Raw file editing not "seen" by Topaz software

Hello,
I am using Nikon ViewNX software to process my RAW nikon files. And here is the problem. Imagine an image that is too dark. I correct it using ViewNX. Then I go to TOPAZ to sharpen and… the image is too dark. The info regarding the RAW processing is not read by TOPAZ. Could it be fixed?

Kind regards

Przemko

Nikon ViewNX only recognized it’s processing, other applications have no idea about it’s settings. You can always output a TIFF and process that in the Topaz apps.

Just to add to what Don said, the processing instructions written by each Raw processor are not portable. ie unfortunately, there is no universal standard (other than possibly DNG) by which they can read each other’s (non-pixel) processing instructions. It is the same between Lightroom and DxO PhotoLab etc. So, Topaz apps don’t know how to apply the adjustments that ViewNX writes out (nor would any other app).

As Don mentioned, your best option is to have your Raw processor write a Tiff format image as most other photo editing apps can read that format as input and you will retain the benefits of a Lossless format until such time as you export to Jpeg.

The only disadvantage is that Tiff format files can be quite large, but it’s an intermediate step and you can delete them later.

HTH

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i can understand that topaz cant support any raw format from every cam, but they could at least support DNG raw files. i mean also with the edits…
DNG is proprietary format from Adobe but widely used and open.
its always a better choice than lossless format like tiff or png and its smaller. its better because the edits are not “baked” in the file, and can be re-changed after…
i like for my workflow a roundtrip from LR to topaz and back to LR with DNG.

the edits are stored in the DNG like the exif datas… so i would be fully ok when the edits arent visible in topaz (not rendered)… but topaz shouldnt ommit and delete those edits… it should bypass them when export to DNG…

so thats not a huge thing to programm, but a huge benefit for me…

You can sync with the source original to apply the edits when when the DNG is returned. These edits are held in the catalog.

Note DNG is a ARCHIVE format that some cameras use to store sensor data therefore giving a RAW file in DNG wrapper. That creates problems for applications to determine whether it is RAW or DNG archive.

There is no standard for writing or reading EXIF except that in the standards as the Exif standard associates a variety of information with a photograph, such as the date and time the image was taken and the make and model of the digital camera used. It also stores camera settings such as shutter speed, film speed, flash settings, aperture, focal length, and metering mode.

Metadata created by applications, especially edit settings, has no standard. It is application specific.

Funny, I always thought that…
Tiff Lossless

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do your own tests and you will see the advantage of dng over tiff:

take a pic, highly overexpose or underexpose it in your raw converter…
export it as tif and dng.
reimport it, and try to fix the exposure…
you will see, in the tif file you cant restore the image, but in dng you can because the edits are not “baked in the RGB file”

both formats are from adobe… but dng acts more like a container which also includes tif and other settings and its smaller…

this all has nothing todo with lossless compression.
another difference can be convert process, raw converting a bayer or xtrans sensor, demosaicing from those patterns to RGB values…

I was merely pointing out that the statement (your statement) that Tiff is a lossless format is not entirely correct.

Particularly because the DNG container format typically requires (afaik) use of the Tiff format.

“The process of DNG conversion involves extracting raw image data from the source file and assembling it according to the DNG specification into the required TIFF format.”