Adjustment brush in ACR

[bnnrcn]

While using adjustment brush in ACR,I have difficulty in getting small areas although I use very small brush and feather sizes and that's why my image is spoilt.I'm learning ACR and that's why I'm not sure if I use the adjustment brush properly .That's why I'm asking you.Is there an easier way to get into small areas with the adjustment brush .I don't have a book for Photoshop CC yet,I have ordered one from Amazon but it is still stuck in the US carrier company I think by the time the book is in my hands I will have learnt ACR already with the help of CIC and some videos on the internet

[RustBeltRaw]

The size of ACR's adjustment brushes is relative to the screen, not to the image. So if you have a brush 50px wide, it will remain 50px wide regardless of how far you zoom in. So, to reach the smallest areas, set a small brush, zoom to 100% (or more, if required), and adjust the feathering to hide the brush's impact. However, if you need to zoom to or beyond 100% to adjust something, will the average viewer will even notice?

I generally use ACR for broad exposure adjustments, nothing too fine. It can be helpful to use a large brush to cover an area, then erase parts of it to cover the desired area more accurately.

[Manfred M]

Binnur - I tend to only do global adjustments; sharpening, white balance, camera / lens corrections, exposure, etc. in ACR and do any detailed work in Photoshop. This is mostly a practical, workflow consideration.

The tools in Photoshop are easier to use and better designed for highly detailed work; it's easy to zoom in and out to the appropriate level of resolution to do the work with brushes, gradients, etc.

[bnnrcn]

Thank you Lex,it sounds easy if you zoom in.I will try it.I don't know the photoshop part yet,so I try to learn every bit in ACR. But after starting to use photoshop ,I can make general adjustments in ACR like you do because there is layers and other tools in photoshop which are powerful.

The size of ACR's adjustment brushes is relative to the screen, not to the image. So if you have a brush 50px wide, it will remain 50px wide regardless of how far you zoom in. So, to reach the smallest areas, set a small brush, zoom to 100% (or more, if required), and adjust the feathering to hide the brush's impact. However, if you need to zoom to or beyond 100% to adjust something, will the average viewer will even notice?

I generally use ACR for broad exposure adjustments, nothing too fine. It can be helpful to use a large brush to cover an area, then erase parts of it to cover the desired area more accurately.

[bnnrcn]

Thank you Manfred,I haven't been to the photoshop side yet,so I try to learn everything in ACR.After getting to know photoshop part ,I think I will follow a work flow which is similar to yours.Photoshop part doesn't seem as easy as ACR,so I think I will have to wait for the photoshop book I ordered to arrive.

Binnur - I tend to only do global adjustments; sharpening, white balance, camera / lens corrections, exposure, etc. in ACR and do any detailed work in Photoshop. This is mostly a practical, workflow consideration.

The tools in Photoshop are easier to use and better designed for highly detailed work; it's easy to zoom in and out to the appropriate level of resolution to do the work with brushes, gradients, etc.

[Manfred M]

ACR and the Develop module in Lightroom, are functionally identical (the user interface is really the only difference), so these tools are the only ones that Lightroom users have to do their edits, whereas Photoshop users have a lot of very sophisticated tools at their disposal to do their editing work.

Simplicity is certainly one advantage of ACR and Lightroom, but that also means that the tools are rather limited (this is also a function of using a paramteric approach, versus a pixel based approach in Photoshop). I assume you have access to both pieces of software, so you might want to consider looking at LR too.

Once your Photoshop book arrives and you start working through it, you'll quickly understand the power of Photoshop; but as has been said many times before, that power takes a lot longer to learn...

[bnnrcn]

You are right Manfred,it might take some time to learn it but I have time for that and as long as there is CIC ,I'm sure learning will be easier and fun

ACR and the Develop module in Lightroom, are functionally identical (the user interface is really the only difference), so these tools are the only ones that Lightroom users have to do their edits, whereas Photoshop users have a lot of very sophisticated tools at their disposal to do their editing work.

Simplicity is certainly one advantage of ACR and Lightroom, but that also means that the tools are rather limited (this is also a function of using a paramteric approach, versus a pixel based approach in Photoshop). I assume you have access to both pieces of software, so you might want to consider looking at LR too.

Once your Photoshop book arrives and you start working through it, you'll quickly understand the power of Photoshop; but as has been said many times before, that power takes a lot longer to learn...

[loosecanon]

The key is to adjust the flow to a low level, so you have time to position correctly, put the mask on so you can see where you have moved, and for small areas it is often easier to do a blob and then delete round it. As other have said, practice makes perfect. However you will never get the precision of photoshop masks ans layer masks.

[bnnrcn]

Thank you Yes, as you say practising is very important in order to improve.I think everything will be easier after learning photoshop thorougly

The key is to adjust the flow to a low level, so you have time to position correctly, put the mask on so you can see where you have moved, and for small areas it is often easier to do a blob and then delete round it. As other have said, practice makes perfect. However you will never get the precision of photoshop masks ans layer masks.

[Giman]

I am new to this forum. This thread is really excellent info.

[patrickjohnson]

The size of ACR's adjustment brushes is relative to the screen, not to the image. So if you have a brush 50px wide, it will remain 50px wide regardless of how far you zoom in.

[IzzieK]

Just want to ask, Binnur are you acquainted yet with how to make your brush smaller or bigger? Assuming you are not, when you zoom in wider, all you have to do is (with the brush selected) select the brackets " [ " to make brush smaller; and " ] " to make your brush bigger as you zoom and out of your editing.

[chauncey]

That adjustment brush has a learning curve associated to it especially when using the auto mask feature which often causes abrupt seam changes. Generally, going with subtle mask changes works a lot better.