Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 8. Elements for Digital
Photographers
If you're a fairly serious digital photographer, you'll be delighted to know that Adobe hasn't
just loaded Elements with easy-to-use features. The program also includes a collection of
pretty advanced tools pulled straight from the full-featured Photoshop.
Number one on the list is the Adobe Camera Raw Converter, which lets you convert and edit
raw files
—a format some cameras use to give you maximum editing control. In this chapter,
you'll learn about the raw format and why you may (or may not) want to use it. But don't
skip to the next chapter if your camera shoots only JPEGs: You can use the Raw Converter to
edit JPEG and TIFF images, too, which can come in really handy. Working with JPEGs and
other image formats in the Raw Converter is explained on
Choosing Bit Depth
.
NOTE
Whereas JPEG and TIFF are acronyms for technical photographic terms, the word
“raw”—which you may occasionally see in all caps (RAW)—actually refers to the
pristine, unprocessed quality of these files.
This chapter also explains Exposure Merge, which lets you combine different versions of a
photo to create a single image with a higher dynamic range (a wider range of correctly ex-
posed areas) than you can get from a single shot. You'll also get to know the Photo Filter
command, which helps adjust colors by replicating the old-school effect of placing filters
over camera lenses. And Elements has some truly useful batch-processing tools that let you
do things like rename groups of files, convert them to different formats, and even apply basic
retouching to them. Read on to learn about all these features.
