![]() ![]() These updates are now only available to customers who are using Photoshop CC (since Camera Raw 9.2/Lightroom 6.2, ongoing Camera Raw support has ceased for CS6 customers). An example of a Photo Merge HDR DNG created and processed in Lightroom from three bracketed exposure images.Ĭamera Raw gets updated several times each year to provide support for the latest cameras and lenses. Therefore Camera Raw/Lightroom HDR DNGs offer a more efficient workflow for HDR photography compared to other HDR-‐processing methods. This is compared to HDR files that contain “baked” output-referred data that have to be saved as 32-bit TIFFs in order to store more than 30 stops of image data. It is also worth pointing out that Camera Raw/Lightroom Photo Merge HDR are saved as compact, scene-referred 16-bit floating point TIFFs that can contain over 30 stops of image data. An example of a Panorama Photo Merge image created in Lightroom and saved as a raw DNG. Because of this they can retain the raw characteristics of the source images. If you are using Camera Raw 9 or Lightroom 6, you can create Photo Merged panoramas or HDR images that are saved as DNGs. If you compare the file size of the raw original with a converted DNG, the DNG file size will usually be smaller. In some instances the file size savings can be really dramatic. This is because the lossless compression method Adobe uses is generally more efficient compared to that implemented by most proprietary raw formats. Raw files that have been converted to DNG tend to be smaller in size compared to the original raws. In the Lightroom File Handling preferences you can enable Embed Fast Load Data when saving a DNG file. The DNG spec also enables image tiling, which can speed up file data read times when using multicore processors compared with reading a continuous compressed raw file, that can only be read using one processor core at a time. ![]() Having said that, Lightroom 6.3 now includes faster Camera Raw caching whereby the opening of proprietary raw files is now almost as fast as opening a DNG with Fast Load Data enabled. This enables faster loading when opening an image in Camera Raw or Lightroom. The DNG format allows you to enable Fast Load Data, which stores a standard-size preview in the DNG file. In Lightroom you can choose Validate DNG Files from the Library menu to check the integrity of your DNGs. This is a useful feature for archivists as it allows them to check on the condition of their archived files. The DNG format contains a checksum validation feature, which can be used to spot corrupted DNG files. It is likely Adobe will be around 10 years from now, but photographers should really be asking themselves “what will happen in 50 or 100 years’ time?” Therefore, continued support for undocumented file formats is directly dependent on future support for those applications. Major operating system updates have been known to make older operating systems, and the software that runs on them, obsolete within a matter of a few years. However, in the long term, there are legitimate concerns about the suitability of storing raw files using undocumented file formats. For now, there is no imminent need to convert everything to DNG since undocumented raw formats can still widely be read. The only proviso is that the photos you import or select are in a raw format Lightroom recognizes. You can also do this by making a selection of photos in the Library module and choosing Library > Convert Photos to DNG. You will notice that whenever you import files into Lightroom, you have the option to convert to DNG. This should hold true in the same way regular TIFF files look set to be readable for the foreseeable future. ![]() This supports the case for DNG as an archive format that meets the criteria for long-term file preservation that will enable future generations to access and read the DNG raw data. A number of programs other than Lightroom and Photoshop are able to read from and write DNG files. The DNG format is open standard, which means the file format specification (based on the TIFF 6 file format) is made freely available to any third-party developer. Some cameras even give you the option to save your capture images as DNG (including the latest Android smartphones). Any of the 500‐plus types of raw files that are currently supported by Camera Raw and Lightroom can be archived using DNG. ![]()
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