Make color and tonal adjustments in Camera Raw

A histogram is a representation of the number of pixels at each luminance value in an image. A histogram that has non-zero values for each luminance value indicates an image that takes advantage of the full tonal scale. One that doesn’t use the full tonal range corresponds to a dull image that lacks contrast. A histogram with a spike at the left side indicates shadow clipping; a histogram with a spike on the right side indicates highlight clipping.

One common task for adjusting an image is to spread out the pixel values more evenly from left to right on the histogram, instead of having them bunched up at one end or the other.

A histogram is made up of three ribbons of color that represent the red, green, and blue color channels. White appears when all three channels overlap. Yellow, magenta, and cyan appear when two of the RGB channels overlap (yellow equals the red + green channels, magenta equals the red + blue channels, and cyan equals the green + blue channels).

The histogram changes automatically as you adjust the settings in the Camera Raw dialog box.

The RGB values of the pixel under the pointer appear below the histogram. 

Preview highlight and shadow clipping

Clipping occurs when a pixel's color values are higher than the highest value or lower than the lowest value that can be represented in the image. Overly bright values are clipped to output white, and excessively dark values are clipped to output black. The result is a loss of image detail.

You can view Highlight and Shadow clipping indicators in the upper corners of the histogram. This is to check areas in your photo that are either too light or too dark, as you make edits.

• If the upper-left clipping indicator is illuminated (the clipping indicator is white), it implies that shadows are clipped in your photo. Select the illuminated indicator to view the shadows in your photo. The shadows are displayed as a blue overlay mask.
• If the upper-right clipping indicator is illuminated (the clipping indicator is white), it implies that highlights are clipped in your photo. Select the illuminated indicator to view the highlights in your image. The highlights are displayed as a red overlay mask.  

Color panel in Adobe Camera Raw

To adjust the white balance, identify which objects in the image you want to be neutral-colored (white or gray), then change the colors to make those objects neutral. A scene's white or gray object takes on the color cast by the ambient light or flash used to shoot the picture. When you use the White Balance tool  under the Basic panel in Edit to specify an object that you want white or gray, Camera Raw can determine the color of the light in which the scene was shot and then adjust for scene lighting automatically.

Colour temperature (in Kelvin) is used to measure scene lighting. Natural and incandescent light sources give off light in a predictable distribution according to their temperature.

A digital camera records the white balance during exposure as a metadata entry. The Camera Raw plug-in reads this value and makes it the initial setting when you open the file in the Camera Raw dialog box. This setting usually yields the correct color temperature, or nearly so. You can adjust the white balance if it isn't right. 

The White Balance drop-down menu in the Basic panel has three main controls for correcting a color cast:

Camera Raw applies the white balance setting and changes the Temperature and Tint properties in the Basic tab accordingly. Use these controls to fine-tune the color balance.

Uses the camera’s white balance settings, if they are available.

Calculates the white balance based on the image data.

Camera raw and DNG files also have the following white balance settings: Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Flash.

Sets the white balance to a custom color temperature. Decrease the Temperature to correct a photo taken with a lower colour temperature of light; the Camera Raw plug-in makes the image colours bluer to compensate for the lower colour temperature (yellowish) of the ambient light. Conversely, increase the Temperature to correct a photo taken with a higher colour temperature of light; the image colours become warmer (yellowish) to compensate for the higher colour temperature (bluish) of the ambient light. 

Sets the white balance to compensate for a green or magenta tint. Decrease the Tint to add green to the image, or increase it to add magenta. 

Adjust tone

When you select Auto, Camera Raw analyses the image and automatically adjusts the tone controls.

You can also apply automatic settings separately for individual tone controls. To automatically adjust an individual slider in the Basic panel, such as Exposure or Contrast, press Shift and double-click the slider. Double-click the slider to return the separate tone control to its original value.

Camera Raw ignores any previous adjustments in other tabs when you adjust tone automatically. For this reason, apply automatic tone adjustments first—if at all—to get an initial approximation of the best settings for your image. If you are careful during shooting and deliberately shoot with different exposures, you probably don’t want to undo that work by applying automatic tone adjustments. On the other hand, you can always try clicking Auto and then undoing the adjustments if you don’t like them.

Previews in Adobe Bridge use the default image settings. If you want the default image settings to include automatic tone adjustments, select Apply Auto Tone in the Default Image settings section of the Camera Raw preferences. 

As you make adjustments, keep an eye on the end points of the histogram, or use the shadow and highlight clipping previews.

• To manually adjust a tone control, drag the slider, type a number in the box, or select the value in the box and press the Up or Down arrow key.
• To reset a value to its default, double-click the slider control.

PV referred to in the brackets below is Process Version. For details, see Process Versions.

Adjusts the overall image brightness. Adjust the slider until the photo looks good and the image is the desired brightness. Exposure values are in increments equivalent to aperture values (f‑stops) on a camera. An adjustment of +1.00 is similar to opening the aperture 1 stop. Similarly, an adjustment of ‑1.00 is like closing the aperture 1 stop.

