Your digital camera is capable of capturing more light and color detail than you may be aware of. As a matter of fact, most digital cameras can capture images in two different file formats: RAW and JPEG. Images captured in RAW format contain much more picture information than those captured in JPEG format.

Camera Raw may sound like the title of a bad Spring break movie, but it is actually the title of one of the most powerful image-processing software products on the planet. After you capture an image in RAW format, and then adjust it in Adobe's Camera Raw software, you'll see clarity, detail, and colors like never before.

The range of light that nature displays and that our eyes see far exceeds the capabilities of typical JPEG image files to interpret. Using JPEG format, the extreme highlights (lightest areas) in the image can suffer significant loss of detail. However, when the same image is captured in RAW format and adjusted in Adobe’s Camera Raw software, those same highlights display significant detail.

While scenes that contain excessively bright tones can test a camera's highlight-capturing capabilities, it can also result in a loss of detail in the darker parts of the image. Camera Raw software also provides adjustments that can reveal excellent detail in these darker areas. Both light and dark extremes in the image’s tonal ranges can be optimized using Adobe's Camera Raw.

This chapter will take you step-by-step through this powerful software. If you are serious about capturing and printing detail, then chapter 5 of this book is a must-read!

About Alius Graphics