Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) is a great tool for quick, non-destructive image editing. You access ACR through Adobe Bridge (BR), which is an excellent program for viewing, sorting and organizing your images. Both of these programs are part of Adobe Photoshop (PS), come free with PS and work seamlessly with PS. ACR is similar to Lightroom (LR) but LR is a standalone program that takes more time to learn.

Preparation

  1. UPDATES: Go to Help – Updates and run updates for Adobe Bridge and Adobe Photoshop so you can view the newest raw file types.
  2. ON A MAC –DISABLE iPHOTO / PHOTOS: If using a Mac for this activity, Open Adobe Bridge > Preferences and check the box that says to use Adobe Photo Downloader. This prevents the inferior editing program “iPhoto or Photos” from taking over your editing life. 🙂
  3. LOGIN TO FREE EBOOK — BALANCE THE LIGHT:  As a member of this course, I have given you a free access code for this semester. Find it in I-Learn Canvas > Module > Course Info > Required eBook. Do not share this access code or your login with anyone. It is only for members of this class and we have the exact number we need. Please respect the copyright and do not download, share, copy, screenshot, or otherwise violate the copyright for this ebook, provided to you for free. If you wish to use it after this class, the cost is only $18.
  4. COPYRIGHTED IMAGES: You may only use the images provided to practice with. You may NOT add your watermark or signature to them. If you are using these images for a college course, you may submit them to your instructor, per their instructions, but do not post them publicly.
  5. TIP: A great keyboard shortcut to open an image in Adobe Bridge into ACR is Command + R on a Mac, and CTRL + R on a PC.

Instructions

  1. DOWNLOAD and unzip this ZIP folder.
  2. OPEN  the “WORKING FILES” folder in Adobe Bridge. These are the images you will organize and edit using Adobe Camera Raw.
  3. GO TO (I-Learn Canvas > Module > Course Info > Required eBook Balance the Light) here: http://balancethelight.org USE YOUR FREE CODE – light-w19
  4. Then WATCH all three videos under X. Adobe Camera Raw…

    1. Video #1: BRIDGE > ACR: View – Sort – Organize
    2. Video #2: EDITING WITH ACR
    3. Video #3: EDITING WITH ACR > PS
  5. EDITING: Follow these instructions to organize and edit the images. You can reference the “SAMPLES” folder to see what the results should look like. You don’t need to match the examples precisely, but they should look relatively similar.
    1. BASIC EDITS: In the ACR WORKING FILES folder, open 01-BasicEdits.CR2. Follow Video #2 to move the sliders in ACR to edit it in the basic window to match the 01BasicEdits-GUIDE.png in the ACR EDIT GUIDE folder. Hit Save image to save a new jpeg with a new name, but in the same location. Hit Done in the lower right area of the ACR window. In Bridge, you will notice the file you started with will update and show a small round circle that means it has been edited in ACR. This file should match the new jpeg you saved. (See the 03Labels-GUIDE.png to see if your files match in the Bridge view.)
    2. ADJUSTMENT BRUSH: In the ACR WORKING FILES folder, open 02AdjBrush.png. Follow Video #2 to use an adjustment brush as shown in Video #2 to match the edits shown in 02AdjBrush-GUIDE.png in the ACR EDIT GUIDE folder. But use one brush and draw around the center focal point. Then match the brush settings so it darkens everything around the center area. Hit Save image to save a new jpeg with a new name, but in the same location. Hit Done in the lower right area of the ACR window.

      In Bridge, view the 02AdjBrush.jpg you started with and notice it will update with the edits. Double click this 02AdjBrush.jpg to reopen it in ACR. Then follow the video instructions to learn how to remove the edits (restore the Camera Raw Defaults), then hit Done. Now when you view 02AdjBrush.jpg, it will not match the the new edited jpeg you saved, because you cleared the edits on the original jpeg named 02AdjBrush. (See the 03Labels-GUIDE.png to see if your files match in the Bridge view.)
    3. LABELING: Open the ACR EDIT GUIDE folder > 03Labels-GUIDE.png. Follow the instructions in Video #1 to add the same star ratings and color labels as shown in the 03Labels-GUIDE.png.
  6. SUBMISSION:
    1. RENAME YOUR 2 EDITED IMAGES: Rename your images to “01YourFirstname-YourLastname.jpg”, “02YourFirstname-YourLastname.jpg”
    2. RENAME FOLDER:  Rename the “WORKING FILES” folder that has the original images and your edited images. Change the folder name to your name… Example:  YourName-ACR.  (But use your own name, of course.) Then zip/compress the folder so we can check your sorted and edited images.
    3. SUBMIT your two edited images and your Zipped Folder to the Submission assignment in I-Learn Canvas.