Tutorial Tuesday - Opening a JPEG image in Camera RAW

Are you SHOCKED and AMAZED that I'm back with my tutorial Tuesdays? Ya. Me, too. I've decided that I need some consistency on this blog, and so I'm back! And for this week, I had to share something that I discovered while reading on one of my BIG sources of inspiration, Pioneer Woman. I read an article called "Why I When Back To JPEG"  and I was converted! This idea saved me this past weekend when I had only ONE memory card on me, and I had a photo shoot to do at the same time as a fun Pioneer Day activity.

As you know, when you show exclusively in RAW mode,the file sizes are ENORMOUS! Yes, RAW offers you much more freedom to edit the white balance, exposure, and other little edits, however in exchange, you get huge file sizes and more grain on your image. So, instead of being able to fit a couple of hundred photos on a memory card while shooting in RAW, I can fit over a thousand on the SAME memory card while shooting in JPEG.

Now, if you are like me, you still need the ease of being able to fiddle with exposure and white balance while not losing image quality. I have just discovered that you CAN open a jpeg image in Camera RAW. Here's how!

Open your image in Adobe Bridge - NOT in Photoshop. If you own photoshop, you should also have Bridge installed automatically. When you open your image in Bridge, it should look something like this:

Then you can go to FILE>Open in Camera Raw

Voila! Now your image will open in Camera Raw! You can make your adjustments, just as you would with a RAW image, only it's your JPEG!

When your adjustments have been made to your satisfaction, click "Open" and your image (with the adjustments made) will open in Photoshop - ready for you to finish your edits! Nice. All without the large file size and the hassle of having to take the extra step of changing your image from RAW into a jpeg for printing. Nice! Give it try, yourself!

Before

After