Editing TIFFs and JPEGs in Camera Raw with Photoshop

With CS3, you can now edit TIFFs and JPEGs in Camera Raw. This is a huge advantage to graphic designers as well as photographers, because it gives you access to the exposure controls and auto white balance settings that were previously applicable only to  RAW files (this does not include the additional white balance settings that are accessible only with RAW files, as they require EXIF information that is not available in TIFFs or JPEGs). The exposure controls in Camera Raw far surpass the controls available in the Exposure adjustment dialog box in the Photoshop workspace. Additionally, the auto white balance settings in Camera Raw are much quicker and easier to apply than when working with the eyedroppers in Photoshop’s Curves or Levels dialog boxes. Also, you can retain access to the “as shot” settings even after any adjustments are made to TIFFs or JPEGs in Camera Raw—a nice alternative to working with adjustment layers. With all of the added features in Camera Raw 4.0, you can apply many of your  print image edits directly in the Camera Raw interface. Many of the tools that you would normally use to apply tonal and color adjustments in the Photoshop workspace are now present in the Camera Raw plug-in, including the following:

- Shadows/Highlights adjustments (Fill Light and Recovery in Camera Raw)
- Curves (Tone Curve in Camera Raw)
- Brightness/Contrast
- Hue/Saturation (HSL and Vibrance/Saturation sliders in Camera Raw)
- Black And White adjustments (Convert To Grayscale sliders in Camera Raw)
- Photo Filter (Temperature and Tint sliders in Camera Raw)
- Red Eye Removal tool
- Crop and Straighten tools
- Spot Healing (Retouch tool in Camera Raw)
- Auto Tone and Color Correction

The disadvantage to applying the bulk of your image adjustments in Camera Raw is that you don’t have access to the other features available in Photoshop, such as layers, masks, and filters. One other limitation is that you cannot print images directly from the Camera Raw interface to a proofing device, nor can you create a contact sheet as you can in the Photoshop workspace. However, for simple tonal and color adjustments, working entirely in Camera Raw can save you some steps in the long run. To open a TIFF or JPEG in Camera Raw, use any one of the following three procedures:

- From Photoshop CS3, choose File --> Open (Mac) or File --> Open As (Win). In the dialog box that appears, choose Camera Raw from the Format menu (Mac) or Open As menu (Win).
- From Bridge, Control+click on the image thumbnail (Mac) or right-click with a two-button mouse and choose Open in Camera Raw.
- From Bridge, press F/Ctrl+K to access the Preferences dialog box. Click on the Thumbnails tab on the left of the dialog to access the Thumbnails preference panel. Enable the Prefer Adobe Camera Raw For JPEG And TIFF Files preference and click OK to close the dialog. Now any time you double-click a JPEG or TIFF thumbnail in Bridge, the image (or multiple selected images) will open in Camera Raw. With this preference enabled, Photoshop does not need to be launched in order to open JPEGs or TIFFs in  Camera Raw through Bridge. The TIFF or JPEG automatically appears in the Camera Raw workspace. As with RAW files, the “as shot” settings are stored in the file. This means that no matter what adjustments you’ve made when using the plug-in, you can always revert to the original “as shot” settings at any time. After making your edits, you can click Done to save the Camera Raw adjustments and close the file; click Save Image to save it in a different file format; or click Open to open the image in the Photoshop workspace.