Help getting started in RAW

[OC Zoom]

Today, I'm going to shoot for the first time in RAW, and am a little nervous about the whole process. Could you please give me just a few tips to get started. I will PP them in DPP after I shoot them in RAW and jpg. Once I PP them, what do I do with them? Where are they stored? Where can they be viewed in a slide show? Iv'e been reading in POTN and lots of the jargon is a bit confusing and getting me a little confused. I've been doing my PP in zoombrowser and have become fairly proficient with it and want to move up to RAW to get those sharp and colorful images. Will I need an outside post processor such as Photoshop, Adobe, Lightroom CS2, CS3 and the list goes on. Which one is best or is it just a matter of personal opinion?

[DRBair]

OC:
I typically process my raw files in Zoombrowser and convert them to JPG, then do additional pp in Photoshop.

[Glenn NK]

Haven't shot a JPEG in months, and then only by mistake (camera settings somehow were changed).

Keep this in mind; your camera captures everything in RAW, then at your option in the settings, converts to JPEG.

JPEG files are not just compressed, they are truncated. In other words, some of the information recorded by the camera is discarded - it cannot be retrieved. This decision is up to the individual; not for me to tell you what to do.

One of the users here (In2Photos) has an interesting signature which reads: "I have yet to get an image directly from my camera in JPEG form that looked as good or better than a RAW image I processed".

[poloman]

Shoot your RAW file. In DPP...see what picture style it looks best in. Adjust brightness, contrast and saturation to your liking. Try starting with sharpness at 5. These settings do not actually change the file but only change the way it is viewed and converted. I will then convert the file to a jpeg at 72 dpi with the long side set to 800 if I am going to post it on the web or a tiff at 350 dpi if I am going to print it. You can print it locally directly from the RAW file by using "print using detailed settings" under the file menu.
I like to put new directories under the dated one for different functions. One for web, one for tiffs and if I sell prints from that date, I will make a directory for each client. That way I have a permanent record of who bought what.
Save all your decent RAW files as "negatives"
Hope this helps. Happy shooting!

[Bill Boehme]

If you are nervous about shooting in RAW and the pictures are important, then shoot RAW + JPG and then you can remove the worrying. Later, you willmost likely stop using JPG except for special situations where you may not have ready access to processing and converting software.

[OC Zoom]

Thanks everyone. This will help me get started.

[tim]

There's a great book on RAW linked from the book thread in my sig. Even if you use DPP I think it's worthwhile getting for the theory of RAW and the workflow aspects.

[Time Thief]

Go here and these tutorials will help very much. They did for me. Hope this helps. http://www.usa.canon.com/content/dpp2/index.html

[TheGreatOg]

I took a look at that Canon tutorial website. I don't use DPP2, but still a good video. Last night was a wedding workshop through school, and I shot it totally in RAW. All I knew about RAW was that most people hailed it as great, and I'd tried it once before. The results being less than fantastic, as I was overwhelmed with the new PPing involved. Thinking back, I'm not sure why it overwhelmed me. Because last night I pulled up the RAW files into Elements and had a field day! You've got a whole new level of control with RAW that just isn't there with Jpeg. It's so forgiving, because there's so much data to the image that it compensates. It's like carving the statue of david out of marble, as opposed to laquering on an oil painting of the Mona Lisa. I'm a convert. The drawbacks are the huge file sizes and extra time spent converting. I'd be interested in the workflow with RAW of some of you big guys out there. I'm sure I'll find a link around here somewhere, off to look.

[PhotosGuy]

Workflow depends a lot on what you're shooting & what the final product will be.
For me, I haven't upgraded from PS7 since RSP is a great converter (No longer available) & I use it to make a lot of image corrections there before I ever get to PS.
In PS, I do a lot of Layer Masking, resizing, sharpening, & profile conversion, and seldom use the other features.

For simple shots that are only cropped & sharpened in PS, I usually delete the tiff after 'cause RawShooter & Lightroom (probably others, too) save the changes made in conversion & I don't need to keep the 3X+ size of the tiff.
For instance, you have saved the RAW info for several versions if you need a light & dark exposure for contrast control, but there's no reason to have the TIFF files on the hard drive, is there?

