Opening RAW images

[cjdales]

Please help

I have taken some pictures in RAW format. When transfered to my lap-top they are saved as NEF files. How do I open them in Photoshop? The furthest I have got is doing 'file', 'open as', open as 'RAW'. But then I get stuck. The furthest I get then is a snow storm like picture with no image. Opening as any other format doesn't even get that far. What should I be doing?

Thanks
Chris

[jerryb]

hi,
hopefully some one better than me come on .. i don't do raw since i don't have a camera that downloads them but work with them alittle bit... none the less...

now i don't know version of ps you have? but i am thinking if it old... you may need to up date your raw file filter.... so you may want to check if you have the latest raw filters...

Please help

I have taken some pictures in RAW format. When transfered to my lap-top they are saved as NEF files. How do I open them in Photoshop? The furthest I have got is doing 'file', 'open as', open as 'RAW'. But then I get stuck. The furthest I get then is a snow storm like picture with no image. Opening as any other format doesn't even get that far. What should I be doing?

Thanks
Chris

[JustinPS]

You shoot with a Nikon if you have .NEF files

You'll want to right-click one of the .NEF files, go to "Open With...", click "Choose Program...", then see if Photoshop is on that list. If it is, then select it and make sure to check the checkbox that says "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file".

If Photoshop is not on the list, you'll want to click "Browse..." and then navigate to your Program Files folder, to the Adobe folder, then to the Photoshop folder, and then select Photoshop.exe. Still make sure to check the checkbox that says "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file"!

[Medley]

And it may still be that none of that works. Adobe has to update the Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) plug-in from time to time to accommodate newer camera models. It may well be that the ACR plug-in you're using is too outdated for your camera- especially if you're using an older version of Photoshop.

You can download plug-in updates from Adobe's website, but this has limitations too. When CS3 debuted, Adobe quit writing updates for CS2. I'm sure the same is true with CS4 and CS3 respectively. So eventually, your version of the ACR plug-in will be too outdated for those new-fangled cameras, and Adobe will have quit writing updates for your version of Photoshop.

Enter Adobe's DNG converter. The DNG (Digital NeGative) file format was Adobe's attempt at a universal Raw file format. While it hasn't quite caught on (due largely to certain camera manufacturer's reluctance to share the inner working of their Raw formats), it does have it's uses. Specifically, the DNG converter can convert any Raw file to the DNG file format, which can then be read by Photoshop versions as far back as Photoshop CS, and Photoshop Elements versions as far back as 3.0. Every time that Adobe updates it's ACR plug-in, it also updates the DNG converter. So theoretically, you could take a Raw image from a Nikon D90, convert it to DNG, and open that image in Photoshop Elements 3.0

So now that I've explained the 'why' (or tried to anyway), let me ask you:

Which model Nikon are you using, and which version of Photoshop?

- Joe U.

[cjdales]

Thanks for that Medley

I'm using a D80 with PS5.5

I'll give it a go

[Medley]

Yep, definitely time to look at an upgrade. PS5.5 has no capacity for Raw images at all (Photoshop CS is a full 3 version beyond what you have now.). I suggest looking into either Photoshop Elements (the current version is 7) or Adobe Photoshop Lightroom2.

You can download a free trial of Elements 7 here: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop ... moid=BPDEM

and you can download a trial of Lightroom here: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/

- Joe U.