Increases or decreases image contrast, mainly affecting midtones. When you increase contrast, the middle-to-dark image areas become darker, and the middle-to-light image areas become lighter. The image tones are inversely affected as you decrease contrast.

Adjusts bright image areas. Drag to the left to darken highlights and recover “blown out” highlight details. Drag to the right to brighten highlights while minimizing clipping.

Adjusts dark image areas. Drag to the left to darken shadows while minimizing clipping. Drag to the right to brighten shadows and recover shadow details.

Adjusts white clipping. Drag to the left to reduce clipping in highlights. Drag to the right to increase highlight clipping. (Increased clipping may be desirable for specular highlights, such as metallic surfaces.)

Adjusts black clipping. Drag to the left to increase black clipping (map more shadows to pure black). Drag to the right to reduce shadow clipping.

Specifies which image values map to black. Moving the slider to the right increases the areas that become black, sometimes creating the impression of increased image contrast. The greatest effect is in the shadows, with much less change in the midtones and highlights.

Attempts to recover details from highlights. Camera Raw can reconstruct some details from areas in which one or two color channels are clipped to white.

Attempts to recover details from shadows, without brightening blacks. Camera Raw can reconstruct some details from areas in which one or two color channels are clipped to black. Using Fill Light is like using the shadows portion of the Photoshop Shadow/Highlight filter or the After Effects Shadow/Highlight effect.

Adjusts the brightness or darkness of the image, much as the Exposure property does. However, instead of clipping the image in the highlights or shadows, Brightness compresses the highlights and expands the shadows when you move the slider to the right. Often, the best way to use this control is to set the overall tonal scale by first setting Exposure, Recovery, and Blacks; then set Brightness. Large Brightness adjustments can affect shadow or highlight clipping, so you may want to readjust the Exposure, Recovery, or Blacks property after adjusting Brightness.

Learn More: Watch the video tutorials What's New in Camera Raw by Matt Kloskowski and Why You Should Set Photoshop to Open Your JPGs in Adobe Camera RAW by Terry White.

Fine-tune curves

Use the controls in the Curve drop-down of the Edit panel to fine-tune images after you’ve made tone adjustments in the Basic panel. The curves represent changes made to the tonal scale of an image. The horizontal axis represents the original tone values of the image (input values), with black on the left and progressively lighter values toward the right. The vertical axis represents the changed tone values (output values), with black on the bottom and progressing to white at the top.

If a point on the curve moves up, the output is a lighter tone; if it moves down, the output is a darker tone. A straight, 45‑degree line indicates no changes to the tone response curve: The original input values exactly match the output values.

The Parametric Curve helps adjust values in specific tonal ranges in the image. The areas of the curve affected by the region properties (Highlights, Lights, Darks, or Shadows) depend on where you set the split controls at the bottom of the graph. The middle region properties (Darks and Lights) mostly affect the middle region of the curve. The Highlight and Shadows properties mostly affect the ends of the tonal range.

Clarity, Vibrance, and Saturation controls

You can change the color saturation of all colors by adjusting the Clarity, Vibrance, and Saturation controls in the Basic panel. (To adjust saturation for a specific range of colors, use the controls in the Color Mixer panel.)

Adds depth to an image by increasing local contrast, with greatest effect on the midtones. This setting is like a large-radius unsharp mask. When using this setting, it is best to zoom in to 100% or greater. To maximize the effect, increase the setting until you see halos near the edge details of the image and then reduce the setting slightly.

Adjusts the saturation so that clipping is minimized as colors approach full saturation. This setting changes the saturation of all lower-saturated colors with less effect on the higher-saturated colors. Vibrance also prevents skin tones from becoming oversaturated.

Adjusts the saturation of all image colors equally from -100 (monochrome) to +100 (double the saturation).

Color Mixer

You can use the controls in the Color Mixer panel under Edit to adjust individual color ranges. For example, if a red object looks too vivid and distracting, you can decrease the Reds values in the Saturation section.

The following sections contain controls for adjusting a color component for a specific color range:

Changes the color. For example, you can change a blue sky (and all other blue objects) from cyan to purple.

Changes how vivid or pure the color is. For example, you can change a sky from gray to highly saturated blue.

Changes the brightness of the color range.

If you select B&W, you only see B&W Mixer.

Point Color in Adobe Camera Raw

Achieve precise, accurate, and detailed color refinements in a photo using the Point Color control. You can now select and refine an individual color in a photo across Hue, Saturation, Luminance, and Variance. Point Color can also be used with Masking, giving greater control over specific colors without changing the vibrancy of the entire image.

Adjust color or tone using the Targeted Adjustment tool

The Targeted Adjustment tool lets you make tonal and color corrections by dragging on the photo itself. 

Color Grading

Use the controls in the Color Grading panel to color a grayscale image. You can add one color throughout the tonal range or create a split tone result, in which a different color is applied to the shadows, midtones, and highlights. The extreme shadows and highlights remain black and white.

You can also apply special treatments, such as a cross-processed look, to a color image.