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Editing Multiple Images with Camera Raw

Katrin Eismann

This video shows you how to edit multiple images simultaneously using Camera Raw in Bridge. You learn how to adjust settings for individual images as necessary.

Requirements

To follow along with this article, you will need the following software:

• Bridge CS3
• Photoshop CS3 (with Camera Raw 4)

Watch this tutorial in the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Video Workshop.

Editing multiple images with Camera Raw 4

1. In Adobe Bridge CS3, navigate to an open any folder of RAW images you have on your computer.
2. Double-click on one of the images to open it in Camera Raw. You'll begin by making changes to this image and then apply them to another file.
3. First, increase the Exposure setting to +0.25.

4. Choose the Lens Corrections tab. Decrease Lens Vignetting to -100 to darken the corners of the image (see Figure 1).

   

   Figure 1: Increasing the Lens Vignetting adds a shadow around the outside edges of an image.

5. Change the Midpoint to 23 to increase the shadow depth.
6. Choose the Tone Curve icon above the Basic panel. Select the Point tab.

7. Increase the curve by moving the fourth anchor point higher and the second lower (see Figure 2).

   

   Figure 2: Move the Tone Curve to increase the contrast.

8. Once you're satisfied with the image, go ahead and click Done.

9. This returns you to Adobe Bridge. An icon appears below the image letting you know it has been changed (see Figure 3). But say you want to apply those same changes to another image. That's very easy to do.

   

   Figure 3: When an image is modified in Camera Raw, an icon appears below the thumbnail in Bridge.

10. Select the altered image and right-click/Ctrl+click over it. Choose Copy Camera Raw Settings from the pop-up menu.

11. Select another image. Right-click/Ctrl+click over the image and choose Paste Camera Raw Settings. This opens the Paste Camera Raw Settings dialog box (see Figure 4).

    

    Figure 4: The Paste Camera Raw Settings dialog box lets you apply some or all of your adjustments.

    You can use a portion of the Camera Raw settings from the original image by choosing just a few settings from the dropdown box; individual settings by using the checkboxes; or, just click OK to accept all the settings. Click OK to accept all the settings.

12. The image is automatically updated with the vignette and small S curve change.

    In the production environment, you may want to apply the same settings to many files at once.

13. Back in Adobe Bridge, press the Cmd/Ctrl key and select all the images in the folder.
14. Press Cmd/Ctrl and R to open the selections in Camera Raw. The first image in the left-hand pane has a blue border around it, signifying it is the target image and the changes will be applied to it alone.
15. To update all the images at once, choose Select All.
16. Now choose the White Balance tool and click on a neutral area of the document to correct the white balance on the images.

17. Choose Tone Curve from the Basic Panel. Choose the Point tab and select Strong Contrast from the Curve dropdown box.

    Again, notice these changes are applied to all the images (see Figure 5).

    

    Figure 5: Choose Select All and then modify one image to apply the changes to all the selected images.

    You can even crop all of the images at the same time. Click and hold your mouse over the Crop tool and select 5 by 7 to choose a predefined crop area.

18. Click and drag a crop area over the first chair image. The crop area should automatically snap to the 5 by 7 size.
19. All the images are cropped at the same time. Go to each one and check to make sure the crop area is centered around the individual images properly.
20. Choose Select All again and then choose Save Images. This opens the Save Options dialog box.
21. Type a one word description in the first File Naming text box and choose 2 Digit Serial Number from the second text box.
22. You have the option to save corrected Camera Raw images as DNG, JPEG or TIF files. I recommend the TIF file format if you're using the images in a page layout program such as InDesign.
23. Click Save and then click Done.
24. Once Camera Raw is finished processing the files, they'll appear in the Adobe Bridge window ready for you to use in other Adobe applications. As you can see, processing one file in Camera Raw is just as easy as processing a dozen with the new Paste Settings and Select All commands.

Where to go from here

For more information and additional tutorials, visit the Adobe Design Center.