OTOH, I'll save complex tiffs with a lot of layers & selections.

Lightroom threads:

[TheGreatOg]

Photosguy (Frank?) thanks for your response, and the link to the lightroom threads.

I'd like to get this straight, so I hope you don't mind me asking for clarification.
I'm uploading my CR2 (RAW) files directly into PSElements. It's got it's own converter. From there I normally only adjust contrast/saturation, tweek the exposure if necessary, crop...pretty general cleanup. Not usually a whole lot of layers. Sometimes. From there I save the new version of the RAW file as a TIFF or jpeg file. I'm maintaining the original RAW file without manipulation, almost like it's a negative. So, when you say you there's no reason to have the TIFF files on the hard drive, what exactly are you referring to? Are you saying just keep the original RAW and make adjustments in Elements as necessary when the image is needed, instead of keeping each version of the image I've saved while editing (program saves them in stacks, or version sets)? Is there some other variable in this equation I'm not even aware of yet? I swear, I'm researching. You're a valuable resource and I appreciate your feedback.

Originally Posted by PhotosGuy

Workflow depends a lot on what you're shooting & what the final product will be.
For me, I haven't upgraded from PS7 since RSP is a great converter (No longer available) & I use it to make a lot of image corrections there before I ever get to PS.
In PS, I do a lot of Layer Masking, resizing, sharpening, & profile conversion, and seldom use the other features.

For simple shots that are only cropped & sharpened in PS, I usually delete the tiff after 'cause RawShooter & Lightroom (probably others, too) save the changes made in conversion & I don't need to keep the 3X+ size of the tiff.
For instance, you have saved the RAW info for several versions if you need a light & dark exposure for contrast control, but there's no reason to have the TIFF files on the hard drive, is there?

OTOH, I'll save complex tiffs with a lot of layers & selections.

Lightroom threads:

[PhotosGuy]

So, when you say you there's no reason to have the TIFF files on the hard drive,... Are you saying just keep the original RAW and make adjustments in Elements as necessary when the image is needed,

Yes. I delete the simple tiffs that are only cropped & sharpened in PS afterward. I can always reconvert a new one if it need it again later. stacks, or version sets sounds similar to the way RSE saves the processing info for later use.

The complex tiffs with a lot of layers & selections might be 100-200MB files, & I keep them to avoid having to do all the work again.

[Lowner]

I tried the DPP tutorial video, but with a sloooooooow band like mine, its a non starter (literally).

Anyone know where I can get some DPP tutorials in Acrobat format or similar because I'm sure I don't need video clips.

In fact not just DPP. I've only just entered the brave new world of digital and any help dealing with the software at all would be welcome.

I intend to shoot only in RAW at the moment, as I cannot see the logic of saving in less than the best or saving everything twice. PS can JPEG whatever I need to email or post on line as and when required.

Richard

[superdiver]

I think the tutorials come with the camera software, dont they?

Anyway, they are much simple to use the CS2 or CS3 or photoshop, so dont let it scare you.

1)Open the file of pictures in DPP,
2)select all of them, or click just the ones you want to work on,
3)click on the top left icon that takes you to the working window
4)on the right side make sure that you are looking at the RAW working window with the histogram in it.
5)from there just play with the saturation, hue, sharpness, wb
6)you can also use the RBG tab on the right and play with similar controls.
7)the dropping and cloning tools are under Tools in the menue at the top
8)the noise reducer is weak so dont waist your time with that
9)once you are ready to convert them, go to the main window, highlight all the ones you want to convert, select "batch conversion" at the top left and choose where you want them stored.

Its very simple, just play with it a little...remember you cant do permanant changes to the RAW files, other then to loose them or delete them....LOL

[Lowner]

Thats very useful information. Thanks a lot. So theres more to it than just clicking on "convert and save"? Which is all I've done with it so far before wacking it into PS.

Are there any advantages to doing the basics in DPP rather than PS (I use PS7 which has limited 16 bit useability).

Can I admit that if the tutorial is included with all the other stuff Canon have included I do not have a clue where to look. I'm still opening packages wondering what bits do!

Richard