Australian_Photography__Digital_-_September_2015_

14 AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY + DIGITAL SEPTEMBER 2015

PhotoFiltre; PhotoLine; Photoshop

Elements (a cut-down version of

Photoshop, with the professional features

locked-out behind a friendlier interface);

Pixia; Raw Therapee (Windows, Mac,

Linux, now free & open source software.

Good if you’re dealing with a more

limited number of RAW images and don’t

require organising capabilities).

Note that there are also various online

image editors available for use free of

charge, such as Photoshop Express,

although that may not be the way you’d

want to go (it doesn’t suit me).

You could get a quick “feel” for how each

program looks, and what it’s like to work

with, from watching videos on YouTube

(which is a time-efficient strategy).

Due to their popularity, Lightroom

and Photoshop do have the most training

resources available to users. You’ll need

time to familiarise yourself with whatever

you choose so you can devise a workf low

which suits you.

No thumbnails for

RAW images

Q

I recently began shooting with

RAW. Originally I worked with

RAW + JPEG, which gave me

a JPEG and a CR2 thumbnail in my

Windows Pictures folders. Now I shoot

straight RAW (due to file size on my

new Canon EOS 70D) and I only get

a thumbnail which shows the CR

and no image. This means I have to

individually open each thumbnail

to see which picture it is. I download

from my camera into Windows Pictures.

Is there any way I can do this so I can

get a thumbnail and I can see the photo

without opening the CR2 files one at

a time? I’m currently processing my

images in Lightroom 5.

Graeme Barnes, Rutherford, NSW.

A

A RAW file already contains

an embedded JPEG, produced

by the camera (for thumbnail

and preview purposes, or to be extracted

later, for example using Michael Tapes’

Instant JPEG From RAW (IJFR),

http://michaeltapesdesign.com/instant-

jpeg-from-raw.html ).

It’s the Windows Operating System

that is lacking the appropriate Codec

(Coder/Decoder) for your specific model

of camera. Do you have the latest version

of Windows?

A Canon EOS 70D CR2 RAW sample

image can be successfully displayed in

Windows Explorer on my system, which

is running Windows 7 Ultimate. One

solution is to buy the Codec Pack from

Axel Rietschin, developer of the program

FastPictureViewer –

http://www.fastpictureviewer.com.

This, from the website: “The

FastPictureViewer Codec Pack is a

Windows extension adding support

for many additional image formats to

Windows Explorer and codec-enabled

applications... The FastPictureViewer

Codec Pack adds fast thumbnail and

preview support to Microsoft Windows

for many image formats, including

RAW formats from more than 580

digital cameras...”

I should note, I like to use

FastPictureViewer program for “first-

cull editing”, choosing those pictures

I want to keep, including those which

may require some post-processing work.

However, Windows Explorer is something

I generally avoid, for many reasons. For

navigating directories (with a familiar

appearance, and in a manner similar

to Windows Explorer), image browsing

and/or editing, or batch-converting, I’d

recommend you use XnView, by Pierre E.

Gougelet – http://www.xnview.com/en/xnview

Depending on your needs, there are

Minimal, Standard, and Extended (with

all Plug-ins and Add-ons, as well as

Extras) versions of this versatile, regularly

updated program (all are free for non-

commercial use). This will allow you to

“see” what’s inside the RAW file, without

first opening each file. Note, too, that

you can customise the GUI (Graphical

User Interface). A nice touch is that

there’s a comprehensive range of user-

configurable options. One example of

something which I find useful is to have

the program launch its browser with the

last used folder. Another example, having

individual tabs for various images (those

which you are comparing), is very helpful

as you can quickly toggle through those,

then back to the browser, with Ctrl-Tab.

I’ve used this program for well over

a decade. Of course, if you’re using

Lightroom 5 to import images it can

generate proxy files as previews and

store them. However, this requires a lot

of processing power (even more so if

the previews are at full resolution), and

can take a long time (potentially hours,

depending on your system) if you’re

bringing in thousands of pictures! ❂

RIGHT
Sometimes,
computer glitches
are enough to make
you want to resort to
drastic measures!

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

What’s your question?

Photography got you stumped? If you have a query about your camera, computer,

software or anything photography related, please email our correspondent

Prashphutita Greco at [email protected]. Please include your

question, along with your name, suburb, state and phone number. Prashphutita will

try to get back to you with an answer within a couple of weeks.

THINKSTOCK.COM