How do I save a RAW (.CR2) image?

[smiledog]

Hi, People.

A client sent me four images taken with his Canon camera - they are in Canon Raw (.CR2) file format. I can't get them to open and then save them as a .jpg or a .pspimage format in either PSP9 or in X3. In X3, when I click on the pic, it brings up the "Canon RAW Lab" dialogue box, showing a black and white image but with a deep pinkish cast to it. And there is no options to save it. What do I do from here?

Thanks,

Barry

[hartpaul]

When you drag a CR2 image into PSPX3 it opens in Camera RAW Lab ( not Canon RAW Lab). You can adjust the image there using the sliders. It is a very primitive operation and you spend more time waiting for the image to be updated after each small change. (I prefer Canon Digital Photo Professional as the updating is continuous with almost no wait time).
When you are finished you can click on the Edit button which then sends that image into the Edit workspace where you can do some final adjustments if needed (cloning , local contrast / brightness changes, masking etc) . Then do File --> Save As and when you go to save you will get a message about having to change the format to suit the Jpeg choice (basically means changing from 16 bits per channel to 8 bits per channel for jpg saving) . Click OK to proceed and you have saved as a jpg

[smiledog]

Thanks for the reply, Hartpaul. And yes, I meant to say "Camera RAW Lab". Mea Culpa, Mia Farrow.

O.K., I tried following your directions. When I dragged the image onto the working screen (or double-clicked on it), it showed for a second as a colored image. Then, the "Camera Raw Lab" screen opened, and the image changed to a deep pink tone overall, losing all of its original colors. In addition, when I clicked on "Edit", the "Camera RAW Lab" screen closed and the pink image now appeared in the working window. But the "File Save" and "File Save As" icons were inactive (grayed out) as was the "File>Save" menu item.

Why is the image being converted to that deep pink color? And, even if it weren't, why are the Save options inactive?

I was only interested in one face on a group photo so I was able to do a Snippet capture, convert it to black/white, clarify it and clone it onto a black and white image. If I had wanted to use the entire image, though, I would have been up a creek without a paddle.

Barry

[hartpaul]

You can try opening the file in Irfanview (www.irfanview.com) . It can open many RAW files directly. It was able to open the CR2 file from a Canon 5D MkII before Photoshop. A friend had the latest version and had to wait a couple of weeks to get the updated version .
Irfanview is only about 1500 KB so is not a big download. Not sure if the plugins file might also be required to allow it to load the RAW fioles, but that is a further 9100 KB. From there you can save it as a highest quality Jpg and then further process it.

[DD_crash]

Why not try Corel AfterShot Pro free trial? You can set it to so you send the file to PSP from AfterShot.

[smiledog]

Hartpaul, I installed irfanview and the plugins, but can't open a .CR2 file.
When I use "Open", getting "Can't load plugin "FORMATS.DLL""
When I use "Open as>RAW" I get "Can't allocate memory for result images)"

DD_crash, I downloaded the trial version of AfterShot. I can open a .jpg file, no problem, but nothing happens when I try to open a .CR2 file.

Barry

[teknisyan]

You may want to try the latest version of PSP, you can download the trial at -- http://pnoy.me/coreltrials

[df]

Ask your client to use Canon Digital Photo Professional to convert the files to 16 bit tiffs and resend them to you. Or 8 tiff or jpeg if they don't need any editing and you want to save disk space. Personally I prefer DPP over Aftershot Pro or Ifranview or any of the rest of them. They all never seem to get it as good as DPP. Although I never gave LightRoom a decent trial.