Editing....(??)

Hi all,

Until now I've been shooting in hi-res J-Peg and I'm quite new to digital photography, I've got 'FastStone' editing programme to play about with images, general cropping/sharpness/sat​uration etc....liking it fine and getting the hang of it well.

So as I'm going to now shoot in RAW format from now on I need advice as to which editing programme might suit me as a complete beginner, I've heard that 'Gimp' is a good editing programme, but can you edit RAW files in Gimp does anyone know please?

Or can anyone suggest me a good editing programme mainly for RAW files, to adjust etc and turn them into jpeg etc?

I'm very new to this, so bare with me...

I shoot with a Canon 5D Mk1 classic which can shoot both hi-res jpeg & RAW at the same time.

Any advice greatly appreciated! Thank you.

Regards;
Peter

You are going to receive lots of opinions on this topic. You know the saying about opinions...

In my opinion, if you are beginner, I think Adobe Photoshop ELEMENTS is a great place to start. It has a raw converter, has many powerful editing tools, and will help you decide if it is worth pursing the full version of Photoshop.
You can pick up Elements in the $49-79 range when it is one sale.

Although I don't know much about Elements,I've heard of it as great software for beginners. When I 1st started I was using Canon's DPP and Gimp. DPP for white balance,and some minor tuning. Then Gimp for layers and intensive work. Now,I use LR3 and CS5. I think CS5 is overkill for sometimes,but having the ability to manipulate layers comes in quite handy. Other than that,it's LR3 90% of the time for me.

The Canon DPP software has a RAW editor that gives great results handling white balance and noise reduction, and can then export to a 16bit lossless TIFF file for editing further elsewhere. Adobe's RAW convertor in LR, Elements, and CS5 is also comparable. Those are a couple of places to get a good start.

Hi Peter,

Since you just started shooting RAW, check out the Canon RAW converter that already comes with your camera. Update it (for free) to the latest version 3.11. At Canon's Learning Center, you can find all kind of cool canon video tutorials. For example:
WHy RAW?
Why use DPP?
DPP Tour

You can search for more DPP tutorials in there.
http://www.learn.usa.c​anon.com …igital+photo+pr​ofessional

Ok thanks for replies...

So can I use my Canon DPP software to bring in a RAW image, then do you make changes within, then change it back into a j-peg file..?

Sorry, I'm not very sure on the actual procedure of things? Shoot photo, place cf card in card reader with RAW images, import into DPP to view, then make any necessory changes needed, then convert back into a j-peg? Save files into dedicated folder or external backup?

Is this right?


Sorry I've NIL knowledge in editing know-how!

For simplicity:
1) Shoot RAW
2) Put memory card in a card reader. Then download all the RAW files into your computer
3) Open DPP. In DPP, navigate to the folder that you store the RAW files
4) Adjust the images away as needed
5) Save as .JPG and done

Now, take a look at this DPP threadas it will come in handy. Bookmark it. Have fun!

First, I wouldn't shoot Raw+jpeg without a real good reason.

Second, if you are using a card reader, you can either use your system file browser to just copy Raw files onto your computer or you can use the Canon ZoomBrowser app which can download and I believe rename the files, although I don't know for sure how it works because I don't use ZoomBrowser!

Then you just go to the proper directory/folder with DPP -- you don't "Import" into DPP.

Once there you can use DPP to "review" your images using the Quick Check tool, and to edit selected images in the Edit Image tool/palette.

The Raw tab is available for Raw files and is very quick and useful in optimizing your Raw files. Then there are other tools available in the RGB tab, the Lens and noise reduction tab, the Trimming (cropping) and "horizon straightening" tool...

From there you use the Convert and Save or the Batch process dialog to create a jpeg, which can be either "full size" or resized for something like putting up on a Web page.

Before you jump into this, I'd suggest you take some time reading up on things!

Here is a link where you can find a lot of DPP resources:

https://photography-on-the.net …p?p=13146400#po​st13146400

Take your time, there is no "rush" in all of this, and it is easy to get confused unless you really "know some stuff"!

As to Elements, it is a great program, but is quite limited in the Raw processor, so I'd encourage you to get "up to speed" with DPP for your Raw processing and then look to Elements for more "advanced" editing.

cfcRebel wrote in post #13675051
For simplicity:
1) Shoot RAW
2) Put memory card in a card reader. Then download all the RAW files into your computer
3) Open DPP. In DPP, navigate to the folder that you store the RAW files
4) Adjust the images away as needed
5) Save as .JPG and done

Now, take a look at this DPP threadas it will come in handy. Bookmark it. Have fun!

IF by chance you plan to do additional editing, save them in a lossless format like 16 bit TIFF instead of Jpeg.

macvisual wrote in post #13674934
Ok thanks for replies...

So can I use my Canon DPP software to bring in a RAW image, then do you make changes within, then change it back into a j-peg file..?

Sorry, I'm not very sure on the actual procedure of things? Shoot photo, place cf card in card reader with RAW images, import into DPP to view, then make any necessory changes needed, then convert back into a j-peg? Save files into dedicated folder or external backup?

Is this right?


Sorry I've NIL knowledge in editing know-how!

http://www.learn.usa.c​anon.com …rials/dpp_tutor​ials.shtml

Peter,

I'm basically only one step ahead of you (except for gear - HA!).

I started shooting raw and using only DPP. Honestly, if you're just looking for good photos, I think you can do pretty well with just DPP.

However, if you want to do much "fancy" stuff, you'll probably need something more powerful. I was able to get Elements 10 during the holidays for about $50. It offers a lot more flexibility than DPP if you want do do much in the way of editing or really changing anything.

I do what was mentioned above: shoot raw and make global adjustments in DPP, then save as a TIFF if I'm going to do anything in Elements. I've been saving as an 8-bit TIFF, but may begin saving as 16-bit.

Jason