[FAPARAGEATM]

I have been using Camera Utility 5.6.2 for a quite some time now. I have 2 questions.

1) I could not find the Digital filter effects options / selections, Is it omitted?

2) How do I post produce or edit a photo with Digital Filter effect embedded (without losing the Digital Filter effects?)


Thank you.

Sal.

[Adam]

I took a quick look and didn't see the filters, either. Might be in camera only, but I'd love to know the answer.

That said, there are agruably better filter options out there, i.e. topaz or Lightroom.

[rawr]

I could not find the Digital filter effects options / selections,

The best you will get is this item [under the Custom Image tab] of PDCU:



However it is not representative of the large number of filter options available in camera.

The in-built help for v5.6.2 describes some of the options a bit more [see below]



but they don't seem to work. For example, the 'Filters' icon only becomes active in the 'Monochrome' setting, but it doesn't seem to do stuff like extract the colour 'Red' from an image, like the in-camera filter would, for example, even if you select Red in the filter.

And although the Help file says that the 'Filters' icon should become active if you select 'Muted' or 'Bleach Bypass' as the Custom Image option, the filter icon fails to appear if you do.

2) How do I post produce or edit a photo with Digital Filter effect embedded (without losing the Digital Filter effects?)

Save the image as a TIFF or JPEG in-camera, then post-process as needed.

If you save in RAW (DNG or PEF), you may be able to see the effects in PDCU 5, but it doesn't seem as if you will be able to edit them. This is a rather silly limitation of Pentax DCU

[FAPARAGEATM]

The best you will get is this item [under the Custom Image tab] of PDCU:



However it is not representative of the large number of filter options available in camera.

The in-built help for v5.6.2 describes some of the options a bit more [see below]



but they don't seem to work. For example, the 'Filters' icon only becomes active in the 'Monochrome' setting, but it doesn't seem to do stuff like extract the colour 'Red' from an image, like the in-camera filter would, for example, even if you select Red in the filter.

And although the Help file says that the 'Filters' icon should become active if you select 'Muted' or 'Bleach Bypass' as the Custom Image option, the filter icon fails to appear if you do.



Save the image as a TIFF or JPEG in-camera, then post-process as needed.

If you save in RAW (DNG or PEF), you may be able to see the effects in PDCU 5, but it doesn't seem as if you will be able to edit them. This is a rather silly limitation of Pentax DCU

Thank you for your reply & help! exactly my point it's stupid limitation of Pentax DCU! Ridiculous, preposterous!

[rawr]

it's stupid limitation of Pentax DCU! Ridiculous, preposterous!

I agree. The Pentax software should allow users to fully emulate the same filter options available in camera. It's silly that the supplied Pentax software is inconsistent with the camera.

FWIW, there are nice free filter toolkits available, like the Nik Collection:

Google Nik Collection

and some of the in-camera filter effects can be reproduced by Photoshop and other image editors.

[FAPARAGEATM]

I agree. The Pentax software should allow users to fully emulate the same filter options available in camera. It's silly that the supplied Pentax software is inconsistent with the camera.

FWIW, there are nice free filter toolkits available, like the Nik Collection:

Google Nik Collection

and some of the in-camera filter effects can be reproduced by Photoshop and other image editors.

I will check it out, I have heard about that program, but I'm not familiar with it. I hope it's easy to learn & to use it.

[rawr]

I hope it's easy to learn & to use it.

Alas, it isn't. And it only works within host programs like Lightroom or PhotoShop (or free tools like IrfanView or perhaps Paint.Net as a plug-in).

Easy(ish) to use and learn RAW image editors are around, but it's very much a matter of personal taste which one an individual might prefer.

[Fries]

Alas, it isn't. And it only works within host programs like Lightroom or PhotoShop (or free tools like IrfanView or perhaps Paint.Net as a plug-in).

Easy(ish) to use and learn RAW image editors are around, but it's very much a matter of personal taste which one an individual might prefer.

There were stand alone versions available when I bought the whole Nik set of tools a long time ago and today I used the stand alone version of Color Efex and it is the latest version. Now that it is free I haven't checked if that is still the case. But I would be surprised if only the plug ins are available.

[rawr]

But I would be surprised if only the plug ins are available.

You are right about standalone. The Windows installer doesn't create any direct links to the standalone Nik programs in the Start menu or anywhere else, so I overlooked that.

In each sub-folder under the default install folder [in my case C:\Program Files\Google\Nik Collection] there is an executable to allow stand-alone use of each Nik tool in the collection (Define 2, Viveza 2 etc). Which is handy.

However only Silver Efex, HDR Efex, Analog Efex, and Color Efex allow you to open files directly, it seems.

[Fries]

You are right about standalone. The Windows installer doesn't create any direct links to the standalone Nik programs in the Start menu or anywhere else, so I overlooked that.

In each sub-folder under the default install folder [in my case C:\Program Files\Google\Nik Collection] there is an executable to allow stand-alone use of each Nik tool in the collection (Define 2, Viveza 2 etc). Which is handy.

However only Silver Efex, HDR Efex, Analog Efex, and Color Efex allow you to open files directly, it seems.

One can also use the other programs by choosing 'open with' after you select a photo. At least on my mac. Thanks for the follow up! I think the Nik stuff is rather easy to use but that's only me.