RAW processing in Nikon Capture NX-D. Introduction to the program and basic techniques

Nikon announces ViewNX 2, complete new version popular software package that allows you to import, review, edit and transfer images and D-video files. The user-friendly ViewNX 2 software suite builds on the proven ViewNX software and is bundled with Nikon digital cameras and available for download. Now software offers a number special tools for editing D-video files created by modern digital SLR and compact cameras. In addition to basic data import and review functions, ViewNX 2 includes a variety of commonly used editing menus and tools, such as resizing, brightness control, cropping and straightening, as well as rich RAW processing capabilities.

Speaks Zurab Kiknadze Zurab Kiknadze, Nikon Lenses, Accessories and Software Manager: “For many, ViewNX is the key software for importing and organizing images. View NX 2 makes everything easier and smoother, with many features additional benefits for those who also shoot D-video.”

ViewNX 2 Key Features

• Integrated software package
• Intuitive editing tools
• Three customizable workspaces
• Basic editing: cropping, straightening and automatic red-eye reduction
• Various image correction tools: adjusting sharpness, contrast and brightness, highlight and shadow correction, D-lighting function and increasing color saturation
• RAW image processing (Nikon NEF)
• Many printing options
• Complete system commenting and rating photos
• Full integration with my Picturetown (Nikon's web-based photo storage and sharing service)

Import photos

Before you start working on a computer with the footage, you should copy this material onto your hard drive. IN various reviews In photo processing programs, I always pay special attention to the photo import function, because a lot depends on the careful organization of the workflow. This time I will not delve into the theory, but propose to get down to business right away.

So, importing photos in ViewNX2 is called Nikon Transfer 2, it is called by a button with a camera icon with an arrow and the inscription Transfer. This module performs several important functions at once, so it makes sense to take a closer look at it.

1. Source- where we copy the data from. It could be a flash drive inserted into a card reader, it could be a camera connected by a cable to a USB connector... But you can’t select a folder on the computer’s hard drive. If you want to do some kind of operation with photos from a folder on your hard drive, apparently this folder should first be rewritten to portable disk... This is the logic of the program. In screenshot 1: I inserted my flash card into the card reader and silence. That's right, because I have RAW files from a Canon camera on my flash drive :-)
2. Primary Destination- the first and main destination. In other words, where do we copy the photos? Here I do this: first I select a global folder for all my photo sessions (K:\Photos). Next, at the top right (???!!!) I indicate the subfolder for this photo session (Session_Name). Then I tell the program how to rename the files - check the Remane files during transfer box and edit the name mask and number. Ugh! It's not easy, but you can figure it out.
3. Backup Destination- the name speaks for itself: backup is configured in this tab, if necessary. You can not use this operation.
4. my Picturetown- here you can set up a transfer to the service of the same name. Those who are familiar with this service will probably easily figure out what's what. I'm not familiar with it, so I'm skipping this step.
5. Preferences- copy settings. There is an interesting feature here - when importing EXIF ​​photo files, you can record the copyright of the photographer and/or customer of the photo shoot, as well as other data. There are also a few assistive features only for cameras that support them (such as date and time synchronization).

Stylish presentation of videos

ViewNX 2 includes several simple and intuitive editing tools that help users create stunning videos. The software allows you to trim and then splice clips, apply a variety of eye-catching transition effects, add photos and audio music tracks - all this allows you to create stylish and animated films to show to family and friends.

Screenshot 2. The file browser perfectly displays videos in the format Full HD, filmed on Canon camera 5D Mark II
Screenshot 3. To create a video presentation, you need to click on the Movie Edit button, start separate program	Screenshot 4. The result of the work can be saved as a separate video file. Available various formats compression

The good news is that modern cameras from different manufacturers record videos in standard formats: this could be QuickTime *.MOV, maybe *.AVI or others - this allows us to completely easily open, edit and stitch together clips shot on different cameras (of course, if the resolution of the clips is the same). And this is good, because the situation with photographs in RAW format is incredibly upsetting: there are so many manufacturers, so many formats, and more and more new ones are appearing. Of course, ViewNX2 will not be able to work with RAW files shot on Canon or Sony. Nikon, friends, only NEF from Nikon.

