Camera RAW for Designers

Photoshop’s “Camera Raw” dialog box was created specifically for the needs of photographers. The controls in this box are presented in terminology that avid photographers are familiar with, so it can be intimidating to graphic designers and others who aren’t photographers.

But there are many things that that this dialog box does much easier than anywhere else in Photoshop. And with the ability to use the Camera Raw dialog box on any photo in Photoshop via Filter > Camera Raw Filter, these features are accessible to anyone. Here are 5 of my favorites:

Upright

1. Open a photo that exhibits “fall away”, which happens when you shoot a photo of a tall building from street level

2. Choose File > Camera Raw Filter

3. Click the Lens Corrections tab

4. Click the “A” icon. This will attempt to fix the photo, applying a “balanced” amount of perspective correction. Compare the image below to the image above.

Post crop vignette

Adding a bit of vignette to photos, especially portraits, can help focus the viewer’s eye on the subject. Camera Raw makes this simple.

1. Click the Effects tab

2. Find the “Post crop vignette” slider, and drag it to the right to add white, or to the left to add black. I’ve purposely overdone the amount of vignette in the example below to make the effect obvious.

White balance

Sometimes photos taken under incandescent lighting are too warm and yellow, and photos taken under fluorescent lighting are too cold and blue. This is easily fixed with Camera Raw’s “White Balance” settings.

1. Click the Basic tab

2. In the “White Balance” drop-down, choose Auto, and then further tweak the Temperature and Tint sliders as desired.

Clarity

The Clarity feature applies a local contrast algorithm to the image, which often makes the image look sharper and more vibrant.

1. Click the Basic tab 

2. Locate the Clarity slider and drag it to the right until the image looks good.

Dehaze

Dehaze is amazing. It excels at removing haze from outdoor scenes.

1. Click the Effects tab

2. Locate the Dehaze control, and drag the Amount slider to the right.

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