Adobe Camera Raw vs ACR as a Filter

[@moondark666]

How can this video not have millions views. Blake, you adress serious depth on how PS works. Very imortant knowledge if we want to get the best out of our images, PS and time we spend on our work. Amazing stuff!

[@f64Academy]

Thanks 😁 I get what I need and the people that need to see it do 😁 millions of views versus impact... I'll take impact anyway😁

[@jimbembinster]

Follow up to this video. I tried it the next morning and the difference was incredible. This new workflow has added some very nice detail to my photos. Thanks, again.

[@f64Academy]

Awesome to hear! Thanks for reporting your findings!

[@robynaldridge8304]

Awesome once again, Blake.

[@f64Academy]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@deBurrows]

Well I feel I just learned something quite important, as I always use ACR as a filter. Very well shown, thanks a lot.

[@f64Academy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@DLMlive]

Simply amazing... Great information and so well explained. Thanks much!

[@Jack-se2iz]

Great explanation and information. Sounds like it’s definitely best to start in PS as ACR, and finish in LR if needed. Thank you!

[@f64Academy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@TPToE]

Thanks for this - I'd wondered exactly the same thing for some time now (and intuitively always knew the answer would be as per your findings).

[@Eigil_Skovgaard]

It's worth mentioning that when we double click on a smart object saved from ACR, the file opens in ACR with all adjustments present, i.e. the sliders are positioned exactly as they were just before the jump to Photoshop. Further, if adjustments are made in Photoshop to the initial smart object and those 10-20 adjustments are packed into a new smart object, a double click on the new smart object will open a psb file showing all layers and adjustments so far - AND a new double click on the original smart object will reopen the file in ACR with all initial ACR adjustments. So everything is preserved non destructively with smart objects. I think the ACR filter in Photoshop is predominantly an option to edit jpeg images that were loaded directly into Photoshop.

[@f64Academy]

Yes, I briefly mentioned the Smart Object. But this want about Smart Object workfow, this was about the difference in quality from all the different methods.

[@Eigil_Skovgaard]

@@f64Academy Got it, just wanted to add to your good information the different choices from Photoshop.

[@iamtheoceanr]

Great video. I had suspected this for some time. Good to see a proper comparison.

[@f64Academy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@stephenwoodburn2970]

Great information, Blake. I am brewing a pot of coffee and about to watch both of your videos on ACR that you did for the Virtual Summit that Dave Cross put on.

[@f64Academy]

You will need that coffee,the whole pot :)

[@blaisemontfort9615]

Thank you so much for that very helpful information Blake! Best regards

[@f64Academy]

My pleasure!

[@LBofcourse]

Important information. Thank you for the time you put into this video content.

[@JMSteger]

Blake, Very informative video as always. I had not idea that ACR as a program has more features than the Adobe Camera Raw Filter in PS. I use Lightroom as my raw file editor, but there have been occassions when I will take multiple images into PS for focus stacking without doing any edits other than lens corrections and removing chromatic abberations (I now have a preset to do this when importing from my CF card). I then edit the merged file with the ACR Filter. I was glad you confirmed that there is virtually no difference between the raw file and a DNG. This is because I import my raw files as DNG to save space. I will second Blake's comment about f.64 Elite. Check it out as it contains great content. Thanks again!

[@f64Academy]

Thanks, Joe, I appreciate you adding to the discussion!

[@vladimirkurganov7553]

Thanks Blake! I learn a lot from your videos. I also made an action with some of your tricks. which makes my workflow much faster. Your chanal is most informative and helpful about photoshop. Thanks again!!!

[@f64Academy]

Thanks so much! I appreciate it.

[@Greg.Mika.]

Hey Blake! What workflow would you recommend when working on a composite with several pictures? Currently I use the script “Load files into stack”, then edit the base photo in Camera raw filter, then apply the settings to the other photos. Is there a way to load files into stack while editing in ACR as a program as well? Cheers ^ ^

[@f64Academy]

Hmmm, it depends on a lot of things, but you could open all of them in ACR by selecting all the images on your comp, then dragging and dropping them into PS which would open them in ACR. Then open all images in Ps after your edits, then build the image from the individual layers. But that might be the same thing? It's difficult to tell without looking at what you are trying to do.

