Program to open RAW files??

[natural.disaster]

First let me ask this...If i shoot in RAW-F....I get two files for each photo. One opens as a Jpeg, the other wont open at all in some programs and will only open as a thumbnail type image in PSP7. If i just shoot in RAW...i cant get the file to open at all in any program.
Am i doing something wrong?
I read that the image has to be converted, but not sure how or what program.
What program is best for opening and editing RAW images?
Thanks

 

[fokker]

you should have software that came with your camera that will open and edit RAWs. But I would recommend lightroom as an all-round great tool for organising and dealing with RAW images.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

Most PP programs (Photoshop, Gimp and many others) have an add on codec that you can install (if its not built into the program) that will allow you to view/open/edit RAW images...

Also, your camera manufacturer likely has a utility that will do this. I know Canon does... And most of the other "Big Names" probably do as well.

 

[D-B-J]

lightroom three! best raw editing software ever. i love it!

 

[natural.disaster]

I just downloaded the free trial of lightroom 3.....Now i cant get my edited pic from lightroom to a folder on my pc...and it wont export to any other program.
(sighs)....Time to do some googling lol.

 

[natural.disaster]

Managed to export the image, but when i open it back up its completely grainy. I even imported one, didnt even edit it, then exported and its grainy as well. I went through all the settings for exporting but not sure if its one of those settings or not...
Any idea what is causing it?

 

[MrBarney]

Does it look grainy in LR3 on-screen too?

I suspect you are comparing it to the JPEG out of the camera. This will have had the in-camera noise reduction applied, as well as sharpening, contrast and saturation adjustments. The RAW file will not. If you did not perform any noise reduction in LR3 then that might explain why they look different.

This, of course, assumes we are talking about a photo taken with a relatively high ISO.

 

[pbelarge]

"Disaster"

As mentioned above, the raw files shown on the screen of your camera are edited by the camera. When you download them, the editing does not download with them.
The reason so many shoot in raw is the ability to edit an image.

In the future, until you get the habit down of how to handle raw images, maybe you should shoot in jpeg, or raw+jpeg.

The grainy images are most likely the photographers doing.

 

[Boomn4x4]

"Raw Therapee"

RawTherapee 3.0 alpha 1 and license changes

Its freeware and I'm more than happy with it.