Canon RAW in Paint shop pro 8
 

When I try to load Canon Raw files into PSP8. I get the following message:-"An error has occurred while trying to read from this file"
No problem with JPEGs just RAW.
Any suggestions?

Vernon,

I've just done a quick Google on 'paint shop pro 8 raw file support'. From the results, I'd say that PSP didn't fully support raw files until version 9. I'm no expert, so I may be wrong here.

According to the manual which was supplied with the software it does support RAW. I notice that Canon files are CRW rather than RAW so this could be the reason maybe?

I have PSP8 and mine cannot read Nikon RAW ( Nef ) files. The browser can read, but not open, the underlying jpeg though.

Don

Raw files are not a single, unified format, they aren't even common between the same brand, they vary from model to model. Canon annotate their files as CRW format, but one model's CRW file will be different to another model's CRW format. As Don has noted, Nikon annotate their files as NEF, but again, one camera's NEF format will be different to another Nikon camera's NEF.

There is no such thing at present as a unified raw format, though Adobe are pushing their Digital NeGative DNG format as a common standard across a range of cameras and image processing applications. This is the digital image equivalent of a PDF file.

Anyhow, Don appears to have answered your original question and explained why you may be having problems.

Regards,

Duncan

Thanks for the advice, any ideas as to how I can work on CRW files.
I have Adobe lightroom which accepts CRW files but would also like to be able to use clone tools etc to remove extraneous twigs cables etc from photos.

If you convert your raw file in Lightroom to a tiff then PSP8 will open that. It is also a lossless format so you will not loose anything over muliple saves while processing.

Try a Lightroom save as Tiff on your raw file an check it out.

Don

While I don't have it, I thought that Lightroom had healing & cloning tools. I've just looked at the Adobe website and in an article about how Lightroom, CS2 and Camera RAW work together there was this comment "As of version 3.7, Adobe Camera Raw cannot make further adjustments to enhancements made with settings or tools that are exclusive to Lightroom. These include Recovery, Fill Light, Vibrance, HSL, Grayscale, Clone/Heal, and Red Eye Reduction." which seems to suggest that it does.

I may be misunderstanding, but why not process the RAW files in Canon Digital Photo Professional first (which includes first class clone tool, but download 2.2 if your camera was supplied with an earlier version); you can then save as 16bit tif if you want to keep the changes layered to work on in another applications, or 8 bit tif or jpg. Don't know PSP but it must take tif.

PSP8 reads a 16 bit tif ok but converts it to 8 bit on saving.

I use the clone brush in PSP8 as I find for spotting it is a lot more accurate and controlable than in CS ( that will give CS guru's a laugh :D ) , hence I recognise that PSP8 uses 8 bit.


Don

Gidders is correct Lightroom does in fact incorporate a clone & healing brush, but they're a bit of a pain to use, and at £150, it's expensive.

Also it will not read Canon Raw files direct from your flashcard. you will need to load your files onto your H/drive first.
There is an option to import direct from your f/card but you have to accept that Lightroom will first convert your files to DNG.

Rawshooter Essentials is still available as freeware and this will read your Canon raw files, which you could then export direct into PSP.

The clone brush+pencil (stamp) in DPP is also extremely accurate. I THINK that if you use the direct transfer to CS2 the cloning comes up in its own layer, likewise if you have used any filters they would. This is not available for PSE4, needs someone with CS2 to confirm, but I do know that if you open a saved 16bit .tif in GraphicConverter (mac), it warns you it is a 'multipage' file and opens it without the filter etc as it does not have a layer facility.

For a canon user DPP seems the logical 1st stage for RAW/CR2.

Thank you daedal.
Downloaded the Canon software as suggested and it works just fine after I found out that Canon call it the "stamp tool"