Find out exactly what each slider in the
Detail Panel does, and when to use them
Sharpening
your RAW files
Sharpening is an essential step in the
image-editing process, particularly when working with RAW files, which are
usually softer than Jpegs – due to Jpegs being sharpened in-camera. There are
two types of sharpening: Capture and Output. In ACR, we apply initial Capture
sharpening to fix an inherent softness in most digital images. Output
sharpening is usually done at the end, before making a print or presenting on
screen, so it’s best carried out in Photoshop.
Sharpening
your RAW files
Sharpening works by increasing contrast
around edges where lighter tones meet darker tones. At the edge, the light
tones will be lightened, and the shadow tones will be darkened. To the eye,
this makes the edge crisper. But push it too far and you begin to see edge
halos.
Most images will benefit from a certain
amount of sharpening. But how much?
In general, images with fine detail such as
landscapes require less sharpening than images with soft detail, such as
portraits. So for portraits, a typical setting would be Amount 35, Radius 1.2,
Detail 20, Masking 70. For landscapes, try Amount 40, Radius 0.8, Detail 50,
Masking 0. Of course, these settings are just a starting point. The level of
sharpening required will depend on your subject matter and the camera
resolution.
·
Amount
Controls the strength of the sharpening
effect. View the image at 100% when judging the amount. Double-click the Zoom
tool to jump to 100%.
·
Radius
Determines the number of pixels around the
edge in which the sharpening effect is applied. A large radius increase the
chance of unwanted halos.
·
Detail
Low Detail settings restrict sharpening to
the more obvious edges. High settings will enhance finer details and texture.
·
Masking
Allows you to restrict sharpening in less
detailed areas of the image. Hold down Alt while dragging the slider to see the
masked areas in black.
Fixing
noise
If you’re shooting at ISO 100 then noise
isn’t a problem for modern digital sensors, but if you have to push ISO to 400
or higher, or use a long exposure, then it’s likely you’ll begin to see more
and more noise in your images. The forest scene here was shot at ISO 3200, so
the noise is very visible, particularly in the shadow areas.
A bit of noise isn’t necessarily a bad
thing; it can add atmosphere to landscapes or create a gritty documentary-style
effect. But large levels of noise can spoil a shot.
Fixing
noise
Fortunately, ACR has a range of excellent
sliders that combat noise. The main tools for noise reduction in ACR are the
Luminance and Color sliders. Luminance reduces grain and blotchy dots, while
Color reduces unsightly spots of random colour. The trade-off to noise
reduction can be slight blurring and loss of detail, so you’ll need to decide
whether to accept the noise, or attempt to correct it.
Sharpening and noise reduction are two
sides of the same coin, so if you sharpen a noisy image it’s likely that you’ll
increase the visibility of the noise. You’ll need to strike the right balance
between sharpening and noise reduction by experimenting with different sharpening
amount and luminance settings. Toggle the Preview box on and off to judge the
results.
·
Luminance
The primary slider for noise reduction. Use
this to reduce the effects of monochromatic noise, most often seen in shadows
and areas of even tone.
·
Luminance Detail
Higher luminance detail values can help to
preserve details, but may increase noise. Lower values will give cleaner
results but decrease image detail and texture.
·
Luminance Contrast
A higher setting will increase contrast but
can give blotchy results. Lower values will smooth details.
·
Color
Targets and removes specks of colour noise.
You can be more aggressive with Color than Luminance, as it doesn’t affect
details in the same way.
·
Color Detail
Higher values preserve colour in edge
detail but can lead to unnatural colour spots. Lower settings help to remove
spots but can results in bleeding colours.
Selective control
Learn how to make selective adjustments to
your RAW files with three essential tools in ACR
Since the days of dodging and burning in
the darkroom, making selective adjustments to different areas of your image has
always been an essential skill for photographers. Before Photoshop CS4,
adjustments made in ACR were limited in that you could only apply them to the
entire image. But with the introduction of the Graduated Filter and Adjustment
Brush, ACR suddenly became a whole lot more useful.
In ACR version 7 (which comes as standard
with CS6) the Adjustment Brush and Graduated Filter tools have been improved
with extra options to adjust white balance, making it easy to selectively
correct white balance and warm or cool an image.
The tools have been used here to cool down
the sky and add warmth to the land, and to tease out details in the foreground.
We’ve also used the Targeted Adjustment tool to boost the saturation of the
orange colours in the sky.
“The tools have been used here to cool down
the sky and add warmth to the land”
Graduated filter
The Graduated Filter lets you plots a
gradient over an area then change the tones. As well as altering exposure, you
can also make useful tweaks to things like white balance, sharpness and colour
saturation. What’s more, you can set more than one gradient, which makes it
easy to change different areas or create a retro film-style border as we’ve
done here.
Graduated
Filter tips
Hold Shift while dragging a gradient to
keep it perfectly horizontal, vertical or at a 45 degree angle. Click on a
gradient to alter any of the adjustment settings, or hit Delete to remove it.
The tool remembers the last-used settings,
which isn’t always helpful. Double-click any slder to quickly reset it.
Hit V to toggle the gradient overlay
guidelines on or off.
White balance
ACR is the best place to correct white
balance for realistic-looking colours. But as well as adjusting white balance
over the whole image, the Graduated Filter and Adjustment Brush also give you
selective control. Not only is this useful for cooling tones in a sky or
warning tones in land – as we’ve done here, it’s also great if you have scene
with different light sources, such as a portrait captured with a mix of
daylight and tungsten lighting.
·
White Balance controls Temperature:
Drag left to cool tones and right to warm
them.
·
Tint:
Allows you to fine-tune white balance to
compensate for a green or magenta tint.
White
& Tint
·
White Balance tool:
Click on a tone that you know to be white
or neutral grey. ACR will then detect the correct temperature.
Adjustment brush
The Adjustment Brush is perhaps the most
powerful tool in ACR. Use it to selectively alter areas of an image. It behaves
in much the same way as the Graduated Filter (note that the tonal settings for
each are identical). Except rather than plot a gradient, you paint a mask. Each
mask is represented by a pin. These pins and their masks can be added to,
altered, or deleted.
Adjustment
Brush tips
Check ‘New’ to start painting a fresh mask,
‘Add’ to continue painting a mask, and ‘Erase’ to remove parts of it.
Hit Y to toggle the visibility of the
currently selected mask overlay. Check Auto Mask for automated assistance when
painting a mask. The tool will snap onto edges, lines and shapes.
Use the number keys to quickly set a
density for your brush: Hit 1 for 10%, 2 for 20% and so on.
Targeted adjustments
ACR’s sliders aren’t the only method for
adjusting tones. If you prefer interactive control, there is an alternative.
The Targeted Adjustment tool lets you click and drag within the image to target
and alter specific colour or tonal ranges. Dragging left or down decreases
values, right or up increases them. Grab the tool from the Toolbar then
right-click for five sets of parameters:
·
Parametric Curve
Drag to lighten or darken Highlights,
Lights, Darks, or Shadows.
·
Hue
Target and alter the Hue of eight different
colour ranges.
·
Saturation
Increase or decrease the Saturation of
specific colour in the image.
·
Luminance
Make colour ranges lighter or darken by
dragging left or right over them.
·
Grey Mix
Convert to mono then target colour ranges
to lighten or darken.
