Source: The Luminous Landscape
Written by Michael Reichmann

Sometimes photographers have little appreciation for what others types of photographers have to deal with. The fine art photographer may go out on a weekend and take a few dozens exposures, while a wedding photographer may come back with many hundreds. A photojournalist or a wildlife photographer may return from a major shoot with many thousands of images.

How each one handles their digital workflow will depend on the photographer’s temperament as well as practical issues.

Adobe has posted the Camera Raw 3.3 update information to the Camera Raw product page. The links to the actual Macintosh and Windows download pages have been updated to show the correct download links. PSN has the updated links for download. Here are the direct links for Macintosh and for Windows.
Updated on 01/20/2006 at 10:30 AM Central time

The Camera Raw 3.3 Public Beta is available from the Camera Raw product page.

Adobe Updates DNG Converter and Adds New ‘Camera Raw’ Plug-in for 14 New Cameras

SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 20, 2005–Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE – News) today announced that its Digital Negative Specification (DNG) — an industry-wide initiative to create one unified format for archiving raw digital images — is continuing to win support from camera manufacturers and software makers. Ricoh Co. is the latest camera manufacturer to support DNG, with its new GR digital camera. By providing DNG support directly in its products, Ricoh joins respected camera manufacturers Hasselblad and Leica, along with a wide range of software manufacturers such as Apple, Extensis, iView and ULead.

Source: Photoshop Support Knowledgebase

Issue: When you convert images to DNG using the Camera Raw 3.2 plug-in and open them in Photoshop CS2, they contain artifacts.

After a slight web glitch, Camera Raw version 3.2 and DNG Converter 3.2 are now available for download from the Camera Raw product home page.

Adobe has updated the Camera Raw product home page to mention Camera Raw version 3.2 but the download links are not yet connected.

In a release posted by Nikon as well as a statement on the Adobe web site, indications are that Nikon and Adobe may have resolved certain differences with regards to Nikon’s NEF raw file format.

A post on the Adobe hosted Camera Raw User to User forums stated that a camera owner who sent his camera in to Canon for repair was unable to use Camera Raw 3.1 on the camera after receiving the repaired camera back. (read original thread)

Upon return, it was determined that the camera’s firmware had been updated to version 1.0.2. According to Thomas Knoll, the firmware update changed the internal name of the camera stored in the EXIF metadata from ‘Canon EOS 350D Digital’ to ‘Canon EOS 350D’ thus disabling Camera Raw’s ability to recognize the camera model type.

Source: Photoshop Support Knowledgebase

Issue: Generic camera thumbnails still appear for supported camera raw file formats (that is, thumbnails for newly supported cameras don’t appear) in Adobe Bridge after you install the Camera Raw 3.1 update.

From the Adobe hosted Camera Raw User to User Forum comes an interesting thread regarding why the author of Camera Raw chooses not to use custom profiles for digital cameras.

Source: Photoshop Support Knowledgebase

Issue: Adobe Bridge lists incorrect creation times for camera raw image files from some Canon digital cameras. (See the Background information section for a partial list of Canon camera models that may have display this problem.)

User have reported, and Adobe Bridge engineers have confirmed, an issue where a folder or volume name containing an apostrophe will disable Bridge’s ability to open Raw file formats within the folder or volume when Camera Raw is hosted by Bridge.

A Preferred Working Space for Digital Photographers
Source: Luminous Landscape
Written by Michael Reichmann

Most photographers work under the assumption that Adobe RGB 98 is the most suitable working space within Photoshop. Everyone also knows that the sRGB working space is smaller, and therefore less suitable for professional and fine-art printing applications. Sure, sRGB is fine for amateurs and the web, but real men use Adobe RGB – right?

It’s Done!

Bruce Fraser reports that he has received his author copies of Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS2 and the expected ship date of the book, slated to be May 25th., 2005 will be met! Bruce has said that almost 80% of this edition is new-required because of the dramatic improvements to be found in Photoshop CS2, Adobe Bridge and the new Camera Raw 3.x–some of which Bruce himself had a hand in (although he’s too self-effacing to admit it).

I’ve heard various complaints about the limited range of output sizes offered by Camera Raw. It’s true that the Size menu in Camera Raw’s workflow options only offers six or seven output sizes, but Camera Raw also has a hidden feature that lets you choose any output size up to 10,000 pixels on the long dimension. It’s hidden in the Crop tool.

From the Adobe Camera Raw User to User forums

Thomas Knoll has suggested some troubleshooting tips on the installation of the Camera Raw 3.1 update.
(see original thread)

If Photoshop CS2/Bridge is not working correctly after you attempt to install ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) 3.1, here a some hints on how to debug common installation problems.

Tom Fors, author of the ACR Raw Calibrator Script, has posted an updated beta for use in Photoshop CS2 and Camera Raw 3.1.

You can download the Beta 3.4 script from the Chromoholics web site.

Here’s a tip for using the new Smart Object feature of Photoshop CS2 and mutiple raw exposures with Camera Raw to produce a simple high dynamic range image blend.

The Adobe Camera Raw Product page has been updated to show the current Camera Raw 3.1 update. The download for the 3.1 update also includes the new DNG Converter.

Cameras added in Camera Raw 3.1 — May 2005
Canon EOS Rebel XT (EOS 350D/EOS Kiss Digital N)
Nikon D2X
Olympus EVOLT E-300
Olympus C-7070 Wide Zoom

Windows Updates / Macintosh Updates

In addition to offering preliminary support for the Nikon D2X and Canon EOS 350D, the newly-released Adobe Camera Raw 3.1 adds two new preferences that are useful for anyone using a DNG workflow in conjunction with third-party asset managers.

You can read about them in this short excerpt from the soon-to-be-released Real World Camera Raw With Adobe Photoshop CS2.

Working with DNG
(204KB PDF download)

From a post in the Adobe User to User Forum for Camera Raw, Adobe Camera Raw 3.1 update is reported to have been released to the Adobe FTP site. Note: the Camera Raw Home Page has yet to be updated.

As a serious digital photographer, you need the greatest possible control over your images. In the newly updated edition of his popular camera raw guide, best-selling author Bruce Fraser gives you just that.

You’ll learn how to take advantage of Adobe Camera Raw using Adobe Photoshop CS2 to set white balance, optimize contrast and saturation, handle noise, correct tint, recover lost detail in images before converting them to another format, and more.

Download a sample chapter and read an interview with Bruce Fraser.

The purpose of this short guide is to help you transition from Photoshop CS/Camera Raw 2.x/File Browser to Photoshop CS2/Camera Raw 3.x/Bridge. Nothing terrible is going to happen if you fail to follow these recommendations, but you will lose time.

Nikon’s decision to encrypt photographs created with its digital cameras calls into question the ownership of the “digital negative”, says the creator of the Photoshop image editing software.