March 2021 Updates for Photographers and Photoshop Users

March 2021 Updates

It’s been a busy month and I couldn’t let it end without sharing some updates to some of my favorite applications and technologies.

Adobe Camera Raw 13.2

The first update is to Adobe Camera Raw (13.2). Adobe Camera Raw is the technology accessed from either Photoshop or Adobe Bridge to allow you to process your raw images (and JPGs) non-destructively. Normally it would be just support for new cameras and lenses, but this time there’s more. Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) has gained a great new feature called “Super Resolution” that allows you to double the resolution of your photo without losing quality. Also for people shooting in Raw on the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max will be happy to see the new “Apple ProRAW” Profile.

Check out these features here:

What’s New in Lightroom Classic and Lightroom?

There were a few minor, but important updates to both Lightroom Classic and Lightroom.

Continue reading “March 2021 Updates for Photographers and Photoshop Users”

Photographers: Why DNG?

DNG_logo

A few days ago one of my readers left a comment on one of my posts and he was basically asking why I convert my camera’s RAW files into DNG (Digital Negative) format? He asked if I had a post that I could refer him to about my reasons. I realized that while I’ve talked about converting RAW files into DNG format for years at seminars, training classes and on my videos, I’ve never really done a blog post on it. So here it is – Why DNG?:

What is DNG?

DNG stands for Digital Negative format. The problem with the RAW files that your camera produces is that they are proprietary. Also since every camera manufacturer makes their own RAW format (Nikon .NEF, Canon .CR2, etc.) there is no real standard. Each camera manufacturer does whatever they feel like in their format. This also means that not all software can read every RAW format because with each camera manufacturer and each new camera the software companies have to update their software to be compatible with the slight changes in each RAW format. Notice how your software never has to be upgraded to read JPEG files. That’s because JPEG is a universal, non-proprietary standard. You never have to worry about a company going out of business and therefore not being able to access your JPEG files. Like JPEG, DNG is an open standard. Although it was created by Adobe, it’s an open standard with a published specification. If Adobe did nothing else with DNG the standard would still live on. Some cameras even shoot natively in DNG format now.

Why I convert my Nikon .NEF files into DNG

I’ve been converting my Nikon, Sony, and Canon RAW files into DNG format for several years now. However, as usual the question comes up – why? Why go through the extra step to convert your files to DNG. Here are a few reasons for me:

  1. My images are my memories and can’t be replaced. I never want to worry about a day when I can’t open them up because of a company going out of business or deciding to stop support of a format. With DNG I have that extra peace of mind.
  2. DNG saves me space. On average my DNG files take up about 1MB less space than my original .NEF files. Since there’s no loss of quality I’ll happily take the storage savings.
  3. No XMP Sidecar Files! Since software programs can’t really edit RAW files (it’s the non-destructive benefit of working in RAW), any changes you make are made to a small text file that accompanies the RAW file. These small text files are called sidecar files and it becomes one more thing you have to keep track of. Now instead of a folder of images, you have a folder of images and sidecar files. With DNG the changes you make are written non-destructively right into the DNG file.
  4. Backwards compatibility.  DNG format has been supported since Photoshop 7, so I can hand off a DNG file from a camera that just came out to someone with an older version of Adobe Camera RAW or Lightroom and they’d be able to open it up and work on it.

How To Convert Your RAW files to DNG format

Like I said, I’ve been converting my RAW files into DNG for years now. I do it upon import into Adobe Lightroom. However, if you’ve already got images in Lightroom that are in your camera’s RAW format, you can convert them after the fact by selecting the ones you want to convert and choosing “Convert Photos to DNG” from the Library menu.

convert_to_DNG

If you’re not using Lightroom, Adobe actually makes a FREE stand alone DNG converter. It’s always updated anytime there is a new version of Adobe Camera RAW or Lightroom so that it has support for the latest digital cameras and their RAW formats. You can learn more about DNG and grab the FREE DNG converter for Mac or Win here.

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Adobe Lightroom 5.3 and Camera RAW 8.3 are Here!

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Lightroom 5.3 is now available as a final release on Adobe.com and through the update mechanism in Lightroom 5.  The goal of this release is to provide additional camera raw support, lens profile support and address bugs that were introduced in previous releases of Lightroom.

