Processing raw

[semperaggie]

I am just starting to take raw pictures but I don't really know what to do with them now.

I only have GIMP.

Thanks in advance

[CaptainTom]

What does GIMP stand for ?

[PIC]

Originally Posted by CaptainTom

What does GIMP stand for ?

GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring but it don't do RAW.

Get a real tool like CS3 Photoshop or at least a lighter version.

There are also many other RAW freeware like Pro Shooter etc.
Canon DPP also

EL

[rockpics]

You can use Digital Photo Professional to edit the raw images. It came with your camera, and while it may not have as many features as Adobe Camera Raw, it also has
fewer ways to mess up your images. I like it. I think I get better colors with it than Adobe Camera Raw and the recently added noise reduction feature works well.

[toverman]

With RAW, my most common adjustments are sharpening and some very light color work. DPP is a good start for that.

[afrikaner07]

Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 can also be used to view and edit RAW files. Its what I use, although I just started shooting in RAW a month ago...although I am not sure I can go back to just jpg

[venchka]

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is quite nice too. Not as nice as FREE.

[rickm]

Canon's Digital Photo Professional definitely has some good capabilities for manipulating your raw files. You can then export to JPG and do other manipulations in GIMP that you can't do in it. I like the ability to exactly control the noise reduction and sharpening instead of taking the camera defaults. You definitely get a better looking image than the one out of the camera. It also has lens corrections like for CA. You can download it from Canon's site:

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/co...&modelid=14256

[Johnnycb]

Since you are using GIMP I suspect you don't want to spend a ton of money
so my suggestion would be to go over to http://dl-c.com/
and look at Picture Window Pro ($89) download the trial and manual and give it a try.

[semperaggie]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

[photonewb]

Corel's Paint Shop Pro Photo isn't a bad software, it doesn't have the wide variety of features that Photoshop does, but it can be found (legit) for about 60 bucks. It has an easier to learn interface, but there's a lot less tutorials on the internet for learning how to use it.

[blues8110]

Try blue marine
It work like Lightroom
it's almost as good and best part is its free
it's a open source program.

http://bluemarine.tidalwave.it/

[Anthony Martinez]

another option for RAW is Bibble Lite (or Pro if you want to spend a little more) - it works very well, is fully cross platform, and happens to also be quite fast. I started using it when I was on a Linux system, and it was the only acceptable option (running PS in wine != acceptable). Since I built my RAW workflow in that application, I've stuck with it despite having CS3 now. My satisfaction level w/ ACR just isn't where I think it should be.

[swanny338]

If you aren't ready to purchase CS3, then the DPP software is a good place to start.

[Anthony Martinez]

indeed, DPP does actually work. it isn't particularly fast, but it works well once you figure out what you're doing.