I am seeking a program for "developing" raw photo files that will allow
me to do the following:
* Import RW2 files from my Panasonic camera, or else work with the 16-
bit-per-channel TIFFs that SILKYPIX can export.
* Actually do the work in a color space with more dynamic range than
8 bits per channel
* Separate out a single color channel to form a greyscale image
* Allow me to do a totally arbitrary, gonzo, balls-to-the-wall contrast
adjustment on said greyscale image.
SILKYPIX can import my RW2 and export them as 16-bit-per-channel TIFFs,
but it cannot do color separation and its contrast adjustment appears
to be limited to "reasonable" values. (If someone could show me how to
take the "reasonable" restrictions off and do severe contrast adjustment
in SILKYPIX, I would be grateful.) GIMP does color separation and is
willing to do any contrast changes you ask for, but it can only handle
8 bits per channel, so blowing up the contrast is really just a form of
posterizing.
Photoshop probably does what I want, but it does so much more as well
and is priced accordingly.
The point of all this: I got a fairly sharp picture of the sun
with sunspots on May 20th:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35853148@N05/7255502798/
Now, the sun is basically a big disk of brightness in this picture.
I think there is more interesting detail that could be extracted if
I could exaggerate the contrast around a point fairly high on the
brightness scale, i.e., "If any pixel is brighter or dimmer than
85% of full scale, I want to make it a LOT brighter or dimmer than
85% of full scale." SILKYPIX won't let me do this. Even if there
isn't any more detail to be extracted from this picture, I want to
have the ability to mutilate my pictures as I damn well please, on
general principles.
So, anybody know any good photo processing programs? Running under
Linux is a plus, but I am realistic as to the odds of *that* happening.
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