Problem with raw photo essentials.

[bisdakr]

for some reason I cant drag or open a raw file to photo essentials however the software digital canon professional will let me open the raw file and edit it. RAW photo essentials tells me that there are no raw files on the folder if I click on the folder on the left side, when I drag it says cannot open raw file it maybe used by another program which it isn't. anything i'm doing wrong? actually in my laptop it wont let me open RAW files in both programs on the canon software it a blank with an X.

 

[Big Mike]

What camera are you using...and is it supported by the software?

 

[bisdakr]

I'm using Canon Digital Rebel XTI, should I just stick to cannon's photo professional for RAW images, this one seems to open and edit my raw files? Also when editing raw files , how do I make a picture look soft or better yet how do I soften the noise? Is there a site which gives you a rundown on editing a raw file?

 

[Big Mike]

Every new camera has it's own RAW files...and the software has to be updated to 'support' all the new cameras. I'm guessing that RSE does not support the Xti.

AFAIK...RSE is not updating anymore...because Adobe bought the company and is incorporating that software into it's new 'Lightroom' package.

Is there a site which gives you a rundown on editing a raw file?

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/
http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/articles.htm

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=RAW+workflow&btnG=Google+Search

 

[Groupcaptainbonzo]

I have the XTi (Canon 400D). Raw shooter essentials has been purchased by Adobe and this was done before the algorythm for the 400D was released.
It will not be updated and so RSE is dust bin fodder... Adobe has released LIGHTROOM which is quite impressive and allows you to open 400D files. It is downloadable as a public BETA from the Adobe web site. As usual Adobe are giving nothing away for free, When the comercial Lightroom is released The BETA will expire. But until then you should be O.K.
400Ds are also supported by CS2 and other Adobe manipulation software..

 

[bisdakr]

thanks for the reply, I've now started to use photoshop to edit my RAW files using RGB, Is editing RGB in RAW as effective as editing JPEG in RGB in photoshop? also how would I go about softening up the image if it got too much noise?

 

[harkain]

A raw files isn't really an image. It is a collection of data. Basically, its all the data captured by each sensor in your camera. The image you see is generally a jpg preview or interpretation of that data.

If you are using Photoshop to edit raw files, make sure you have latest version of Adobe Camera Raw, available here: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html

Version 3.6 of Adobe Camera Raw adds suport for the camera you mentioned above.

To remove noise, you have several tools at your disposal. Within the ACR plugin, there are a couple tools to reduce noise. Play with the Luminance Smoothing and Color Noise Reduction. Personally, I don't like these tools and don't invest time in using them.

The Photoshop CS2 Reduce Noise filter is decent. It allows a fair amount of control, letting you adjust settings on a per channel basis. I didn't like this tool at first, but it is growing on me.

I've been using the Noise Ninja plugin. It allows a lot of control over how the image is affected. You can apply the noise reduction selectively without the added task of making layer masks and such. Its very handy.

For sharpening, after the noise has been removed, I use the Smart Sharpen filter in Photoshop CS2 most of the time. It works well enough.

Some books talk about exercising noise reduction and sharpening on channels instead of the entire image, which is what the CS2 Reduce Noise allows you to do now. (Off topic a bit, but the new B&W Conversion tool in CS3 will allow you to work with channels directly, saving you the trouble of scanning the channels palette for the best take on B&W for the image.)


Make sure if you are working with RAW files in Photoshop that you keep your camera raw plugin up to date. If you find that bridge won't display raw thumbnails, for instance, then its probably an outdated ACR plugin that doesn't support your camera.