Help! Need tips on RAW processing in Adobe Camera RAW

I finally made the jump from JPEG to RAW on a photo shoot I did this last week (and unfortuantely didnt shoot JPEG + RAW). Now I'm kicking myself because all of my pics are undersaturated, grainy and dark. After reading about RAW files I know why they appear this way but I've been trying to edit them in ACR and CS4 to get them to look as good as my JPEG's usually do and I'm having major issues... was wondering if anyone could give me any suggested image settings they use in ACR to get me going? I'm a new mom plus work full time and dont have hours to spend PP these on my computer. I should have read up more on RAW before trying it out but what's done is done Any help would be appreciated. Thank you! PS, I have a Canon 7D and shot most images with an f/2.8 24-70mm Thanks!

First of all, you can simply open and convert them to JPGs in DPP and they will look just like (perhaps better than) JPGs processed by the camera.

Then, you are free to work on developing your ACR skills with the raw files.

Netterbug wrote in post #11438308
was wondering if anyone could give me any suggested image settings they use in ACR to get me going?

That's not the way to get going. Image settings depend (or should depend)
on the image. Why not upload one of your troublesome raw files to www.yousendit.com
and post the link here. Then we can see the problem you're talking about and
perhaps suggest ways to solve it.

Hi Chas, thank you for the suggestion. I would try that but I have a 64 bit laptop and DPP isn't supported on the 64 bits yet, only the 32-bit, so I don't use DPP

Netterbug wrote in post #11438434
Hi Chas, thank you for the suggestion. I would try that but I have a 64 bit laptop and DPP isn't supported on the 64 bits yet, only the 32-bit, so I don't use DPP

Get 64 bit here:

http://www.usa.canon.c​om …eos_7d#DriversA​ndSoftware

Eh ? I run Win 7/64 and use DPP, albeit rarely.

OK thank you, I will try that.

Netterbg, did you try to install DPP from the disk that came with your 7D? You can go even farther and just leave a disk in your computer then go to the Canon site for a newer camera and go to the Software section, choose your OS and download and install upgrades for all the Canon apps. The 7D, as a newer camera, will have upgrades available for the software.

Go to the camera tab in ACR and select Camera Standard instead of Adobe Standard. Bet that will fix your problem.

Oh, and DPP runs fine on 64 bit.

Rimmer wrote in post #11438968
Go to the camera tab in ACR and select Camera Standard instead of Adobe Standard. Bet that will fix your problem...

Wasn't at my computer when I wrote that -- may not be the solution, but worth a try. Also, make sure you have "Default" selected instead of "Auto" on the Basic tab.

There are many excellent resources for learning to work with Raw files, and believe me it is worth the time and effort to get a decent understanding of things.

One classic book that is updated for each release of Photoshop is Real World Camera Raw -- look up the title on Amazon.com and you will see a CS4 version that will "fit". I'd encourage at least one such book for depth and reference, and then check out some online tutorials and resources.

And, as has been mentioned, get DPP up and running and use it for a quick "jpeg-like" conversion for both output and for reference as you learn to work with a processor such as Camera Raw.

One more thing -- camera profiles were mentioned by Rimmer, and people are finding them useful in various ways, but an important thing to do is to make sure your Camera Raw is fully up-to-date. This is especially the case with the 7D -- it takes some time for Adobe to work things out with newer cameras, and the latest version of Camera Raw for CS4 had some improvements. Among other things, the Camera profiles in the Calibration tab should have some updates.

Now, somebody check my detail here, but I believe that the newest version of Camera raw for CS4 is ACR 5.6...? You may be able to update it using Bridge Help/Updates, although some have, I believe, had to go online and manually install it.

So, first, find your version of Camera Raw by checking Bridge Edit/Adobe Camera Raw Preferences -- the version should appear in the title bar. Get back to us with that version number, as well as doing the Help/Updates.

If your exposures suck in RAW they'll suck in JPEG too. RAW files don't have processing applied, they're "RAW". Add contrast, saturation, brightness, etc, to taste.

ACR is really easy to use, but a book really helps the learning curve. I'll link to one once I get it out of my sig in a minute.

Edit - this book.

latest is ACR 6.3. i just updated today. today starts my RAW adventure. I am tired of messing around with JPEG.

Well Justin, welcome to our crazy world! Hopefully your adventure will be richly rewarding!

By the way, have you checked out our Raw Conversion thread? Check it out and get involved!:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=684360

Thanks for your help everyone. I was able to get DPP loaded onto my computer (and just so you don't think I'm an absolute moron it really DIDN'T work on my 64 bit system when I first upgraded to my 7D. I'm thankful it works now though) I've been able to edit my images making some tweaks in RAW to adjust the grain/brightness/satur​ation/etc although it's been more time consuming than dealing with jpegs. I don't know entirely what I'm doing in RAW but the images look good now so I'm relieved. Will check out that book, Real World Camera Raw, thanks for all of your suggestions. And Happy Holidays