Improved and intuitive user interface

The user interface has been redesigned and provides maximum efficiency. Smooth graphics and an intuitive layout make it even easier to access and use a wide range of creative tools. Various monitor settings have been added to perfectly suit the current task; In addition to viewing and editing options, GeoTag allows you to view images on a map, indicating the location where the photos were taken. To make viewing and editing even easier visually, we've added the ability to change the background color to match the brightness of your images.

The program is slow. On a modern 4-core processor and 8 GB of memory, it barely spins: especially when trying to edit a photo, there is a constant delay, blinking, and there is no instantaneous redrawing of the screen. How to select parameters in this way? For example, without closing ViewNX2, I opened the Lightroom program and ran a huge photo shoot in it: there were no slowdowns or delays. And this is what the ViewNX2 manufacturers call “provides maximum efficiency”?

Double clicking on the photo will open full screen mode viewing. To view RAW files, the program creates a low-resolution preview and displays it on the screen. When viewing a photo in RAW (NEF) format in full screen, top panel The “RAW” button will be available, when clicked the program will display honest information from the RAW file, and not the generated preview. I experimented with many photos and couldn't see much of a difference.

If the shooting was carried out in RAW+JPEG, then, of course, two files are written to the memory card at once. When viewing a photo shoot, you can avoid cluttering the screen with duplicates by choosing a mode in which both files look like one. The main thing is not to forget to exit this mode (press the button) in order to work with exactly the format you need - RAW or JPEG. The treasured button with two squares is located immediately below the large Movie Editor button, see screenshot 5.

Photo editing features

ViewNX 2 includes many image editing features such as cropping, straightening, auto red-eye reduction, auto lateral chromatic aberration reduction, as well as important features such as file format conversion and a wide range of captioning and rating options, making it easy to navigate and sort countless images.

To edit RAW (NEF) files, in addition to the functions listed above, white balance adjustment and exposure compensation are added - these functions are not available when editing JPEG. The software also increases the number available options print. There are new features such as choosing a background color and enabling metadata.

Screenshot 5 shows the process JPEG photo editing. Pay attention to the right toolbar: it took up exactly 1/3 of the screen, and even then it didn’t fit entirely!!! Apparently the developers had very wide monitors. And how much free space there is around... The processing engines operate very roughly, it is very difficult to adjust the “a little bit” parameter, and it is not always possible to grab a tiny engine with the mouse. No matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find the before/after view button. That is, there is no way to compare photos before processing and after... There is a reset button - there it is, with the inscription Reset, right under the name of the Metadata tab.

Click the mouse on the photo - 1:1 magnification, release the mouse - clap! and back. The good thing is that while you hold the mouse down, the cursor turns into a hand and you can move the photo around the screen, although only within the window. In a word, The photo processing interface clearly leaves much to be desired. Of course, after making adjustments to the JPEG photo, the file should be saved; the program itself will remind you of this. Moreover, the original photo will be carefully stored in a folder Originals, which the program itself will create inside the folder with the photo shoot. This is a big plus, but, you see, the ideology of non-destructive processing is much more convenient.

At NEF editing standard non-destructive processing occurs, but the program still asks whether to save changes made. You can safely say “yes” - there is always the opportunity to click on the “Revert to Original” button (that tiny button with an arrow on the right on the Adjustments tab in screenshot 6) and start all over again. The presence of treatment is indicated by a barely noticeable brush icon below the thumbnail.

