File conversion problems

yvonne

I've been having some niggly problems. Recently started shooting raw. Did exposure and wb in Canon File Thingy, then converted to TIFF and did further manipulations there.

Now firstly, SOME files let me change from colour to bw using "desaturate", whilst others only let me use "mode" "greyscale". Not really sure why that is.

However, those same images were then not saveable from TIFF as JPGs, which I don't understand. Had to go the "save for web" then save as JPG route which was a pest.

Has anyone had this happen and knows what it's about??

And whilst we're at it. Is there a simple way of batch converting TIFFs to JPGs? I can batch convert Raw to TIFF, and I can batch process all sorts of editing functions, but I can't find a way to batch convert from TIFF to JPG. I'm using PS7... any ideas please?

dkapp

yvonne wrote:

I've been having some niggly problems. Recently started shooting raw. Did exposure and wb in Canon File Thingy, then converted to TIFF and did further manipulations there.

Now firstly, SOME files let me change from colour to bw using "desaturate", whilst others only let me use "mode" "greyscale". Not really sure why that is.

However, those same images were then not saveable from TIFF as JPGs, which I don't understand. Had to go the "save for web" then save as JPG route which was a pest.

Has anyone had this happen and knows what it's about??

And whilst we're at it. Is there a simple way of batch converting TIFFs to JPGs? I can batch convert Raw to TIFF, and I can batch process all sorts of editing functions, but I can't find a way to batch convert from TIFF to JPG. I'm using PS7... any ideas please?

I'm thinking we've had the same problem. When I started shooting w/ my D70, I couldn't save from Tiff to JPG, and used Save for Web successfully for months, but it still bugged me.

Here is what you need to do. You will need to convert the 16bit Tiff to 8bit before you can save as a JPG. I have PS CS, but it should be similar to PS 7.

Go to Image -> Mode -> 8bits/channel.

Maybe you can batch to JPG once its an 8bit file?

Hope this gets you started in the right direction.

Dave

Michiel de Brieder

yvonne wrote:

Now firstly, SOME files let me change from colour to bw using "desaturate", whilst others only let me use "mode" "greyscale". Not really sure why that is.

I don't know about this one, sorry...

However, those same images were then not saveable from TIFF as JPGs, which I don't understand. Had to go the "save for web" then save as JPG route which was a pest.

Now this could be a 'problem' of 16 bit images you're probably working on 16 bit TIFFs while jpeg uses 8 bit. You'll have to convert it to 8 bits to save it to jpeg . Note: I suggest to save a 16 bit TIFF or PSD of your work for future use and a jpeg for web etc and working on the 16 bit while postprocessing.

And whilst we're at it. Is there a simple way of batch converting TIFFs to JPGs? I can batch convert Raw to TIFF, and I can batch process all sorts of editing functions, but I can't find a way to batch convert from TIFF to JPG. I'm using PS7... any ideas please?

This is the same as creating an action to batch RAW's record an action inlcuding open and save and override open and save commands in the batch.

Hope this helps

yvonne

Michiel de Brieder wrote:

This is the same as creating an action to batch RAW's record an action inlcuding open and save and override open and save commands in the batch.

Hope this helps

Ah yes, the 16 bit vs 8 bit makes sense.

As for the batch conversion... eeeehhh. you wot?

My batch process RAW to whatever, opens a window that ONLY lets my convert RAWs to another format. It does not give me the option to choose a TIFF file to convert to a JPG. The process you describe above is a bit alien to me. Can you say that in "longhand" please?

Michiel de Brieder

yvonne wrote:

The process you describe above is a bit alien to me. Can you say that in "longhand" please?

sure I could, BUT someone else has a better way to explain this so I'll show you the video tutorial:
http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/tips/phs7rbrawbatch/main.html
just watch the movie and be amazed In the movie the process of going from a RAW file to a JPEG is described, while batching it and even creating a droplet. (ignore terms that you don't know they will be made clear in the tutorial) This tutorial will also give you the information needed to make an action to create JPEGs from TIFFs
If you have questions afterwards, just throw em out in the open

yvonne

Oh Jeez. Now you've opened a whole new can of worms. Great tool (and great tutorial) if I ever get the hang of it, but whenever I try to get it to batch anythign I've saved it says "make" not availabe, if I say continue it then says "channel mixer" not available, and then "convert mode not available".

Where did they all go? Why would the not be available?

Shay Stephens

yvonne wrote:

Oh Jeez. Now you've opened a whole new can of worms. Great tool (and great tutorial) if I ever get the hang of it, but whenever I try to get it to batch anythign I've saved it says "make" not availabe, if I say continue it then says "channel mixer" not available, and then "convert mode not available".

Where did they all go? Why would the not be available?

Not all features can handle 16 bit files, especially with PS7 and older. You may need to work in 8bit mode to have full access to any and all the features.

yvonne

Grumble, grumble... I can see investment in an upgrade coming up... like I'm not spending enough money already!!!

ginger_55

My RAW files go into 8 bit files when they enter PS CS. I don't care as long as I don't lose the main file.

They are sure cool. Last night, I was at the beach, working RAW, of course, hehe, ISO on 200 I think, the sun was setting. No exposure compensation. The sun went down. I was working slower and slower. THEN I REMEMBERED. And I went straight to 1600, I had to.

I still missed a shot, d camera wouldn't fire.

doG, I can't wait to get a 20D.

I do notice noise on the 1600, but the others, gorgeous as far as no noise, nothing.......

Check out my thread on wildlife, scenics, whatever. It is called Sunsets, the moon and me. I could have done my hand better, but that was post work, not the camera. And I have all the files leading up to it.

I did not do a lot to the photos, my theory is usually the less done in post, the less chance to screw up a really good photo. I figure I will have time for that later, if prompted.

g

I have to see what kind of privacy that aol added very recently. I can't down load to smugmug.

ginger_55

OOOOOOOOOOOh, forgot, grumble, grumble......I have to buy another hard drive.

And ink and paper. AAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHHHHHH. It is always something. There is a thread for this. It is near the top, it is called, "The sickness grows".

Great thread, and sooooooo true.

g

Shay Stephens

yvonne wrote:

Grumble, grumble... I can see investment in an upgrade coming up... like I'm not spending enough money already!!!

For what it's worth, I do all my work in 8bit mode.

yvonne

Right, I'm back from holiday now (Maldives post Tsunami, trip report with photos at www.zerovisibility.co.uk if anyone's interested), and am glad to report that all my file conversion and batch processing problems were solved by working in 8bit.

Thanks all.

Roger

Yvonne, I always convert my RAW files to 16-bit TIFFs. When I have to convert them to JPEG, either for Web viewing, for mail sending, or whatsoever, I use BreezeBrowser and it is efficient, smooth and fast. I can give it other parameters for conversion like resizing, sharpening, watermarking...
However, other photo tools like IrfanView (free!), ACDSee and Cam2pc also have identical options for batch convert.
There is a bunch of things I do not do with Photoshop, either for its inefficiency (remember that Save for Web option strips out the EXIF data) or for its malfunctioning (for instance, if you edit your EXIF/IPTC data with it you will get the data in error!!!...).

Roger