[jericho]

provide a semi-detailed work flow process of Raw --> the final save as a sRGB.

I dowloaded the trial version of Nikon Capture 4.3.1 (with full intention of purchasing it when it expires next month), however I am new to the RAW experience. Today I shot 80 pictures of a family in various poses etc (many of them in rapid sucession to ensure I didn't get any "blinkers"). At thispoint I looked at the pics in capture and am quite pleased with the difference between nef and jpeg.

However, I did a search on workflow in a couple of areas and was unable to find anything to my liking. Ideally, I would benefit most from a step by step process Such as:

1. download nef files into capture
2. set white balance (is automatic the way to go, or eyeball it?)
3. do as much processing as possible, ie saturation, color, sharpening etc)
4. save as a final nef file
5. then, save all my work in a separate folder as tiff files for additional work in PS CS, such as blemish touch ups and any other CS work.
6. back up all tiff files
7. I shot these in Mode II on my D70, and my workspace is set to Adobe RGB. Once I am done all my work, I will assign them to sRGB and save them as high quality jpegs, as they are going to the family on a disc for printing at their leisure. I will keep the tiff files backed up at my location.

Have I missed anything? Does this seem correct? I would love to hear from anyone else re: their workflow.

Thanks in advance,

Jerry.

[dewy]

Jerry I am alive again check your email =)

[gd]

could the answer(s) be sent here so that I can check it out... I'm doing a couple of courses and they are all telling me to shoot NEF (for the lossless scenario) but I have less than a good idea how to process them back into shape.

Also I took a photo of a pink flower that I had the wrong white balance on and it came out BLUE... very blue.... so a tip for young players... learn what the heck you're trying to do!!!

[dewy]

gd, it is now related to anything in this thread, just this happens to be thge first post I have seen by jericho since I got back

[shuttertalk]

Hey gd... I don't really shoot much RAW myself, even though my camera allows it, but I'm a bit lazy

There were some conversations with RAW here:
http://www.shuttertalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=806

I'm sure other more knowledgable users would be able to help...

[guerito]

You could also have a look at Bibble. They claim to have the fastest workflow possible. I've tried it and yes, it's fast. If you have batches of pics to work with, Bibble might be quite the right tool for most of the things you mentioned.

[shuttertalk]

Ok, so far I've heard of C1 and Bibble... are there any others that people can recommend?

[StudioJ]

Your workflow sounds pretty good Jerry.

This is my regular routine;

1) Backup original files to CD and another hard drive.
2) (C1) Rotate all images so they are the right way up!
3) (C1) Tag a selection of images that I will be processing (no point in doing them all)
4) (C1) Adjust white balance (combination of 'eyeballing' and checking out the colour levels and hopefully finding something white or mid grey) marginal adjustments to white balance to suit my taste, exposure, saturation and sharpening and then cropped to suit assuming that I won't need the images in different aspect ratios down the track otherwise left at full size. I crop inside Capture One and adjust the PPI and let it resample as it does a superior job to the stair step technique.
5) Export to high quality jpg (or TIF if I am going to doing significant post processing) normally in ARGB.
6) Move to PS

[jericho]

hmmm. that seems to be well for me J. My question is, I am getting a lot of folks telling me not to sharpen in raw. they feel this is the last step in the tiff/PS process. Your thoughts? the new version of capture 4.1.3 has usm sharpening in it so i figured this was the best of all worlds really.

[StudioJ]

I've gotten into the debate a few times before over when to sharpen, if I have applied any softening/blur like effects to my images I will sharpen them again at the end, also I have a pause in the middle of my resizing for web action which allows me to sharpen and continue as I've found sharpening half way between the print size and the final web size seems to work well.

If you are however applying any form of noise reduction I find its best to sharpen after that has been applied so you aren't sharpening the noise further as it seems prone to being sharpened in digital images otherwise its just a matter of personal taste, I can't really see the difference but I will put it to the test performing the sharpening as a raw and then right at the end and see if I can find any visible results.