How does the button described above differ from the Reset button? Reset resets adjustments while editing a photo, while the settings have not yet been saved. As soon as we saved the settings and started processing another photo, a “brush” appeared on the processed one, and Reset button is no longer active on it. This is where the top button comes into play to reset the settings. Like :-)

Sharing is easy

ViewNX 2 is tightly integrated with my Picturetown, the popular online service Nikon for storing and transmitting digital images. Images can be easily uploaded to the service through a simple drag-and-drop operation, and users can view my Picturetown images online or directly in ViewNX 2.

In addition to many new features based on feedback from Nikon users around the world, ViewNX 2 elevates Nikon's already impressive free software package to new level, providing creative image makers of any class necessary funds to achieve the most best results shooting.

In screenshot 7, I decided to show two dialog boxes related to exporting photos at once. Pay attention to the elaboration of the interface - the beautiful dark gray design has disappeared somewhere, we are shown ineptly designed, ill-conceived panels, which you can’t figure out without a glass of kefir. Tell me, is this miracle really made for users with beginner and intermediate levels of training (see screenshot 7, right panel)?

The export dialog itself (in screenshot 7 on the left) is quite clear and functional, but the result simply surprised me, or rather upset. Export settings are shown in screenshot 7: size 1024x768 pixels, JPEG format, above average quality (High Quality is high quality). And here, in fact, is the result, opened in Photoshop (file size 181 kilobytes):

And here is an export from Lightroom 3 with similar settings (size 1024x768 pixels, JPEG format, quality 80). The file size is 405 kilobytes. Don’t pay attention to the difference in tonal processing: of course, I experimented with ViewNX2 and did the processing, as they say, for the sake of the fact of processing.

Geotagging and slideshows

ViewNX2 allows you to view on a map the location where the photo was taken. Of course, such information should be present in the meta tags of the image: many modern cameras are equipped with a GPS receiver and are capable of recording geotags along with the photo. Unfortunately, in my photographs that I took on Nikon D70 several years ago, there is no such information, which is understandable, so I need to open the Geo Tag tab and simply indicate the location on the map: St. Petersburg, the city of Pushkin. This way I can link certain photos to the map of Alexander Park (see screenshot 10).

Without a doubt, the function is extremely convenient, especially when there are a lot of photo sessions, and they are all done in different places. If the camera itself does not record geotags, you can do this in manual mode It’s quite accurate to place the marks, but you need to do this immediately after the photo shoot, while you remember what was shot where.

About the slideshow, we can say that such a function is present, there are few settings in it, but the effects of transitions from one photo to another did not work for me - the photos simply replace one another.

Printing photos

But the printing parameters pleased me. There is everything you need here, the function of creating contact sheets is especially interesting - you can create a real photo report on several pages in a couple of mouse clicks (see screenshot 11). It is possible to derive an entire dossier of metadata for each photograph; you can choose the background color, font color and size... This tool seemed just flawlessly designed.

Conclusion and conclusions

I remembered the words of Professor Preobrazhensky: “I will sleep in the bedroom, have dinner in the dining room, and operate in the operating room”.* This is what comes to mind when you try to work in ViewNX2: I will view and sort photos in ACDSee Pro; manage photo sessions and process photos in Lightroom; bring to mind, glue panoramas, HDR and create more complex effects - in Photoshop; and for working with video, nothing can replace my favorite Sony Vegas. There is only one thing that upsets us about this set-up - the cost of the set of programs listed above ($170 + $300 + $700 + $600, respectively).

It is from this point of view that the attempt of programmers from Nikon, a company I respect, to combine the functions necessary for a photographer in one free program is completely justified and worthy of flattering words. The program is quite functional and generally copes with the stated functions - some well, some not so well.

However, there are two global disadvantages:

1. For beginners in photography and home, family use the program is unnecessarily complex. To work in it you need good preparation and experience, as well as excellent knowledge of English, to study the help in order to understand the operation of a particular function.
2. Program for professionals too little functionality. In addition, owners of non-Nikon cameras will not be able to use it, although they would probably want to (see my thought about the prices of programs).

