Require RAW file to open in Photoshop not Adobe Camera Raw

[AGPhotos]

I have created a Droplet command to process a bunch of 400 Astro RAW images (Nikon NEF) in a folder. 

However, when i execute the command, the RAW files are opening in ACR and i have to press Open for every image, after which the action is being exectued smoothly. I would rather it automatically opens direct in PS and execute the Action for each image.

Inspite of changing the setting in File Handling, the RAW files are opening in ACR.

Is there any other setting with which I can get the NEF file to open direct in Photoshop ?

Or please suggest any other method to execute the Droplet command automatically without any action required from my side. 

That woud save me a hell of lot of time. 

(Using the latest Photoshop 2026 27.1.0 release on Windows 11) 

[D Fosse · Accepted solution]

Photoshop cannot open raw files. They have to be processed and encoded into RGB in a raw processor first. So all Photoshop can do is call on ACR.

Personally I would never do it this way, since any Photoshop action would depend on the initial raw processing. If you just open from ACR at default settings, you're massively sacrificing image quality. That's defeating the purpose of shooting raw, and effectively the same as shooting jpeg in camera.

I'd recommend you look into Lightroom Classic, where it's very simple to do batch/high volume raw processing, and export to PSD from there.

[AGPhotos]

Sorry i did not give all the detatils.. I am processing the image in ACR in Photoshop after converting to smart image. And this has been included in the Action, which the Droplet executes. 

I have taken images of the meteroid shower at time intervals, hence, all of them have the same camera settings. 
Now it looks like i use Lightroom to edit the images, and export to JPG, and then execute the Droplet.  Right ? 

[D Fosse]

OK, got it.

I think I'd still recommend LrC. You can batch open as smart object from LrC. I use it for a large part of the heavy lifting in my own work, which can be 100s of images a day.

The problem here seems to be doing all this from the Photoshop side (pull) instead of from the raw side (push). Someone will probably come up with someting 🙂

[AGPhotos]

Yeah - you are right - it was much easier in LrC. Thanks. 

[D Fosse]

Yeah. I think LrC is underrated for what it's really good at: high volume/high speed work.

If you're doing one image at a time, ACR is fine. But come back from a shoot with 200 frames on the card, and you start to see what LrC can do.

[Stephen Marsh]

A little late to the party, however, I'd just like to make a couple of generic points, as the specifics have already been discussed between @AGPhotos and @D Fosse:

* I understand that droplets are user-friendly for file input, however, they still need to be configured. When it comes to raw camera files you are better dealing with rendered RGB images in a Droplet based workflow. The Image Processor script that ships with Photoshop does allow you to select raw processing settings via the first raw file when it is being configured to run.

* For those that don't know, Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) can handle multiple images via the "filmstrip" and works hand-in-hand with Adobe Bridge, where Ctrl/Cmd + R will open multiple selected files into ACR. ACR offers batch application and or syncing of common rendering settings and can also batch save files directly to drive without opening files into Photoshop. The traditional methods of using Batch Actions, Droplet (Actions) and other Adobe or third-party file processing scripts often don't make sense for raw camera file based workflows, at least in the initial processing (there are obviously many things that can't be done in the raw processing pipleline).

[ExUSA]

Just a note, You can use Bridge to directly open RAW files into Photoshop. They will still be processed by ACR but the GUI will be suppressed.

/*
Utility Pack Scripts created by David M. Converse ©2018-22

This script allows opening files directly into Photoshop, bypassing ACR

Last modified 3/18/2022

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
*/
#target bridge
if(BridgeTalk.appName == "bridge"){
    var openCommand = MenuElement.create('command', 'Open Directly', 'after Thumbnail/Open', this.menuID); //add to Contextual menu
    }

openCommand.onSelect = function(){
    openDirect();
    }

function openDirect(){
    try{
        var t = app.document.selections;
        var files = new Array();
        for(var i = 0;i < t.length;i++){
            if(t[i].spec instanceof File){
                files.push(t[i].spec);
                }
            }
        if(files.length > 0){
            var scr = "var thumbs = eval(" + files.toSource() + "); for(var i = 0; i < thumbs.length;i++){photoshop.open(new File(thumbs[i]));}";
            var bt = new BridgeTalk();
            var retval = false;
            bt.target = 'photoshop';
            bt.body = scr;
            bt.onError = function(eObj){retval = false; $.writeln(eObj.body);}
            bt.send();
            BridgeTalk.bringToFront('photoshop');
            }
        else{
            alert('No files chosen.');
            retval = false;
            }
        return retval;
        }
    catch(e){
        alert(e + e.line);
        }
    }