I need a Quick RAW Viewer

bbg404

bbg404

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Name
Ben
Edit My Images
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Morning all I'm frustrated with Adobe Bridge again!

It's probably down to my pc which is getting replaced in the next couple of month but I need a quick fix!

In Adobe Bridge if you don't enable 100% Previews the preview isn't the best quality but if I enable it it takes for ever for the previews to load!

I need Somthing I can view my RAW files including any edits I've made in full screen!

HELLLLP!!!!
 
Hi Ben,

Try enabling 'High Quality On Demand' for your previews, and FastStone Image Viewer may do what you want - it's free, but make sure you only download it from the legit FastStone site or you'll end up with some very dodgy redirectors!
 
Picasa 3 can show the embedded Jpeg of the RAW file. I think, you can right click on the image preview in Picasa, and 'Open with...' in Photoshop. I've just put in a new HD so can't check it atm.

If you download Picasa, always get it from a Google website, for it is they who make it. ;) :)
 
Thanks, @redhed17 - I use Apple's Aperture and Photoshop CS6 for my Canon DSLR RAW images but Apple doesn't support my new Lumix TZ60 pocket camera (yet?). So I need an App like Google's Picasa and have now downloaded it ready to install. :)
 
"I need Somthing I can view my RAW files including any edits I've made in full screen!"

You will only be able to view the edited raw file in the program you edited with. The only format where you are able to view the edited raw file is the DNG format and then you need to update the embeded jpeg to reflect this, it will then be veiwable in something like faststone veiwer or anything that reads embeded jpegs in raw files.
 
Adobe offer the free 'Adobe DNG Converter' App but you still need Photoshop or a similar editor to view RAW. Sorry, I don't have time to dig out a link and post it for you right now.
 
If it is only a RAW viewer you need then why not download Microsoft's RAW file viewer. It is free. I use it for .NEF files.
 
arclight said:
If it is only a RAW viewer you need then why not download Microsoft's RAW file viewer. It is free. I use it for .NEF files.
Click to expand...

No what I really wanted was a better edited raw viewer! So for example I have to raw file open it in raw editor make changes and click done with out saving it as a JPEG in Adobe bridge I can see the changes I've made well the quality of that image is shocking compared to if you reopen it in raw editor
 
When you say the image quality is shocking, do you mean pixelated/low res, or the changes you made are not showing?

If it is pixelated in Bridge, in the Preferences menu, Edit>Preferences>Cache, you can get Bridge to generate 100% Previews, which may help.
 
bbg404 said:
So if I make the edits I'in RAW I don't need to save them as JPEGs before this program will show the changes
Click to expand...
You can not save edits in raw, Ligthroom just attaches a sidecar. The raws remain the same. When you open them again in lightroom it reapplies the sidecar. if you open them in anything else you just see the original raw.
 
bbg404 said:
So if I make the edits I'in RAW I don't need to save them as JPEGs before this program will show the changes
Click to expand...

I see any changes I make to the RAW files in ACR when I click Done, and return to Bridge. Do you not see that?

Sometimes it takes half a second though. Sometimes when I open Bridge to start re-editing, sometimes I don't see any changes I've made in a previous session to a file until I click on it. The changes are recorded though as long as I don't delete the XMP sidecar file ACR created when I made changes last time.


Terrywoodenpic said:
You can not save edits in raw, Ligthroom just attaches a sidecar. The raws remain the same. When you open them again in lightroom it reapplies the sidecar. if you open them in anything else you just see the original raw.
Click to expand...

I think ACR creates side car XMP files, Lightroom works on virtual copies in its Catalog, and then applies any settings during export. All the changes are remembered in the LR Catalog.

If you convert the RAW files to DNG files then any changes are remembered as part of the file, no need for the extra XMP side car file made by ACR. You can always default the settings back to how it came out of the camera though.
 
redhed17 said:
I see any changes I make to the RAW files in ACR when I click Done, and return to Bridge. Do you not see that?

Sometimes it takes half a second though. Sometimes when I open Bridge to start re-editing, sometimes I don't see any changes I've made in a previous session to a file until I click on it. The changes are recorded though as long as I don't delete the XMP sidecar file ACR created when I made changes last time.
.
Click to expand...