[@Greg.Mika.]

@@f64Academy The reason I use that script is for the auto-align feature, I guess I could open them all in ACR and import them again after editing but it's a two steps process that I thought could be done in one... At least now I know why I was struggling with my editing, thinking ACR filter was the same as ACR program, silly me! 😅

[@hanswi336]

Excellent information - great to know, thanks!

[@f64Academy]

Thanks, it was my pleasure.

[@rickbulak4615]

Excellent as always!! I was playing around with some actions a while back and had switched to 8 bit and forgot to change back... I know better but appreciate this video as it reminded me to switch back to 16 bit...

[@f64Academy]

Yep! that data is important for people who like to push the data to the limits :)

[@gordroberts53]

Very helpful insight, thanks for sharing!

[@f64Academy]

My pleasure!

[@rainman3594]

Thanks for the ACR video. Very detailed. You mentioned the many ways of opening ACR and those were very insightful. However, as you know many of us use Lightroom then transfer to Photoshop. You didn't mention anything about how to open ACR - not the filter - in Photoshop from Lightroom without using the "open as smart object" option. Nor did not mention anything about opening ACR directly from Lightroom before heading over to Photoshop. Any comment on that would be greatly appreciated.

[@f64Academy]

I don't use Lightroom and I dont really know the answer to that. But I will guess that Lightroom will not open up a RAW file in ACR as it assumes you already did that RAW processing in LR which is the same engine. Therefore, opening a RAW file from LR to PS is the same as opening it from ACR to Ps. Same editing engines in LR and ACR so the results would be the same, but Ps will not open ACR from LR as LR already should have been used for the raw processing (my assumption).

[@jimbembinster]

I had no idea, thanks for this information.

[@f64Academy]

No problem!

[@jimmyhuajh]

thanks, this video explained all my questions, subbed

[@JOHNW2228]

Totally agree, at the end you were a little looking like Inspector Montalbano - Italian/Sicilian TV detective series, good relaxing stuff. My only fear is that IG and FB will take AI as the benchmark and algorithm accordingly, thus reducing art...

[@davidvandevelde9283]

thank you for the good information ! I don't get where are the Tiff files coming from? You open the raw files in ACR and then how do they convert into Tiff files?

[@JMSteger]

Hi Blake, I just watched this video as a supplement to one of your day's content in 30 Days to Photoshop Mastery on f.64 Elite. Have you ever tested Adobe's large file format, PSB, to see if they have any image degradation similar to TIFF? I have been reading a number of articles lately that with PSB and PSD file formats there is no reason to save files in TIFF any more. Thank you!

[@f64Academy]

I could see that. I haven't saved as PSB much as PSD seems to do the trick in my saving effort. Call me old school, lol

[@JMSteger]

@@f64Academy Hi Blake, The only reason why I save in PSB format is when I run into file limit size limits with PSD (not sure what the limit is. It's primarily caused by multiple layers including some with smart objects. I will look to rasterize smart object layers when I'm satisfied with final processing.

[@davidhowe1069]

Interesting video Blake. What’s the difference between ACR and Lightroom ? Since I normally start my editing in LR and go into PS I never use ACR.

[@f64Academy]

Not much, same editing engine

[@SilverGS1]

Thanks for this eye opening video Blake! When you open a raw file via ACR the program into Photoshop as a smart object - how do you get around some tools such as the clone brush that will not work on a smart object?

[@darrelldavis8006]

Great video! I now clearly understand the importance of editing in 16-bit mode. Is there the same type of benefit if your original source is a JPG, such as from an iPhone? If this is the only available source of the image you want to edit, should you convert an 8 bit JPG to a 16 bit TIFF or DNG before doing any editing? Will you see a difference? Thanks

[@f64Academy]

You won't see too much of a difference. It's like telling a cat it's a dog, at the end of the day it's still a cat, lol

[@darrelldavis8006]

