Use Camera Raw to Process Jpegs

February 4, 2008 | Posted in Photoshop |

I’m pretty sure this is new to CS3 (please chime in if you have CS2, because I don’t) but you can now open jpegs with Photoshop’s Camera Raw plug-in. Camera Raw is essentially what the name suggests, a RAW image processor, built into Photoshop. CS3 now allows us to open jpegs in this neat little editor. You might ask yourself: “Why would I need to use Camera Raw? Why not just edit the image in Photoshop itself?” Well, maybe you don’t want to use Camera Raw, but it’s nice to know you have the option. Especially if you take a lot of pictures in jpeg format (or your camera doesn’t shoot RAW) and you just want to tweak your images without having to apply tons of adjustment layers to get what you want.

Use Camera Raw to Process Jpegs

Click on Images to enlarge

To enable Camera Raw for jpegs, open preferences (Command/Control + K) and navigate to the File Handling section. Check the box next to “Prefer Adobe Camera Raw for JPEG files.” Notice that it says “Prefer.” For reasons unknown to me, Camera Raw won’t open every jpeg you ask it to. Don’t ask me why.

Use Camera Raw to Process Jpegs

Now that you have your image open in Camera Raw, tweak away with ease. It’s like all of Photoshop’s adjustment options morphed into a slider, and now reside in a sidebar so you can tweak on the fly. Give it a try, and poke around your options.

Use Camera Raw to Process Jpegs

One of my favorite features of Camera Raw is the “Lens Vignetting.” Play with 2 sliders and get a vignette in seconds, instead of having to fill a layer with black and then start masking to reveal the image. ( vignetting is the darkening of the corners on an image. Typically gives the photo an ‘older’ feel. Wikipedia info on vignetting if your interested >>) Once you’re done adjusting your image, click “Open Image” and you’ll be back in Photoshop.

Like I said earlier, you may or may not want/need to use Camera Raw for jpegs, its just nice to know your options ;)

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 5:41 pm and is filed under Photoshop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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17 Responses to “Use Camera Raw to Process Jpegs”

  1. Joel Newcomer Said... February 4th, 2008 at 6:21 pm

    This feature is definitely new to CS3….and it is very powerful, especially if you save some presets in Camera Raw…Camera Raw makes alot of creative adjusts very easy and non-destructive. If you have CS3, be sure to take advantage of this excellent new feature.

    On a side note, I LOVE bittbox!! I have been curious about who started the site and continues to provide the flow of excellent content. I wish you had an about page! Anyways, the site is excellent and I have linked to you guys in 5 of my blog posts.

  2. Jim LePage Said... February 4th, 2008 at 8:00 pm

    NIce tip! I wasn’t aware of that one.

    Lens Correction (Filter > Distort > Lens Correction) also has a vingette option. Pretty sure CS2 has it and it’s faster than the fill with black and masking method you mentioned.

  3. BittBox Said... February 4th, 2008 at 8:21 pm

    Thanks Jim! I wasn’t aware of that!

  4. Avlor Said... February 4th, 2008 at 9:43 pm

    Not in CS2. I drooled over tinkering with JPEGS in Camera Raw and the Black and White conversions while I demoed CS3 when it was first available. Sigh. (Going to dig in the couch cushions for more change - will get to CS3 some day…)

  5. diziler Said... February 5th, 2008 at 2:40 am

    how can ? add them

  6. raiven316 Said... February 5th, 2008 at 3:07 am

    oooh! thanks…didnt know that this one exist..hehe! luck’ly for me im now using cs3..hehe! thanks a lot bittbox! youre my hero..hehe! btw,..uhm? how bout helping me with more photo manipulation tutorials,…?if your not busy..hehe! thanks!

  7. sam Said... February 5th, 2008 at 5:39 am

    NICE FIND

  8. Ruben Said... February 5th, 2008 at 6:47 am

    This is awesome feature, I learned about it at a Scott Kelbe CS3 seminar last year, can’t wait to use it.

  9. Josef J Said... February 5th, 2008 at 9:38 am

    Thanks Dude, This is AWESOME!! i love it, and as a photographer, this is so useful!! Thanks Bitt, ur the best!! :D

  10. GeB Said... February 5th, 2008 at 11:21 am

    u dont know how much you’ve just changed my life!!! THANKS!!!

  11. lagaba Said... February 5th, 2008 at 4:30 pm

    It looks so great… but… where can I find it on CS2?

  12. BittBox Said... February 5th, 2008 at 5:54 pm

    @lagaba,

    I’m afraid this is a CS3 only feature : (

  13. Kristof Pattyn Said... February 6th, 2008 at 2:39 am

    Hello all,

    this feature is indeed new to CS3, very handy in use but BEWARE OF DRAWBACKS. Changes to jpegs or Tiffs are stored in XMPfiles and any changes you make will only be visible in Camera Raw 4.0 or PS CS3. If you were to open a changed file in other software (even in PS CS2) changes will not have affected your image. So if you give your adjusted jpegs to a friend who doesn’t have version he will see the ‘unchanged’ files. To have this feature working in your workflow you have to re-save (in PS CS3 for example) your image when you think about sharing your work with others. With normal Raw images this is something you don’t have to think about.

    Greetings Kristof

  14. Use Camera Raw to Process Jpegs ยท LastBlog.net Said... February 10th, 2008 at 1:36 pm

    [...] (more…) [...]

  15. resimler Said... February 27th, 2008 at 12:50 am

    Hello
    where can I find it on CS2?

  16. Scott Lenger Said... April 19th, 2008 at 2:40 pm

    Thanks, I’ve started shooting a lot in RAW now that the RAW enabling firmware hack is available for the Canon SD800.

  17. kadinca Said... June 10th, 2008 at 12:04 pm

    where can I find it on CS2? :S thanks

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