What I would like:

1. More user-friendly interface : we see these huge panels with empty space, while on the left there is a mess of miniatures with tiny icons and small signatures; why are they decorated in different styles? dialog boxes etc.
2. Fewer helper functions, but the main ones are simpler, more logical and more reliable.
3. Real-time processing, without blinking, jerking or delay.
4. More clear and smooth action of processing regulators.
5. View was/has become.
6. If you're going to make a slideshow, make sure it works beautiful transitions between slides. And there would be background music playing.
7. If the program provides this or that function, let it work 100%, and not offer some stripped-down, simplified version. Do you want to persuade users to buy more functional program CaptureNX2? Then remove the function from the free ViewNX2 completely - half-hearted solutions are extremely annoying.
8. If there is support for RAW formats from competing companies... then people will flock to you :-)

Conclusion

I didn't like the program as a whole.. I’ve been working in Lightroom for a long time and am used to functional tools, so I involuntarily expect the same functionality from ViewNX2, but it doesn’t. I expect the same quality, and it doesn’t exist. I’m waiting for a convenient interface, and there isn’t one either. I don’t know how beginners will understand this program. I also don’t understand how professionals will work in it.

What can this program be useful for? Firstly, there is hope that over time it will be brought to fruition and at the same time it will not cease to be free. Secondly, the program performs its functions: if there is no program at hand at all, ViewNX2 can be quickly downloaded, installed and completed its task. I also don’t rule out that someone will find it comfortable and loved. We are still different. And that's good!

* In Bulgakov’s original, he says it a little differently, but the meaning is the same.

Konstantin Birzhakov, September 11, 2010
Based on materials from http://www.nikon.ru
The author of the review cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of information taken from open sources.
The author used in this review Only your own photographs for examples.
The author used screenshots of videos shot by Nikita Birzhakov, 2010.
© All photos in the review, Konstantin Birzhakov, 2010.

The utility has a typical design, characteristic of many well-known programs for processing multimedia files. The ViewNX shell is made in dark gray tones, the window is divided into several sections: the toolbar, the main menu, the explorer and the material preview area. Initially, the program was created exclusively in English, however, ViewNX 2 is provided, using which you can make the work easier for Russian-speaking users. The design of the editor is ergonomic, so even a novice user should not have any difficulties while working with it.

The software product has a number of useful tools typical of professional multimedia editors. ViewNX features are very diverse: customizable work areas, professional image correction, RAW support And NEF formats, advanced printing settings, setting marks and ratings for files, sending video material to the cloud and much more.

ViewNX Features

• Intuitively clear interface program shell.
• Customizable workspaces.
• Integration with myPicturetown ( remote storage files).
• Extensive base of tools for material processing.
• Fine-tuning photo printing parameters.
• Ability to work with ViewNX 2 in Russian (there is a localization tool).
• Working with RAW and NEF formats.
• Export and import files.

Based on the information described, we can conclude that ViewNX 2 is a valuable tool for custom settings and editing photos and videos taken with a camera. It is perfect for novice users.

Available on many modern amateur and professional digital cameras in which, along with special software on a PC, post-processing is available RAW files.

Are you new to photography? Learn how to process and edit raw images from your DSLR for best results.
Shooting digital negative is one of the best ways full control over your images in post-processing.
RAW is the image that the camera sensor sees. Think of it as a raw film. Instead of letting the camera process the image for you, turning it into a JPEG image, shooting in raw mode allows you to process the image to your liking.
Applying adjustments to a raw image is a non-destructive method of editing your photos, unlike JPEG editing.
Do you want both? Some digital cameras Allows you to shoot in RAW+JPEG, capturing the raw image while simultaneously processing the image into JPEG for ease of use.

