PEF RAW Help please!

Tammmzy · 10-28-2008, 12:31 PM

Hello everyone!

So I decided to try shooting RAW since everyone has been telling me its the best way to photograph, but i'm now having issues even loading my pictures onto my computer! My camera files are pef files and i was using photoshop 7 but i can't seem to find any plug ins to allow me to open the images in photoshop. Why on earth is raw better if you cant even open them! Do I have to use a totally different program to post process if I use Raw now? Any info would be HUGELY apprecitated!
Thanks!

newmikey · 10-28-2008, 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by Tammmzy

Hello everyone!

So I decided to try shooting RAW since everyone has been telling me its the best way to photograph, but i'm now having issues even loading my pictures onto my computer! My camera files are pef files and i was using photoshop 7 but i can't seem to find any plug ins to allow me to open the images in photoshop. Why on earth is raw better if you cant even open them! Do I have to use a totally different program to post process if I use Raw now? Any info would be HUGELY apprecitated!
Thanks!

I think you are having problems due to the old version of Photoshop you are using. Normally, you should be able to open RAW files in PS with something called "Adobe Camera RAW" or ACR. As I do not use either Windows or Photoshop, I do not know if the latest version of ACR supports PS7, but I'm sure someone else on the forum will be able to tell you or you might want to have a look at the FAQ's on Adobe's website.

This sounds a bit like "I drive a 1954 Ford Sedan with an 8Track player. Why can't I play my CD's in it?" if you understand what I mean

The other route is to get a separate RAW converter like Lightroom, Bibble or the free UFRaw and convert your PEFs to 16-bit TIFF before you edit them in PS. Best of both worlds, really.

Wulifou · 10-28-2008, 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by Tammmzy

Hello everyone!

So I decided to try shooting RAW since everyone has been telling me its the best way to photograph, but i'm now having issues even loading my pictures onto my computer! My camera files are pef files and i was using photoshop 7 but i can't seem to find any plug ins to allow me to open the images in photoshop. Why on earth is raw better if you cant even open them! Do I have to use a totally different program to post process if I use Raw now? Any info would be HUGELY apprecitated!
Thanks!

you'll need a raw converter, Try a google search, there are a lot of them, some free, some not. PS 7 cannot convert RAW AFAIK, so you would have to upgrade, or use a different pp tool (Lightroom, Aperture (MAC), ...... there are plenty)

**Ole** · 10-28-2008, 01:25 PM

Your camera came with a RAW converter, Pentax Photo Laboratory. It has a converter from SilkyPix which is actually quite good.

Photoshop plays the game of upgrades. You must upgrade to their lastest version in order to get support for the latest camera models. The least expensive way if you want to go that route is probably to buy the most recent version of Adobe Photoshop Elements or Lightroom. I don't think they have an upgrade offer from Photoshop 7 to Photoshop CS4 (or CS3 whcih would also work).

Photo Tramp · 10-28-2008, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by Ole

Your camera came with a RAW converter, Pentax Photo Laboratory. It has a converter from SilkyPix which is actually quite good.

Photoshop plays the game of upgrades. You must upgrade to their lastest version in order to get support for the latest camera models. The least expensive way if you want to go that route is probably to buy the most recent version of Adobe Photoshop Elements or Lightroom. I don't think they have an upgrade offer from Photoshop 7 to Photoshop CS4 (or CS3 whcih would also work).

Ole is correct, you need a RAW converter and your camera came with one. convert your PEF files to TIF either 8 or 16 bit if your going to PP your work. The TI F's are very large files and if you compare them to your PEF's you'll see the difference but don't worry all the information is there and your Adobe 7 program will open this universal file format. And by the way you can batch these conversions in Pentax Lab by highlighting each file from top to bottom. In order to do everything for the conversion, open Pentax browser and choose all your files then open Lab and change the file format to TIF (either 8 or 16 bit) I would recommend 8 bit then click on file and save. the conversion starts and It will take a while to convert many files but then you can save these files and use them to PP.
Either that or upgrade to a different version of Photo shop. The difference between bucks or no bucks

SpecialK · 10-28-2008, 06:19 PM

You can use Pentax Browser to convert from PEF to DNG, which is the "universal" RAW format. Or shoot in DNG if possible.

I had to download the latest ACR plug-in for Elements 6 to recognize the K20 files, but all is well now.

rfortson · 10-28-2008, 07:59 PM

Try the Pentax software. I actually like it, though I've now decided to move on to Lightroom 2.1. Anyway, that will open your files and give you plenty of good editing options to get you started.

If you like Photoshop, you can get Photoshop Elements for around $80 and it will open your raw files using Adobe Camera Raw.

TYOsborn · 10-28-2008, 08:04 PM

Originally Posted by rfortson

Try the Pentax software. I actually like it, though I've now decided to move on to Lightroom 2.1. Anyway, that will open your files and give you plenty of good editing options to get you started.

If you like Photoshop, you can get Photoshop Elements for around $80 and it will open your raw files using Adobe Camera Raw.

I can't seem to get the Pentax software to crop where I want it to crop. Most software just lets you loop or square a section off, but this wants measurements?? Maybe it's because I'm tired and cranky.

rfortson · 10-28-2008, 08:14 PM

Originally Posted by TYOsborn

I can't seem to get the Pentax software to crop where I want it to crop. Most software just lets you loop or square a section off, but this wants measurements?? Maybe it's because I'm tired and cranky.

You can also free crop just by dragging the corners of the preview image. I had a hard time figuring out how to reduce the image to a certain size, but finally learned that you just put in the dimensions of one of the sides and the other side is automatically reduced by the same factor as long as you keep it set to maintain proportions.

dosdan · 10-28-2008, 09:03 PM

Originally Posted by TYOsborn

I can't seem to get the Pentax software to crop where I want it to crop. Most software just lets you loop or square a section off, but this wants measurements?? Maybe it's because I'm tired and cranky.

Once it comes up with the crop dimensions form, you will find the dragable handles at the corners of the image (around the edges). You can then drag them in and move the centre of the crop region. You can't preview the result of the crop and it does not occur until you SAVE.

Dan.