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Starting Out With RAW. (1 Viewer)

canonman77

Well-known member
United Kingdom
Hi Guys, I am thinking about changing from JPEG to RAW. Can anyone give me some advice on how to go about It.. Thanks.

Sean..
 
Hi Guys, I am thinking about changing from JPEG to RAW. Can anyone give me some advice on how to go about It.. Thanks.

Sean..
Hi Sean,
First thing to do is make sure your wearing a crash helmet and heavy duty leather gloves, then VERY slowly switch on your camera (always point camera down when doing this) it has been known to self destruct at this stage but that's usually Nikons (sorry Nikon users)LoL you will notice some strange text spelling R A W ? and then................................................... easy eh? LoL
Seriously go for it, takes a bit of getting used to and certainly slows you down but well worth it for the better image quality etc
Cheerio
Brian
Ps just ignore me i have been out in the sun too long and still confused with the new camera LoL
 
hi Claymore, thankyou. When I download raw images to photoshop elements 5 Is there anything I need to do or Is It same as jpeg. How Is the new gear shaping up then.
 
hi Claymore, thankyou. When I download raw images to photoshop elements 5 Is there anything I need to do or Is It same as jpeg. How Is the new gear shaping up then.

Sean, before you can treat a RAW file like a Jpeg you have to convert the RAW file. This requires a RAW converter, there are many on the market but Canon's free DPP (that comes with the camera) is a place to start. Once you open the RAW file in the RAW converter you can carry out various adjustments to the image and then send it to Elements as a Tiff or Jpeg to finish the editing.
 
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It's definitely worth giving RAW a try, I did so a few years ago and would not dream of going back to jpg. I'd recommend starting with DDP (which came with your camera), it's a nice simple RAW converter which does the job very well, it's still the one I use. Once you've got the RAWs on your PC you can open the folder in DDP and start processing, my system goes like this:

1. use quick check tool to go through all the images and delete the rubbish (I tag the junk with a 3 and then delet them all at the end).
2. working in small batches (12-20) I open images in the edit window and tweak white balance, exposure, saturation and the likes.
3. I then have a second check through and delete the stuff that I should have binned in the first place.
4. I use the rename tool to batch rename my images
5. finally I select images that I want to use on the web or print and batch convert them so I can do any other tweeks (like cropping) in photoshop.

I've attached some screen grabs of DPP that may or may not make it clearer.
 

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Never heard of a 'kinkfisher' before!

I also still use DPP as a converter and then Photoshop as an editor when want to process my best shots for prints.

For batch edits and cataloging there are better and quicker applications like Adobe Lightroom and various others but DPP is a great place to start. And it's free.
 
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Never used RAW myself before,ive heard pros and con about it,a lot of experts on the web still seem undecided about whether the increase in image quality is actually worth all the extra work involved,I suppose if you have the time its worth giving it a go (may even try it myself) ive got the 350d,not sure ive got the software with this,anybody know!!
 
I only shoot RAW now, mainly because my Olympus E-510 camera has a tendency to blow the highlights and RAW allows me to have a bit more control over them. It definitely involves more work than jpegs but I think it is worth it. Using Adobe Bridge allows me to view the RAW files before I choose which ones to process.

Ron
 
Yes I did,cheers,just never used it,hadnt realised it was a RAW convertor, DOH,so the process is open file in DPP , adjust whatever needs adjusting,save as JPEG and tweak in PS..what about sharpening etc
There is a basic sharpening tool on DPP but I prefer to do all my sharpening in CS2.
I also prefer to save as a 16 bit Tiff from DPP and then tweak in PS before finally converting to a 8 bit jpeg.
 
There is a basic sharpening tool on DPP but I prefer to do all my sharpening in CS2.
I also prefer to save as a 16 bit Tiff from DPP and then tweak in PS before finally converting to a 8 bit jpeg.

Thanks for that info,might give it a go and see if it improves my shots,is it best to use seperate memory cards for saving Jpeg/Raw
 
thanks guys, It seems straight forward enough, the other reason why I want to try RAW is because Ive heard that every time you edit an Image in jpeg you lose clarity in the image, Is this correct. Thanks very much for your help on this. RAW here I come.

Sean.
 
Took some raw files today,however when i save as aTiff file (as suggested) and then try and do some more adjustments in PS7 a lot of the applications dont seem to work(eg shapening and other filters,any idea what the problem is here..
 
Took some raw files today,however when i save as aTiff file (as suggested) and then try and do some more adjustments in PS7 a lot of the applications dont seem to work(eg shapening and other filters,any idea what the problem is here..

Are you working on 16 bit files? Many ps functions will only work on 8 bit.

Edit: That doesn't answer why sharpening doesn't work though.That works on 8 and 16 bit files in CS3.
 
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Took some raw files today,however when i save as aTiff file (as suggested) and then try and do some more adjustments in PS7 a lot of the applications dont seem to work(eg shapening and other filters,any idea what the problem is here..
As Paul says, PS7 does not support 16 bit files - I think it was CS that first supported 16 bits for the likes of sharpening.
 
So need to save as 8 bit Tiff then,heres one from today,I saved this as a JPEG from the rAW file,forgot to take a normal JPEG as comparison though so hard to know whether the finished product is any better really,this image has been cropped slightly
 

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