Adobe Camera Raw 4.1 update

I think it has been announced here already, but can't find the thread.

I wanted to say that I have downloaded the Adobe Camera Raw 4.1 update for CS3 (only, CS2 will stay with ACR 3.7).

It is a major update, really much much better, some new things like "clarity" and a really better defringe filter.

I think Lightroom should be updated also soon as it is beaten by far.

Now I really wait for C1 4.0 as the actual version is… nearly outdated. C'mon Phaseone it's time to do something, ACR 4.1 is pretty good.

You may get Adobe Camera Raw 4.1 update there

I agree, ACR 4.1 is a huge improvement on an already good RC. The new "clarity" feature is very very nice. Not since RSP introduced "vibrance" have I been so excited about a new feature.

And ACR now includes fairly sophisticated sharpening controls. Unfortunately, I think it is too fiddly. I guess this is how it needs to be, as it seems to be the same everywhere. But should it not be possible to create a more automated sharpening system? I mean, an "amount" slider is all I really want to have to control. Nobody wants halos, so can't the software automatically adjust the sharpening for minimal haloing?

I also think that it's been improved greatly. The sharpening facility resembles more of a proper USM now. But I have applied it to a few RAW files shot at high ISO and the resulting images were badly posterized and had great loss of detail and texture. Importing the same RAWs to PS without sharpening and doing the USM in PS later has delivered much better results and no posterization.

I have been indoctrinated way too much with the philosophy of three levels of sharpening (input, creative, output), so I am a bit weary of sharpening during RAW conversion. I'd be glad to use it as the input sharpening tool, but I personally don't think that the results are reliable yet. In other words, I need to spend some more time with it and test extensively to see where this posterization comes from and how to avoid it.

Having said that, if one uses LR for the majority of images that do not need any specific post processing in PS, the new functionality will be a very valuable addition to LR.


Cheers,

Cem, Jeff Schewe gives a very good description of how to use the new sliders in ACR 4.1 here----and still thinks there should be several levels of sharpening. Since he's one of the authors of PKS (which I use), then I found this helpful and maybe you will.

http://photoshopnews.com/2007/05/31/about-camera-raw-41/

Diane

Thanks...

...Diane; for the very interesting link. Having read the Adobe's readme about the new functions, I already had a pretty good idea as to how to use the sharpening funtionality, but this is very valuable info.

Cheers,