Anyone here using Photoshop Elements 5 to process RAW?

I have a couple of questions which i need answered.

Bearing in mind that I am a PSE newbie and fairly computer illiterate when it comes to using PSE

[roscot]

I use PS but use PSE3 on occasion. Ask away, the worst I could say is I don't know

[WMBP]

Anyone here using Photoshop Elements 5 to process RAW?

I have a couple of questions which i need answered.

Bearing in mind that I am a PSE newbie and fairly computer illiterate when it comes to using PSE

By the way, Adobe runs lots of support forums for its various products. Registration is free. Start here:

Adobe - Forums

Click on the link for "Photoshop and ImageReady" (I think that's the one), register, and then when you get in, select one of the forums for Photoshop Elements. Signal to noise ratio not great - I always get the feeling the forums is used mainly by people who are having problems, not by people who want to know how to do things. But you should be able to post a question and get an answer there.

Will

I use PS but use PSE3 on occasion. Ask away, the worst I could say is I don't know

When you process RAW files with PSE, do you process them in the camera, or in the card reader, before you import them to PSE?

When saving the files, do you save them to the camera/card reader as a new file?

I’ve taken a couple of shots, opened them to process and tried to save. When the dialogue box opens for the save, how do you save to the card and do you give the file a new .ext?

After the save, how do you close the dialogue box?


I’ll be really happy when PSE 5 for dummies comes out as it may have the answers to theses questions.

The help section in PSE 5 doesn’t seem to go into very much detail when it comes to using the RAW plug in.

Any help for me here?

[roscot]

When you process RAW files with PSE, do you process them in the camera, or in the card reader, before you import them to PSE?

When saving the files, do you save them to the camera/card reader as a new file?

I’ve taken a couple of shots, opened them to process and tried to save. When the dialogue box opens for the save, how do you save to the card and do you give the file a new .ext?

After the save, how do you close the dialogue box?


I’ll be really happy when PSE 5 for dummies comes out as it may have the answers to theses questions.

The help section in PSE 5 doesn’t seem to go into very much detail when it comes to using the RAW plug in.

Any help for me here?

What I do, is copy the pef files from the camera to a folder on my hard drive using a card reader. You can use the USB cable for this if you prefer. Once the files are safely on my PC, I delete the files from the card to be reused. All further work is done on the computer.

When you open PSE, click on Edit and Enhance photos (I'm assuming the interface in PSE5 is the same as PSE3)
If the file browser is not open then go to file/browse to open it. Navigate to the folder you saved your pef files to, and wait a few minutes while PSE reads all the files and creates the thumbnails (you can do all this in organizer also if you prefer).

Double click the pef file you want to edit, and it will open in ACR. Make what ever corrections you wish in ACR and when you are satisfied click open. This will open the file in PSE proper, where you can make other corrections, or just save the file in whatever format you wish.

One hint. Make sure you bring the file into PSE from ACR as a 16 bit file. There is a dialog box to set this. Do as much correction in 16 bits as the software will allow before converting to 8 bit mode. This will maximize your flexibility in manipulating the file.

Remember I'm working from PSE3, the PSE5 interface and features have changed a bit, but it should be close enough for you to figure it out.

Hope this helps and hasn't confused you even more
-Alan

By the way, Adobe runs lots of support forums for its various products. Registration is free. Start here:

Adobe - Forums

Click on the link for "Photoshop and ImageReady" (I think that's the one), register, and then when you get in, select one of the forums for Photoshop Elements. Signal to noise ratio not great - I always get the feeling the forums is used mainly by people who are having problems, not by people who want to know how to do things. But you should be able to post a question and get an answer there.

Will

Thanks Will,

I subscribe to one the forum that Adobe offers and had posed this question there as well.

Didn't get any responses to my query.

I've also looked at the link you offered and will try and post my question there later.

Thanks for the help.

Ed

Thanks for all of the help.

I went to Barnes & Noble during the noon hour and Purchased "Classroom in a Book" for PSE 5 from Adobe.

Hopefully, many of my questions will be answered there.

