how best to 'open' RAW files ?

[David Smith]

I raised this question a long time ago but the answers were (at that time) over my head. I am hoping that with the little bit of knowledge I now have I can understand.
I am using canon 40D
I have PS3
I have not down-loaded the disc that came with the camera (thought PS3 would suffice-maybe that is wrong???)

The problem I have is................
When shooting jpeg I can open all the files as thumbnails and it is so easy to go through and eliminate the rubbish.
In RAW I can easily open them-but only 'one as a time'
Is there a programme that enables me to open all RAW as thumbnails or similar so as to eliminate rubbish ?
Will the Canon software that came with camera enable it ?
Thanks

[Overread]

If you install the software on the CD that came with your camera there will be a RAW codec in there - that (when installed though you might need to restart your computer for th effects to take place) will let windows picture viewer display the ebedded JPEG in your RAW shots (all RAW shots have a processed JPEG embedded in them as well as the RAW data and it is this which is shown on the back of your camera when you review).

As for opening more than one RAW at a time if you open photoshop for editing and then go to the file option in the topbar menu - then scroll down to open. In the window that opens up select the shots you wish to open (use ctrl+left click if you want to select only certain shots and not all of them) and then it will open them in the RAW editer. Note though that its not best to open too many at once as it can cause a slowdown of your machine.

[David Smith]

Thanks Overread.
I am just looking for a quick/simple way to open and discard-I am then happy to open 'singly' so as to work on them.
I met someone a while ago who was telling me (I think this is correct) that you can use the software that came with the camera and open them as thumbnails in batches-I tired to remember what he told me but by the time I had got home......:-C....I'd forgotten.

[RAH]

An image viewer program like XNView can show you thumbnails of your raw files:
http://www.xnview.com/en/index.html

[Roy C]

I use Canon's zoombrowser that came free with the camera for my initial cull - you can flick through the Raws full screen and delete as necessary. I am sure there is a lot more software out there that can do the same but as you already have Zoombrowser why not use it.
If you want to batch delete then you can use DPP (again came free with your camera) just go into the quick check tool and mark the files for deletion - when finished you can delete all the marked files in one hit.

[swarovskiuser]

Hi David,
Try the free download Picasa 3 its excellent for editing and displaying raw files.
regards Ray.

[temmie]

Faststone!

check www.faststone.org
It is free, reliable and works oh-so easy and intuitive. You can do some nice editing with the program, too. I use the image viewer and photo resizer. They work great.

[hollis_f]

Faststone!

check www.faststone.org
It is free, reliable and works oh-so easy and intuitive. You can do some nice editing with the program, too. I use the image viewer and photo resizer. They work great.

I use Faststone for quick culling. One point to bear in mind is that it doesn't, by default, actually display the raw file. Instead it uses the embedded jpeg. This is good enough to tell if something is complete crap (totally out of focus, bird flown, that sort of thing). But don't rely on it for checking things like fine detail.

[Jaff]

Faststone Image Viewer for me too. Very easy to use and got some nice features too.

[RAH]

I have tried Faststone and really do think that XNView is better. Both are free and VERY similar, but XNView is better for printing, and has really superior IPTC data handling. It also has numerous options for viewing RAW files and how to build the thumbnails.