Open a JPG with Adobe Camera Raw

Editing images in Adobe Camera Raw allows access to a wider range of adjustments, such as split toning, noise reduction, white balance and more. Whilst shooting images as JPEGs rather than RAW files tends to be limiting, the program’s editing capabilities provide options to still edit JPEG files to a high quality. 

Adobe Camera Raw is ideal for making adjustments to images before opening them in Photoshop, and you can use it with pretty much any computer. Keep in mind that the process will be more efficient, and the outcome will be of a higher quality, if you are using a device that is more suited to photo editing. You can see a list of such computers here.

Let’s get started!

Method 1

Step 1: Open the Image in Photoshop

This first method will be, in most cases, the simplest. However, if you are using an older model of Photoshop, the second method may be more suitable. 

Begin by opening Photoshop and heading to File > Open to open the relevant JPEG from your files. In the banners and the tutorial, we used an image by Emma Last.

Step 2: Convert the Layer to a Smart Object

With the JPEG open, you’ll now want to head to the Layers Panel and right-click on the photo layer. This will bring up a menu, from which you’ll need to select Convert to Smart Object.

Step 3: Apply the Camera Raw Filter

After that, we’ll head along the top of the screen to Filter > Camera Raw Filter (Shift + Ctrl + A [Win] / Shift + Cmd + A [Mac]), to open the image in Adobe Camera Raw.

Method 2

Step 1: Locate the Image in Adobe Bridge

Begin by opening Adobe Bridge and heading to the file location of your JPEG image.

Step 2: Open the Image in Camera Raw

Next, simply right click on the image and select ‘Open in Camera Raw’.

And that’s how simple it is to open a JPEG in Adobe Camera Raw! Whilst both methods are extremely quick and work well, the first method is particularly useful since it allows for non-destructive editing, applying the filter on a separate layer.

BONUS

Want to find out more about how to open a JPEG with Adobe Camera Raw?  Check out this video by Eric Rossi, which explains the process in great detail.