Shooting in RAW

[AndrewWG]

All,

As some of you know, I just purchased a Canon 30D and have been messing around with all the settings, etc, non-stop since the moment it arrived! I have been trying to shoot in RAW a little bit and was wondering about the following situation:

Say I shoot 300 photos in RAW. Is there a way to quickly make them into jpg from these files? I can open them in photoshop elements 5.0, but it seems to take awhile to get them just right. I guess what I want to know is do all of you go through all 300 pictures and tweak them to your liking? I mean, if you don't, then they can't be made into jpg's and won't be easily viewable except where RAW a RAW file program is available to view them. Am I making any sense? I guess I want them to be done (jpg converted) in a simple batch job and if I don't like the results, I can still play with the RAW file. Is there a program that will do this? Does PSE 5 do this?

I think I've even confused myself with this question!

Andy

 

[Gdad]

Adobe Lightroom may be a good solution. It is designed to let you complete repeatative processing tasks consistently to multiple pictures at ones- then go back and tweak single shots or smaller groups of shots as needed. You can also go on Adobe website and try for free for 30 days.

 

[boBQuincy]

Two methods: #1, there is always an embedded jpg in the RAW, it's what we see on the LCD screen. It can be extracted by BreezeBrowser or maybe someother programs.

#2, and the method I use, set the camera to capture RAW+JPG. I use the small/fine jpg which is good for emailing and posting on DisBoards. The extra memory is not that much and the convenience is well worth it.

 

[Anewman]

I making any sense? I guess I want them to be done (jpg converted) in a simple batch job

Have you considered shooting RAW+Jpeg?

I dont use ELEMENTS but I assume it should do a batch raw conversion(to jpeg or other). I know in CS3(and CS2) you can.

Maybe try Rawshooter, highlight the files in question and add to the que.
http://www.photo-freeware.net/raw-shooter-essentials.php

 

[fitzperry]

I dont use ELEMENTS but I assume it should do a batch raw conversion(to jpeg or other). I know in CS3(and CS2) you can.

Sadly there is no batch conversion in Elements.

 

[ukcatfan]

I also like Bibble, but it is another pay solution. It is not as expensive as Lightroom though. It also has a trial version to try it out.

Kevin

 

[Groucho]

Check the software that came with the camera... I'm not positive what's included but I think there's something in there that will do basic raw-to-jpeg conversion and do a bunch at a time.

If you wanted a free solution, Irfanview can do it but it gives you very little control over how the RAWs are processed, so it may or may not give satisfactory results... I haven't really tried it so I can't say for sure.

 

[DVC Jen]

Check the software that came with the camera... I'm not positive what's included but I think there's something in there that will do basic raw-to-jpeg conversion and do a bunch at a time.

If you wanted a free solution, Irfanview can do it but it gives you very little control over how the RAWs are processed, so it may or may not give satisfactory results... I haven't really tried it so I can't say for sure.

Zoom Browser EX came with both my XTi and my 30D - it does the batch conversion - takes a bit of time - not super fast but it will do it. It may be faster for jpeg than I am used to - I usually save as a tiff file after I tweak my raw file - and save that as my "keeper" instead of the actual raw file.

 

[0bli0]

i highly recommend adobe lightroom. you will be able to export .jpgs in a matter of minutes. as Gdad pointed out, it's free for 30 days. you'll find it's not only a good raw program, it's fantastic for organising the squillions of photos you have.

 

[jann1033]

i just downloaded the light room freebie( again. thought i wouldn't be able to) so can someone tell me how to do the batch processing, i have just been shipping them to pse5 as "edit" but can't see where i can batch process.

and thanks jen, guess i should be more familiar with my software since i didn't know zoombrowser batch processed and have been searching for something to do that

Thanks

 

[cpbjgc]

This comes with most of the Canon DSLRS. It allows you to view in RAW and apply postprocessing without effecting the actual RAW file. One neat feature is it allows you to apply the "picture style" settings (Portrait, Landscape, Standard, Neutral, Faithful, etc.) as part of the post-processing. It also allows for batch jpg conversion after you have done your "tweaking". I use this for pretty much all me editing needs (execept Noise Reduction, it's not very good at that) and do further retouching (if needed) in Paintshop Photo Pro XI.

I also have Zoom Browser, which I never use. I tend to organize my pictures uder specific folders, so I can find stuff easliy as it is.

 

[ukcatfan]

I usually save as a tiff file after I tweak my raw file - and save that as my "keeper" instead of the actual raw file.

