Dng

[justin24]

Do you use DNG now as your "RAW" preference or do you still use the cameras RAW file format? What are the advantages to DNG. I know the files are smaller but not by much vs RAW that your camera saves it as? I have converted some of my RAW (NEF) files to DNG. Should I continue to save in DNG or save as NEF?

[run_kmc]

I have Lightroom convert my RAW files to DNG whenever I import something. I don't think it really matters, but I do it so that Lightroom can write its settings to the file itself instead of a separate XML file. I think it makes importing an exported library easier later on.

[arodney]

See: http://www.ppmag.com/reviews/200709_adobedng.pdf

[Art Scott]

See: http://www.ppmag.com/reviews/200709_adobedng.pdf

when I send a wedding to a processor as a DNG and they run it thru LR and then send back to me.....all their changes are contained in the meta-data and comes back to me without any extra files to contend with, but if I send the camera's raw files I must get back an XMP sidecar file to have the changes I paid for...Is that correct??

[arodney]

when I send a wedding to a processor as a DNG and they run it thru LR and then send back to me.....all their changes are contained in the meta-data and comes back to me without any extra files to contend with, but if I send the camera's raw files I must get back an XMP sidecar file to have the changes I paid for...Is that correct??

IF they save this yes (in Lightroom, you actually have to use the command/control S, or Update DNG Preview & Metadata command).

To have this done automatically, check Automatically write changes into XMP from the Catalog Settings preferences.

[Art Scott]

so they must save the changes to the dng file for it to come back to me with the changes made....this is not done automatically in Lr with a dng?? As I am trying to rid myself of all xmp sidecars if possible....I know they do not take up much actual real estate but they are clutter in my filing system.

Thanks

[arodney]

Its done automatically if they have the Auto save XMP preference in Catalog Preference’s on. But that would be true for non DNG’s with sidecar files.

[Art Scott]

After re-reading your article, it seems my first impression should be correct....if one imports all raw files and has LR to change to DNG and discard (delete) the raw files then all processing, in LR is kept with the dng metadata and these is no need for the xmp side car at all.

Have I misunderstood this?

thanx for your patience.

[arodney]

After re-reading your article, it seems my first impression should be correct....if one imports all raw files and has LR to change to DNG and discard (delete) the raw files then all processing, in LR is kept with the dng metadata and these is no need for the xmp side car at all.


The XML can be stored within the DNG yes.

[J.G.McClain]

Another good reference is also http://www.dpbestflow.org/ , their book is very informative.

[kolibri]

I started converting all my canon raw files to DNG when I got my first DSLR, I like the idea, in general of the open specification file format, and the lack of sidecar files. But since then I've found that I like Bibble as the best Linux compatible raw workflow app, and they don't support converted DNG files :(

So now I have a few years of DNG files that I can still open in GIMP, or DCRAW/UFraw , but not in Bibble.

I find that Bibble's support for Linux seriously dulls my annoyance at their lack of support for DNG, so I've traded DNG archiving for the ease of use I find in Bibble.

I highly doubt that in 50 years anyone will care about my old picture files anyway, but the tag-along .xmp files still bug me.