Thread: RAW Processing Resources

Since we have had a few threads recently on RAW processing and programmes I thought it would be a good idea to have a thread with links to resource materials for specific programmes.

If you use RAW and know of good resources for the programme you use please post them here with an indication of the programme and version you are referring to.

There is a separate thread for resource suggestions for JPEG processing.

I've been using Bibble Pro 5 for some time (it's still not caught up with the latest cameras like Panasonic LX5 for example, but it opened raw LX5 files downloaded from the internet).

Bibble Labs - Professional Photo Workflow Software

Barrie

I use NEF, Nikon's internal format, extensively, with Photoshop and Adobe Camera Raw for post-processing. I can do pretty much everything I want to with these.

I used to use Bibble 4 LE, which worked pretty well from RAW as well and cost about a tenth as much. It was a bit quirky, though it had excellent batch-processing, e.g. for the time I did an entire shoot with the exposure compensation set down a stop from the last pic of the previous shoot. It came with a bunch of interesting plug-ins that not only put a pic into BW, but allowed you to simulate a particular film and even a particular printing paper.

Bibble Labs then brought out version 5, and since I was aleady a registered user of 4 I could use the beta edition for around 6 months. I liked it very much; however, when they released the product and my beta version lapsed the French version wasn't ready, the US web site wouldn't let me buy the US version (which I wanted anyway) and their local retailer here (Belgium or France, I can't remember) didn't stock it. So Bibble lost a customer.

I would very much recommend trying it, though. You can do many, many things, and that batch-processing really is good.

Introducing Bibble 5

There have been a number of discussion recently regarding RAW processing and a number of posts have recommended specific resources to help learn how to use Lightroom.

I've collected these suggestions here in this post and added a few more of my own specific to Lightroom.

First, here are some free online resources:

Adobe TV - a series of tutorial videos from Adobe

Lightroom for Digital Photographers - more free video tutorials. You can also subscribe in iTunes.

Lightroom Killer Tips - tips and other information in a blog format plus yet more video tutorials also available through iTunes.

And here are some that have to paid for (or you can use your local library)

1. Books

Martin Evening - The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book

Scott Kelby - The Adobe Photoshop Lighroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers

David DuChemin - Vision and Voice: Refining Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

2. Online/Downloadable

lynda.com: Photoshop Lightroom 3 Essential Training There is also an advanced course.

Video tutorials by George Jardine

Video tutorials by Michael Reichmann

Of these I have subscribed to and use all the free resources and also have the books by Evening and DuChemin. I have never used any of the paid for material since I have always found more than enough help and insight from the free materials so can't comment on whether these are worth the money.

We cross-posted, Barrie - great minds!

Originally Posted by olli

There have been a number of discussion recently regarding RAW processing and a number of posts have recommended specific resources to help learn how to use Lightroom.
....
Scott Kelby - The Adobe Photoshop Lighroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers
....

- if you can stand Scott Kelby's assinine sense of humour.

Originally Posted by Fuddlestack

We cross-posted, Barrie - great minds!

I'll second that John

I was perhaps lucky since I purchased Bibble Pro 4.9 and got my free upgrade to 5 when it came out. I've gone over to using Linux these days and Bibble is cross platform so it's very useful to me. The only windows I have now is 2000 and so modern Adobe products are denied to me, no doubt they are very good (I still run Photoshop 7 on my windows computer for printing purposes), but also quite pricey. I've made the small donation required to fully unlock the Andrea plug in on Bibble Pro 5 which gives a number of black and white film, developer and paper simulations, there's got to be some combination in there to suit your tastes for any particular shot.

Barrie

Olli, thanks for starting this thread as a one stop shopping kind of resource.

As an aside, yes Scott Kelby's sense of humor can be silly (or worse) but he seems to have toned it down quite a bit in the Lightroom book I have of his.

I know many find Victoria Brampton's site, pdf book and hard copy book to be very helpful: Victoria Bampton - Lightroom Queen

I have to confess that I have Kelby's, Evenings and yes...Brampton's. I need physical resources to refer to - and like to fold down pages, etc. I also like to call up my pal Don and get him to help me with some things, too.

Originally Posted by grebeman

...
I've made the small donation required to fully unlock the Andrea plug in on Bibble Pro 5 which gives a number of black and white film, developer and paper simulations, there's got to be some combination in there to suit your tastes for any particular shot.

Barrie

It's amusing to think that these plugins essentially degrade camera output to emulate printing papers originated maybe 50 years ago. Still, if the result is pleasing, why not?

Interesting that Bibble is cross-platform - I'd forgotten that, if I ever knew it.

Silkypix users will know how cryptic this prog and its manual can be. John Nevill published an ebook back in 2007 that uses plain English to demystify Silkypix somewhat. It was written for ver. 3 and afaik has not been updated to ver 4. The SE version supplied by Panasonic is ver 3 anyway. It costs about 3 GBP via Paypal. I bought it back then and found it helpful. LINK: