Picasa and PP issues. need a little guidance: Ok so i have piasca and paintshop prox3 also the sony program that came with my a3000. I can do my raw photos in the sony program and be...

Racin17 Loc: Western Pa

Ok so i have piasca and paintshop prox3 also the sony program that came with my a3000. I can do my raw photos in the sony program and be happy with it. I try to load it on a sd card so i can take it and get a few printed. Problem is when i have it read by piasca it looks very cloudy. Cant adjust it. I have no problem wi5h jpegs just the raw shots. I cant open raw shots in paintshop. I havent figured it out yet. So my question is how do you get your nice raw photos to print?

Lundberg02

Stop using a crazy workflow.

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

RAW is meant to be edited in a program like Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW, among others. This file format can not actually be modified or edited, the changes you make are exported out to a JPG or other standard file format when you are done making adjustments, so that you can print, upload or share your photo in some way. The beauty of RAW is that it contains every bit of info that your camera captured, the downside is it is not a common file format like JPG. Hope this helps. Use the Search function at the top of the page and look for RAW, there are a lot of in depth discussions of it. I've only scratched the surface.

Racin17 Loc: Western Pa

Lundberg02 wrote:

Stop using a crazy workflow.

I could use some expertise if you are willing to share.

Racin17 Loc: Western Pa

Mr PC wrote:

RAW is meant to be edited in a program like Lightr... (show quote)

I will do that thanks. So if i may ask this. Do you use jpeg or raw shots when getting them printed?

wisner Loc: The planet Twylo

Racin17 wrote:

I will do that thanks. So if i may ask this. Do you use jpeg or raw shots when getting them printed?

You can't print a RAW file; it needs to be processed first, much like a film negative. When you are finished processing your RAW file, save it as a JPEG and then have it printed or you can print it yourself.
Mr PC is correct, you need a robust RAW processor for your files. The software the camera manufacturer's include with their cameras is usually to slow and not very well thought out. My recommendation is Lightroom.
Also, you might invest in a thumb drive to transport your files.
Picasso should be outlawed.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

RAW is just data collected by the cameras sensor. It is not a print file like Jpg, Tiff or PNG. You'll have to convert it with post processing software. There are many YouTube videos and if you'll use the "search" feature above you will discover many discussions regarding RAW data files. I only shoot RAW and I use LR5 and PS2014 for post processing.

Racin17 wrote:

I will do that thanks. So if i may ask this. Do you use jpeg or raw shots when getting them printed?

Racin17 Loc: Western Pa

Thanks guys. I did some reading on UHH after searching. I can adjust my raw files in sony first then convert them to jpg for use in piasca, where i can make a file for them. Photoshop and lightroom will have to wait until i get enough power to run it lol. This question now. Is a jpeg or a raw shot PP converted to jpeg better? Thanks....ill stop the questions for now.

wisner Loc: The planet Twylo

Racin17 wrote:

Thanks guys. I did some reading on UHH after searching. I can adjust my raw files in sony first then convert them to jpg for use in piasca, where i can make a file for them. Photoshop and lightroom will have to wait until i get enough power to run it lol. This question now. Is a jpeg or a raw shot PP converted to jpeg better? Thanks....ill stop the questions for now.

Do you mean is a RAW file covered to JPEG better than a JPEG processed and then saved? It is usually better to process your RAW file and then convert it to a JPEG. Too much processing of a JPEG file can lead to degradation of your image, especially if you continually compress the file when you save. A better alternative than jpegs is a TIFF file, although they are much larger than a JPEG file.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Racin17 wrote:

...Is a jpeg or a raw shot PP converted to jpeg better? Thanks....ill stop the questions for now.

Generally, a file that starts as raw has more detail than a jpg, and once you get more proficient with editing raw files, you will likely see that your edited raw file converted to jpg for printing will look better than an original shot in jpg.

BUT! There are times that the camera's computer does a perfectly fine job with a jpg. If you aren't experienced, and don't have the more expensive editors, then a jpg might work just fine.

Maybe try shooting raw + jpg. Edit your raw version, save as jpg, then get it printed along with the original jpg of the same scene. Or do some tweaks on the original jpg and then have both printed to compare.

But be careful you aren't overwriting files. When you do "save as" on your raw file, maybe re-name it "IMG_1234 from raw edits" if your original jpg is named IMG_1234. And if you edit your original jpg, maybe save as "IMG_1234 fm jpg edits" or "IMG_1234 fm Picasa edits."

Racin17 Loc: Western Pa

Linda From Maine wrote:

Generally, a file that starts as raw has more deta... (show quote)

Thanks linda. I printed some out today for birthday presents and was very happy with them. I find i can process my raw image in sony program convert it to jpeg then finish in piasca if needed. I was getting a good understanding of jpeg, this raw thing has learning from the start all over again.

Racin17 Loc: Western Pa

wisner wrote:

Do you mean is a RAW file covered to JPEG better than a JPEG processed and then saved? It is usually better to process your RAW file and then convert it to a JPEG. Too much processing of a JPEG file can lead to degradation of your image, especially if you continually compress the file when you save. A better alternative than jpegs is a TIFF file, although they are much larger than a JPEG file.

Do tiff files work like jpeg? Is there a special converter needed? I still learning how to work out of the jpeg only room.

wisner Loc: The planet Twylo

Racin17 wrote:

Do tiff files work like jpeg? Is there a special converter needed? I still learning how to work out of the jpeg only room.

A TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) needs no special software. The reason I save my final files as tiffs is because, unlike JPEG files, they are not compressed, thus there is no loss of file quality. Also, they can be opened in non-Adobe applications; Photoshop files (psd) will not open in programs other than Adobe's. Ever sent a psd file to someone who doesn't have an Adobe product and received this reply: " I can't open the file you sent me!".
If you process your files in Lightroom or ACR, you have the option of exporting them as JPEG, tiff, psd, original, or, DNG. For my workflow, I will usually export as a tiff for printing, JPEG for just about everything else.
The only real difference you will see is the increase in file size; if this an issue, you might want to stick with JPEG but if eventually you want to maximize your file quality, tiff or psd are the options you will want to use.
Hope this helps.
Keep shooting!

Racin17 Loc: Western Pa

Thank you, yes it does help. I am will keep doing that.