@@f64Academy I definitely agree that you can't change a cat into a dog but is it possible to teach a cat a trick like a dog? I know you won't pick up any additional info with a JPG as a source vs a RAW file but I'm still wondering if there's any benefit during additional editing work, especially edits involving color changes to WB or HSL? I've also seen comparsions of 8-bit vs 16-bit to having an 8 color crayon box vs a 64 color crayon box - you can theoretically do the same thing with the basic 8 colors but having 64 colors in your box sure makes things easier! Since a great deal of my work is restoration edits on older images, I often don't have control over the source images and must start with a JPG. However, once I bring a JPG into PS, I can use all the other capabilities, like layers, in PS while I work and save those changes as a PSD or TIF. It's only when I finish and export back out as a JPG that those changes are locked into the new version of the image. I'm just thinking that shifting to 16-bit mode will help in the color edits, especially for gradients like a sunset or the evening sky. The same benefit would also occur in changing the JPG to Adobe RGB vs sRGB to provide a better color space. That change also reverts to sRGB with I export the finished product out as a JPG. PS. I really enjoy your videos and have signed up as an Elite member to start some more in-depth study. Thanks

[@fouuladvand48]

Thanks for the information! Whats the shortcut for ACR and not ACR Filter? Would be great to have it for my macro keyboard. Because I always made the mistake to use ACR Filter with the Shortcut instead!

[@f64Academy]

There is no shortcut for ACR. Just stay and drop a Raw File into PS, that's the only way to access it.

[@fouuladvand48]

@@f64Academy I just found it. You have to create a shortcut yourself in the shortcut menu (Layers). Thanks anyway and keep up the good work!

[@rosadoric615]

Great info as usual Blake. How would you go about adding a final color grading on a completed image in ACR knowing these ACR limitations? Keep well. Is that the Boling P1 RGB Led light your using for your UV backgrud?

[@f64Academy]

I don't do my color grading in ACR, I do then in PS. So I just ensure I get the best quality from the raw image before handing off to PS and I rarely, if ever, use ACR as a filter.

[@f64Academy]

Those are cheap LEDs I got on Amazon

[@rosadoric615]

Hope you guys are keeping well. We use the Boling P1. Small and powerful. Awesome color range. UV range great for night shots in gardens etc. Just noticed, today Godox has released their new RGB Mini Creative Light M1 and smaller R1. Worth a look when life returns to normal.

[@davidaldridge3669]

Interesting video, thanks Blake.

[@f64Academy]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@richardallan2331]

Pretty much the only time I use ACR filter is on scanned film images saved as 16 bit Tiffs. I tend to do no adjustments in my film scans other than adjusting the histogram.

[@DarrenJSpoonley]

Damn Tom beat me again :-) great video Blake .. really well delivered and valuable

[@f64Academy]

Thanks, Darren!

[@ffbrownie]

Would you be able to do a revised video on creating profiles in ACR? I'm struggling a bit with it a bit following the old one

[@f64Academy]

I have a video on my KZbin channel already for profiles in ACR

[@MaciejMarkiewicz]

So if I understand correctly still the double processing from ACR or LR is better than using the ACR-as-a-filter :)?

[@f64Academy]

Lol,I guess? I don't double process, so I am not sure what that entails.

[@chrisrohwer5481]

Same question as Ale Mattos below, opening file from Lightroom Classic into Photoshop?

[@f64Academy]

Same results as opening a raw file from acr

[@chrisrohwer5481]

@@f64Academy Thats what I was guessing as I can only open from filter once inside PS. Thansk You do a great job.

[@refugioflores2226]

that was a very informative video i kinda knew some things , my editing process is i open the raw file and i edit the basics on it such as exposure and contrast then i open it as a smart object 16bit and pro RGB profile.. then on potoshop i add a camera raw filter to the smart object photo to work the color grading i like this way cuz i use more than one camera raw filter to get my final result do you thing this will be affecting my image quality? should i do both color grading and light correction from the beginning on the camera raw program? im kinda confused now . or i can go and work with the smart object and add the camera raw filters and once im done with the color correction i can save the settings and reopen the same raw file and apply those settings on the raw program?

[@josephcole3187]

Thanks Blake now i need to go re edit my whole catalog .... 🤣

[@f64Academy]

🤣

[@rosadoric615]

I am to scared to show this video to my wife for that same reason.

[@MegaGman61]

You could use ACR for the lens corrections and then open it up in CC and use camera raw filter on the layer as a smart object so that you can always go back to to readjust. Working 8 bit vs 16 bit is technically true but if you have numerous files open - like a photo lab often will - 16 bit will choke your system to a crawl. Viewing a file at 900% is pretty useless.

