some are specific. Do they work the same?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Nick

A

Anonymous

Nick, apart from putting a chunk of your message in the header panel (!) you ask so many questions that it would take half an hour to cover all the points.

I suggest you read http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/pdfs/understanding_digitalrawcapture.pdf

Some more technical background is here: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/pdfs/linear_gamma.pdf

Finally, if you intend to use raw images in future invest in the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Real-World-Camera-Adobe-Photoshop/dp/0321580133/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238313549&sr=8-1

A

Anonymous

Sorry for the header, John, I think I know where I made a mistake.

I had already read Understanding Digital Raw Capture. It’s very interesting but it doesn’t address my questions.

As I said my issue is not about understanding RAW images but about some features of Camera Raw.
Most of my questions are the ‘Yes or No’ type so you don’t have to elaborate a lot if at all.

However the only reference document I had about Camera Raw was the Photoshop Elements 6 Help file or its pdf format Photoshop Elements 6 User Guide which doesn’t answer my questions.
I downloaded the pdf help file Using ADOBE® PHOTOSHOP® CS4 which is much longer (28 pages as opposed to 8 pages in the former). I couldn’t read it completely but it seems I’ll find what I need.

Nevertheless here are my list of questions:
* The RAW file (CR2 type from my Canon camera) is never modified (by any soft that I know of actually). Right?
* The xmp file stores parameters about both the RAW file and the DNG (if I create one).
* It has to remain in the same folder at all times. Right?
* When a RAW image is opened, if I do some modifications and I click the Open Image button the modifications are stored in the xmp file. Right?
* In the future, whenever I open that RAW file, Camera Raw will display the modified image provided the xmp is in the same folder. Right?
* The only way to revert to the original image is by moving the xmp file somewhere else. Right?

Nick

A

Anonymous

Right-click on the thumbnail in Bridge.

Choose Develop Settings > Clear Settings.

Gone!

Edit: I was too slow!! I just went to check it before posting.

J

Jeff Schewe

Participating Frequently

Elizbonn wrote:
I want to keep my RAW files unadulterated, in the state that they were shot, so that I can return to them at a later date to 'play' again, with a fresh point of view.

I'm afraid you have a rather naive view of what constitutes a raw file in it's "unadulterated" form. Every raw file needs to be interpreted in order to even see the raw data...this is done with the raw processor's "default" settings .this is a case where snapshots on Camera Raw 5.4 (in CS4) would come in real handy for you in that you can keep a variety of named conversion settings as snapshots. Personally, I guess I just can't understand why somebody would want to throw out their work arriving at a conversion setting to start over from scratch. In CS3 that is a one way street...

In any event, in Bridge select the images you want to "clear" then go to Edit>Develop Settings>Clear Settings

Just make sure that's really what you want to do cause you can't undo it...

ElizbonnAuthor

New Participant

Thank you both for the suggestions, but as they say: tried that, doesn't work. (edit: develop: etc) changes are still there.

As for throwing away my work: I come from the darkroom era (the real one, with red and yellow lights and chemicals) and I used real negatives, that never changed, no matter how much work i put into the print. I kept notes to return to.

I knew that if I wanted to try something different, i just had to pick up that silly old negative, the one that I'd used countless times before at numerous different exposures and created innumerable variations of images from, that same unadulterated negative would allow me to start from a completely refreshed outlook, without having the last version's adaptions etched into it.

That's why i don't want the changed raw file to stay changed .

So, the changes still won't go away. I also have this stupid message come up when i click to 'open in camera raw' (which is another problem altogether)

Because of this problem, I followed another thread and reset Bridge's preferences.

Both problems are still there, RAW image has the icon still on it, and the above window still shows up. However, since it had it's defaults reset, Bridge 4 opened CS4, and i saw the snapshot panel: I admit it's a nice feature and i might turn to it in the future.

BUT, how do i get rid of the original changes that just won't go away?

ever hopeful

Elizabeth

Shangara Singh

Inspiring

Elizabeth,

Your question cannot be answered because neither Bridge nor Camera Raw alter the "original settings." This can be easily tested by applying a bit of nouse and logic.

I'm afraid your analogy with a negative doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Negatives DO change over time. However, raw files do NOT if processed in Camera Raw, or previewed in Bridge.

What you are objecting to is something that doesn't exist outside of Bridge. So, problem has to be with Bridge. First of all, make sure Camera Raw is installed properly (there is plenty of info on the Adobe site regarding how to install it). Then, after removing the develop settings, select Tools > Cache > Purge Cache for Folder "yourFolderName."

Bridge will then rebuild the cache using Camera Raw and store the settings in the cache, NOT the raw files. When you open the file in CR and click Done or export to Photoshop, the CR settings will be stored in a sidecar XMP file or Camera Raw database, depending on the CR preference setting you have selected, and Bridge will update its cache, which you can store centrally or in a specified read/write location using Bridge preferences. Your raw file will NOT be altered.

Shangara SINGH.

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