RAW options?

[Big_B]

So I'm trying to learn how to do 'stuff' with raw files. I've done a search for RAW and it gave me tonnes of links. Reading through them, it sounded like I should have loads of controll over image settings when I open a raw file. When I open a raw file, either using my camera's software or in PS, I only get the following options.

(IGNORE the top three buttons as they don't appear with my version of the program - I've done this screen shot from the help file)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/sam.blackie/Public/Untitled-1.jpg

So i can only chance the exposure compensation and the light settings. Is this right, or should I be hunting for a better program?

Thanks, BB

[meow]

Hi! :mrgreen:

I think it depends. There's so many RAW formats. What camera and soft?

I use G5 and BreezeBrowser. I have the bellow options available. Exposure compensation as you meantion isn't available for the Gs.

http://ababa.net/stuff/raw.jpg

There's also some post processing options like brightness curve and sharpening. Since those are applied after the raw conversion I prefer doing that in my normal editor. The only one I use is resizing - saves some disk space. :p

[Canuck]

So I'm trying to learn how to do 'stuff' with raw files. I've done a search for RAW and it gave me tonnes of links. Reading through them, it sounded like I should have loads of controll over image settings when I open a raw file. When I open a raw file, either using my camera's software or in PS, I only get the following options.

(IGNORE the top three buttons as they don't appear with my version of the program - I've done this screen shot from the help file)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/sam.blackie/Public/Untitled-1.jpg

So i can only chance the exposure compensation and the light settings. Is this right, or should I be hunting for a better program?

Thanks, BB

Well, I finally got me a copy of PhotoShop CS and wow is it ever a million times better than Elements 2.0! It has a steep learning curve though. What I did pre PSCS was to do the exposure compensation and some sharpening. Then I jumped to PSE 2.0 and tweeked it to the way I liked that way. From there in PSE 2.0 I'd play around with levels, whitepoint, USM, sharpening, and so forth to get it right. If you have a 10D/300D you can do it all in PS CS. I really like the first tweeking screen in PS CS.
Then it is a matter of taste from, there. It is also worth mentioning that a calibrated monitor is a huge help. You can get a free one from www.airliners.net and under add photos, then about 1/2 way down where they are talking about adding pics. There is only s much you can do w/ Canon FVU! Alternatively, you can convert all RAW pics to TIFF and process them completely in PSE 2.0. If you go that route, have a huge hard drive as these can takes almost 37MB each in TIFF at 16 bit. I know that the camera is only 12 bit, and there is some filler. That is subject for another day.