NEF editing issues

EP
Posted By
Edward_Pyke
May 7, 2005
Views
203
Replies
8
Status
Closed
Hi,

I’ve just bought Elements 3.0 having had the demo version (Windows XP). When going to the QuickFix editor pane with an NEF file (Nikon D70), I’ve noticed three things that seem to be different:

1. The NEF import window has far fewer options.
2. The Smartfix button is not available and you can’t change either the temperature or the tint.
3. When saving, standard JPEG is not an option, only JPEG 2000. From memory, a lot of other formats are missing from the menu.

Could anyone help explain why these features are different? Although 1 is not important to me, the others are.

Thanks very much

Ed
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JJ
Jim_J
May 7, 2005
I’m not familiar with the demo version… but some of what you’re describing such as the Smartfix button would not be relevant. In other words, it may simply be that it is crippled in the version you have. Can you send me an image that you are looking at and I will test it out in the full version?

Cheers
CW
Colin_Walls
May 7, 2005
When you say:

I’ve just bought Elements 3.0 having had the demo version

Do you mean you have the tryout version of PSE 3, uninstalled it and installed the full version? If so, this is perverse as these 2 products are functionally identical. Now if you demoed RAW import to Ps CS, that would be another matter …

When saving, standard JPEG is not an option, only JPEG 2000. From memory, a lot of other formats are missing from the menu.

Your image is still in 16 bit mode. There are a very limited number of formats that support 16 bit. Convert to 8 bit if you want, say JPEG.
CS
Cliff_Skidmore
May 8, 2005
Edward,

If you installed Nikon Capture after installing the demo version, Nikons NEF plugin is placed in the Plugins/FileFormat directory (on a Mac -not sure of the directory on Win)
and will be used instead of the Adobe RAW convertor. This is an 8 bit convertor and since QuickFix works in 8 bit you were able to use it normally before.

When you installed the purchased version you now have
the Adobe Camera RAW plugin in place of the Nikon NEF plugin. In order to use QuickFix, you will need to convert you file to 8 bit.

Cliff
R
Roy
May 8, 2005
wrote in message
Hi,

I’ve just bought Elements 3.0 having had the demo version (Windows XP). When going to the QuickFix editor pane with an NEF file (Nikon D70), I’ve noticed three things that seem to be different:

1. The NEF import window has far fewer options.
2. The Smartfix button is not available and you can’t change either the temperature or the tint.
3. When saving, standard JPEG is not an option, only JPEG 2000. From memory, a lot of other formats are missing from the menu.
Could anyone help explain why these features are different? Although 1 is not important to me, the others are.

Thanks very much

Ed

I am not too familiar with PE 3, but I suspect that you have still got the Nikon Raw converters in your Plug in File for Formats. They hi-jack the conversion away from the Adobe plug in, and have very limited choices. Just find them and either delete them or move them to somewhere safe.

You Saving choices are limited because your Image is in 16 bit mode.

Roy G
EP
Edward_Pyke
May 8, 2005
Great – thanks for all your replies. Now, I understand! Having imported it (using the Adobe Camera RAW plugin) I converted it to 8 bit and Smartfix worked and all the formats are available.

So my last question is: Which plugin should I be using – Nikon or Adobe? Does it matter much (at my level)? I tend only to convert if I am intending to send the photos to friends or down the wire to be professionally printed. Is JPEG 2000 sufficiently standard for these purposes?

Thanks again

Ed
CW
Colin_Walls
May 8, 2005
Is JPEG 2000 sufficiently standard for these purposes?

No. You really should use 8 bit – regular JPEG is probably best. Your friends could not view JPEG2000 unless they have image editing software [like PSE]. Most photo printers expect JPEG.
EP
Edward_Pyke
May 8, 2005
Thanks for your help – I’ll stick to JPEG.

Ed
R
Roy
May 8, 2005
wrote in message
Thanks for your help – I’ll stick to JPEG.

Ed

When you say you will stick to Jpeg, I do hope that does not mean you will delete all the NEF Files.

In perhaps too simple terms, Jpeg is quite limited in the amount of information stored due to the compression, and later on you might regret not having the full information. Jpegs are very useful for sending images by Email and posting on websites, and even for keeping fairly small versions with a lot of compression as a quick record of your work.

It would be advisable to keep your NEFs, because who would make a print and then throw away all the negatives. And they are not very large files, even though they do contain all the information recorded when you took the picture.

Roy G

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