Many Mac OS X "Tiger" users don't realize that they have a powerful Raw converter bundled with their operating system. Every 10.4 Mac comes with a handy application called Preview that most folks think of only as a PDF viewer. Even Apple touts its PDF capabilities without going into much detail about its hidden powers. The most notable of these lesser known features is Preview's ability to decode Raw files and convert them to other formats.
It's true. You don't need Photoshop Camera Raw. You don't need Aperture. If you want to open a common Raw formatted image, just drop it on the Preview icon on your Dock. Preview will decode the Raw file and display it on screen. But wait, things get even better. Go to Tools > Image Correction and you're greeted with a handy set of adjustments that include Exposure, Gamma, Saturation, Contrast, Brightness, Sharpness, and even Sepia -- all of which you can use for manipulating your Raw file.
Would you like to read the metadata embedded in the file header? Go to Tools > Get Info and click on the Details tab. Tons of image data are revealed including dimensions, aperture, shutter speed, color space, and even the camera model used to capture the shot.
When you're ready to convert the file, go to File > Save As and choose among four different formats: Photoshop, Tiff, PNG, and PDF. With the first three options, you can choose between 8-bits or 16-bits per channel. And if you choose the PDF format, you have more options including file encryption -- that's right, you can assign a password to your image to protect it from prying eyes.
And yes, there's still more. You can rotate the Raw file, flip it, assign a Colorsync profile, then print the image. If you go to View > Customize Toolbar, you can add a cropping tool and even a Scale resizer. So not only can you zoom in and out with the Zoom tools, you can set the numeric amount to scale the image, such as 25 percent. Then crop it if you wish.
Preview is an amazing photo editing application that's right there under your nose. If you haven't done so already, I recommend that you add it to your Dock, and use Preview whenever you have to make quick edits to a stray Raw file, or to save it to another format. For many simple jobs, this tool is faster than Photoshop.
Technorati Tags: digital photography, tips
Read More: Photography
Posted by dstory on May 24, 2006
| Comments (46)
| TrackBack (1)
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.thedigitalstory.com/mt/trackback/121
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference The Simplest of All RAW Converters:
» power outlet strips from power outlet strips
He who does this is a sacred thing among warriors and scouts of the hills, she intimated the expectation of the drooping plants. [Read More]
Tracked on January 3, 2007 05:00 AM
Comments
Cobbler should stick to his last, a,
Commented by: Griffith at May 30, 2008 06:21 AM
Cobbler should stick to his last, a,
Commented by: Griffith at May 30, 2008 06:21 AM
Cobbler should stick to his last, a,
Commented by: Griffith at May 30, 2008 06:20 AM
Cobbler should stick to his last, a,
Commented by: Griffith at May 30, 2008 06:19 AM
Hello, your website is very informative and useful,
I would like to share with you links, send all the questions
on my e-mail.
Commented by: Mark Pris at February 26, 2008 01:20 PM
Wow great site! Some really helpful information there.
I’m sorry for little off-topic, but I want to ask you about design of this site.
Did you make this template yourself or got from any templates website?
Looks pretty cool for me. Wonderful well this reading.
Commented by: John Svid at February 25, 2008 06:16 AM
Nice site.thank you
Commented by: advesory at October 28, 2007 02:44 AM
Nice place! Chapter "photo tips" very intresting!
Thank you! :)
Commented by: Dred at August 24, 2007 02:29 PM
Well, this didn't work for me. Are RAF files not supported?
Commented by: Celinda at July 7, 2007 05:04 PM
Hi Jim. Photos i received. Thanks
Commented by: Bill Compton at June 4, 2007 01:42 PM
hi nice site.
Commented by: alex at April 13, 2007 09:12 AM
hi nice site.
Commented by: alex at April 13, 2007 09:12 AM
hi nice site.
Commented by: alex at April 13, 2007 09:11 AM
hi nice site.
Commented by: alex at April 12, 2007 09:43 AM
Excellent work! Maybe it is hard to find something pleasant for me, but in fact there are the things like your site, bringing a sheer pleasure!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commented by: officeworms at October 8, 2006 05:52 AM
My sister told me about your web site and I really enjoyed it. Very properly done. Very interesti
ng!
Commented by: NokiyaUp at October 4, 2006 05:57 AM
SUPER!!!!!
Commented by: otecotec155 at October 3, 2006 06:22 PM
Very good site. Thank you!
