From the bottom up, you should most certainly not use the raw processor that come with Affinity Photo. It's capabilities are mediocre but much more importantly it is forced destructive of your work. This is nearly unheard of with a raw converter. I can think of only one other (free) raw converter that does this. When you click Develop in Affinity's Develop persona it converts your raw file to an RGB image which is moved to the Photo Persona and it dumps all the work you just did in the Develop persona. You can't go back and tweak or change anything -- you have to start over. That's nuts!

Joe

Your point is well taken -- sorry I'm running a lot errands today and a more thorough answer needs time.

From the bottom up, you should most certainly not use the raw processor that come with Affinity Photo. It's capabilities are mediocre but much more importantly it is forced destructive of your work. This is nearly unheard of with a raw converter. I can think of only one other (free) raw converter that does this. When you click Develop in Affinity's Develop persona it converts your raw file to an RGB image which is moved to the Photo Persona and it dumps all the work you just did in the Develop persona. You can't go back and tweak or change anything -- you have to start over. That's nuts!

Final images are fine as 8 bit. 8 bit is what we call print sufficiency. A JPEG is required to be 8 bit and that's adequate storage for a full color full tonal range processed image for standard output (ultimately still a print) target. The need for increased bit depth is during processing. ACR and LR (and all other raw converters including Elements/ACR) will output a 16 bit RGB image with the expectation that additional processing may be needed before the image is reduced and saved as 8 bit.

While processing the image (altering tone and color) we want to avoid too much data loss that would result is visible artifacts and banding in the final image. So we process in 16 bit then save to 8 bit.

I posted a link above that addresses the issue here's another pretty clear one from Canon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=125&v=0UIoJ7GaIVQ

There's a paradox in Elements that the version of ACR supplied will output a 16 bit RGB image and then Elements proper will refuse to edit that image.

Light editing in Elements and raw files that aren't pushed hard and the results should certainly be adequate for beginners. The OP just upgraded to a seriously nice and capable camera. A shame not to get the best out of it.

Joe

Your statement concerning Affinity is absolutely incorrect. A raw file can be destroyed by disassembling and reassembling the code, but not by using the Develop Persona of Affinity Photo.

A raw file opened in Affinity will automatically open in the Develop Persona and a copy of the image will be made and displayed on the screen. (a raw file cannot be viewed directly as it is not an image file in the same way as a jpeg, tiff or png. The results of the image manipulation in the Develop Persona is then opened in the Photo Persona. This so far, is the same methodology as Photoshop - start in ACR and end in the main editing section of Photoshop.

The image can be with saved as an .afphoto image (equal to a .psd image), or exported from Affinity as one of several different formats - tiff, jpeg, raw, png, eps etc., but the raw file will still be on your disc, unscathed, untouched and unaltered.

I would be most interested in how you arrived at the conclusions you stated, and what is the free program which you state also will destroy raw files.

Hi,
I downloaded the trial version of Elements 2019 and, I'm pleasantly surprised. I've tried most of the free editors online and just wasn't impressed by most of them. I think I'm going to skip the subscription to Adobe Cloud and buy a stand alone copy of Elements. I've got an old copy of PS, I think it's from 2013. I've used it over the years but, am nowhere near proficient with it. I am pleased to see most of the features that I've used are included in Elements.

I recently upgraded from a Nikon D7000 to a D500 and, I'm wanting to get into RAW and take my Photography to the next level. It should be quite an adventure for me. I plan on buying a good book to learn from. I'm also sure I'll be asking questions on the forum also.

One question, does Elements support plugins like PS does?

Thank you.
Bob

Hi,
I downloaded the trial version of Elements 2019 and, I'm pleasantly surprised. I've tried most of the free editors online and just wasn't impressed by most of them. I think I'm going to skip the subscription to Adobe Cloud and buy a stand alone copy of Elements. I've got an old copy of PS, I think it's from 2013. I've used it over the years but, am nowhere near proficient with it. I am pleased to see most of the features that I've used are included in Elements.

I recently upgraded from a Nikon D7000 to a D500 and, I'm wanting to get into RAW and take my Photography to the next level. It should be quite an adventure for me. I plan on buying a good book to learn from. I'm also sure I'll be asking questions on the forum also.

One question, does Elements support plugins like PS does?

Thank you.
Bob

Your point is well taken -- sorry I'm running a lot errands today and a more thorough answer needs time.

From the bottom up, you should most certainly not use the raw processor that come with Affinity Photo. It's capabilities are mediocre but much more importantly it is forced destructive of your work. This is nearly unheard of with a raw converter. I can think of only one other (free) raw converter that does this. When you click Develop in Affinity's Develop persona it converts your raw file to an RGB image which is moved to the Photo Persona and it dumps all the work you just did in the Develop persona. You can't go back and tweak or change anything -- you have to start over. That's nuts!

Final images are fine as 8 bit. 8 bit is what we call print sufficiency. A JPEG is required to be 8 bit and that's adequate storage for a full color full tonal range processed image for standard output (ultimately still a print) target. The need for increased bit depth is during processing. ACR and LR (and all other raw converters including Elements/ACR) will output a 16 bit RGB image with the expectation that additional processing may be needed before the image is reduced and saved as 8 bit.

While processing the image (altering tone and color) we want to avoid too much data loss that would result is visible artifacts and banding in the final image. So we process in 16 bit then save to 8 bit.

I posted a link above that addresses the issue here's another pretty clear one from Canon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=125&v=0UIoJ7GaIVQ

There's a paradox in Elements that the version of ACR supplied will output a 16 bit RGB image and then Elements proper will refuse to edit that image.

Light editing in Elements and raw files that aren't pushed hard and the results should certainly be adequate for beginners. The OP just upgraded to a seriously nice and capable camera. A shame not to get the best out of it.

Joe

Joe, with all due respect, I think your answer reflects a problem that is not uncommon on UHH. ("Don't buy a Nikon D5300, that's only an entry level camera, buy a D850 instead")....

I think you are saying there are better RAW processors than what comes with Elements. But you start out by saying "Elements is a poor choice if you're serious about getting into raw processing". That sounds like a blanket put down of Elements, not just its RAW processor (would Elements be acceptable to you if the OP used it with another RAW processor?)

You criticize Elements based on the 8 bit processing. For the digital photography learners, can you express, in practical terms, WHY this should be unacceptable? Is it bad, across the board, for all types of photography? Linda's photographs are excellent; how, exactly, would her photography improve if she used something other than Elements?

You say "DarkTable with Affinity Photo" is an option that will do much more than Elements. I have Affinity (haven't used it much); are you implying that I shouldn't use its RAW processor? Is the Nikon software better?

Please don't take these comments the wrong way. I just get frustrated with responses that raise more questions than they answer....