+ Camera Raw Feature Requests +

Question

UPDATE:
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In future it would helpful if you could use this thread as a means to add
"Features" that you would like to see in future releases of Adobe Camera Raw.
Please do NOT create additional new Topics and try not to duplicate requests by other users. Also, be thorough in your description of the feature and why you think Adobe should consider it.
Oh, and if you find it necessary to comment on someone's feature request/suggestion, try not to get into a shouting match. The penalty for doing so is...
b If you're asking that a particular camera is supported in a future release or just taking the opportunity to carp that yours isn't then please do so in another thread!
IanLyons
Forum Host

Answer 1

Here's my wishlist for ACR. I'll list the feature first and then in a separate section afterwards, I'll explain why I want it.
1) Shadow/Highlights
2) Multi-instance and modeless behavior for ACR so I can truly have ACR open, Bridge open, PS open and work in all three and even open another ACR window.
3) The ability to open one image into PS and keep the rest going in ACR when you have multiple images open in ACR.
4) The point locator feature for curves like curves has in PS so you can find out what tone area on the curve a given area in the photo is, just by clicking/dragging over an area on the photo.
5) White balance assist to make it easier to get skin tones right when there are no good grayscale references in the photo.
6) An ACR pref to have a suffix automatically added to each filename when it goes into PS so after editing it in PS, I can just hit Ctrl-S and not have to manually add a suffix onto every single image I edit in CS.
7) A drag/drop bin for recently used saved settings in ACR and shortcut keys for cycling through a preview of those settings (described in more detail below).
8) A pref to allow the Save Images folder in the Save dialog in ACR to default to the directory of the RAW files rather than the last directory used.
9) More sophisticated sharpening in ACR (like smart sharpening).
10) Ability to set label or rating when only one image open in ACR.
11) Ability to delete and close when only one image open in ACR.
12) An easier way to see how a rotated image looks. There is no way in ACR to see the straight version of an image you've rotated slightly.
13) Shortcut keys to cycle through saved curve settings.
Here's the explanation for why I want each of these:
1) Shadow/Highlights. A significant percentage of my images need no other adjustments in PS except shadow/highlights and it's a big workflow savings to be able to finish a picture in ACR instead of having to take it into PS.
2) Multi-instance and modeless. The CS2 behavior is better than it was before because you can set it up for Bridge to host ACR and still be able to use PS. But, I often open many images in ACR and the current design still forces me to serially finish all those images in ACR before I do anything else becuase I'm blocked from going back to either Bridge or PS (depending upon who's hosting ACR) and I can't open any other images in ACR. This forces a serial workflow when sometimes I'd like to be able to be in the middle of one workflow (a hundred images open in ACR), but go do something else in Bridge and PS for a short period of time. I can't do that today.
3) The ability to open one image from ACR into PS while keeping the other images in ACR. When I see the preview in ACR, this is often the first time I've seen my images at any decent size. I often find I want to take a few into PS just to see how well they fix up with certain changes or to see if they benefit from things I can do in PS and can't in ACR, without discarding all the other images I have in ACR at the time. So, again, I am forced to serially finish all the image I have in ACR before I can take any into PS. I'd like to be able to open the selected images in PS and keep the others in ACR.
4) The point locator feature that PS has in the curves dialog is very valuable for finding out where on the curve a given feature in the photo is. I'd like that feature in the PS curves.
5) White balance assist for skin tones. One of the hardest things in ACR is getting the white balance right for skin tones when there is no easy gray reference in the photo. I don't know how it would work (I think this is an area for your invention and cleverness), but I'd like some sort of white balance assist that helps me pick a white balance that leads to a pleasing skin tone. I'd be willing to tell ACR where the skin tone is by pointing at it.
6) I add a suffix of "-edited" to ALL images that I open in PS from ACR. That means I have to type that suffix on every image when I hit the Save command in PS. I'd like a preference in ACR to automatically append a suffix onto the filename when it goes into PS to save me that typing on every single image. I've even tried to figure out if I could write a script in PS to do this for me (if file extension is a RAW file extension when user hits save, then add default suffix to the filename before Save dialog comes up), but I haven't figured out whether it can be done via script or not. I know that others save their PSD or JPEG files to a different directory than their RAW files (I keep all of mine in the same directory so this isn't an issue for me), so I imagine they'd like the ability to specify a default relative path also to save having to point every PSD they save in PS to a new directory.
7) Drag/drop bin for RAW settings. In a workflow of processing 200-800 RAW files, I'd like the ability to easily and temporarily save a small number of RAW file settings (10 would do). I know you can do it in the pull right menu in ACR today, but that's too much typing and clicks to make it worth it. I'm looking for something that allows me to pick a bunch of files from a shoot, identify a representative "sunny" shot and drop it's settings into a bin that I quickly label sunny. Then, when other sunny shots come up, rather than having to scroll around to find that image or go back to bridge to find that image, I just drag it out of the bin an drop it on the selected images. I don't want it to persist globally because then they pile up and I have to clean them up. I do need them to persist between ACR sessions as long as Bridge or PS is still running because I often process my RAW files in many ACR sessions. The whole point is to make an easy place for me to deposit a small number of saved settings so I can easily (very few mouse clicks or keystores) use them again while processing the same shoot. It's all about speeding up the workflow and letting me re-use work I've done earlier in the workflow. In my experience, this happens most often for white balance and curves since I'm more likely to tweak exposure on nearly every shot anyway.
8) When I hit Save Images in ACR, it remembers the previously set directory. In my workflow, I want it to default to the directory of the first image I'm saving. The way it is now, it is NEVER the right directory so I always have to change it. It could be smart enough so my normal workflow never has to change it. Even better, I'd get to set a pref that was a relative path from where the first image is located. So, when I'm saving JPEGs, I could have a default path of ./JPEG (a sub-directory under where the RAW files are located). Other people would want ../JPEG (a sub-directory at the same level as where the RAW files are stored).
9) In the spirit of getting as much of my work done in ACR as possible, I'd like to see a unification of the sharpening functionality so that ACR can do smart sharpening with all the same features. That would again keep many of my images out of PS and drastically improve my workflow.
10) I'd like the ability to set a label or rating when there's only one image open in ACR. Because you can do this when you have multiple images open in ACR, I'm programmed to set this in ACR, but that workflow programming is busted when I only have one image open.
11) I'd like the ability to delete an image from ACR when there's only one image open in ACR. Just like with labels and ratings described above, I'm programmed to want to delete a ruined image when I see it up close in ACR and determine it's no good. In this case, I think I'd like to just hit the trash can icon and have the ACR window close and have the image deleted in one single step.
12) When I straighten an image in ACR, there's no good way to see how the rotated version looks at full size. All you get to see is a thumb in ACR (if you have multiple images open) or a thumb in Bridge. To see whether it rea