[@f64Academy]

True, but the point was to look at how they are different. I would not recommend filter on a layer as smart object as you are still working on the 16 but hand off data. the best course of action would be to open that raw file as a smart object through ACR because you get true Raw editing without it targeting the 16 bit hand off data. Regardless, of the 900% the point of this was to show the differences. I find it striking how people can always find something to argue about. Whether you zoom to 900% or dont someone always has a comment. this was a free video designed to help and yet people will always try and find a way to tear it down. SMH.

[@Sir_Grumpalot]

Thanks Blake. Very interesting and important experiments and results. I came across this after loading the new, as in June 2020, ACR and deciding that I want to use that rather than LR to do my raw processing as a workflow choice. However as I use LR as my DAM and open into PS from there, the files always open into normal PS as LR has done some auto processing even without going into the develop module. Anybody know if there is a way around this such that a file opens in an equivalent manner to double clicking from OS or Bridge but from LR Library module? I can't see one but then I'm not an expert.

[@matzemoller.fotograf]

Amazing. Thx a lot.

[@f64Academy]

My pleasure!

[@DinisAngelo]

I like to edit my RAWs in Capture One, and then export to 16-bit TIFs to continue editing in photoshop and the results are good

[@f64Academy]

That would be the best course of action for that workflow. Even better if C1 could export as a DNG, I don't know the answer to that as I dont use it. Otherwise 16 Bit Tiff. However those 16 Bit Tiff files are HUGE and heavy on hard drive space. Just something to consider if space becomes an issue.

[@DinisAngelo]

@@f64Academy Capture One exports to DNG, but all settings are lost.

[@detlefkloster2060]

Thank You!

[@f64Academy]

Your welcome 😁

[@baja767]

Thanks. I learned something which is awesome. Going from Lightroom to Photoshop, I use open as a PSD in PS. Is there a benefit to open as a TIFF in PS? I use PSD for the layers and size.

[@f64Academy]

I would recommend PSD, no benefits from TIFF other than being able to use them across multiple platforms if they dont contain layers. However, the files sizes are sometimes ten times larger than PSD.

[@scomart]

I love when you pixel peep! Lightroom is supposed to be the same as ACR so a file brought into PS as a tiff from LR would be the same as your tiff example?

[@f64Academy]

Not sure, but you can experiment.

[@scomart]

@@f64Academy OK. I set LR for 16 bit, 300 dpi output and sent over to PS. Opened same image with ACR and sent as 16 bit to PS. I could find no difference in the images. Thanks for the 16 bit tip as I had ACR set to 8 bit. I primarily use LR to import into PS and it is now nice to know that their won't be any inconsistencies.

[@TheReadDesultory]

Where can I get Adobe Camera Raw the program???? I can't find a download anywhere, just the plug-in. I scoured the internet. ;)

[@f64Academy]

Its automatically installed with Photoshop. Drag and drop a raw file into PS and it will open ACR the program.

[@kirtg1]

thanks for the video. i have read that editing tiff files instead of raw files is more productive. Tiff files generated for raw files are much larger. What is your take on this?

[@f64Academy]

In would not recommend that. As seen here nothing is better than the original raw file. Tiffs are also huge.

[@lilidaigle]

Thank you, I need the info!

[@f64Academy]

Awesome! glad I could help

[@Fredits]

Well done bro..

[@ek001100]

Is it possible to do a similar test using the camera's propriety software supplied for the RAW conversion and then importing it into Photoshop?

[@f64Academy]

Sorry,I don't use the cameras software, you'd have to conduct your own experiments similarly to how I did here.

[@cymontaylor]

ACR is simply a RAW converter. The first image you opened in PS is not a raw file, it's the file created by exporting from ACR, in this case, a PSD. You could pass it on as a jpeg or a tiff etc.

[@f64Academy]

Yes, Photoshop cannot read RAW data, ACR passes off either 8 bit or 16 bit data to Photoshop, in its state it is probably more like the equivalent of a 16 Bit Tiff, but it is more like limbo data.