Release Notes

Newly added support for Tethered Capture in Lightroom 5.3

  • Canon EOS Rebel T4i / EOS 650D / EOS Kiss X6i

New Camera Support in Lightroom 5.3

  • Canon EOS M2
  • Canon PowerShot S120
  • Casio EX-10
  • Fujifilm XQ1
  • Fujifilm X-E2
  • Nikon 1 AW1
  • Nikon Coolpix P7800
  • Nikon Df
  • Nikon D610
  • Nikon D5300
  • Nokia Lumia 1020
  • Olympus OM-D E-M1
  • Olympus STYLUS 1
  • Panasonic DMC-GM1
  • Pentax K-3
  • Phase One IQ260
  • Phase One IQ280
  • Sony A7 (ILCE-7)
  • Sony A7R (ILCE-7R)
  • Sony DSC-RX10

New Lens Profile Support in Lightroom 5.3

Mount Name
Apple   Apple iPhone 5s
Canon   Canon EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM
Canon   Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM
Canon   TAMRON SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD A011E
DJI   Phantom Vision FC200
Nikon   Nikon 1 NIKKOR AW 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6
Nikon   Nikon 1 NIKKOR AW 10mm f/2.8
Nikon   Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 58mm f/1.4G
Nikon   Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
Nikon, Sigma   Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM A013
Sony   Sony 16-35mm F2.8 ZA SSM
Sony   Sony 24-70mm F2.8 ZA SSM
Sony   Sony 70-200mm F2.8 G SSM II
Sony   Sony E 16-70mm F4 ZA OSS
Sony   Sony E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS
Sony   Sony E 20mm F2.8
Sony   Sony FE 28-70mm F3.5-5.6 OSS
Sony   Sony FE 35mm F2.8 ZA
Sony   Sony FE 55mm F1.8 ZA

Bugs Corrected in Lightroom 5.3

  • Issues when upgrading catalog from previous versions of Lightroom.
  • Incorrect photos are displayed after switching away from a Publish Collection.
  • Catalog optimization did not finish, and was not optimizing the catalog
  • Feather of clone spots is set to 0 after upgrading catalog to Lightroom 5.
  • Auto White Balance settings are not saved to Snapshots.
  • Sony 18-55mm lens is detected as the Hasselblad 18-55mm lens for lens correction.
  • Increased Update Spot Removal history steps when in Before and After view.
  • Slideshows start playing automatically even when the Manual Slideshow option is enabled.
  • On certain images, red eye removal behaved incorrectly
  • Incorrect White Balance settings applied when synching Auto WB from source to targets
  • Video playback stops when dragging on the scrubber.
  • Errors when publishing photos to Flickr through the Publish Service.
  • Option + drag on Edit Pin behavior is functioning incorrectly.
  • Black border appears around the exported slideshow video.
  • Catalog containing images processed with PV2003 were adding a post-crop vignette when catalog upgraded to Lightroom 5.
  • Pressing the “Reset” button while holding down the Shift key caused Lightroom to exit abruptly.
  • Output Sharpening and Noise Reduction were not applied to exported images that were resized to less than 1/3 of the original image size.
  • The Esc key did not exit the slideshow after right clicking screen with mouse during slideshow playing.
  • Import dialog remained blank for folders that contain PNG files with XMP sidecars.
  • Metadata panel displayed incorrect information after modifying published photo.  Please note that this only occurred when metadata was changed after the photo was published.
  • In the metadata of exported files, the application is listed as 5.0 instead of the actual Lightroom version (such as 5.2, etc.).
  • An Error Occurs When Playing a slideshow having an image Flipped Horizontally or Vertically.
  • Added Camera Matching color profiles (Natural, Muted, Portrait, Vivid) for the following Olympus cameras:
    • Olympus E-5
    • Olympus E-M1
    • Olympus E-M5
    • Olympus E-P1
    • Olympus E-P2
    • Olympus E-P3
    • Olympus E-P5
    • Olympus E-PL1
    • Olympus E-PL1s
    • Olympus E-PL2
    • Olympus E-PL3
    • Olympus E-PL5
    • Olympus E-PL6
    • Olympus E-PM1
    • Olympus E-PM2
    • Olympus STYLUS 1
    • Olympus XZ-1
    • Olympus XZ-2
    • Olympus XZ-10

Download Links:

Lightroom 5.3: Windows | Mac

Continue reading “Adobe Lightroom 5.3 and Camera RAW 8.3 are Here!”

How To Use Adobe Camera RAW as a Filter in Photoshop CC

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The beauty of Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) is that it provides you with a non-destructive way of making several adjustments to your images easily. However, the problem has always been that once you were in Photoshop and you had an image open, if you wanted to edit that image in ACR you would have to close it first and reopen it in ACR. Now with Photoshop CC you can use ACR with ANY layer on any image without having to close it first. In this new episode of Creative Cloud TV I show how to use the new Camera RAW Filter in Photoshop CC.

 

Are you missing out on my Bonus Content?

See more of my Adobe Creative Suite Videos on my Adobe Creative Cloud TV and get the App below. It features EXCLUSIVE CONTENT that no one else gets to see. This episode has a BONUS CLIP that is available only in the App! My iOS App is a Universal App for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. I also have an Android version on the Amazon App Store:

Learn Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White - Wizzard Media

 



Yes You Can Use JPGs in Adobe Camera RAW!

One of the questions I get all the time is "how do I open up a JPG file in Camera RAW?" Unfortunately it's not as straight forward as I'd like it to be. Simply double clicking the JPG will open it up in Photoshop as a JPG. However, if  you want to take advantage of Adobe Camera RAW's ease of use and non-destructive workflow, I'll show you how you can in this episode of the Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYvbh-Wxz_k