 Mary K. Stewart |
Printers Are there any printers that will print from RAW files? I am seeing a significant decrease in quality between raw and 16 bit tiff, especially in portraits.
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Mary K. Stewart |
P.S. The Tiff does not look as good on my computer, but will it look just like the raw when printed?
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R K Stephenson |
I don't think so. RAW files usually need some work before they're ready to print -- some contrast and color enhancement, at least. There might be some other issue with the printing. For example, if your monitor is not calibrated, you won't get the same look. Also, you might want to explore printer profiles for the best fidelity.
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Randy A. Myers |
A raw file is just a collection of numbers. It is not a picture until you use some type of software to interpret the numbers. When you view a raw file in camera or in a windows picture viewer you are seeing an tiny embedded thumbnail that has been produced from your camera settings being applied to the raw file. I'm not sure what you mean by decrease in quality since a raw file is not a picture until converted. Where are you viewing the raw file? If on camera, see explanation above. If in a software conversion package, then the settings used to convert the file are suspect or the software raw convertor is suspect. You may not be using a convertor that recognizes your settings. Please give us more information and we will be able to better answer your question.
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Mary K. Stewart |
I am viewing it in the Canon software that came with my camera called Digital Photo Professional. The file extension is CR2. I edit the photos in CR2 before converting using this same program and then use the convert and save feature to make it a TIF or JPG. Even the TIF's do not look as good as the CR2's.
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Mary K. Stewart |
By the way, this is all from viewing on my screen. I have not had any printed yet.
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Randy A. Myers |
When you say quality is decreased after converting, are you talking about color, sharpness and detail or something else? If color, you need to know what color space you are outputting to. What are the file sizes of your output after converting? Are you mistakenly converting to a 72 DPI size? The software you are using should be the best for converting your files. Since the quality is not there, I suspect a problem with your settings for the output.
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Mary K. Stewart |
I am not sure how to check the 72 DPI, but do not see that as an option on the program. I double checked and have definitely chosen the 16 Bit Tiff option when converting and it gives me a .TIF extension. I am really only noticing significant changes when I have portraits, especially close-ups. There is bluriness in the face where it once was sharp. Also, when I have a nice sparkle in the eyes, it decreases to almost nothing upon conversion. You can barely tell I flashed the eyes. I recently took some outdoor pictures of my neice and got some beautiful golden highlights in her hair where the sun was hitting it. However, those highlights dissipated and blurred when I converted. Color is not too much of an issue as there is very little decrease in saturation and not enough to even notice.
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Mary K. Stewart |
I just looked at my general settings and it is set at 350 dpi...It gives the option of 1-60000. If I increased it, would I see a better quality from a print or viewing it without the software?
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Randy A. Myers |
I'm sorry. I was busy when I asked the last question. I shouls have asked what the pixel dimensions are of the final output. I was thinking you may have been putting out a 2 inch by 3 inch at a low DPI and seeing quality issues when viewed. That doesn't sound like that's the problem but check your pixel dimensions so we can rule that out. I'm beginning to wonder if the conversion is actually applying your settings. It almost sounds like it is processing your file with some kind of auto or default settings. That's where I would look. To see if that is the case, do a conversion where you set things to the extreme. Blow the saturation out of the box and way oversharpen it. See if those extreme conversions are applied. If they are applied to your tiff output, then that answers that question and we can try something else.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Your problem may be trying to print with a 16bit file. Try making your files 8bit and see if there's any improvement.
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Mary K. Stewart |
I have not printed these yet, just converted them and looked on my computer. I tried converting to 8bit and had the same issues. I looked at my Grid Pitch which was 66 pixels. I changed it to 256 pixels (maximum allowed) and did not see a difference even after reconverting. Maybe the problem is the photographer and not the program! Is it normal to see some difference? I'm pretty new at this. By the way I oversaturated and converted and it did take the change. I can see the changes after editing and converting but am just not satisfied with the deminished quality.
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Randy A. Myers |
The only other things I know to check are the pixel dimensions of the output and which color space you are outputting to. You should not be seeing a diminished quality after converting.
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Mary K. Stewart |
I am not sure how to do that. Any advice?
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Mary K. Stewart |
I just tried a test print from my CR2 file and it printed to my Brother Laser (not a photo printer by any stretch of the imagination and not color) but it printed fine. So if I printed to a quality photo printer from my CR2 file I assume it would work? Also I printed my TIFF and on an 8.5x11 piece of paper (same size as CR2 print). I am having a hard time seeing a difference like I was on my computer. Keep in mind though this is not a quality print job and in black and white rather than color. So is the problem on the computer screen and not the printing? I still don't see why I would see such a difference and want to figure out the problem with the TIFF though.
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Randy A. Myers |
Find the converted image file in it's folder and hover your mouse pointer over the file name. It should pop up a box giving you the details for the file. The dimension line shown will be the pixel dimensions of your image. The dimensions should be in the neighborhood of 2400x3000. That is an 8x10 at 300 DPI. It all depends on the size you cropped it to. I don't use Canon software, so I can't tell you where to check which color space it's being converted to unless you have Adobe Elements or Photoshop.
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