Camera Labs

Photoshop CS2 ‘RAW’ Plug-in vs Canon’s Digital Photo Professional (DPP).

I’ve had a copy of CS2 for a few years but I’ve never really used it all that much as I found Macromedia Fireworks to be more suited to the type of graphic design work I favoured.

Having recently bought a 450D I’m beginning to experiment with RAW files for the first time. DPP was part of the camera software bundle and already I’m impressed with how that particular package manipulates RAW images. (That said, I have nothing with which to compare DPP.)

I’ve been told that to import RAW images into CS2 I need a ‘Plug-in.’ Despite searching the net I haven’t been able to find such a Plug- in for CS2. I don’t really feel inclined to upgrade to the latest version of Photoshop right now.

My questions are…

…assuming I could find one, would I be ‘better equipped’ if I had the RAW Plug-in for CS2, or should I just stick with DPP and save my modified RAW files from there as TIFFs and then carry out final editing in CS2?

…does anyone have a current link to a CS2 ‘RAW Plug-in ?

The latest version of Adobe Camera Raw converter for CS2 is 3.7 available from here. However the associated readme does not list the 450D as a supported camera. Wont hurt to try it anyway.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Thanks for the link popo.

I downloaded the file but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to work in either CS2 or in Photoshop Elements 4.0.

It may be, as you suggested, that the current version of the plugin doesn't yet support the 450D.

I suspect that, for now, I'll have to be content with modifying my RAW files in Canon's own DPP utility before I completely bugger 'em up in Photoshop.



Once again thanks for the help with this.

The current version of the Adobe Camera RAW is version 5.1 and that supports the 450D just fine. Version 3.7, which was launched ages ago will most likely not support the 450D. Alas, 5.1 is not compatible with Photoshop CS2.

You might be best off using Canon's DPP software to process your RAW files.

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PhilipGoh.com

That's the problem with Adobe. With every new launch of PS they introduce support for a new camera while choosing not to update the previous versions which is why CS2 will not support your 450d. You will need CS3 or even CS4 for that.

If you still want to use Camera RAW for your image editing, you can get DPP to export in TIFF which is lossless but huge. TIFFs retain all the data in a RAW file so if you can put up with the extra step and file sizes then you can edit your images in PS as TIFF files.

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Graham
Flickr

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An alternative to creating those huge TIFF files is to download Adobe's Camera Raw and DNG Converter (Windows or Macintosh version as appropriate). You then install the DNG Converter which you use to convert Canon RAW files to DNG, which is a RAW format that Photoshop CS2 can read.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Bob

Excellent !!!

After a few false-starts I downloaded the latest version, (5.1) and it seems to work quite well.

I’ve tried a few outdoor RAW shots with the camera deliberately set up for interior work and the ‘converted’ files have been extremely easy to ‘rescue’ in preparation for a final polish in CS2.

Thank you.

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My very great pleasure.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Bob -

Thanks for that recommendation. I still use CS2 and just bought the 50D.

From what I understand a .dng is a raw file, somewhat compressed compared to a cr2. What should I do with those .cr2 files? Delete them?

Best
Jeremy

I have a bunch of DNG files from some RAW files that I've converted. Since DNGs are essentially RAW files in a different format, I saw no need to keep my other RAW files so I deleted them.

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PhilipGoh.com

Hi jpatlen,

May I offer you a warm welcome to the CameraLabs forum.

Well, you could delete the CR2 files but I'd be tempted to invest in an external hard disk and archive them.

Hey, but if that option tempts you then why not use the cash you would have spent on storage and upgrade to Photoshop CS4? I have strong views about Adobe's mean policy of only supporting new cameras via the DNG converter once a new edition of Photoshop is released but there is a significant step up in functionality from CS2 to CS4 particularly, in the context of this thread, with Adobe Camera Raw. My own photographic throughput is modest in the extreme but, even so, I plan to switch away from DPP and use the CS4 versions of Adobe Bridge, Camera Raw and Photoshop. Luckily I won't be investing in any new cameras for the foreseeable so I can continue my policy of only upgrading Photoshop on alternate releases.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.