I see the image change in bridge after a couple of seconds but the full screen preview is rubbish quality ill see if I can replicate it by taking a photo on my phone
 
What are you using Bridge for? I have not ever found a reason to use it.
 
my normal workflow is:
1. open bridge
2. open most recent images folder
3. open RAW image in full screen view to delete duplicates or blurry images
4. then select all remaining images and open in Adobe RAW editor to make relevant changes then apply (click Done)
5 .then with the edited NEF files I'm left with I like to reopen those in full screen to see if the edits I've made had worked or if they need re-editing once I'm totally happy then I save them as JPEG in a different location.

I know there's no right or wrong work flow and that's the process I like to follow as Bridge is a picture viewer there shouldn't be a problem in it showing me my edited images in full screen high quality BUT there is. my point being if I open 1 image in RAW editor make the changes and can see its clear and crisp and sharp I should then be able to open that same image in Bridge but in full screen mode and flick through all edited images that day but I cant cause the quality of that full screen image in Bridge is quite frankly Rubbish.

p.s. sorry for the rant
 
Bridge is a browser and can link and find any file if you know where it is. If you are into multi media it has many uses.
however lightroom is far superior for handling photographic images as it is a database. And can instantly find images even if the disk holding them is off line. There are no longer many reasons why a photographer would need to use bridge.
it is no longer included with photoshop or Lightroom in cc...but can be obtained separately.
Lightroom is the preferred option for cataloguing and viewing photographs.
 
thanks for your comments already had the same sort of discussion with a friend of mine and as its my work flow and I understand it its hard to make that step over to Lightroom I know its the way nearly every photographers going its just hard as I've never used it for the whole process. Ive used it for importing then exporting with watermark but never actually imported all my work and done a full edit session through it!!

Suppose id eventually get used it to its just taking that step haha
 
bbg404 said:
thanks for your comments already had the same sort of discussion with a friend of mine and as its my work flow and I understand it its hard to make that step over to Lightroom I know its the way nearly every photographers going its just hard as I've never used it for the whole process. Ive used it for importing then exporting with watermark but never actually imported all my work and done a full edit session through it!!

Suppose id eventually get used it to its just taking that step haha
Click to expand...

There is no need to do edits in light room I only use it for the library database I do all my raw conversions and edits in photoshop cc.
 
I use Bridge and ACR. I use Bridge for the viewing of RAW files, both pre and post editing. And apart from a sometimes a need to click on an edit image to see any edits to a RAW file when I open up Bridge, or browse to a completely new folder, it works well for me. I use it for entering Meta Data too.

I have LR, and you can do all the in LR, but you have to import images, at least initially, first. In Bridge I just browse to a folder In LR, I would either have to have all my images in a Catalog, have multiple Catalogs, or import images when I needed them, which can be very slow for lots of images, at least on my computer.

Also, when I make changes to a file, the XMP side car file is created, so as long as I keep the XMP file in the same folder as the RAW file, the the changes are applied. If something were to happen to the a Catalog, all changes of possibly thousands of images could be lost, because the Catalog is the virtual copies you work on. So back up your Catalogs. ;) :LOL:

Saying all that though, if it wasn't for one feature of the way ACR straightens images, I would probably be using LR, as the version of LR is more up to date than my version of ACR and has a couple of additional features.
 
redhed17 said:
I use Bridge and ACR. I use Bridge for the viewing of RAW files, both pre and post editing. And apart from a sometimes a need to click on an edit image to see any edits to a RAW file when I open up Bridge, or browse to a completely new folder, it works well for me. I use it for entering Meta Data too.

I have LR, and you can do all the in LR, but you have to import images, at least initially, first. In Bridge I just browse to a folder In LR, I would either have to have all my images in a Catalog, have multiple Catalogs, or import images when I needed them, which can be very slow for lots of images, at least on my computer.

Also, when I make changes to a file, the XMP side car file is created, so as long as I keep the XMP file in the same folder as the RAW file, the the changes are applied. If something were to happen to the a Catalog, all changes of possibly thousands of images could be lost, because the Catalog is the virtual copies you work on. So back up your Catalogs. ;) :LOL:

Saying all that though, if it wasn't for one feature of the way ACR straightens images, I would probably be using LR, as the version of LR is more up to date than my version of ACR and has a couple of additional features.
Click to expand...

You seem to have the wrong Idea of what Light room does with its library data base.