[pai]

i'm still trying to figure out this raw thing myself. i don't use raw much, cos the files take up too much space on my cf cards. i use dalibor's MRWFormat for my minolta raw files, so this is probably a little different from what the rest of you are used to. what i like about it is that it works as a photoshop plugin, so i can do everything from start to end with one program.

the file opens in the MRWformat plugin interface in PS

1) rotate if needed
2) check/fix white balance.
3) click the "max" button (this selects the maximum exposure that doesn't blow any highlights)
4) adjust the shadows/highlights sliders (like moving sliders to the hill of the histogram in photoshop levels)
5) click "open" (this sends the picture to normal photoshop)

now using the normal photoshop cs interface

6) correct distortion with PT Lens if needed
7) crop if needed
8) noise reduction with neat image if needed
9) other processing, e.g. curves, local contrast enhancement etc
10) save as .psd (for files that needed tricky post processing)
11) resize if needed
12) output sharpening
13) save as .jpg

hmm maybe i should add or remove a step... not the luckiest number to end off with...

i'm thinking the most important benefit of shooting in raw is the control over wb and exposure, so those are the parts i take care of in the raw section of my workflow. there are gamma, contrast and saturation settings in my raw converter too, but i still feel more comfortable that kind of stuff in photoshop.

any suggestions/corrections would be appreciated, thanks

[StudioJ]

Thanks for sharing that pai, its great to see other techniques and packages and what they offer.

The biggest problem I've recently found is the visible range on screen as opposed to prints, what looks blown out on screen actually isn't, thank goodness for colour calibration (one day!)

[gd]

ok has anyone found a good product for NEF? Should I buy the Nikon (un)supplied software that did(not) come with my camera.

btw, I hate it when USB cables and necessary software doesn't come with a large purchase product.

[jericho]

I have been using the nikon capture 4.1.3 software and love it so far. I tried the C1 Pro, but it didn't seem anywhere near as user friendly. To be fair though, others use and LOVE it. I think you would be happy with either product.

What I have heard though, is that canon's proprietary raw software is terribly slow.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

[cliveb]

I dowloaded the trial version of Nikon Capture 4.3.1 (with full intention of purchasing it when it expires next month),


Jerry,

I've been looking for 4.3 with no success - where did you manage to download the trial version of 4.3.1?

Clive

[Petographer]

Not much help in the answer here but I'd still like to welcome you to Shuttertalk Clive.

[guerito]

I changed things in my workflow today. First, I discovered a raw file converter that seems to be free and useful, RawShooter Essentials. Second, I've been working on a little program that detects when I save a new file in a folder, and then takes this file and converts it too the sizes I desire, with the help of Irfanview. No more do I have to "Save for web" 5 times and enter the sizes manually!

If anybody is interested in my image sizer program, I will be happy to provide it. It runs on the Microsoft Dotnet Framework 1.1, which you have to have installed before. I think I will have a fully functional working this weekend.

[shuttertalk]

If anybody is interested in my image sizer program, I will be happy to provide it. It runs on the Microsoft Dotnet Framework 1.1, which you have to have installed before. I think I will have a fully functional working this weekend.

Wow, cool G! I didn't know you were a programmer!

I'd be happy to host the program for you on ST so others can download it... just email it to me or PM me if it's very large.

[cliveb]

Not much help in the answer here but I'd still like to welcome you to Shuttertalk Clive.

Thanks for the welcome! Glad I've found the forum.

Clive

[jericho]

Clive, See below:

http://support.nikontech.com/cgi-bin/nik..._topview=1

Let me know if you need assistance.

J

[cliveb]

Clive, See below:

http://support.nikontech.com/cgi-bin/nik..._topview=1

Let me know if you need assistance.

J

Thanks Jericho, but that page is for a 30 day trial of 4.2.1. At the top of this forum page you say you downloaded 4.3.1!
I've heard that 4.3.x is now available - it is advertised on a number of Nikon sites as an optional extra with the D70s.

Clive

[jericho]

I originally downloaded the trial version, then purchased the upgrade at a later date. I thought it was from the NikonUSA site, but can't seem to locate it now.

Sorry Clive

[cliveb]

I originally downloaded the trial version, then purchased the upgrade at a later date. I thought it was from the NikonUSA site, but can't seem to locate it now.

Sorry Clive

Hi Jerry, (and anyone else who wants it)

The 4.3 updater is now available from the Nikon Europe site - http://tinyurl.com/yuv9t

Clive

[jericho]

I checked the site all over. No sign of the upgrade?

[guerito]

I checked the site all over. No sign of the upgrade?

Maybe you're not a registered Nikon owner? They say you must be registered before the download becomes visible to you... See here.

Edit: Mind you this won't work, most probably, because the site is the European Nikon center. You probably have to go the Nikon center for Canada or the U.S.