RAW file workflow

Barb, our expert in this area (Ray Robillard) will probably come by in a while to tackle your questions. I’m not sure how the choice of white balance, etc. is reflected in the RAW file; perhaps someone else knows. My workflow is to convert the RAW files to TIFF using BreezeBrowser, a third-party program that is a lot more user-friendly and capable than the Canon File Viewer Utility. I generally don’t make any adjustments in the conversion program, leaving all the adjustments to trusty PSE2. However, you may find that others will suggest some of the adjustments be made in the conversion process. Ray also uses a third-party program called Capture One LE for his RAW conversions. That’s a start…

Chuck

Barb with the Canon Rebel I use C1 Rebel for the most part for my conversions. I will adjust the white balance and make any exposure compensation that is needed before converting to TIFF. Most conversion programs will do sharpening prior to conversion but I would wait until it is converted and any other adjustments are made.

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Have A Nice Day, 🙂
James Hutchinson
http://www.pbase.com/myeyesview
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The Canon RAW (on my G3) will record the camera settings for white balance, custom setting (B&W sepia etc) sharpness, contrast and saturation etc, but you can just change them in fileviewer see if they look better. Other third party conversion software will allow you to change exposure compensation and other parameters and give bigger ranges of adjustment – unfortunately there is no affordable Mac version for the Canon G3 RAW that I have found! So I only use RAW occasionally as the Canon fileviewer utility is so slow – mainly for situations where WB is uncertain – adjusting using the RAW converter is much better and easier than in PSE. I believe, but due to lack of software can’t confirm, that you can get better exposure adjustment with less distortion of the image by adjusting in RAW than in PSE on converted files – some of this I think is because you are using more bits/bytes whatever they are per channel (Elements only uses 8bit colour).

(edited as I can’t write a grammatical or even sensible sentence this morning!)

First… Chuck, I’m far from an expert on the subject. I do shoot all in RAW now, but that doesn’t make me a knowledgeable person… thanks anyway 😉

Barb,

I’ll try to explain things as I understand them.

There’s no tool (I know of anyway) in PSE or PS7 (I’m using both) to adjust the color temperature of
a picture as such. I mean a combination of tools will do the job, but it will take time and several
steps to acheive this. So I do all my adjustments in C1LE (Capture One Limited Edition), even sharpness, despite the USM found in PSE / PS7. The White Balance Adjustment tool is an especially nice feature in any RAW converter to counterbalance the effect of the flash on flesh tones particularly (and on inanimate objects as well).

A raw converter also has a few algorythms (or is algorithms? sorry, my native language is Canada French) to remove noise which often appears as the exposure is increased at post-processing time (i.e. in Photoshop / Photoshop Elements). There are also tools to limit the over contrasting of pictures when underexposing (blacks become too black and the picture looks like it’s missing colors in some areas). That’s why I do all the work in the RAW converter software. In C1LE, Digital Exposure Compensation is supplied with a tone adjustement that lets you get rid of color cast that sometimes slips in when changing the color temperature (i.e. when everything shows a green or blue tint). This, however, can be done in Elements as well.

When you upload a RAW picture in the FVU (Canon File Viewer Utility), it shows you the picture with the camera settings. They are stored along with the picture. You have the choice to override them,
or keep them as is. With the 10D, I often have to boost the sharpness and color saturation because the camera makes neutral pictures (clearly too neutral on certain occasions). Now, the saturation can easily be corrected in PSE / PS7 with a Hue / Saturation adjustment layer, but the sharpness is always something I had trouble with, despite reading extensively on the subject.

What the RAW format gives you is a better latitude to ajdust the exposure, color and white balance (C1LE even has curves, missing for vanilla PSE) because you get what the sensor saw, and not what was decoded using the algorithms in your camera. Most of the times for general, casual picture shooting, what comes out the camera in JPEG format is sufficient. But, when you’re unsure of the result because, say, you have limited control over the exposure meter in your camera, it’s better to
shoot RAW and have a wider set of tools to correct the exposure then to try and battle against a JPEG in which decisions were made for you. A good example of this was a picture I posted several weeks ago, shot in RAW, of my car at night. Using the White Color Balance adjustement tool in C1LE,
I was able to make the picture appear as if it was shoot at 5PM instead of 11PM. Pretty cool!

Here are the links (original) : http://www.pbase.com/image/24232570 (color balanced to fake daylight) : http://www.pbase.com/image/24232571
(the car is actually under the snow… this can’t be fixed even in PSE.. haha!)

Now, to say that shooting in RAW is essential? Probably not. A better way to acheive one’s goal? Positively! A safety net to salvage a badly exposed picture, that’s the way I see it.

Finally, the FVU isn’t the best utility around, let me assure you. Download an evaluation version of C1LE (for Windows) or Breezbrowser (not sure if it’s Windows only) and try them. C1LE, as I understand it, as more control over the pictures, but the learning curve is a little harder. BUT…
It’s worth it, believe me!

Ray

Everyone-

Thank you for your insights. I began shooting in RAW when once I got some help fixing a poorly exposed beach photo on another forum and the gentleman that worked on it said if only you had shot in RAW. So I started doing so but wasn’t certain that I was reaping any of the benefits if I was not adjusting in the File converter utility.

I did some experimenting last evening with changing the white balance to different settings. Without a before and after image on the screen, it was hard to notice any difference. I at least thought that if I went to Flash from Daylight I might see some effect but did not. Am I doing anything wrong?

Ray- I know you are also using Photoshop Album from the other forum. I got a copy for Christmas. I know I can view RAW files using it but cannot use the edit with Photoshop Elements feature. Would there be any difference in using the PSA export to TIF option vs. converting with the Canon utility (assuming I am not making adjustments in the Canon utility)?

Lastly, do you catalog your RAW files in PSA or the TIF files?

Thanks again to everyone for your helpful suggestions.

I at least thought that if I went to Flash from Daylight I might see some effect but did not. Am I doing anything wrong?

Not at all. Sometimes, the camera will correctly expose the picture and you won’t see a great deal of difference between the manual and the auto white balance. But, with RAW, at least, you have the option. Not having a before and after view is also a limitation I didn’t like in FVU.

Adjusting white balance will sometimes produce very subtle changes, barely noticeable, and not always throught the pictures, sometimes limited only to certain colors.

Would there be any difference in using the PSA export to TIF option vs. converting with the Canon utility (assuming I am not making adjustments in the Canon utility)?

Yes, more or less the same as using FVU to convert the picture or use the embedded JPEG format your camea is saving. PSA has very limited color manipulation tools, as opposed to FVU.

Lastly, do you catalog your RAW files in PSA or the TIF files?

Not as such, but I created a Tag (i.e. RAW) to attach to my pictures, to let me know which images are available as RAW as well as the catalogued format. The reason behind this is that when you manipulate an image in RAW, you save the edited picture in TIFF (or JPEG, or anything else), but the RAW is never modified. Since I try my best at creating a color perfect TIFF picture, it would make little sense (to me that is) to catalog the less perfect RAW. By adding a RAW tag to my pictures, I know which ones I can further enhance easily.

Again, thank you. I realize some of these things ae personal preferences and the result of trial and error but it is nice to hear from experienced users such as yourself on what works for you and why.

Much appreciated!

Well… if this can help you (and others), I’m always glad to share 🙂

One thing I did notice about working with RAW is that since my abilities with PSE are getting better and better as time passes, it’s nice to know I still have the original to work on (as opposed to the JPEG which was already "enhanced" by the camera).

Ray