newbie to RAW

[pixello]

hi guys,
since i am new to the RAW format, i want solutions for a few things
1) since windows does not facilitate preview of RAW format, what is the best method to view RAW images.
2) i use lightroom 3.2, the changes rendered to the images are displayed for a few seconds only either in picasa image viewer or zoom browser supplied in the Canon CD.
P.S. - my OS is windows 7
thanks in advance.

[theqca]

 there's nothing much to "view" in them..meaning they are "raw" files..you apply the desired amout of sharpening / colour etc etc...open them in lightroom since ur saying u already have it...apply the corrections / changes and export it as a tiff / jpeg (right click and choose the export option)...you can then use the jpeg or tiff file like a "normal" image file...

[rajib]

You can try:
1. Microsoft Camera Codec Pack
2. SageThumbs
3. XnView
The above 3 are free and support Canon Raw (though sadly not Raw files produced by my D5100).

There is always Adobe Bridge / ACDSee as an alternate image viewer and organiser apart from Google Picasa.

[pixello]

there's nothing much to "view" in them..meaning they are "raw" files..you apply the desired amout of sharpening / colour etc etc...open them in lightroom since ur saying u already have it...apply the corrections / changes and export it as a tiff / jpeg (right click and choose the export option)...you can then use the jpeg or tiff file like a "normal" image file...

thanks, exporting in TIFF or JPEG solved the problem
what does the formats DNG, PSD and original do to my exported images ?

You can try:
1. Microsoft Camera Codec Pack
2. SageThumbs
3. XnView
The above 3 are free and support Canon Raw (though sadly not Raw files produced by my D5100).

There is always Adobe Bridge / ACDSee as an alternate image viewer and organiser apart from Google Picasa.

installed the canon support software, ill surely try them thanks.

[rajib]

DNG (Adobe Digital Negative) and PSD (Adobe PhotoShop Document) formats are capable of storing the images in formats optimized for graphics work-flow.

The DNG format is quite popular and many new cameras support saving the images in this mode instead of their default RAW formats.

[pixello]

got that, in what format do you guys save the processed files ?

[rajib]

For me, it's PSD. My Photoshop files tend to have many layers, masks, adjustment layers etc. This is not possible with DNG.

[Hansraj]

got that, in what format do you guys save the processed files ?

I save those raw in a dedicated hard disk as backup. Also for my regular viewing I keep them in JPEG format (Quality 5, Photoshop, filesize 900kb) for regular viewing on PC and laptop. While I process those raw files in Photoshop CS5, the edited information gets saved in an additional *.xmp file which remains in the same folder.

Advantage:

1. Smaller file size as compared to *.psd(16 mb raw file costs 60mb or more as psd file).
2. If I want to apply the same correction/changes to any other raw file then, I can achieve it by copying the same *.xmp file just by renaming it to that file name
3. Keeping a raw file is just like keeping the negative, just in case I want to take a large printout or re-edit, it comes in real handy.

Disadvantage:

1. Requires a backup disk
2. After 10 years from now on, if I want to process the same raw file again, I am not sure if the Operating system at that time+Processing software will be able to do justice or not