Three Tips for Optimizing RAW Workflow

RAW capture offers many advantages, but experienced photographers also know that RAW processing adds steps, and consequently additional time to the workflow. However, as RAW conversion programs come of age, they include more features designed to minimize the time spent processing images. Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw offer some of the most notable innovations. And for photographers, it’s a simple matter of exploiting the features to save time and needless repetition during the workflow.

Here are three ways you can save time when viewing and processing images in Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw.

Tip #1: Get a Task-Specific View In Adobe Bridge

Depending on the phase of the workflow, it is helpful to see images in different ways. For example, during image selection, having a large view of the image is important so that you can check focus, fine details, and evaluate the different aspects of exposure. But if the task is to consolidate selected images from different folders, then it is important to have a good view of the file hierarchy.

In addition to the different views on the main Bridge window, you can switch among different Bridge workspaces. You can also modify the workspaces and save them for ongoing use.

Here is how to switch to a different workspace and modify it.

1. In Adobe Bridge, click Window/Workspace, and then click one of the options:

Lightbox
File Navigator
Metadata Focus
Filmstrip Focus

2. To customize the workspace, you can:

Drag the thumbnail-size slider located at the bottom right of the window to enlarge or reduce the size of thumbnails. Thumbnails can be as large as 512 pixels.
Drag panels up or down to consolidate one or more panels.
Drag the vertical and/or horizontal divider bars to change the size of the panes.

3. To save the modified workspace, click Window/Workspace/Save Workspace. Bridge displays the Save Workspace dialog box.

4. Type a name for the workspace, choose a shortcut key to recall the workspace, and then click Save. Bridge adds the new workspace to the workspace list.

Tip #2: Make Metadata Count

Just as a product label describes the contents of a package, metadata describes an image. The metadata displayed in Bridge includes the default filename, date of creation and modification, size, dimensions, resolution and bit depth, as well as exposure information (EXIF) from the camera. In addition, Bridge displays IPTC Core fields that you can fill in to track the photographer’s name, contact information, copyright status, usage terms, and more.

The important thing to realize about metadata is that it is the foundation for organizing, finding, retrieving, and tracking modifications in Bridge. And in most cases, the metadata you add, such as your name, contact information, and copyright stays with the file as you create variations such as TIFF or JPEG versions of the file.

The trick is to use a metadata template that contains non-changing information that you can add to all or many files in a single action. And if you plan a comprehensive metadata strategy in advance, it will make it easier to find and organize files over the long term.

Here is how to create and use a metadata template.

1. In Adobe Photoshop CS2, click File/New, and then click OK. Photoshop displays a blank file.

2. Click File/File Info. Photoshop displays the File Info dialog box. On the left of the File Info dialog box is a list of categories. Not all categories have editable fields. Concentrate on the categories and fields that apply to multiple files.

3. In the Description category, complete the fields you want.

4. Click the IPTC Contact category and complete the fields in this category.

5. Continue selecting categories and completing the fields you want.

6. Click the menu button (the arrow at the upper right of the dialog box), and then click Save Metadata Template.

7. In the Save Metadata Template dialog box, type a name for the template, and then click Save.

8. Click OK to dismiss the File Info dialog box.

9. Switch to Adobe Bridge and select a folder of images to which you want to add the standard metadata information.

10. Select the images to which you want to add the metadata template.

11. Click Tools/Append Metadata, and then click the name of the template you created previously. When Bridge displays the message that all selected files will be affected, click OK. Metadata from the template is added in the fields where no metadata currently exists. In other words, the template information is added, but no existing information is overwritten.

You can also go back to older folders of images and apply the metadata template to those images as well.

Tip #3: Save a Settings Subset in Adobe Camera Raw

If you often shoot in a controlled lighting situation such as a studio where you will use the same conversion settings over and over, or if you want to create settings for black-and-white conversions, it makes sense to do the work once and use it many times in the future. In Adobe Camera Raw you can save all or part of the adjustments for an image and recall them for future use.

Here is how to save a subset of image settings in Adobe Camera Raw.

1. Open a RAW image in Adobe Camera Raw.

2. Make the adjustments you want on the Adjust, Detail, Lens, Curve, and Calibrate tabs.

3. Click the menu button at the top right of the Camera Raw dialog box, and then click Save Settings Subset.

4. In the Save Settings Subset dialog box, you can click the Subset arrow to choose specific settings or groups of settings to save, or you can click to deselect the items listed in the main Save Settings Subset dialog box.

5. Click Save. Adobe Camera Raw displays the Save Raw Conversion Settings dialog box.

6. In the File name box, type a name for the settings, and then click Save. Adobe Camera Raw adds the subset name to the Settings list. You can choose the settings from the Settings drop-down list and apply it to other images.

About the author | Charlotte Lowrie is a freelance journalist and photographer based in Seattle. She is the author of the Canon EOS Digital Rebel Field Guide, and is writing her third book. She is also an editorial and stock photographer.