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01-22-2008, 09:42 AM   #1
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RAW in Linux - PEF vs. DNG?

Hi all.
Is there any real difference in quality when shooting .PEF versus the generic Adobe .DNG formats? I sure can't see any, but I'm curious if others have noticed anything.
The reason I ask, is:
I've been a die-hard Linux fanatic for 8 years now, and I do all my image processing in The GIMP (The GNU Image Manipulation Program). It's an extremely powerful and FREE program, it has much the same capabilities as Photoshop, and it has been ported for Linux, Mac and Windows. It comes standard with most Linux distributions.
I'm unable to make my Linux machines read the Pentax .PEF files, but I've had no problem at all with reading .DNG. I had to install a plug-in module for the GIMP to do this, and thought that this might be of interest to any other Linux users here on the forums. The module is called 'ufraw' and you should be able to find it for almost any Linux, Mac or Windows machine that's running the GIMP. I was able to install it on Fedora Core Linux, Ubuntu Linux, and Windows XP GIMP with no problems, directly through the add/install software manager.
Frankly, the 'ufraw' user interface is (to me anyway) FAR more logical and easy to use than the RAW Silkypix WIndows-only software that came with my K10d. So unless someone advises otherwise, I'm sticking with .DNG and the GIMP for my RAW photo processing!
And if anyone has GIMP or Linux questions related to photography or publishing, I'm happy to help. I'm very enthusiastic about open-source software, and am currently wrapping up a 300-page book project that's been produced *entirely* with free software.....Linux O/S, The GIMP for photos, Inkscape for graphics, QCAD for CAD drawings, OpenOffice for text editing, and Scribus for layout and PDF generation.
GIMP - ufraw editing screenshot below.

DAN


Last edited by danbob; 01-22-2008 at 09:58 AM. Reason: added screenshot
01-22-2008, 10:01 AM   #2
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The PEF and DNG files contain the exact same image data. They differ in size because the PEF is (losslessly) compressed. Processing either with the same parameters will give the same results.

BTW, I'm a Linux (CentOS 5), Gimp & UFRaw user too :-)
01-22-2008, 10:29 AM   #3
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Ah, another Penguinista! I use .pef, myself, FWIW.






GIMP rulez
01-22-2008, 10:44 AM   #4
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Ubuntu Linux user for 12 months
The Gimp rules,
No need for Photoshop anymore!
Ed

01-22-2008, 04:33 PM   #5
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Hi Guys,

Just getting into Ubuntu myself. I bought a preloaded Dell and have just started to investigate Raw converters and Gimp. I would be grateful for any helpful documentation or reference websites.
01-22-2008, 05:08 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by johnny_rino Quote
Hi Guys,

Just getting into Ubuntu myself. I bought a preloaded Dell and have just started to investigate Raw converters and Gimp. I would be grateful for any helpful documentation or reference websites.
There's the ufraw plug-in for GIMP, Googgle's Picasa (runs transparently under WINE), and of course, ImageMagick. There's also a number of Gimp books on Amazon.

GIMP Tutorials and useful snippets

GIMP - Tutorials

» GIMP Tutorials

GimpTutorials - Wilber's Wiki

Picasa

ImageMagick: Convert, Edit, and Compose Images

Amazon.com: gimp

Go nuts.
01-22-2008, 05:33 PM   #7
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Cheers DD!!

01-22-2008, 06:01 PM   #8
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I spoke a while back with an Adobe engineer who assured me that, when I use Adobe Lightroom to convert a PEF to a DNG, all of the original data gets transferred exactly, in other words, it's a no-risk, no-cost conversion. I shoot PEF in camera because the files are smaller (compressed in camera), then convert to DNG because the converted files are smaller still (Lightroom converts and compresses, and apparently DNG compresses better than PEF).

By the way, a number of the top-level editing programs are available for Linux. There's a Linux version of Light Crafts LightZone, and I believe that there's a Linux version of Lightroom as well (but I'm less sure about that). I mention because, well, I've used The Gimp. ;-) But different strokes for different folks. If you dig the Gimp, more power to you.

Will
01-22-2008, 06:08 PM   #9
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Just want to report another Linux/gimp/Ufraw user here. Been running Linux since 1995 and havn't looked back
01-22-2008, 06:17 PM   #10
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Also, promising reviews about Krita. haven't tried it, myself.

The KOffice Project - Krita
01-22-2008, 06:26 PM   #11
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try LightZone if you get the chance...the beta is currently free but if you run the demos video captures on their site, you'll they let you do a lot of things that photoshop doesn't....
Learning Center
01-22-2008, 07:02 PM   #12
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PEF all the way, only because it is smaller.

If you are having problems processing PEFs in Linux, you need to stop using a version of dcraw (or ufraw) that is from the stone age. I've been using PEFs from my K10D with the following:
dcraw
ufraw (and hence GIMP due to the ufraw GIMP plugin)
digiKam

ever since I bought my K10D with zero problems except for a bug in Digikam with rotation of RAW images (that did not just affect images from my K10D, but images my Panasonic DMX-LX1 too) Said bug should be fixed in a released version of digiKam by now, as the bug was fixed in CVS months ago. (There was a workaround before that).

PEFs and DNGs should in theory function identically, but for whatever reason the K10D does not use lossless compression for DNGs but does for PEFs. For this reason alone, PEF wins.
01-22-2008, 07:25 PM   #13
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Just want to add that I'm also a Linux (Arch) user. I use Picasa and export to jpeg but I guess after this thread I'll look into some of the gimp plugins. That said, Picasa alone seems to handle most of what I need anyway.
01-22-2008, 10:12 PM   #14
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Here is again the link for LightZone for Linux.
I am surprised nobody mentioned yet the excellent Bibble Labs for Linux I am using.
Or Cinepaint.

Here is a tutorial on how to calibrate your monitor and printer with Argyll and Spyder2.

And, of course, the Wikipedia page on color management in Linux.

We can finally completely get rid off the expensive, ugly, based on ancient technology and inherently insecure windows.

What a relief.
01-23-2008, 05:24 AM   #15
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Ufraw (and anything that uses the dcraw converter underneath, which includes a of proprietary software as well) should be able to read PEF as well as DNG. Perhaps try a newer version?
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