How can I access the camera raw tone curve in PS6? .. Seems it can be done but do I have to go through Bridge? .. I can't find it directly in PS
Thanks!
There are three basic ways to use the Camera Raw functions (including the ACR tone curve) with PS CS6:
A. When the raw file is initially opened into PS using the ACR interface, which can be "hosted" by either Bridge or PS. Once the image is inside PS, you cannot go back to the ACR interface again except via B or C.
B. If you bring the raw file into PS as a Smart Object, you can re-engage the ACR controls inside PS by double-clicking on the Smart Object image.
C. You also have the option of taking a Jpg, Tif or PSD coming out of PS and running it back through ACR. There are some limitations in doing this but it can be done.
You also have access to the PS tone curve in PS as another alternative. You will not necessarily have access to all of the data available in the raw, but if you are editing in 16-bit inside PS, the differences may not be drastic. It sort of depends on the image and how extreme your curve adjustments are going to be.
I almost forgot but Russell Brown from the Adobe Team also has a CS6 script available that will convert a standard layer in PS to a Smart Object that can be edited with the ACR tools. That might be interesting for you to look into as well. Look for "CS6 (ONLY!): Panel; Edit Layers in ACR 1.1.6" on this page:
Eyeball wrote:
There are three basic ways to use the Camera Raw functions (including the ACR tone curve) with PS CS6:
A. When the raw file is initially opened into PS using the ACR interface, which can be "hosted" by either Bridge or PS. Once the image is inside PS, you cannot go back to the ACR interface again except via B or C.
B. If you bring the raw file into PS as a Smart Object, you can re-engage the ACR controls inside PS by double-clicking on the Smart Object image.
C. You also have the option of taking a Jpg, Tif or PSD coming out of PS and running it back through ACR. There are some limitations in doing this but it can be done.
You also have access to the PS tone curve in PS as another alternative. You will not necessarily have access to all of the data available in the raw, but if you are editing in 16-bit inside PS, the differences may not be drastic. It sort of depends on the image and how extreme your curve adjustments are going to be.
I hope I understood your question correctly....Show more →
Thank you so much .. you cleared up a misconception that I had, that being I could use the tone curve with non RAW files, which you can't.
It would be nice to have something similar for TIF and PSD files .. I know there are many available options to adjust tones in PS but the tone curve controls are very effective.
Actually, you CAN use ACR (including the ACR tone curve) on non-raw files. ACR will work on Jpgs, Tifs, and PSDs. This is essentially scenario "C" that I mentioned in my original reply.
The Russell Brown script will also enable the ACR controls for a layer and that layer does not have to have originated from a raw file.
The "extra" power of the ACR tone curve though comes from having access to the original raw data. When using the ACR tone curve on a non-raw file, you are not really gaining much in comparison to using the tone curve inside PS.
