[Digikam-users] How to save RAW files?

[Milan Knížek]

sean darcy píše v Ne 25. 04. 2010 v 13:47 -0400:
> I've got .nef and .cr2. What's the best way to Save As during editing? 
> That is, how do I save them so I can continue editing them in RAW?

You cannot really "edit" in RAW, you can only influence how RAW is
converted to RGB bitmap, which can be edited as usual.

It may help you to google for some articles about RAW format and its
conversion to RGB bitmap.

Some programs allow saving "recipes" (a separate file), which is just a
list of commands for the RAW converter about how to do the conversion.
The RAW remains untouched. digiKam does not support "recipes".

> Tiff, ppm, png? Is nef or dng supposed to work?

TIFF, PNG, PNM, etc. are for saving RGB graphics. NEF or DNG are RAW
formats and it is not possible to save RGB graphics back to RAW format.

You can convert many proprietary RAW formats to DNG to gain the benefit
of storing metadata (keywords, etc.) directly in DNG and have the same
format for all your RAW pictures, however, the DNG is not the same as
the original RAW anymore. Because of this, I personally do not use DNG.

Apart from conversion to DNG, you can also keep the original RAW file
inside of DNG, but it basically makes the file twice as big.

Regards,

Milan Knizek
knizek (dot) confy (at) volny (dot) cz
http://www.milan-knizek.net - About linux and photography (Czech
language only)