Photoshop CS3 RAW

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CAMERA RAW TABS

The different tabs are represented

graphically on the right side of the

Camera Raw window (Figure 4-48). If

you hold your mouse over each icon, a

balloon appears naming the function of

each tab.

Basic Tab

Under the Basic tab shown in Figure 4-49,

you’ll find settings for White Balance,

Temperature, Tint, Exposure, Recovery, Fill

Light, Blacks, Brightness, Contrast, Clarity,

Vibrance, and Saturation. I’ll get into the

proper use of the Basic tab controls in

Chapter 6.

Tone Curve Tab

Like Exposure in the Basic tab, Tone

Curve controls let you adjust the entire

tonal range of an image. You have two

curves to choose from: Parametric, and

Point, shown in Figure 4-50. With the

Parametric curve you adjust tonal values

with four sliders: Highlights, Lights, Darks,

and Shadows. With the Point curve,

you can adjust up to 14 different points

throughout an image’s tonal range (from

shadows to highlights). You can save Tone

Curve settings for use in another image.

I’ll get into using Tone Curve controls in

more detail in Chapter 6.

Camera Raw has eight tabs, and each tab is a gateway to

controlling the look and feel of your RAW image. Let’s look at

the tabs, one by one.

Camera Raw Tabs

Figure 4-48

Figure 4-49

Figure 4-50

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CHAPTER FouR

CAMERA RAW TABS

Detail Tab

Detail controls, found under the Detail tab

shown in Figure 4-51, control Sharpening

(Amount, Radius, Detail, Masking)

and Noise Reduction Luminance and

Sharpening controls. I discuss how to use

the Noise Reduction controls in Chapter 9.

HSL/Grayscale

Under the HSL/Grayscale tab, you’ll find

very useful color and black and white

controls. HSL stands for Hue, Saturation,

and Luminance. Camera Raw uses a

method of defining and working with

color based on these three values, shown

in Figure 4-52. Many of you will find

working with color this way intuitive, easy,

and even fun!

When you select the Convert to Grayscale

box, as shown in Figure 4-53, grayscale

conversion is as simple or complex as

you like. You can quickly convert an

image to black and white with good

results by using the Auto setting, which

is the default setting. Or you can use the

Grayscale Mix controls and come up with

a custom conversion of your own. I’ll go

into more detail on using the HSL controls

in Chapter 7 and the Grayscale controls in

Chapter 10.

Figure 4-51

Figure 4-52

Figure 4-53

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CAMERA RAW TABS

Split Toning Tab

Under the Split Toning tab, shown in

Figure 4-54, you can control the tint

and saturation of a tint applied to the

highlight areas of any image separately

from that applied to the shadow areas.

The Balance slider in the middle controls

the range of each. These controls can be

applied to a black and white or a color

image. I’ll go into more detail on using

these controls in Chapter 10.

Lens Corrections Tab

Under the Lens Corrections tab (Figure

4-55) are tools to overcome Chromatic

Aberration and Vignetting. I go into great

detail on this subject in Chapter 9.

Camera Calibration Tab

You can use the Camera Calibration

controls, shown in Figure 4-56, to improve

the color accuracy of your RAW files.

You can also use these controls to create

special effects and grayscale images

from RGB. I go into the use of Camera

Calibration for fine-tuning the behavior

of Camera Raw’s built-in camera profiles

in Chapter 6. I cover using the Camera

Calibration controls for special effects

and the creation of grayscale images in

Chapter 10.

Figure 4-54

Figure 4-55

Figure 4-56