Mac Workflow Ideas

[Dan Lazin]

That's the idea, although I haven't tested it. It turns out there are third-party DNG converters -- see "Other DNG Converters" at http://www.barry.pearson.name/articles/dng/products.htm -- which apparently convert raw files from hacked cameras that Adobe's DNG Converter don't support.

The trouble in testing whether it *actually* works is that it's really hard to find a raw file that 1) ACR doesn't yet support and that 2) someone has written a DNG converter for. But the links in that Other DNG Converter section suggest that there are a few odd cameras that fit the bill. I think we can assume that Photoshop can open those DNGs, because why else would these hobbyists be writing their private converters except as a way to get their data into Photoshop?

The easier proof of this is that, according to Adobe, Photoshop can open the native (in-camera) DNG files created by the Leica DMR, Hasselblad H2D, Ricoh GR Digital and Samsung Pro 815. And it's supposed to be able to open the M8's DNGs even though that camera isn't for sale yet. (Adobe usually takes several months after introduction to build in raw support for new cameras.) Those cameras don't have any raw format except for DNG, so there's nothing else about them for ACR to know.

Man, but chopping pistachios is annoying.

 

[kepstein]

Take a look at this thread:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3208328#3208328

 

[sirvine]

By the way, I have forced myself to get used to Lightroom. I'm learning to like it, although there are a few features of Aperture that I miss.

 

[Dan Lazin]

That's an interesting thread. I hadn't realized that the DNG specification provided that choice; it's unfortunate, because indeed it does make DNG less universal than Adobe sells it. It's tough, because under certain assumptions -- like, say, Adobe being the dominant vendor of photo software, and assuming that Adobe keeps using DNG in the same way -- DNG is still the best format. I'm confident that future versions of Photoshop, Lightroom and so forth will be more likely to be able to open DNGs than ERFs.

But it's sad that we can't know that will be the case for all software. Really, ERF is not any better for future-proofness; now, there's just no answer. Or the answer is TIFFs. But I sure do like being able to access those raw features. Sigh.

 

[RFNewbie]

I'm a Mac fan too and have been struggling to make the Epson Raws run natively on the Mac. Thus far no success. The only way that I can get it to recognize is if I convert it to a PNG file first. Doing it by batch converting using Adobe PNG Converter doesn't work. Mac's Camera Raw still doesn't recognize it....so it won't show it in Preview. If it doesn't show in Preview, it won't show up in Aperture. But I have finally been able to get it to convert. The long and tedious way can probably be made a little more bearable by creating an action for it (but I have not tried). First open ERF file in Adobe Photoshop (I use CS2) then save it as a PNG. Now it can be view in both Preview and imported into Aperture. I am using Aperture v1.5.1 and it works fine. Downside is you loose all the Epson PhotoRaw controls such as vignetting compensation.

 

[Dan Lazin]

RFNewbie, I think you have DNGs confused with PNGs. PNG is the Portable Network Graphics format, which was created more or less as a replacement for the JPEG format. (PNG is lossless, which is a big improvement over JPEG, and PNG supports transparent pixels, all while keeping the filesize small enough to download quickly.)

PNGs, however, do not include the big features of DNGs (Digital NeGatives) like non-destructively changing white balance. PNGs are not a real raw camera format, whereas DNGs (arguably) are. For the purposes of archiving photographs, PNGs are not really any more useful than TIFFs (except that they have a smaller filesize).

Aperture does support PNGs just as it supports JPEGs, GIFs, TIFFs and so forth, but using a non-raw format like PNGs in Aperture means you lose one of Aperture's major features, namely non-destructive editing. Due to the odd way Apple treats DNGs, I don't believe that opening an ERF in Photoshop, then saving as a DNG will result in a file that Aperture can use.

And welcome to RFF.

 

[RFNewbie]

RFNewbie, I think you have DNGs confused with PNGs. PNG is the Portable Network Graphics format, which was created more or less as a replacement for the JPEG format. (PNG is lossless, which is a big improvement over JPEG, and PNG supports transparent pixels, all while keeping the filesize small enough to download quickly.)

PNGs, however, do not include the big features of DNGs (Digital NeGatives) like non-destructively changing white balance. PNGs are not a real raw camera format, whereas DNGs (arguably) are. For the purposes of archiving photographs, PNGs are not really any more useful than TIFFs (except that they have a smaller filesize).

Aperture does support PNGs just as it supports JPEGs, GIFs, TIFFs and so forth, but using a non-raw format like PNGs in Aperture means you lose one of Aperture's major features, namely non-destructive editing. Due to the odd way Apple treats DNGs, I don't believe that opening an ERF in Photoshop, then saving as a DNG will result in a file that Aperture can use.

And welcome to RFF.

Thanks for the warm welcome to such a great group.

I was pretty frustrated with the lack of support for R-D1 in Aperture because I would have to convert the ERF into a JPG and only import the JPG into Aperture.

Now I finally made it work....the ability to import a raw file into Aperture.

First convert the Epson *.ERF into Adobe *.DNGs using the Adobe DNG converter.
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=106&platform=Macintosh

I did this in the past and it looked like it work but would not display in Preview or Aperture, it just gave an unsupported format error. It's because the raw.plist file didn't show it as a supported camera as discussed in the following RFF posting.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18699

I duplicated the D70 profile as suggested by the posting and so far everything seems to work like a charm.

Thanks for this great forum for giving me the tricks to make it happen.