Again,

Thanks,

Ed

[NaClH2O]

Hi Eddy
I use PSE3 like Alan, my work flow is a bit different but not much.
There is a DNG converter you can download from Adobe, I use that also
1) download files from card to computer using card reader
2)Convert to DNG using adobe DNG converter. (It's a stand alone program)
3)Take the PEF's and archive them on a separate hard drive
4)Open PSE3 "standard Edit Enhance" and go thru the DNG's.
a) when you first open the file you get the ACR (adobe camera raw) interface, you can make basic changes there (like exposure, White balance, brightness etc) It's pretty easy to see in ACR whether or not the DNG file is worth working on, this is where I do my initial sort, I find trying to sort by thumbnails doesn't work for me, I find the thumbnails too small to make any judgements, but that's my own call, many who are more experienced than I can look at a thumbnail and make a determination.
b) after basic editing in ACR I open the file to PSE3 proper and do the finish editing and save either to PSD or JPEG depending on what my final use will be. Note that any sharpening or USM work is done last after crop and resize.

Several books I've found VERY helpful
Real World Camera Raw by Bruce Fraser
Photoshop Elements 3: the Missing Manual by Barbara Bundage. ( there is a version of this book out for PSE 5. )

NaCl(hope that helps)H2O

[jfdavis58]

OK, now I'm confused????

What exactly do you move from camera to computer:PEF? JPEG?

And then you run it through DNG Converter to get what???

[WMBP]

OK, now I'm confused????

What exactly do you move from camera to computer:PEF? JPEG?

And then you run it through DNG Converter to get what???

I'm not sure who you're responding to, but I think I can answer these questions.

You move from camera to computer whatever you've got. If they're JPEGs, you copy them. If they're Raw files, you copy them. If you've got both, you copy everything. If you're shooting with a K10D and you have set your options to save Raw to DNG rather than PEF, then you copy the DNG files.

Now, if you saved the images as JPEGs on the camera, well, I'm not sure what others do, but I leave those files JPEGs. You can translate them to DNG but the only reason I can see to do that is so you could process them in a program that doesn't handle JPEGs (like, I think, BreezeBrowser). Otherwise, you gain nothing or very little. So the answer to the question "What gets run through the DNG converter?" is, I think, the PEF files. Obviously (hope it's obvious) that you don't run the DNGs through the converter, since they're already DNGs. Actually, it might not be 100% obvious as there seem to be differences in the way DNG files are formed by different camera manufacturers, but I've heard that Pentax does a good job with DNG so you should be able to leave those files alone.


Will

[NaClH2O]

Hi John. I think this was asked of me?
1 I shoot raw so I move the pef files to my computer. There are no jpegs at this point.
2 I then convert the pef files to dng files. (smaller and more universal) I archive the pef files as backup, and work with the dng files

NaCl(I'm a bit compulsive about back ups)H2O

[jfdavis58]

Gotcha. Ist DS right? Been a long day; didn't see connection--thanks!

[jfdavis58]

Undersood the workflow mostly; didn't see connection to archiving and DNGs.

I shoot RAW (mostly):PEF. Move these from camera to PC/HD, back-up to 2nd HD.

Batch convert (unattended) PEF to best JPEG at camera settings using Bridge/ACR. Archive permanant copy of PEF and matching JPEG to DVD twice.

Cull JPEG/PEF on main HD; reprocess PEF as needed using PSD to desired output.

Don't use DNG except for this time K10 PEFs are not accessible in ACR.

Thanks to all of you for helping me understand the process and workflow involved in PSE 5.

You have ALL" been most helpful. Unforunately, I found the manual, and help topics, to be less than informative and found it necessary to inquire here for help.

Thanks again to all.

Ed

[WMBP]

Thanks to all of you for helping me understand the process and workflow involved in PSE 5.

You have ALL" been most helpful. Unforunately, I found the manual, and help topics, to be less than informative and found it necessary to inquire here for help.

Ed,

That's what forums like this are for - that's why we're all here.

If you don't already have it (and if I have not already recommended it) let me recommend Joe Farace's book on the K100D: Pentax K100D/K110D, published by Lark Books, New York, in their Magic Lantern Guides series. It does not have the answers to all my questions, but I find it much easier to use and more informative than the user's guide that came with the camera. It even has a basic chapter on workflow.

Will