Camera RAW, Lightroom initial settings

I have a 30D and usually shoot in RAW. The last two years I've used Photoshop Elements with the built in RAW converter. Last week I downloaded the Lightroom 2 free trial.

In both programs when I import my photos and go to the RAW converter or to the Lightroom Develop module they always increase the exposure by .75. This happens no matter what the picture looks like. Also, I've noticed on many pictures that the software in both programs sets the levels so high that I get halos and other strange artifacts.

I know I can redefine my presets, which I am doing for Lightroom. But my question is why does the software do this in the first place? Why doesn't it import my RAW pictures with no exposure adjustment? Is it the colorspace (sRGB?) Is it my camera definition (Adobe Standard?) I'm just trying to undertand better what is going on.

Thanks for any help.

ACR FAQ

Default is zero everything, except +50 brightness and +25 contrast.

If the exposure is +.75 by default, that's probably a default you've once set

Rene,

Over the last two years using Elements I also wondered if maybe I had changed some preset but when I downloaded LR it made me ask the question here at POTN.

I downloaded the free trial, I knew nothing about using LR, I changed nothing after the download and imported a brand new picture, it had a +.75 exposure boost, just like Elements RAW converter.

Yeah. If you set a default in ACR, it's used in LR as well (and vice versa)
I don't think you can have a different default for one camera / ISO in both ACR and LR.

You must have changed the Exposure setting in Adobe Camera Raw running under Photoshop Elements. Lightroom and ACR share the same global develop settings so once the Exposure setting was changed in ACR it was picked up in Lightroom when it was installed. You can see the same sharing occurring if you set a default camera profile; this "sharing" feature dates back to ACR 3.7.

Its easy enough to change....open a Raw file in ACR/Photoshop Elements. In the line that says "Basic" there's a small icon on the right...click the icon to open the flyway menu and select the "Reset Camera Raw Defaults" option.

Thanks for the help and information. I'll tackle it tonight.

So I went and reset Elements ACR to default values. Now when I open RAW files in ACR the exposure is at 0.00 along with everything else at default. But LR still shows files in the develop module with a +.75. It also comes up with Fill Light at 40 which makes some really ugly artifacts on many pictures.

I've restarted LR twice, I've checked ACR in Elements to verify that the defaults are working. In Develop > Set Default Settings on the LR menu bar I've clicked on "Restore Adobe Default Settings". I've gone to Edit > Preferences on the LR menu bar and on the Presets tab I've clicked on "Reset all default Develop settings" But files still come up with exposure boosted by .75, etc.

Can anyone give me any more help?

Victoria B, I need the power of a LR Queen...

I've asked this question here and on the Adobe LR forum and haven't been able to get an answer. I'm hoping you can help me.

I've been using ACR/Elements to process my RAW files for the last two years since I bought my 30D. I recently downloaded the LR2 free trial and I'm having problems with the default Develop presets.

For a long time in ACR I've been seeing default values like +.75 exposure added to every photo. I just thought that was normal for the program but it was almost always too bright, I try hard to get good exposure.

When I started using LR I saw the same values in the Develop module as I did in ACR. In addition to +.75 exposure I was getting a default of +40 for Fill Light which makes some strong halos and other gross artifacts in many photos.

Fellow POTN members told me to adjust the defaults in ACR and it would carry over into LR. I did reset the camera defaults in ACR and now I get mostly zeroes for the default values. But it didn't change the LR defaults I was getting.

I have gone to the LR menu bar and chosen Develop > Set Default Settings... In the dialog box I have chosen "Restore Adobe Default Settings". That didn't change anything.

I have reset the sliders manually to the same values I got after resetting ACR and then in the same dialog box explained above I chose "Update to Current Settings" That only changed the settings for the photo I had open in the Develop module at the time, all of the other photos show the same old default values when I open them in Develop.

I have gone to the Preferences dialog box and the Develop tab. In that tab I have chosen "Reset all default Develop settings" but that didn't do anything either.

How can I make a global change to the LR Develop default values? I know I can make a user preset and manually apply that to every photo but that seems to be a silly workaround for a $300 "professional" product.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

In the Develop module, hold the Alt key (Windows) and the "Reset" button will change to "Set Default"

Car2n, thanks for the reply but doing that brings up the same dialog box I already tried by clicking on Develop > Set Default Settings...

I have already tried both options in that dialog box. One option says it will reset to default values, the other option says it will set the current options to the default.

Resetting to default does nothing. When I manually reset all values and choose the "set current options to default" box it saves the values for the picture I had open in Develop at the time but it does not affect the other pictures.

How about set current options to default then import photos? I'm thinking it may affect newly imported photos and may not change any that are already cataloged.

First result in google will give you some information.

Two threads same topic in under 12 hours is a no no, so they've been merged.
If you have a specific question for an individual, consider a PM before re-posting a new thread on the same topic.


Thanks for understanding.

Oooh superman told Kent Clark off!

Tim, Elements resets the defaults for all pictures, not just subsequent imports. I guess I was wrong to assume that LR would somehow be able to do the same thing as dumbed down Photoshop?

CDS, it seemed like I was getting nowhere with the topic and I thought that restating it with a new title would redirect the conversation. Sorry for causing a problem.

I still can't believe that LR can't reset the defaults for all photos, not just new ones. That's what software is all about, being able to do global things to multiple objects; software that can't do something that simple needs to be rewritten.