Noted photographer Stephen Johnson leads a Summer Digital Boot Camp From RAW to Print (in a week) in Pacifica, California.

This full-week photography workshop is an intense immersion into digital photography with one of its pioneers.

In five days you will go from perhaps not even understanding what a RAW file is, to making well-crafted and thoughtful prints. Some fieldwork and extensive lecture and lab work will fill our time together. Every student will have full access to their own workstation in our lab. Topics include practical experience with digital exposure, RAW processing, image editing, color management and printing.

John Nack, Photoshop product manager talks about the naming (or difficulty in naming) Camera Raw 4.1’s new “Clarity” control. Check out his post on his Adobe Blog.

When Photoshop CS3 (and Camera Raw 4.0) shipped, it was stated that Camera Raw 4 would only work with Photoshop CS3 or above, Photoshop Elements 5 (for Windows) or Elements 4 (for Mac) or above. The only problem is that Elements 4.0 for Mac can’t use Camera Raw 4.x, it requires Elements 4.01 for Mac-and that update hasn’t shipped yet. Adobe has stated that Elements 4.01 update will ship “soon” and that in the meantime, Elements 4.0 can use the last release of Camera Raw 3.x which was Camera Raw 3.7 and available for download from Adobe.com.

Direct download links: Camera Raw 3.7 for Mac, Camera Raw 3.7 for Windows.

Adobe has released Camera Raw 4.1, and rather than a small update just for new cameras, this one is major. New features and new functionality are showing up in a long awaited upgrade of Camera Raw’s sharpening controls, a new control called Clarity, enhanced noise reduction and two new defringing controls in lens correction. All told, there is a surprising amount of “new” in Camera Raw 4.1.

Click Image to see full sized image

The Camera Raw 4.1 update announced earlier this week is now available for downloading from the Camera Raw product page. This release brings a host of advancements-which PhotoshopNews will be writting about shortly. As part of the download DNG Converter 4.1 is also available which along with Camera Raw 4.1 adds the following new cameras:

The Camera Raw 4.1 update includes improved noise reduction and sharpening tools and raw file support for 13 additional camera models and camera backs. This update also builds on the raw file support integrated in the Photoshop family of products.

Tom Fors, the author of the AcrCalibrator script has released his final 1.0 version. It is available for download now from his web site chromoholics, oh, yeah, and it’s still free.

AcrCalibrator is a Javascript that can be loaded in Photoshop CS2 and CS3 to automate the process of determining the optimal camera calibration settings of your particular camera.

Camera Raw version 4.0, released with Adobe Photoshop CS3 is also available as a download with a new DNG Converter version with support for Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-FZ8 model. Users of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom who shoot with the Lumix can use the DNG Convertor to convert files for import into Lightroom. A future update to Lightroom will incorporate this and potentially new cameras. No word yet on a Lightroom update.

Check the Camera Raw product page for additional info and downloads.

As the release of Photoshop CS3 and Camera Raw 4 gets into the wild, there are some questions regarding whether the Camera Raw 4 settings-which look a lot like Lightroom’s raw settings-are interoperable with Lightroom beta 4.1. No says Lightroom product manager Tom Hogarty in this Lightroom forum thread.

With the release of the Adobe Photoshop CS3 public beta, users who already have a Photoshop CS2 serial number will be able to download and install the brand new version of Photoshop-at least in its current beta form.

One of the things users will notice is a new application icon which heralds the beginning of the new Creative Suite 3 icon art.

Be aware also that it will take some time to get it downloaded-the Mac version is 684MB (including Bridge and Camera Raw 4) and the Windows version is 355MB. The larger Mac file size is due largely because it’s a Universal Binary that includes both the PPC as well as MacIntel optimized code.

Press Release: Ben Long at completedigitalphotography.com has posted a Windows version of his ACR Version Control package. For raw shooters who use Adobe Camera Raw as their raw converter, this free set of applications makes it simple to create and manage multiple versions of the same raw document.

Adobe has posted new white papers and primers available as PDF downloads. The PDFs are available from the Digital Imaging Solutions for Pro Photographers page (scroll to the bottom) and from the More Papers and Primers page.

lynda.com Announces Release of Photoshop CS2: Mastering Camera Raw In-Depth Overview of Top Database Application’s New Features

Press Release: In the world of digital photography, the raw image is the digital equivalent of a large-format negative. Working with these “digital negatives” allows photographers to have greater artistic control and flexibility during the image-editing process, while still maintaining the integrity of the original raw file. In Photoshop CS2: Mastering Camera Raw, best-selling author Deke McClelland teaches the key principles and techniques for mastering raw photography using the Adobe Camera Raw plug-in.

Adobe has released the final shipping version of Camera Raw 3.6 along with DNG Convertor 3.6. The update is available from the Camera Raw Product page. Click HERE for the Windows download page and HERE for the Macintosh download page.

Adobe has posted a public beta of Camera Raw version 3.6 with preliminary support for recently released cameras and a fix for compatibility issues with older versions of Photoshop Elements running under Windows.

This new version of the Camera Raw plug-in replaces the original Camera Raw plug-in that was installed with Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 and 4.0 software. Visit the Camera Raw page for a complete list of supported cameras.

Updated Camera Raw 3.4 Plug-in Now Supports Over 120 Camera Models With Eight New Cameras from Canon, Epson, Leaf, Olympus, Pentax and Samsung

Press Release: SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 8, 2006 - Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced an update to the Camera Raw plug-in for Adobe(r) Photoshop(r) CS2, extending raw file support to eight additional digital camera models. Available as a free download from the Adobe Web site, the Camera Raw 3.4 plug-in builds on Photoshop CS2 raw file support for digital cameras from leading manufacturers such as Canon, Epson, Leaf, Olympus, Pentax and Samsung.

Source: Adobe Bridge Support

Issue: Thumbnail previews of Camera Raw images in Adobe Bridge 1.0 display too dark or too light.

Source: The Luminous Landscape
Written by Michael Reichmann

Sometimes photographers have little appreciation for what others types of photographers have to deal with. The fine art photographer may go out on a weekend and take a few dozens exposures, while a wedding photographer may come back with many hundreds. A photojournalist or a wildlife photographer may return from a major shoot with many thousands of images.

How each one handles their digital workflow will depend on the photographer’s temperament as well as practical issues.

Adobe has posted the Camera Raw 3.3 update information to the Camera Raw product page. The links to the actual Macintosh and Windows download pages have been updated to show the correct download links. PSN has the updated links for download. Here are the direct links for Macintosh and for Windows.
Updated on 01/20/2006 at 10:30 AM Central time

The Camera Raw 3.3 Public Beta is available from the Camera Raw product page.

Adobe Updates DNG Converter and Adds New ‘Camera Raw’ Plug-in for 14 New Cameras

SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 20, 2005–Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE - News) today announced that its Digital Negative Specification (DNG) — an industry-wide initiative to create one unified format for archiving raw digital images — is continuing to win support from camera manufacturers and software makers. Ricoh Co. is the latest camera manufacturer to support DNG, with its new GR digital camera. By providing DNG support directly in its products, Ricoh joins respected camera manufacturers Hasselblad and Leica, along with a wide range of software manufacturers such as Apple, Extensis, iView and ULead.

Source: Photoshop Support Knowledgebase

Issue: When you convert images to DNG using the Camera Raw 3.2 plug-in and open them in Photoshop CS2, they contain artifacts.

After a slight web glitch, Camera Raw version 3.2 and DNG Converter 3.2 are now available for download from the Camera Raw product home page.

Adobe has updated the Camera Raw product home page to mention Camera Raw version 3.2 but the download links are not yet connected.