Processing RAW files using an example

What do you need
1. Digital SLR or mirrorless camera,
2. Imaging software such as Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, or the software that came with your camera. Read about tools for processing digital negatives in Lightroom.
Remember that not everyone source files created equal because different manufacturers, will likely use their own proprietary file formats. For example, Nikon uses an extension. NEF, Canon uses .CR2 and Sony uses. ARW. Pentax typically uses the more open DNG or PEF format.
If you don't have a raw editing software license, there are also several web tools that can help, such as Darktable, Raw Therapee, GIMP...
For this tutorial we'll be using Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop CC, but the principles should be very similar for whatever editing program you use.
Basic settings
When you open your original image in Photoshop, Adobe Camera Raw will automatically launch. The window will look something like this:
From here you can adjust values ​​such as exposure and temperature. Move the exposure slider to simulate the effect of adjusting exposure in a camera. The results will be automatically displayed on the image.
Note that when you adjust most of these options, the histogram will also change.

Restoring details in highlights and shadows

One of the most important reasons for shooting in RAW is the ability to restore image detail if something goes wrong. did you overexpose and there are white spots everywhere? You can probably get some of the details back from the raw file.
In the example above, you can see from the histogram that there are clipped highlights in the sky.

Moving the Highlights slider to the left will bring back detail that was lost from the overexposed sky. Additionally, image details can be restored by adjusting the exposure slider.
The same process can be used to bring back shadow detail in underexposed areas.
This image has a lot of detail in the underexposed shadow areas that can be brought back with a little tweaking.

To restore shadow detail, use the same technique as for restoring highlights. Just move the slider until you see the details appear again.

White balance correction when processing RAW files

Instead of setting the white balance value in camera, you can use any white balance setting when shooting raw data and then adjust it in post-processing. In the Camera Raw interface, select an option from the drop-down menu that in the best possible way suits your needs.
Camera Raw has another tool that lets you adjust white balance—the white balance eyedropper. At the top of the window, simply select the white balance tool and click on the part of the image that you want to be white. Camera Raw will then automatically adjust the color temperature to make that component white.

The examples above work with images with very obvious flaws. Sometimes there may be nothing wrong with your image, but it looks a little boring. Here's how to make a jpeg multiple simple settings from the raw file raw.
Below is the image obtained by changing all the camera raw parameters in the first tab. It looks good, but could use some tweaking using changes in other tabs (camera lens profile, noise reduction) to make it look even better.

First, let's increase the exposure and increase the contrast a little.
The image still looks a little better, especially when changing the white balance settings. We'll also take the opportunity to restore some of the lost highlights.
Finally, you can move the Clarity slider to the right a little. The clarity tool looks for the edges and determines the contrast of the middle. Use it sparingly for best results.

Once you've applied the basic settings, click "Open Image" to enter Photoshop and continue editing as needed.
This is basic step by step guide on editing raw images - take a deeper dive into camera raw settings soon.

If your camera shoots in RAW, congratulations. You'll be able to get much more out of your photos than owners of compact cameras that can only shoot in JPEG.

This article does not claim to be a complete guide to RAW processing, however, in our opinion, it will be useful for those who have not yet paid attention to the potential of working with RAW.

RAW and JPEG, which is better?

Of course, it is important to understand that RAW and JPEG were originally created to solve different tasks, therefore, to claim that RAW is better than JPEG is not possible.

Format JPEG images was created in order to demonstrate the highest quality picture with minimal memory consumption. When shooting in JPEG, you immediately get a finished picture, which you can immediately send to a forum, website, etc. social network, and maybe in print. JPEG files take up relatively little space and are an unspoken standard for storing images in user albums.

The colors in your photos will be exactly as your camera's image processing system sees them. In the case of RAW, you will either have to resort to using a native RAW converter, or use correct profiles in software specially designed for this purpose. If there are no profiles (this is possible in the short term, for example, if your camera is new and the software manufacturer has not yet managed to prepare the correct profiles), the image parameters will need to be configured yourself.

It is important to know that absolutely all cameras shoot in RAW. It’s just that saving in RAW is blocked, and the camera independently converts the signal to JPEG using its own algorithm, known only to the developers. Thus, JPEG is the final result of image processing by a camera; this process occurs in several successive stages. This is done by the image processing system - this is what manufacturers now call a combination of a special processor, additional chips and software algorithms.

