About Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in settings

When a camera raw image file is opened with the Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in, the settings are stored in one of two places: the Camera Raw database file or a sidecar XMP file. The stored settings let Photoshop remember the setting for each individual camera raw image file. When you open a given camera raw image the next time, all the settings sliders default to the same values used the last time to open that specific camera raw image. Image attributes (target color space profile, bit depth, pixel size, and resolution) are not part of the stored settings.
You can determine where the settings are stored using the Camera Raw Preferences.

To specify where a camera raw image file's settings are stored:

1. Open the Camera Raw Preferences by doing one of the following:
• (Windows and Mac OS) In the Advanced mode, choose Preferences from the Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in menu.
• (Mac OS) With the Camera Raw dialog box open, choose Photoshop > Camera Raw Preferences.
2. In the Camera Raw Preference dialog box, choose one of the following from the Save Image Settings In menu:
Camera Raw database
Stores the settings in a Camera Raw database file, generally located in the user's Application Data folder as Document and Settings/user name/Application Data/Adobe/ CameraRaw (Windows) or the user's Preferences folder as Users/user name/Library/Preferences (Mac OS). This database is indexed by file content, so settings stick to the image even if the camera raw image file is renamed or moved.
Sidecar ".xmp" files
Stores the settings in an XMP file in the same folder as the raw file with the same base name and an XMP extension. This option is useful for long-term archiving of raw files with their associated settings, and for the exchange of raw files with associated settings in multi-user workflows. These same sidecar XMP files can be used to store IPTC (International Press Telecommunications Council) data or other metadata associated with a camera raw image file. If you are opening camera raw files from a read-only volume like a CD or DVD, be sure to copy the files to your hard drive before opening them. The Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in cannot write an XMP file to a read-only volume and will default to writing the settings to the Camera Raw database file.
These XMP files can be viewed in the File Browser by choosing View > Unreadable Files.