Raw to Jpg = poor image .. help!

I need to know what to do to keep the exact sharpness and colours when I transfer my pictures from DPP to PS and then saving to jpg? or when I simply save the picture as jpg from DPP?

Both DPP and PS are adobe RGB.

After about 50 pictures I just noticed that my images decrease in quality when I either save them in DPP and convert to jpg, or save recipe in DPP as jpeg, or if I transfer to PS and save as jpg.

I normally just increase the brightness and sharpness in DPP in all the pictures and transfer them to PS and edit minor things if necessary. Then I change the file to 8 bit and then I save as .jpg. I keep the quality of jpg at maximum.

What am I doing wrong that makes the quality deteriorate each time?

I feel it's in my settings, but I just installed PS and DPP and only changed the preference to adobe RGB. Maybe I set it wrong? I'd post pictures, but all I can post-process is what about

I simply want to keep the majority of my photos as 100% the same as what I've edited in DPP and make the jpg.

Thanks

What are you viewing in when you say they've "deteriorated"?

If you are viewing them in windows image viewer, they will look different because it is not color managed, whereas DPP and PS are. To get them to look better in windows viewer or the web, its best to save in sRGB... if you open your adobeRGB images in PS, LR or DPP they should appear the same (I think), since these are all color managed.

Also, if you've calibrated your monitor, make sure you set DPP to your calibrated profile (it doesn't do it automatically, whereas PS, and LR do.)

Also,

sharpness will vary from application to application also, especially when viewed at a zoom level other than 1:1

Thanks for the response.

I just finished calibrating my monitor, but still the same results.
I am using windows picture viewer - as most people and my friends do - that is why I'd like to keep the highest quality possible, so they also can see them. I tried sRGB, but still no difference. And even in PS, no difference.

Hmmm ... if your friends are using Picture Viewer, the colours they see will be totally dependant on their individual monitors. So you're fighting a losing battle.
Just go with sRGB - the "s" stands for "Standard" for this very reason: it's meant to be an "average" of every dodgy monitor worldwide. It's not a good system, but it's the best we've got.
(Colour gurus - anything to add/correct?)

Even my monitor looks crappy when viewing with Windows viewer or PS, but with DPP it's great.

So, will my pictures only turn out the way I want when I print them?
It just doesn't make any sense. I see every one else post pictures which are exactly what I want. I don't know why I can't convert or save them as 100% original.

Did you make sure DPP is set to your monitor's profile, as I mentioned... you have to do it manually, some people don't realize that... that could make them look ok there (if that's where you do your RAW edits, without CM set) but not anywhere else.

First of: Any image, in any color space will look different in a non color managed app then in a color managed one. If you are using something other then sRGB, difference will be huge.
Have a read in the link from my sig. That should also tell you how to set DPP correctly.

Then there still will be a very slight difference between DPP and PS (Dpp a bit lighter), probabely because of the engine they use.
Compare sharpness at 100%, otherwise the downsizeing algorithm used will screw things up.

I followed your link and pretty much everything is the same. I installed my monitor drivers and adjusted the monitor accordingly, but still the same result.
Here's what i'm looking at.

The first one is with DPP and the way I wanted it. I simply took a snap shot of my screen. The second one is with DPP and Saved as jpg , maximum qaulity. Take a look at the feet in particular.

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The 1st shot is 60.44KB.
The 2nd is 49.21KB, NOT max quality, & it's a larger physical size, too. So the loss in the feet is probably from resizing & compression?

The reason for the picture size difference is because I took a snap shot in DPP with the first picture and then took a snap shot in paint after opening it in windows viewer and cropped it a bit. I compared the quality of the shot in the DPP browser and regardless, the image appears the exact same when viewed in DPP or Paint. I was stuck for time.

That is exactly what I get each time I convert. The quality diminishes. The files size or physically larger size should not make any difference. I just wanted to show what i'm viewing and possibly get some other answers.

Thanks

Well, as we already stated, the best way to compare images for sharpness is using 100% zoom... any other zoom ratio, and (as Rene said) the application is interpolating using its own algorithms ... and if you're comparing two files of different pixel dimensions, that introduces another factor into those algorithms.

Other than sharpness, I only see a slight color difference between the two; top one showing slightly more orange saturation (but very slight, unless its just the sharpness playing tricks with my eyes.)

But remember, DPP is color-mananged, whereas Paint is not.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but DPP before conversion is basically just a preview, correct? Some minor changes may occur in conversion... perhaps boost sharpening a little more in DPP before conversion would help? Maybe output to tiff, and see its result? Also, its not an uncommon practice to do sharpening in Photoshop after RAW conversion... typically can get better results in most cases.

davidcrebelxt wrote in post #3219158
Well, as we already stated, the best way to compare images for sharpness is using 100% zoom... any other zoom ratio, and (as Rene said) the application is interpolating using its own algorithms ... and if you're comparing two files of different pixel dimensions, that introduces another factor into those algorithms.

Other than sharpness, I only see a slight color difference between the two; top one showing slightly more orange saturation (but very slight, unless its just the sharpness playing tricks with my eyes.)

But remember, DPP is color-mananged, whereas Paint is not.

Spot on.

Don't know about the 'DPP before conversion is basically just a preview' making any difference.

There is a very slight difference between DPP and PS, as pointed out in my previous post.

René Damkot wrote in post #3219586
Spot on.

Don't know about the 'DPP before conversion is basically just a preview' making any difference.

There is a very slight difference between DPP and PS, as pointed out in my previous post.

Ah... Now that I re-read that post, I see with that and the post before, you basically predicted how that image would look ahead of time... good call Rene!

Thanks.

I just found that I could not get any sharpness out of any pictures when I used PS. I could distinctly see sharpness when adjusting the bar in DPP. Otherwise I would have stuck with PS, but the sharpness is not showing up, even if I set the number to 100.