Knowing the love of photographers for shooting in JPEG, developers equip almost everything modern cameras, including mirror and hybrid models, advanced JPEG processing options. IN SLR cameras Canon is the Picture Style function, in Nikon DSLRs it is Picture Control, in Sony DSLRs it is Image Styles. In addition to several frequently used presets, you can configure all the parameters yourself.

Of course, the computing power and intelligence of processing systems is constantly evolving. For example, the new processing engine in Lumix cameras, called Venus Engine VHD, and the image processing engine in Casio cameras are equipped with triple-core processors; Canon DIGIC IV integrated circuit is equipped fast memory and provides multi-channel reading from the sensor. Installing these two processors in the Canon EOS 7D camera made it possible to achieve a data readout speed of 144 MP/s.

Triple-core Venus Engine FHD processing processor

The software part is also important, and it is often based on extensive database typical shooting scenes. The camera compares the brightness composition of the frame with a database that already contains several thousand typical scenes, and uses the optimal shooting settings. When recognizing a certain color in a frame, such as blue sky, cameras increase the saturation of the blue color. It comes to the point that cameras take into account the time zone, as well as the date and time of shooting. Thus, your camera can, for example, when shooting sunsets, automatically increase the saturation of red and yellow hues, making the frame more “tasty” and the camera owner more joyful.

Unfortunately, often automatic programs malfunction or provide undesirable effects, greatly increasing/lowering the contrast or saturation of the image.

There are many situations in which shooting in JPEG is more appropriate. It makes sense to shoot in this format if you are sure that the photographs do not need significant processing when shooting large series (not the cheapest SLR models usually have a large buffer for RAW, but compact cameras and budget SLR cameras the buffer for RAW is traditionally no more than 10 frames in a series), and also when the memory card is close to full.

What is the path from the moment of shooting to saving the image to the memory card?

The signal received from the sensor is interpolated into RGB, the processor performs color correction in accordance with the white balance settings, and then applies color correction based on the saturation, contrast, and other color settings.

After this, the image processing system applies one of the special effects, if they were selected by the user, for example, a miniature effect, simulating the operation of tilt-shift optics, or fish-eye lens distortion. If special effects are not used, then, on the contrary, software correction of vignetting, chromatic aberrations and optical distortions is carried out.

By the way, these are the ones software methods made it possible to reduce the cost and size of such popular cameras as the Canon S90 and Lumix LX-3. To reduce the price of devices and their dimensions, manufacturing companies decided to abandon the complex optical design of lenses, which minimizes unwanted distortions.

Small dimensions and high quality images in the Canon S90
made possible thanks to software correction of lens distortion

Finally, the camera applies user-specified sharpening or blur settings, noise reduction settings at long shutter speeds or high ISO, and only then converts the result into an 8-bit image, i.e. JPEG.

The saddest thing is that each stage of transformation leads to an irreversible loss of information in the photograph. And if the pictures are of a certain value to you, then it is very stupid to give all these stages to processing with a camera.

Shooting in RAW format allows you to edit the image in ways that JPEG format cannot. You can correct the exposure, white balance settings, sharpen and remove noise in the image afterwards. Roughly speaking, all you want when shooting RAW is to get a technically satisfactory photo. The rest can be improved.

RAW is a specific format that stores information about the signal taken directly from the light-collecting sensor without further processing by the camera. The data in a RAW container can be either uncompressed or compressed, lossy or lossless. However, even in the worst case of lossy compression, a RAW file contains significantly more information compared to a maximum-quality JPEG image: 12- or 14-bit RAW files are much more flexible to user processing than highly compressed 8-bit JPEGs.

