[pjthiel]

My comments with respect to calibration were more to the fact that Lightroom is a color managed application while most internet browsers are not

Thanks emalvick ... I did not fully appreciate this. And thanks for the great info... I will look into this again at the weekend when I have some time to explore the settings a little more.

[5teve]

its also worth looking at some one hit presets such as Mithrandirs presets posted on here... i generally use these as my base preset and tweak from there... my k20 'produces' very flat files when imported to LR with no processing added after.

Maybe see how they look after running them through the pentax software with the camera settings too...

I know this doesnt relate to your original question, but LR can be used to tweak en mass and i would of thought most people would tweak their files before exporting?

Essentially your workflow is the same as mine except after flagging, i then do a mass develop setting to a preset, then i run through them tweaking here and there to get the colours i like and punch i require, then exporting to picasa (if i am sharing) or JPEG on the server.

Hope this helps in a small way... presets are handy.. and some on here are pretty good too..

Steve

[simico]

My process to date is minimalist and straightforward, and goes something like this:Import all pictures from card Preview all images at "to fit" size (approx 720 on the long edge in my setup) Flag (F) those images that look "worthy" (focus, composition, interest) Select all flagged photos Export to Flickr "set" as JPEG
In terms of the export settings, it exports at 90% quality (versus the default 80%) and that's it.

This is just a guess, but maybe the preset (or whatever it's called in LR) you use for exporting at 90% also contains some image manipulating settings that change the image during export/JPG generation. For example it may contain adding more contrast and/or saturation, etc. That could explain why the preview in LR is different from the exported JPG, because the image is modified/tweaked by the preset during exporting.

Maybe you could also look and ask around on LR forums, the hardcore LR users may help to solve your problem faster

[K-9]

Try importing your RAW files into Lightroom with Auto Tone turned on. You can always take it off later if you don't like the changes.

[gooberlx]

The K7 does support RAW+, I take RAW + a small JPG as there is no codec for viewing PEGs for W7x64.

See here

[Adam]

Raw images need to be "developed" in lightroom in order to look good. The format gives you the ability to compensate for many factors that jpeg doesn't, but sometimes you'll have to go through a lot of tweaking just to make the photo look like a jpeg processed in the camera.

[robgo2]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I totally understand that exporting a JPEG from a RAW image "is processing". I guess I was just lamenting how marked the difference is. I guess I had an expectation that the RAW image previews in software like Lightroom (or similar) would be "better"--not better than say a JPEG (which we all agree is "processed"), but just better in general.

The only reason this matters at all is that I often go through the previews of my images in Lightroom and discount certain pictures as "not good enough". However, when extracted as JPEG alone (with no other user-controlled PP), the image is actually pretty good and perhaps even a keeper.

For me, at least, this was unexpected. I am fairly new to digital photography and just had a different expectation with regard to the RAW previews, that's all.

I am definitely interested in PP and maximizing the quality/value of hard-earned images; as a result, I will always shoot RAW, with my K-7 set to capture DNG as the default with the RAW button set to switch to JPEG for a single shot.

Thanks all for the clarification ... appreciate the input.

Are you new to shooting raw? It sounds as though your expectations were unrealistic. After a while, you will get accustomed to seeing unadulterated images and to judge their potential for enhancement. I think that LR even has an Auto button that will apply a set of adjustments. You can start there and edit further according to your own tastes. But my guess is that before long, you will want to work from scratch.

Rob

[Ash]

The beauty of RAW is that you have *total* control of the conversion process to JPEG, which means you retain as much detail as the RAW image data allows even before you edit the image on your PP software package. With some experience using the RAW software you can get impressive JPEGs the way you want them to turn out.

[NoMaD_PS]

Thanks emalvick ... I did not fully appreciate this. And thanks for the great info... I will look into this again at the weekend when I have some time to explore the settings a little more.

I understand you. I've had the same problem 2 years ago.

Try this for example:

1. open your RAW photo in LR
2. find the preset "Auto" in the left panel and press
3. you can try also "Punch" preset (or another at your choice)
4. find the Curves diagram to the right and choose "medium contrast" option (or you can make S-curve). Contrast of RAW is one of the most powerful things in LR - jpegs always are less contrast.
5. add some sharp to taste
6. check the histogram, saturation, per color saturation
7. export and tell us the difference
8. ?????
9. PROFIT!

and 10. GOTO 1 (every day)