On Sep 15, 2005, at 12:16 AM, Robert Whitehouse wrote:
I'm also just discovering the benefits of RAW and trying to work
out the
best workflow. I have a couple of questions.
1) What advantages does RAW offer over TIFF? (I can load TIFF
straight into
PS without converting).
TIFF format files rendered in-camera are essentially the same as JPEG
finest quality without compression. There's very little advantage to
them in quality over the JPEG format (unless the *ist D's JPEG
compression is particularly bad), and there's a big disadvantage in
terms of size. They're just [EMAIL PROTECTED] RGB image files.
RAW format files allow you to utilize the full [EMAIL PROTECTED]
quantization capability of the sensor and also allow you to control
the RAW conversion to RGB channel with precision. They're the only
way to get the most these cameras can offer.
2) Is there a "best" sequence for processing RAW images (one that
minimises
info loss) e.g. this is what I currently do - is there a better
sequence?
I use Photoshop CS2 and Camera Raw v3.1. Output colorspace, sizing,
and bits per channel I set pretty much once as Adobe RGB (1998) and
[EMAIL PROTECTED], 2x sizing. Per image:
In the RAW converter, the basics are
- set white point (exposure slider)
- adjust white balance
- set gamma correction (contrast and brightness sliders)
- set black point (shadows slider)
- set saturation
- optionally adjust noise reduction, chromatic aberration correction,
etc.
Then output to Photoshop for editing. From there, whatever sequence
nets you what you want out of a given image...
Godfrey
