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Despite being used by many photographers, you probably don’t need to use Camera Raw. In many cases, doing so will add little benefit and simultaneously increase your editing time. However, there are a couple of instances where Camera Raw makes sense.
Though Lightroom CC now has the color calibration tool (and I have indeedswitched immediately from Lightroom Classicas I promised), it still misses a few features that you’ll find in Camera Raw. For example, you’re able to’t move the histogram by clicking on it.
The histogram tool is ideal for keeping your image’s light levels consistent. It’s useful even if you just look at it, but actually managing each section is even better.
Camera Raw is also better if you want to edit your picture with a grid format applied. Doing so will help you get more finetuned adjustments.
2You Do Most of Your Editing in Photoshop
Some users prefer editing in Photoshop because of the interface, while others prefer its features and can organize their workflows better. You can alsomake pop-out photo effectsand more from within the app. If you’re one of these people, using Camera Raw makes more sense.
Rather than having to import your images, you can keep everything in one place and complete your edits more effectively. This is particularly true when Camera Raw has many of the same editing sliders as Lightroom.
1You Forgot to Make an Edit in Lightroom
Even if you have a well-defined Lightroom editing workflow that you’ve done hundreds of times, you’ll still sometimes forget to make adjustments. You might also look at your image after editing it and realize that you don’t like how it looks.
In both cases, Camera Raw is good for making small adjustments. After applying these, you may then continue with your edits as normal.
Everyone says RAW is the way to go, but is it really? While it offers more editing power, sometimes it’s just overkill. If you’re editing with Camera Raw just because “it’s better,” you might be wasting time.
