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I'm reading up on RAW, and I'm about to fall asleep. Before I go for the night, I wanted to ask a couple questions so I can have your ideas tomorrow. I'm trying to set up my 20D to work wtih RAW files in PSCS2.

This is the way I am so far understanding RAW and Adobe workflow:

(1) I take it that the 20D profile is contained in theARC 2.4+ plugin that I loaded today?

(2) What color space should I work in? I know I read that the Noritsu Printer, such as that used by Costco, uses the Adobe sRGB profile. However, after reading, I've learned that the sRGB is a small profile and I'd be losing data by usaing it. So if I use a different profile, what about color compatibility when I print using the Noritsu printer?

(3) Using the following settings, I have some, what look like, blue highlight marks on some parts of an image I shot today using RAW. I thik the incamera settings were RAW sRGB, which I know now is not what I want. I also take the dark blue highlight "like" lines near other lines in the photograph are probably clipping. I can't seem to get rid of them tho. Setting: PhotoPro & 16bit.

(4) I prefenreces in the RAW dialog, there is an option to "Apply Sharpening to All Images/Preview Images Only." Which setting?

Here is my take on your questions:

1.  I don't know--I have PS CS (1)

2.  If you are only going to be printing on an sRGB printer, I'd recommend working in sRGB.  If you work in aRGB and then send the image to an sRGB printer, you are might get some color clipping, as sRGB is a smaller color space than aRGB.  My POV is that by converting your aRGB RAW file to sRGB, you can at least see what clipping will occur and you can deal with it in PS before sending it to the printer.

3.  I think your light blue lines are chromatic aberrations.  These can be minimized in ACR--don't remember which tab off hand.

4.  I recommend the Preview Images Only setting.  I think you actually set that, however, in the preferences menu.

Camera RAW 3.2 is out for PS/CS2, by the way... I think PS/CS2 comes with v3.0?

Re #2:  To clarify Steven's reply:  sRGB is mostly used for web display and such.  Printers are far more likely to use Adobe RGB (or something more specialized), so, unless you're only interested in web display and never printing, use Adobe RGB for greater versatility (and reduced clipping).

Re #4:  Sharpening is best done using more sophisticated tools than the one in ACR, so in general you want to apply sharpening to the preview only, and *not* have it apply sharpening to the file itself.  Then you can do sharpening to your taste afterward using PS or a PS plug-in.  If you don't want to mess with sharpening yourself, though, then you can have ACR do the sharpening for you using this option.  However, it's much better to learn to do the sharpening "right".

Lisa

If you are using Costco for printing, go to www.drycreekphoto.com they have made the profiles for Costco printers. You can look up the store location and download the profile for soft proofing in photoshop. The web site also has full instructions on how to use the profiles. This way if you are concerned about using aRGB you can make adjustments for out of gamut colours.

I'm not competely sure, but I think Dry creek has said that the Noritsu is using the Adobe RGB profile, or that it is so close as to not warrant a specifc profile any longer. Can anyone verify that?