Some RAW questions..

[No Control]

Hey everyone. I know RAW format has been discussed in depth a lot on the forum but I can't seem to find answers to my couple basic questions so I hope you don't mind another thread on the topic.

I guess my biggest question is after you've viewed/edited an image in a RAW program (whether it be RSE, Capture NX, Photoshop etc.) at what point do you then go to Photoshop? Or is that the beauty of RAW, that you don't have to use another image editor? I'm just confused as to the use of Photoshop if you shoot RAW and edit the photos in a RAW viewer program.

And secondly I'm wondering when do you convert your edited RAW image to JPEG to print/upload/post on the internet? And is it better to save in 8 bit mode or 16 bit?

Thanks and I know these are such basic questions but if someone could help out that would be great. :)

[coldrain]

you can not really see more than 8bits colour gradations. You can also not save 16 bit JPEGs.
So... after you have editted, it is fine to save the result as JPEG, unless you have a reason to want to keep a 16bit editted version. Then save as PSD, PNG or TIFF.

I let the RAW convertor only do the developing... so, exposure, whitebalance, a bit teh contrast and saturation. For the rest I let it be sent to photoshop in 16 bits colour depth.

If you need to correct light fall off towards the edges and CA then do that in your Capture NX. You can also correct CA in the photoshop RAW convertor.

[fionndruinne]

I always save my edited raw files as jpegs. The concept of editing the raw image is more or less to fine-tune the detail which will be saved as a jpeg; what information is necessarily lost is (hopefully) not what you wanted to be in the final image.

Saving hefty 16-bit files is only of use when you intend to do more editing, such as making HDR images.

[r3g]

For me it depends on what kind of picture it is. Like if its event pictures from say a football game then I import into Lightroom and adjust exposure, wb, level, etc. But if its more of an "artistic" picture or a portrait thats going to have a lot of PP I just do it all in photoshop. I really like the changes Adobe made witht he RAW support in CS3.

[TheObiJuan]

Lightroom for wb, levels, curves, saturation,etc.
I then export to PS for dust spot removal, cloning, and recovery sharpening when images are too soft.
I also resize the images in PS because I can't find how to do it in Lightroom.

[Rhys]

Hey everyone. I know RAW format has been discussed in depth a lot on the forum but I can't seem to find answers to my couple basic questions so I hope you don't mind another thread on the topic.

I guess my biggest question is after you've viewed/edited an image in a RAW program (whether it be RSE, Capture NX, Photoshop etc.) at what point do you then go to Photoshop? Or is that the beauty of RAW, that you don't have to use another image editor? I'm just confused as to the use of Photoshop if you shoot RAW and edit the photos in a RAW viewer program.

And secondly I'm wondering when do you convert your edited RAW image to JPEG to print/upload/post on the internet? And is it better to save in 8 bit mode or 16 bit?

Thanks and I know these are such basic questions but if someone could help out that would be great. :)

OK. I save my RAW files. I convert them to JPEG after adjusting the levels to perfection in RAW. Any further post processing is done in PhotoShop. I always maintain the RAW and a perfected JPEG.

[No Control]

Thanks to everyone who answered my questions, it definitely helped a lot.

Unfortunately you're all going to have to hold my hand on this one. How do I save my RAW files right off the card? When I transfer them to Picture Project the only option I see is to export in jpeg or tiff file forms. Or am I going about this all wrong? :confused:

I'm a total newbie at RAW shooting, obviously. :o

[D Thompson]

Thanks to everyone who answered my questions, it definitely helped a lot.

Unfortunately you're all going to have to hold my hand on this one. How do I save my RAW files right off the card? When I transfer them to Picture Project the only option I see is to export in jpeg or tiff file forms. Or am I going about this all wrong? :confused:

I'm a total newbie at RAW shooting, obviously. :o

Get a card reader and drag & drop to your hard drive.

[fionndruinne]

D Thompson, that shouldn't be necessary.

The raw files are on your computer; by default they go into My Pictures\PictureProject in Windows, along with the jpegs. Picture Project exports edited images, it doesn't actually keep your images in the program. Much like Photoshop. And I don't tend to use PP much; it's quite limited, although I use the InTouch downloader because it saves my photos to a convenient location.

[No Control]

Ohh! Thanks! I didn't realize they get saved there. Damn I'm such an noooob. :D

[fionndruinne]

I should have added, you can't view raw files in the regular Windows image viewer. If you click on one it will tell you "no preview available". There's a plugin for this, I've heard, but I haven't gotten it yet.

[D Thompson]

D Thompson, that shouldn't be necessary.

The raw files are on your computer; by default they go into My Pictures\PictureProject in Windows, along with the jpegs. Picture Project exports edited images, it doesn't actually keep your images in the program. Much like Photoshop. And I don't tend to use PP much; it's quite limited, although I use the InTouch downloader because it saves my photos to a convenient location.
I don't have Picture Project, nor do I know anything about it. I assumed by the OP's remarks that the original RAW file was not being saved to his hard drive, that the program only let him import and then save as tiff or jpeg.

In fact, I tried hooking my 20D directly to my PC and importing thru Photoshop (CS3). It would not even find the RAW files that way. Photoshop itself will not open a RAW file without bringing up ACR and converting. I had to switch to RAW+jpeg and it would only see the jpeg. Now granted, there may be something I'm missing this way because I never connect the 20D to my PC. Photoshop CS3 would not let me import from my card reader either. Bridge CS3 would not get the RAW images from the camera, it did the jpeg, but it does import the RAW files from the card reader.

Maybe Picture Perfect does save the original RAW file imported from a camera. Even so, I would still recommend a card reader for ease of use. But, to each his own.

[D Thompson]

I should have added, you can't view raw files in the regular Windows image viewer. If you click on one it will tell you "no preview available". There's a plugin for this, I've heard, but I haven't gotten it yet.

for XP try this http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/raw.mspx

[fionndruinne]

That's the one, thanks.

I could be wrong on this, but I believe Photoshop imports photos in its own proprietary format and saves them in a non direct-access location. To speed functionality of the program and such. Picture Project doesn't do that, actually, PP doesn't download the photos from your camera, a small program called InTouch Downloader which is part of the Nikon software does. It's handy, as it's available from the options menu which comes up when the camera is plugged in, and has options like download all or just new photos, download folders and such.

I always hook my camera up via USB; I just find it easiest, and figure there's less chance of my SD card becoming dusty if I never take it out. Oh, yeah, and my laptop doesn't have a card reader.:cool:

[r3g]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/raw.mspx

That RAW viewer is so awesome.. Too bad they dont have one for for Vista =/