How to Use Creative Assist to Express Yourself with Colours
Want to process and share your RAW images on the spot without a computer? Try Creative Assist, a handy camera function that lets you easily and intuitively put a creative spin on photos in-camera or with the Camera Connect app, without having to download and re-export them first! Let’s play with the function a little and see what’s possible. (Reported by Kaoru Kobayashi, Digital Camera Magazine)
What is Creative Assist?
Creative Assist offers a simple, intuitive way to apply creative effects to photos. You might be familiar with it as a beginner-friendly interface in Scene Intelligent Mode. However, it is also available as an in-camera RAW processing mode, so you can use most of its features (except for Background Blur) to change the look of your photos even if you prefer shooting in a semi-automatic or manual exposure mode.
Saving the edited RAW file automatically creates a new JPEG file ready to be sent to your smartphone via the Camera Connect app, so you can bypass the usual procedure of downloading and importing the image into an editing app for editing. The picture will be of the highest possible quality, without the degradation that some apps cause due to overzealous compression.
On recent cameras like the EOS R10, EOS R7, and EOS R50, Creative Assist offers as many as 11 different presets as well as 8 different adjustment parameters.
See the presets in action below:
Learn more about the other features in Creative Assist in:
Creative Assist Lesson 1: Controlling Brightness and Background Blur
Creative Assist Lesson 2: Controlling Contrast and Saturation
Creative Assist Lesson 3: Ways to Capture Sparkling Christmas Lights
The most basic way to use it
1. Shoot your image in RAW or RAW + JPEG
EOS R7 + RF35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM @ f/3.2, 1/80 sec, ISO 100
Here’s our original image.
2. Locate “Creative Assist” in the blue menu
Creative Assist is in the blue menu, where other in-camera RAW processing functions are located.
This opens the Creative Assist interface. It’s intuitive to operate, with the different options accompanied by large icons.
3. Let’s try to apply a preset
The presets adjust multiple parameters simultaneously to change how the photo looks. Besides emphasising different colour tones, they might also change the vividness or saturation.
You can also apply AUTO effects, which are recommended by the camera based on image conditions.
With the COOL preset
The preset makes the image darker, reduces contrast, and gives it cooler tones.
4. Adjust the other parameters as desired
After you’ve applied a preset, you can adjust other parameters such as brightness, contrast, saturation, or colour tone as desired. Here, we have increased the saturation by +2.
Of course, you can make these adjustments directly to the original without applying a preset first!
Original → COOL preset → Saturation +2
Increasing the saturation makes the neon sign more vivid.
Here are two examples of how you can get your own custom-made results by combining presets and adjustments.
Try this (1): Retro film-inspired colours in 2 steps
Final image
EOS R7 + RF35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM @ f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO 100
Creative Assist: Preset - LIME, Contrast +4
Decisions behind the edits
Original
The retro lantern resting on the wooden table, the rustic décor of the open-air café, and the quaint yellow bus repurposed into a kitchen, all made me think of vintage North America. I thought that a slightly faded finish would suit the image…
Step 1: Preset: LIME
…so I applied the LIME preset in Creative Assist, which reduced the contrast and added a slight greenish tone.
Step 2: Contrast +4
However, the results in Step 1 looked dull and washed out, so I increased the contrast to enhance the shadows. The final image has a retro feel that is reminiscent of a film camera image.
What’s your idea of the film look, and how would you use Creative Assist to achieve it?
Try this (2): The vivid sunset just as you remember
Final image
EOS R7 + RF35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM @ f/7.1, 1/250 sec, ISO 320
Creative Assist: Preset - PEACH, Colour tone 2: -4 (towards M), Brightness: -1
Decisions behind the edits
Original
The original shot of the beautiful colours of sunset under heavy cloud cover, reflected in the river water.
Step 1: Preset: PEACH
I wanted the colours to look more impressive, so I chose the PEACH preset in Creative Assist to bring out the vibrant amber tones.
Step 2: Colour tone: -4 (towards M), Brightness: -1
I then brought the colour tones towards ‘Magenta’ in the colour tone setting so that the colours would look redder. The PEACH preset made the overall image a little too bright, so I reduced the brightness slightly. This makes the sheen in the water stand out better.
Know this (1): Creative Assist is now available in Camera Connect too!
With compatible camera models, you can also use your smartphone or tablet to apply Creative Assist adjustments to the RAW images on your camera via the Camera Connect app.
In the “Import images” view on the app, tap into the image you wish to edit. You will see the Creative Assist icon near the shooting information, as indicated in red.
The functions available are the same as on the camera. Apply your desired effects and save the new image.
Just like the other images on your camera, you can download the edited file as a JPEG. There are two file size options:
- Original size
- Smaller (1620px)
Your new creation is ready to share on file sharing apps or social media!
Know this (2): Need inspiration? Try Creative Bracketing in A+ mode
Sometimes, even the best of us can’t decide what treatment works best for an image. Let the camera give you some ideas!
Available in the Scene Intelligent Auto mode on some cameras such as the EOS R50, the Creative Bracketing function auto-creates multiple versions of your image with different effects. The settings applied to your chosen version are displayed so you can recreate them with Creative Assist or remember them as reference.
Have you used Creative Assist to improve an image and loved the results? Share it with us on My Canon Story!
About the Author
A monthly magazine that believes that enjoyment of photography will increase the more one learns about camera functions. It delivers news on the latest cameras and features and regularly introduces various photography techniques.
Published by Impress Corporation
.JPG "trending tips")