Commented by: waterbeddenconcurrent at September 27, 2006 02:12 AM
Cool site. Thanks:-)
Commented by: analytical balance at September 26, 2006 11:18 PM
Cool site. Thanks:-)
Commented by: analytical balance at September 26, 2006 11:17 PM
Nice site. Thanks!
Commented by: lux at September 26, 2006 09:10 PM
Cool site. Thank you!
Commented by: o driscoll tackle video new at September 26, 2006 06:49 PM
Cool site. Thank you!
Commented by: o driscoll tackle video new at September 26, 2006 06:48 PM
Very good site. Thanks.
Commented by: tracy murrell at September 25, 2006 05:19 PM
Cool site. Thanks:-)
Commented by: golden gate at September 25, 2006 03:42 PM
Cool site. Thanks:-)
Commented by: golden gate at September 25, 2006 03:41 PM
Good site. Thank you:-)
Commented by: alex tanguay at September 25, 2006 03:28 PM
Cool site. Thanks!
Commented by: v428u at September 25, 2006 01:49 PM
Very good site. Thanks.
Commented by: multiclad at September 25, 2006 12:57 PM
Good site. Thanks:-)
Commented by: hp1125c at September 25, 2006 12:35 PM
Very good site. Thanks:-)
Commented by: counter hight tabels and chairs at September 24, 2006 10:49 PM
Nice site. Thanks.
Commented by: convection at September 24, 2006 10:01 PM
Very good site. Thank you!
Commented by: notebook computers at September 24, 2006 09:06 PM
Nice site. Thank you:-)
Commented by: e322 at September 24, 2006 06:09 PM
Nice site. Thank you:-)
Commented by: e322 at September 24, 2006 06:09 PM
but how does 16bit export work?
Commented by: pixel at May 30, 2006 02:44 AM
Not only this is available in Preview.app but this is available to any Mac app that uses the great API offered by Apple: ImageIO. Basically just call this system API and you can load and save in a lot of format.
Thanks to this the application I am writing natively supports a *lot* of formats, and it only took about 15 lines of code :
I made a comprehensive list of the supported formats (look for 'supported formats' near the bottom of the page.
http://www.chocoflop.com/features/
Damn, even I didn't know my app could import MacPaint files :-)
Commented by: Jacques Lema at May 26, 2006 01:24 PM
nice to know i am not the only one who knows about this...now. one thing to note of importance is the level that the raw conversion manipulates the file. the preview is useful to look at the images, but the quality of the conversion is not the same as that of iphoto or aperture. try it yourself, you might notice a funny vertical, or an edge in preview. but in the dedicated apps, the image is crystal. thought you folks could take my tidbit of experience for whatever it is worth. and on topic even...
Commented by: mintz at May 25, 2006 01:07 AM
actually, it's more interesting than that... canon G1 RAW 'is' a CRW file. I think the issue is more related to the image matrix mapping and how it's represented/understood by OSX apps (I assume preview, iphoto, & apperture rely on the same basic library to a point). There was a thread on apple's support site that mistakenly thinks it has solved this issue ;)
Commented by: glenn at May 24, 2006 07:54 PM
You're right. Preview only supports the same Raw file formats that iPhoto 6 and Aperture supports. Generally speaking, the useable Raw formats are: CRW, NEF, TIF, CR2, and OLY. I'm sure (I hope) support for others will follow.
Commented by: Derrick at May 24, 2006 11:52 AM
unfortunately, their RAW engine does not recognize the older RAW format used by the Canon G1 :(
Commented by: glenn at May 24, 2006 11:47 AM
Hmmm... doesn't seem to like KM.mrw files :( I wonder where there is a list of supported raw files?
Commented by: mack at May 24, 2006 11:37 AM
This is absurdly cool. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Apple would think of these Core Image tie-ins for even a "simple" app like Preview. Ever since my switch to Mac (~ 3 years ago) it seems like these sorts of neat little discoveries about the OS come at regular intervals.
Commented by: Travis Saling at May 24, 2006 09:51 AM
Awsome tip! You have no idea how many hours of work you have save me. I still plan to get Aperture but what a great tool for a quick and dirty RAW conversion. Thank you!
Commented by: Leonard at May 24, 2006 09:08 AM
I love comming here, everytime I learn somthing new, Thanks.
Commented by: simon at May 24, 2006 01:28 AM
It is a lot of ful dirt.
http://noroyale.freehostia.com/student1552.html bcc student
Commented by: annojetwoxoft at June 27, 2008 07:33 AM