Almost all manufacturers have their own RAW formats: for Canon it is *.acr and *.cr2, for Sony it is *.arw, *.srf, *.sr2, for Nikon it is *.nef, *.nrw, for Pentax it is *.ptx and *.pef, and Samsung has *.srw. Many new models use Adobe's open DNG (Digital Negative) format.

RAW is a kind of undeveloped digital image. Although he is recognized by many modern programs viewing (with or without special plugins), however, is unsuitable for printing, and the file itself by different editors may be interpreted in different ways. For example, the same RAW is significantly different when viewed in ACDSee and Picasa.

The RAW format offers extensive post-processing capabilities within certain limits without loss of quality. All those operations that the camera processor does independently will need to be carried out manually. There is only one reward here - significantly better and more impressive photographs.

However, RAW files take up significantly more space, are 3-6 times larger than similar JPEG files, and conversion requires some knowledge and processing time. Fortunately, this process is quite fun, and if you have a good RAW source, you will definitely be pleased with the final result.

RAW conversion using Adobe Lightroom as an example

We will look at RAW conversion using Adobe Lightroom version 3.2 as an example. This program deserves attention for several reasons: it is quite easy to use, is regularly updated and supports almost all cameras released that are capable of producing RAW files. The application is well integrated with the Photoshop family and is very functional, it is equally convenient when working with individual photos and a large number images.

Among the disadvantages of Lightroom, it is worth noting that it is demanding computing resources computer and the need to purchase it. The lack of a Russian-language interface also often scares away novice photographers. You can download the program on the official Adobe website.

Despite enough large number programs of this type, of which we would note the free RawTherapee, Apple Aperture, Phase One Capture One and Bibble Pro, the Lightroom application, in our opinion, is the golden mean.

All of these programs deserve attention, as they are stronger in certain areas. For example, Aperture is very easy to use, and Capture One gives you better color control.

Loosely translated, the word lightroom is interpreted as a place for developing photographs. In principle, this is what it is - it is a convenient and powerful interface for developing RAW images and even working with JPEGs. The Lightroom application is a non-destructive image processing algorithm. Until the moment of conversion, the images entered into the program remain untouched, and preview effects and settings are available from the application cache. Each file is assigned a document with detailed custom changes, which are written into instructions and then executed when converting images from RAW.

This approach is quite convenient, and thanks to it, an endless history of actions with a picture or pictures is realized.

Lightroom allows you to synchronize selected settings for a group of photos, which is very convenient, for example, if you took a lot of the same type of shots and want to transfer edits to several photos at once.

The Library module is a feature of the program for cataloging images. We will not focus on it. We only note that frames can be sorted by creation time, title, shooting coordinates, lens, focal length etc. It is possible to create dynamic collections that are automatically replenished according to selected criteria, and much more.

The Library module is very powerful and convenient, as are the modules for preparing for printing (Print), creating slide shows (Slide-show) and publishing on the Internet (Web). Their description would be enough for another article, so we will pay attention to the most important module - the processing module (Develop).

At the very top is a histogram of the image by color and shooting information. The histogram can be moved with the mouse; certain areas of it are responsible for controlling exposure, dark and light areas of the frame. The histogram is quite visual and allows you to quickly correct frames that were not very successful initially.

It should be noted that all the settings follow a logical order, and if you are not quite sure what you want to improve in the photo, you can work through the settings from top to bottom.

Basic panel

White Balance. In this window, the user can select one of the white balance presets available in your camera, or entrust the choice optimal settings automation, which provides surprisingly high-quality results. If you are not satisfied with the settings described above, you can use the Temperature sliders ( color temperature) and Tint.

The easiest and most convenient way to correctly set white balance is to use the White Balance Selector tool (eyedropper), which can be used to specify a neutral tone in the photo, such as a white or gray area. This shows a highly magnified area under the eyedropper to help you more accurately select the correct neutral spot on non-uniform textures.

Exposure- one of the most important tools in conversion. It is with its help that the initial “pulling out” of details from incorrectly exposed photographs is carried out.

