RAW vs JPEG - Canon 50D

[Prometheus]

One thing everybody needs to remember is that software is best served FREE

RAW conversion plug-in for GIMP:
UFRaw - Home

On the install page it lists instructions for installing to Windows, just go to the install page and scroll down a bit. You'll need to install GIMP first, which is an open-source/free yet EXTREMELY CAPABLE clone of Adobe Photoshop. UFRAW acts as a plug-in for gimp. Open the RAW file in GIMP, and a UFRAW dialog box will come up allowing you to make edits as you please. Once you're finished it'll open it into GIMP where you should probably save it as a TIFF file and set it to lossless/no compression when it asks. Then save a copy as a JPEG .... JPEGs are compressed, so there's some degree of image quality loss. The TIFF will preserve your edits with no quality loss.

Oh, and UFRAW saves your previous settings automatically in case you're editing images in succession. It takes time to go through each image individually but this software is amazing ... and it's totally free. It's even open-source, so if the original people stop developing it, anybody can step in and resume development if they feel like it. That means it'll probably never go away. If Adobe goes bankrupt and closes its doors nobody can continue to develop Photoshop ... unless they sell the rights.

 

[Renol]

This might be a dumb question but, don't all RAW processors control the same functions? I mean I know some include more features (e.g. LR vs Photoshop for RAWs) so other than the initial preview when you first open the file, what's the point of the different readings? Is it just a matter of easier work flow from open?

 

[matfoster]

Oh, and UFRAW saves your previous settings automatically in case you're editing images in succession. It takes time to go through each image individually

i use UFRAW all the time now. 'remember last settings' (particularly for color temperature), 'linearity', auto exposure correction...all really good. the fact that these adjustments are non-linear is great too. seamless export into GIMP..great tool.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Silkypix sucks. it came with my GF1 and typically with bundled software, it sucks.


Download a 30 day trial of Adobe lightroom or Capture One. That's what a real RAW converter is like .

 

[Prometheus]

Silkypix sucks. it came with my GF1 and typically with bundled software, it sucks.


Download a 30 day trial of Adobe lightroom or Capture One. That's what a real RAW converter is like .

I just can't justify paying for software like Lightroom when high-quality software like UFRAW is available totally free of charge, source code included.

I'm serious. Everybody needs to give it a shot.

Here's a user guide that shows you all the features: UFRaw - User Guide

Here's a screenshot from the UFRAW web site: