Software to Edit Nikon RAW NEF Image

G

Grumpwurst

Member
Staff member
OK,

Tim tried to encourage me to take pictures in RAW when we were shooting at Disneyland, but being a real n00b, I was a bit scared. But, I did take some pictures in Nikon RAW on the last day (I have a Nikon D80). One of those pictures I slightly overexposed and wanted to give editing the RAW image a try.

None of the software that is on my computer supports that file format, so I'm wondering what I need to look for. Do I just need to break down and get the Nikon Capture software? Will photoshop do? Is there some good open source software out there?
 
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Is the ACDSee Pro 2.0 Public Beta software "user friendly". I've never used software like Photoshop or other graphics programs before. Is the learning curve reasonable, or am I going to pull my hair out?
 
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I have never used the ACDSee Pro 2.0 Public Beta software before, but I do use Photoshop daily and LOVE it.
 
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Ray, I use ACDSee Pro to organize all of my photos. It is very user friendly.

But I would recommend looking into Bibble (www.bibblelabs.com). It all started with a Nikon for them (and a cat named Bibble). Bibble comes in two flavors and you can try them fully for free.
 
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"Craig" said:
just remember to make a backup of your originals. Tim wrote an article on it.
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I've read that article. Plus, I'm a software developer and am totally aware of the importance of saving a copy of something before manipulating.
 
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I believe you can still download for free Nikon View (which contains a simple photo editor which handles both RAW and JPEG).

I have been testing and have been impressed with Nikon's Capture NX software which allows you to make changes without worrying about your original being lost. This is something high end photo editing softwware does and it runs about $150. The advantage to Capture is you can change ALL your camera settings and not just white balance and exposure since it is a Nikon product.
 
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Thanks Scott!

My first inclination was to purchase the Nikon Capture software since it was written to work with pictures taken from a Nikon camera. But the price is awfully steep to find out that you don't like it
 
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Actually I was reading on Bibble's forums that Capture EX does actually modify the original file, Canon does the same with DPP. Bibble creates a sidecar file with the changes for theirs.
 
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I noticed that about Bibble. That it creates a .bib file. But when I run Bibble, my computer runs out of resources rather quickly (I have 1 GB RAM) and locks up
 
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"harra" said:
Thanks Scott!

My first inclination was to purchase the Nikon Capture software since it was written to work with pictures taken from a Nikon camera. But the price is awfully steep to find out that you don't like it
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Well, depends what you compare it too. I see it's selling for $115 at Amazon today. A far cry from Photoshop prices and less then Aperture and Lightroom. I have used Capture NX and it does NOT alter the original RAW image. It does change the encapsulated JPEG image in the RAW file. The RAW file is only seen through a series of edits which can all be deleted, if need be, without altering the original.

Again, Nikon View is still available for FREE. Look down this list for it: Nikon Downloadable Software

All these products are available for trial periods so you can test drive them.
 
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"Scottwdw" said:
I have used Capture NX and it does NOT alter the original RAW image. It does change the encapsulated JPEG image in the RAW file.
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That actually makes sense. Thanks!
 
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