Everyone has their own wants and needs, but generally it is not the best idea to get rid of the RAW file. If you do and decide later that you want to process it in a different way, you are out of luck with TIFF. Also, with technology changes, future software applications might be able to get more out of your existing RAW files than you can now.

Kevin

 

[jann1033]

This comes with most of the Canon DSLRS. It allows you to view in RAW and apply postprocessing without effecting the actual RAW file. One neat feature is it allows you to apply the "picture style" settings (Portrait, Landscape, Standard, Neutral, Faithful, etc.) as part of the post-processing. It also allows for batch jpg conversion after you have done your "tweaking". I use this for pretty much all me editing needs (execept Noise Reduction, it's not very good at that) and do further retouching (if needed) in Paintshop Photo Pro XI.

I also have Zoom Browser, which I never use. I tend to organize my pictures uder specific folders, so I can find stuff easliy as it is.

the only thing i don't like about dpp is that as far as i can tell you can't crop...am i right or is there something i am missing. i just haattteee having to go to more than one program to do basic editing/post processing. maybe it would not be so bad if it didn't take so long for my computer to pull up a file.

 

[Anewman]

I usually save as a tiff file after I tweak my raw file - and save that as my "keeper" instead of the actual raw file.

Isn't the Tiff file larger in size than the original RAW file?

Guess everyone sees it differently, but by keeping the RAW file only you can produce the exact same tiff in seconds(tweaked settings are saved). If you keep the tiff only, you will never be able to produce a RAW file.

I guess it would still be better than just keeping a jpeg.

 

[DVC Jen]

Everyone has their own wants and needs, but generally it is not the best idea to get rid of the RAW file. If you do and decide later that you want to process it in a different way, you are out of luck with TIFF. Also, with technology changes, future software applications might be able to get more out of your existing RAW files than you can now.

Kevin

I do understand that - I simply do not have the space or desire to keep every single raw file I have ever taken. The photos that are most important to me - I keep the raw - otherwise - just takes up to much darn space - even if I burn them to cd (this pc can not do a dvd) that is alot of CDs and I have to find a place to keep them.

 

[ukcatfan]

I do understand that - I simply do not have the space or desire to keep every single raw file I have ever taken. The photos that are most important to me - I keep the raw - otherwise - just takes up to much darn space - even if I burn them to cd (this pc can not do a dvd) that is alot of CDs and I have to find a place to keep them.

If you have a free USB2 port, you could get an external DVD for around $50-75. If it does not have USB2 and is a desktop with a free slot on the motherboard, you could add a USB2 port. I cannot imagine not having a DVD drive in today's time where files are taking so much space. I see what you mean on the frustration of having that many files with no easy way to clear up some space.

If you are keeping some 16-bit TIFFs, you might want to see if the RAW and a zero compression JPG add up to less space. My TIFFs are usually around 30MB during my RAW processing but my RAW is about 12MB and the final JPG is probably 5MB. For me, that is almost half the TIFF.

Kevin

 

[CapeCAD]

I have been shooting only RAW mode with my new Sony Alpha and find that Picasa from Google gives the best results. I even believe it is better than the Sony software that came with the camera.

You can use batch edits as well as saving them all to JPEG.

 

[cpbjgc]

the only thing i don't like about dpp is that as far as i can tell you can't crop...am i right or is there something i am missing. i just haattteee having to go to more than one program to do basic editing/post processing. maybe it would not be so bad if it didn't take so long for my computer to pull up a file.

You can crop as well. Cropping is done with the Trimming tool which can do free form or locked aspect ratio crops. Here is a sample of the original and a crop using DPP:

 

[AndrewWG]

Well, that worked real well! I open DPP and it crashes. Open, crash. Open, crash. Open, crash. Get the point? I can't seem to get it to do a darned thing. Download the latest version from the Canon site and (you guessed it) Open, Crash.

Andy

 

[cpbjgc]

It hasn't crashed on me, and I have it running ton two different computers (home desktop and work laptop) with different versions of Windows. Are you using a Windows based PC? If so, I think it may have issues with Vista (if that's what you are using)

The only other thing I can think of is that the Canon software all seem to tie in to each other (learned this the hard way). Did you install all the software of the CD that came with the Camera first (in particular Camera Window and RAW Image Task) or just download DDP?

Sorry for the questions, but I use to do end user support in a former life, so sometimes I start with what seem to be basic questions (My first one used to always be "Did you check your cables?" )