The word import is perhaps not the best one, as Lightroom never moves files about when it imports or exports. When it exports it saves a new copy of the file in the format you select and in the place you nominate. The original file stays where it is.

When you import into lightroom, again it does not move the file, it simply notes in the library where it is to be found and creates a thumbnail for viewing.
This database contains all the changes made to the file and all the search terms and metadata.
Light room does not care in the least where these file are, they can be on numerous hard disks or even in the cloud.
These can all be held in a single catalogue or in many catalogues.
What is vital in Lightroom like all catalogue databases, is that the file locations are not moved or renamed or the link will be broken.

I moved all my files from Iview to lightroom in a single day. I can still find all the early files through either program. Though I have not added to the Iview database since I made the change.

I am not sure that there are any differences between how lightroom CC and ACR in Photoshop CC Process raw files.
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
You seem to have the wrong Idea of what Light room does with its library data base.

The word import is perhaps not the best one, as Lightroom never moves files about when it imports or exports. When it exports it saves a new copy of the file in the format you select and in the place you nominate. The original file stays where it is.
Click to expand...
Depends on the selection you have chosen. LR can move or copy to a new location on import, or it can "add" the file where it is.

Re: viewing raw files with changes... to do that you need a program that recognizes your raw file format and recognizes/applies .xmp sidecar files. Plus you need to have LR set to create the XMP files in the same folder as the raw file (ACR does by default).

XMP files are Adobe and there aren't many other programs that utilize them... I understand that Window's Photo program can recognize/use xmp files (but I'm on mac).
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
You seem to have the wrong Idea of what Light room does with its library data base.

The word import is perhaps not the best one, as Lightroom never moves files about when it imports or exports. When it exports it saves a new copy of the file in the format you select and in the place you nominate. The original file stays where it is.
Click to expand...

I know LR does not import in the normal use of the word, and you can indeed leave the original files in place, as I do. I think I said it creates a virtual copy and and then applies any changes you've made on export.

Terrywoodenpic said:
When you import into lightroom, again it does not move the file, it simply notes in the library where it is to be found and creates a thumbnail for viewing.
This database contains all the changes made to the file and all the search terms and metadata.
Light room does not care in the least where these file are, they can be on numerous hard disks or even in the cloud.
These can all be held in a single catalogue or in many catalogues.
What is vital in Lightroom like all catalogue databases, is that the file locations are not moved or renamed or the link will be broken.
Click to expand...

The point I was trying to make was that if the Catalog/database is damaged or deleted, then all your edits are gone. In ACR when you make any changes a XMP sidecar file is created for every image, and so to lose all those individual files in one go would be a lot less likely.

Terrywoodenpic said:
I moved all my files from Iview to lightroom in a single day. I can still find all the early files through either program. Though I have not added to the Iview database since I made the change.

I am not sure that there are any differences between how lightroom CC and ACR in Photoshop CC Process raw files.
Click to expand...

There shouldn't be any changes between LR CC and ACR CC. I have the LR5, not CC, but CS6, and the ACR version with that.

However, as far as I know, LR CC does not straighten images, interface wise, in the same way as ACR. In ACR, you can zoom into an image, say a small building in an image, and draw a line down the corner on the building, and the image will be rotated to make that building vertical. In all versions on LR, you can't do that. Yes, you can draw a line, and the image with rotate, but you can't zoom in to do it. Imho, you can't be as precise in LR. If someone knows different, please let me know. :-)
 
redhed17 said:
The point I was trying to make was that if the Catalog/database is damaged or deleted, then all your edits are gone.
Click to expand...


Unless you've made backups. And LR makes it quite difficult for you not to create backups.
 
redhed17 said:
The point I was trying to make was that if the Catalog/database is damaged or deleted, then all your edits are gone. In ACR when you make any changes a XMP sidecar file is created for every image, and so to lose all those individual files in one go would be a lot less likely.
Click to expand...
LR allows you to write changes to an XMP at the same time as to the catalogue. I don't as my process makes no use of XMP files and I make regular backups.
 
sk66 said:
LR allows you to write changes to an XMP at the same time as to the catalogue. I don't as my process makes no use of XMP files and I make regular backups.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up about that. Seeing as I flip between Bridge and LR, that comes in useful. :)
 
Thanks, already found it. :-)

Can't believe I hadn't spotted it when I went trawling through the settings years ago. :rolleyes:
 
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