Everyone knows that Photoshop includes some pretty
incredible tools when it comes to fixing color and lighting, but on some images,
I personally find it’s actually easier to use the sliders in the Basic panel of
the Camera RAW plug-in or Camera RAW filter. One of the best new features of Photoshop CC
is the fact that we can now open our images in Camera RAW anytime we’d like.
If you shot your photograph in RAW format, Camera RAW opens
automatically when you double-click the file. But did you know that you can
open the plug-in as a filter in Photoshop on any file format?
If you’re a Cloud member then you might know you have this option
just by choosing Filter>Camera RAW filter. Personally I like the option of
changing my mind after the fact and prefer to work on Smart Objects so I can do
this non-destructively. So I will first duplicate my background layer and then
convert that layer to a Smart Object before I choose the Camera RAW filter. This
does double our file size and in the old days we tried to save space on our drives,
but seriously, drive space is so cheap these days that my file size really
isn’t all that important anymore.
Now I’ll convert that layer by either right
clicking next to the layers name in the layers panel and choosing Convert to
Smart Object or using the Filter drop-down menu and choosing Convert to Smart
Object. Then, when you want to open that layer in Camera RAW you go up to the
Filter drop-down menu again and choose Camera RAW Filter. Pretty easy huh? Try it
for yourself, I think you’ll like it.
And remember, as always, keep shooting and have some fun!