[@cymontaylor]

​@@f64Academy Workflow: Export 16 Bit PSD from ACR to PS, save PSD when editing is finished, no limbo state. The saved final 16 bit PSD is then converted into an sRGB jpeg at 8 bits. From the saved 8 bit jpeg, a web-optimized image is created and saved. A straight conversion at the equivalent best quality, as you prove in the video. The workflow would be identical with a Tiff straight out of ACR.

[@alemattosbr]

Wow, great stuff going on here! 👏👏. One more question: What about open a raw file in Photoshop from Lightroom Classic? Kind regards

[@f64Academy]

I don't use LR, but it would more than likely be the same as opening from ACR

[@alemattosbr]

@@f64Academy thanks Blake! Be safe!

[@sramabadran]

f64 Academy I think it depends on if you open as smart object or not.

[@MrPeachy49]

I manage my raw images through Lightroom. In Lightroom when I right click on a raw image (.cr2) and select "Edit in Photoshop 2020" it opens in Ps not in ACR. Is it possible to open an image from Lightroom in ACR?

[@f64Academy]

No need, ACR world be for people who don't use Lightroom. So there's no real need to go from Lightroom to ACR, it would be redundant.

[@RayJustice]

@@f64Academy Hey Blake, so you are saying do any raw edits in Lightroom, then edit in PS, for the people using LR? Thanks

[@IRG_fotografia]

👏👏👏👏👏

[@grantdecker1190]

Nice!

[@SummersSnaps]

Wait up... isn't what yer seeing the difference between colour space environments? In ACR you're still using Adobe RGB (1998), you want to change that to ProPhoto or at least match the same working colour space environment that PS is set to.

[@f64Academy]

They were both in Adobe RGB.

[@SummersSnaps]

@@f64Academy Ok dokey, there goes that theory. Is there a reason you are choosing Adobe RGB 98 vs ProPhoto? I was always told to use 16bit ProPhoto, genuinely a newb trying to learn :) Also... playing around yesterday with Smart Objects and Camera Raw as a filter... the plot somewhat thickens. In PS, I notice there is a difference between double clicking the smart object thingy icon in the Layer and getting to Camera Raw that way vs Filter>Camera Raw. Filter>Camera Raw misses out on ACR features such 'Snapshots', and if you apply a change such as colour to mono... then it acts like a filter and you can't later on go back to ACR via the same method and change the mono back to colour. Whereas if you double click the Smart Object thingy in the Layer, it opens ACR with Snapshots, and going from colour to mono, applying, then at a later stage in PS repeat the double click smart object thingy you can revert from mono back to colour and it works. Basically there is much better features to use ACR as a Smart Object rather than Filter (from within PS environment).

[@genswarc]

Shift+Cmd+A is not a shortcut for Camera Raw Filter under macOS (like Shift+Ctrl+A in Win), unfortunatelly this filter doesn't have a shortcut, if you use PS under macOS.

[@f64Academy]

maybe they changed that recently? I thought there was back in the day. This is the first time I've heard there isn't one. Thanks for letting me know.

[@JMSteger]

Command+Shift+A is still the ACR Filter shortcut for macOS. Perhaps you didn't try with a stamped or rasterized layer.

[@genswarc]

@@JMSteger Aaah... I got it, okay! My mistake! I changed this combination previously (for Motion Blur), just totally forgot it! Now I tried to set defaults, and now I see, you're right, this is the default shortcut for ACR Filter! Thx!

[@LarsKiel]

🙏👍

[@bigwhitedogphotography]

I just checked my ACR and saw 8-bit. My heart sank. I feel like I've been cheating my clients.

[@f64Academy]

It's not a huge deal, again most of what you see here is at over 200%. You will only notice a difference when you are pushing your pixels a lot or working with a lot of gradients.

[@bigwhitedogphotography]

@@f64Academy You're just saying that to make me feel better. :D

[@Frimpeezzy]

Hello there. I want to contact you but I don’t have any means. What’s your email or Instagram account? Thank you

[@ronaldmoravec2692]

This may not still be true,, but when I started digital 8 bit JPEG would not respond to gradients without banding. This makes it worthless for editing in my opinion.

[@karmalakas]

Took literally no more than 2 seconds - helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/differences-camera-raw-camera-raw.html Have no idea how you tried to google it