Digital Negative?

[JayClark79]

What exactly is a digital negative?

 

[Goontz]

Any RAW image format, really, is the digital equivalent to a film negative.

Technically, there's also a .DNG file extension that is just Adobe's version of a RAW file format.

 

[JayClark79]

So a RAW unedited file...or can it be edited?

So when a company says they include digital negatives with a package the customer gets a raw file... is that technically the rights to an image???

I dont know what an average person is going to do with a RAW file.

 

[tirediron]

"RAW" is the term applied to the [relatively] unprocessed image information captured by your digital camera's sensor. It most certainly can be edited, but needs special software such as Adobe Camera RAW, Adobe Lightroom, Nikon NX2, etc. Shooting RAW images and processing them generally provides the best quality end product as there is more information available to work with. A RAW file can be 20 -30 Mb, as opposed to maybe up to 10 for a .jpg.

 

[Big Mike]

"Digital Negative" is a new and somewhat undefined term.
When we (photographers) talk about it, we probably mean RAW files. They are the 'master copy' of the images, just like a film negative is the master copy and you can always go back to that negative to make another print.

When you see 'digital negative' in a package for client, it probably just means high resolution digital files that can be used to make prints.

 

[KmH]

.......is that technically the rights to an image??? ..........

It could be. But, a transfer of copyright requires a document specifically for that purpose and must be signed by both parties to be effective.

Copyright is a bundle of rights that can pretty much be defined by the copyright owner (usually the photographer) and can be offered piecemeal and for limited time frames.

 

[ann]

there are also digital negatives for making alternative process prints, or even a traditional silver print.

one can take a digital file and with the proper software enlarge it and invert it to make any size one likes and then using an inkjet printer and the proper surface print out a negative which in turn is then used to make a more traditional print. these are contact prints so the digital negative is made to the fit the final paper size, i.e. 4x5 image is then contacted to a paper that will hold that size print, etc.

 

[oaklief]

Hi, Newby here...
I need to know what equiptment and software I will need to invert a photograph to a high quality negative for etching with a laser. I have Coreldraw x3 and can invert with this program but between the scaned picture and the inversion to the machine I seem to loose a lot of detail. I would think that if the picture yeilds a true negative I should get what I see as a final result. As it is, I am having to do a lot of work on the negative with intensity, etc, to get a decent result. Still not happy.
Is there a fix for this problem?????????
Thanks, Bill

 

[ann]

i am not sure about a laser etching, but check out Mark Nelson's book on Precision Negative making or/and Dan Burkholders method, these may be of help.

 

[Plato]

"Digital Negative" is a new and somewhat undefined term.
When we (photographers) talk about it, we probably mean RAW files. They are the 'master copy' of the images, just like a film negative is the master copy and you can always go back to that negative to make another print.

When you see 'digital negative' in a package for client, it probably just means high resolution digital files that can be used to make prints.

Perhaps I screwed up but I have a handful of RAW files that I modified in LR-2. LR will allow me to SEE the original but I can NOT undo the changes and start again with the original.

 

[KmH]

Hi, Newby here...
I need to know what equiptment and software I will need to invert a photograph to a high quality negative for etching with a laser. I have Coreldraw x3 and can invert with this program but between the scaned picture and the inversion to the machine I seem to loose a lot of detail. I would think that if the picture yeilds a true negative I should get what I see as a final result. As it is, I am having to do a lot of work on the negative with intensity, etc, to get a decent result. Still not happy.
Is there a fix for this problem?????????
Thanks, Bill

Hey Bill welcome,

Great thread hijack!