This parameter sets the overall brightness of the photo and its white dot. If you hold down Alt while working, areas of the frame that are knocked out in the light will be highlighted, i.e. they will not contain any information except pure or almost pure white. If there is no artistic intent in this, it is worth trying to return the details lost in the lights. This also applies to bright whites. wedding dress, and to the texture of the clouds in the sky.

Tool Recovery called upon to help us with this. It removes highlights in exactly the right places, almost without affecting the rest of the photo. If you have previously carried out color correction, after applying Recovery, a light gray veil may appear in the picture or the colors may change slightly.

Tool Fill Light(fill light), on the other hand, increases the brightness of dark areas without affecting the light areas.

If Recovery can almost always be turned up to the maximum, then with Fill Light you should be careful - the unnatural brightness of dark areas can give even a good picture a flat and unnatural look. Both tools help get into the histogram, and their judicious use can be considered a slight variation of HDR, high dynamic range images.

Parameter Blacks sets the black point of the image.

Parameter Brightness many people consider Fill Light a clone of the tool, but this is not so - it changes the brightness for the entire tonal range of your photo.

Parameter Contrast is responsible for the contrast of the photo. Lowering the contrast makes the tonal transitions softer, while raising the contrast makes the tonal transitions sharper.

Three interesting tools are in the subblock Presence(appearance), and changing them greatly changes the photo itself.

Tool Clarity affects the micro-contrast of the image, namely the smoothness of contrast transitions, such as edges and contours of objects. Increasing the value of this parameter creates the feeling of a sharp frame, and lowering it creates the effect of a soft, almost out-of-focus image.

Tool Vibrance- This is perhaps one of the most effective, simple and beloved Lightroom tools. Following its success, Adobe introduced a similar tool in Photoshop CS4. Vibrance is smart function increasing saturation. It does not affect already saturated colors, but selectively and non-linearly increases the saturation of dull shades. This approach allows you to avoid oversaturation, loss of shades and various artifacts in the image. In addition, Vibrance selectively increases the saturation of skin tones and prevents people's skin from turning into a yellow-beige substance.

Tool Saturation increases the saturation of all colors at once. A slight increase in saturation along with the use of Vibrance will allow you to get even richer and brighter colors. However, you should use Saturation carefully; you should not turn the parameter value to maximum.

Next block - curves. The tone curve in Lightroom is used to adjust the contrast in a specific range of tones. Even though it is very powerful tool in terms of image improvement, we will not consider it for now, since it is quite complicated for beginners, and best way learning it is just experimenting.

Color correction block

This block is intended for correcting hue, saturation and brightness (luminance) individual colors. The colors are initially divided into several shades: red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, blue, violet, purple.

On each options tab Hue(tone), Saturation(saturation), Luminance(brightness) there is a list with sliders to control each color. However, the most convenient way to make selective color correction is to use the dot tool. All you need is to move it to the desired color in the frame, for example to the sky, and hold down the mouse button and move it up and down. The result of the application is immediately displayed in the photograph, and this approach makes it very convenient method work by eye.

In mode Grayscale You can also vary all the colors in the image and use the dot tool.

Split Toning Block

This block will be of interest to people who want to achieve creative processing comparable to effects such as sepia or imitation film colors. Here, separate tinting of light and dark areas of the image with a certain color is available. We invite you to experiment with the block yourself.

Block Details(detailing) includes two very important points - Sharpening and Noise Reduction.

Tool Sharpening is responsible for increasing the sharpness of the image. It works on the same principle as the Unsharp Mask tool in Adobe Photoshop. This tab contains an image fragment at a scale of 1:1 and algorithm settings - Amount, Radius, Detail, Masking.

Parameter Amount is responsible for the intensity of the sharpening algorithm.

Parameter Radius is responsible for the thickness of the area at the boundaries of objects in which the algorithm will work. For modern SLR cameras with a resolution above 10 megapixels, the recommended values ​​are 0.8-1.