Newbie question regarding "Raw Converter"

[keitht]

I'm fairly new to post processing digital images. To date, the only programs I have been using are Capture NX2 and Focus Magic.

So I hope this question makes sense:

I hear the term "raw converter" thrown around a lot and I don't really understand what a raw converter is. I assume it's what you initially use to process Raw files. But what gets confusing to me is that people talk about running an image thru their raw converter and then moving on in their work flow to other programs. So am I to assume that most people use a raw converter and then something else? What is Lightroom considered? And what kind of software should you have to do most post-processing, if my NX2 is insufficient?

 

[SCraig]

Most editing software could never manage to keep up with all of the versions of RAW files around for all the different cameras. Many companies write a separate RAW converter that is regularly updated rather than having to update the entire software package. Since Capture NX2 only supports the Nikon NEF (RAW) format the RAW converter is built into the software.

Capture NX2 is my preferred editor. I have several, including Adobe Photoshop, but normally only use Capture NX2 since it does virtually everything I want.

 

[KmH]

Photoshop Elements Camera Raw, Photoshop CS/CC Camera Raw and Lightroom's Develop module are all Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).
The version of ACR in Elements only has about 1/2 of the features, functions, and capabilities the full version of ACR in CS/CC and LR use.

There are free Raw converters available like RawTherapee and IrfanView which are often used with the open source image editing application GIMP. GIMP does not include a Raw converter of it's own.

As mentioned many Raw file types are proprietary and non-camera maker Raw conversion applications have to reverse engineer the Raw file each new camera make/model has.
Some camera makers use the open source DNG raw file type.

Photoshop Lightroom and Apple's Aperture are both parametric editing applications. Parametric means the edits are XML line commands and the edits do not alter any image pixels.

GIMP, Photoscape, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop CS/CC are raster graphics image editing applications that do can or do edit pixels.

The other main type of image editing is vector graphics editors, like Photoshop Illustrator or Inkscape.
Raster graphics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vector graphics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia