Exporting to RAW file .NEF

[philE]

When inserting my raw .nef files into ptgui and then stitching them
together, I would then like to export the end result as a RAW .nef
file once again, can someone please tell me if this is possible?

If not in PTGUI is there another program that can enable me to do so?

Many Thanks

Phil

[Luc Villeneuve]

Hi Phil,

I am not sure that it's a good idea.

I never import NEF files in PTGui. I convert the NEF file in Capture NX to TIFF files (16 bits). I can use this conversion to tweak the files if needed.

Then I never go back to NEF (or raw format). The advantages associate to a RAW do not exist anymore. It is not "elastic" anymore.

Why do you want to do that?

Luc

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[Erik Krause]

Am 09.02.2012 10:04, schrieb philE:

> If not in PTGUI is there another program that can enable me to do so?

To my knowledge: No. As Luc wrote it makes no sense to write to a camera
specific raw format. There are programs however, that write DNG, which
is a universal raw format.

Please note that raw import in PTGui is not for quality work. There are
no possibilities to do chromatic aberration (CA) corrections and only
very limited support to alter white balance. You have no control over
exposure and other settings like in a decent raw converter. Much better
convert your raw files to TIFF 16 bit per channel images, which
(depending on the raw converter) can save the entire dynamic range and
do CA and white balance correction.

--
Erik Krause
http://www.erik-krause.de

[Luc Villeneuve]

I have been involved in building workflows all my career.

I cannot figure out how many times I found a tool that was great to perform one single operation of a whole workflow.

That's why, right after the analysis of the light of my images in Photo Mechanics, I convert my RAW files to a 16 bits TIFF file with Capture NX (I am a Nikon user). This is the only software that I am aware of that can understand ALL the bits and bytes of this RAW format. My next step is the creation of the HDR files which is done with another software. Then the stitching again with another software. Remove noise with PSD plug-in.

I use PTGui to stitch my images and frankly... THIS IS AN AMAZING SOFTWARE. But, I cannot imagine how Joost could eventually provide us with a tool that includes all the refinements I can get with multiple software.

It takes more time but it's my choice.

Luc Villeneuve
www.360-image.com/demo/chutemontmorency

[Erik Krause]

Am 10.02.2012 16:37, schrieb Luc Villeneuve:
> I use PTGui to stitch my images and frankly... THIS IS AN AMAZING
> SOFTWARE. But, I cannot imagine how Joost could eventually provide us
> with a tool that includes all the refinements I can get with multiple
> software.

I hope he never will. In my opinion it was no good decision to include
the use of raw files in PTGui. It was requested many times because
people don't really know what it takes to convert from raw. But it
doesn't improve the quality and it doesn't improve the workflow. It's
just to satisfy those lazy people that where better off if they shot
only jpegs anyway.

[Joergen Geerds]

On Friday, February 10, 2012 11:12:44 AM UTC-5, Erik Krause wrote:

I hope he never will. In my opinion it was no good decision to include
the use of raw files in PTGui. It was requested many times because
people don't really know what it takes to convert from raw. But it
doesn't improve the quality and it doesn't improve the workflow. It's
just to satisfy those lazy people that where better off if they shot
only jpegs anyway.

100% agree.

RAW import into PTGui is so far the only business decision Joost made that I can not support... 

and speaking of support, RAW import has caused way more trouble than what it was worth it, IMO. the amount of questions we had in this support forum, plus efforts to quench high expectations from new users were quite high, since it always seems to take 2-4 replies to educate somebody new what RAW actually is, and how to convert them into tiffs, and convince them to adopt a reasonable workflow, without complaining too much.

My suggestion would be to simply remove the RAW import in the next big PTGui release, and forget about it.

[Ken Warner]

That's been my opinion all along.

[PTGui Support]

Hey guys, this has been discussed several times and I know how you think
about this. But raw support has been the single most requested feature
and took little effort to add. Believe it or not but many users are
happily using this for convenience, and that's the 99% you don't hear
of. The occasional question can often be answered with a single link to
the FAQ (not this one but it was about raw export).

I appreciate all feedback but removing RAW support would IMO be nearly
as ridiculous as removing viewpoint correction because it is too
complicated for the novice. And it might in fact even affect about the
same number of users.

Joost