[mysterick]

I am having trouble just "getting" the concept of adjusting RAW images with PPL3. I need to read something that can explain in simple terms (if that is possible) the 'what' and 'how' of each of the adjustments. The PPB3-PPL3 manual that came with my camera doesn't seem to help me. Any ideas to help an old man?


I posted this somewhere else; I guess that was the wrong place because there were no replies.

[bc_the_path]

I am sure you will get useful responses here; it is the right place!
My two cents are as follows:
- PPL is not the best utility; it is not documented nicely either.
- You will need to consult books or to Internet resources to understand RAW processing. No short and easy to follow recipes.
- In the meantime, I suggest you open a single RAW image using PPL and save it using the default options (without changing anything). Than, start "playing" with the adjustments one at a time, saving the results afterwards. Then make side-by-side comparisons to see the results. FastStone Image Viewer (freeware) offers a nice and intuitive interface for you to make these comparisons.
- You need to see all the windows of the various tools of the software on your screen to "play". For me, the "histogram" window is the most important. Adjusting "sensitivity", for example, will change the histogram instantly and the likely result will be updated (on the preview window).
- If you are a "serious" amateur you may consider saving your files as "tiff". You will also need a "serious image editing program (!)" to edit those. Otherwise, you can just save the converted files as jpeg and edit them (brightness, contrast, levels, curves, unsharp mask...) using software ranging from freeware to $$$ware according to your taste... May be daunting for a beginner, can be mostly automatic for a pro.

Good luck!