Pentax Photo Lab

Horseonthefly · 04-09-2009, 10:48 AM

I have been trying to use pentax photo lab to process DNG raw files to JPEGs/BMPs. For some reason, whenever I look at a photo in the viewing software it looks fine (like it did on the camera), but whenever I import it into the photo lab software it looks bleached out. No editing has been done to the file. This photo was a little dark so it's not as obvious but here's a screen shot showing the difference. The photo lab preview is on the right and the regular preview is on the left.

Click on the image to view it in a larger size

Would shooting in the Pentax raw format work better? I was using the DNG since eventually I would like to learn photoshop and thought maybe the adobe format would import better there. I have access to CS3/4 through the college I'm attending.
Thanks for the help.

**Marc Sabatella** · 04-09-2009, 12:56 PM

Do you have the "full auto processing" option turned on in PPL? That's probably what is trying to "correct" your exposures for you.

Horseonthefly · 04-09-2009, 09:10 PM

I have the custom mode selected. I assume that's what you mean? The only thing that changes when I switch from custom mode to auto is that all of the menu items dissapear. Is there another option that I'm just not finding? I've searched the manual and options menus and haven't been able to find anything else. Thanks.

**Marc Sabatella** · 04-10-2009, 09:46 AM

The image that the browser is showing you is the JPEG embedded within the file by the camera. That's the camera's opinion of how the image should be processed, using whatever camera setting you have made (bright versus natural, any increase or decrease you've applied to saturation, contrast, sharpness, etc). PPL is supposed to be able to read the camera settings from the EXIF info in the file and re-apply those same settings so it can more or less re-create the camera's own processing. Looks like for whatever reason that isn't happening. You might use the Browser to see what image settings you were using and then see if applying them yourself in PPL does the job. Or maybe there is a command in PPL to use the camera settings and you have it turned off? I don't use PPL much - it's pretty clunky. But in general, it *is* normal to see different RAW processors produce somewhat different results by default, and none of them are likely to exactly reproduce what the camera's own relatively primitive RAW processing engine would have done.

Quension · 04-10-2009, 08:44 PM

When the Browser's viewer window is open like that, it's actually rendering the RAW image, using the same algorithms as the camera as far as I can tell.

Photo Lab seems to use different algorithms, but it shouldn't look that different. It takes its settings from the camera by default in either processing mode, but that can be changed. Under Tool->Options, General tab, Initialize Parameters should be Yes; if that's different, then it won't be picking up the camera's settings. On the Advanced tab, the first two settings should usually be Normal Display and RAW File Setting; if either of those are something else, it may display different coloring.

Make sure you have the current version too, which is 3.61.

ibaldin · 09-28-2009, 10:23 PM

The preview generated by PP browser view should be the same as 'Full Auto Processing' in PPL - that's the whole point - if you like the full auto processing using camera presets, then export to JPEG or print as is, if you don't - invoke the PPL to adjust the image. It isn't a preview of any kind - it is generated on the fly (presumably using the same algorithm as is in the camera).

If you are observing a difference between the preview in the browser and in PPL, it is probably because you have a mismatch in 'Working Color Space' (PPB calls it 'Working Color Management'). In PPB it is under Tools/Options/Other, in PPL it is under Tools/Options/Advanced. Make sure they match.