Photoshop *ist D Raw Support

At last Adobe have released the updated plug in which supports the *ist Raw format.

The update is available now to download on the Adobe site.

I havn't had a chance to play with it but it looks good !

Thanks for the info
I'm off there right now

Here's the direct link for Windows: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=2433


Oooooohh Such control

Matt

Woohooooo!!! Finally!! Saw this news at the dpreview Pentax forums too.

I'm off there now !!

I see this is only for CS, so for me to get this I would have to upgrade from 6.0 I guess. Would something like this work on adobe elements 2 if I got that? I am trying to figure out if it is better to spend to money to upgrade to CS or get elements 2. Does CS have a feature for file management like elements 2, or do I need both? Right now I am just using the file managment software that came with the Ist D and I am not liking it too well.

The Raw Plug-in won't work with Photoshop Elements.

If you already have Photoshop 6 then the upgade to CS is well worth while quite apart from the ability to use the Raw Plug-in. There is really no comparison between CS and Elements.

CS will do everything Elements can do and a lot more.

You certainly dont need both.

It rocks!!

Now I have a good reason to shoot in RAW even more
It's fast, and has waay MORE controls. I'm a happier man

Sample image from RAW -> 8bit TIFF -> JPEG (A friend's 3-month old son).

Ava,

Definitely go for Photoshop CS. The learning curve is steeper than Elements. I have gone from Elements 1 to Elements 2 to Photoshop 5.5 to Photoshop CS. It's fantastic

Here's a taster: healing brush (like an intelligent clone tool), colour matching between images, 16-bit image support for beautifully smooth graduations, 16-bit layer support, an unbelievable amount of actions and plugins available, the "Extract" tool for pulling out images from backgrounds etc etc etc

Oh yes, and of course, fantastic *istD PEF file support now

Like ShotGun, I'm seeing RAW as a worthy shooting mode. Took some portraits of my little one yesterday and they absolutely rocked! Wonderful tones, lovely colour, fantastic detail (how PSCS does its RAW file sharpening, I don't know, but I think it is with the knowledge of the RGBG pixel layout on the CCD itself, because it is awesome). Another very happy man.

...but now I need more gigs of storage

Matt

PS. The "Camera Raw.8bf" file format filter doesn't work in Elements 2. It was worth a try though

Well, I tried to buy the CS upgrade and found that it will not work in windows me, so I can't get it until I upgrade to XP! Besides all the work on reinstalling another windows, I am worried that some of my more expensive programs or hardward will not work in XP!

ME is starting to be a real pain though. My adaptec CD reader/writer is not compatable with my addonics MFR, but the free Nero which came with my addonics which I am sure will work perfectly with the MFR will not install in ME and crashes the computer!

So- what is the best solution? Perhaps install XP and hope that my older programs/software that work with ME might also work with XP?! Otherwise I will never be able to use Nero or CS!

Hi Ava,

IMHO, I would never upgrade any Windows OS. I find it makes for a big mess. I always advise backing up your data, then doing a clean install of the new OS (XP included - wipe all partitions, then install clean). I find this makes for a much more stable machine.

Yes, ME was always a pain. But then, XP really needs a heap of RAM, as does Photoshop CS. It runs quite nicely on 512Mb, 2.4GHz Pentium 4. Running with 1.5Gb of RAM things go reallly well

It depends where you live, but you may find it more cost effective, and/or less painful, if you just buy a new Dell machine, and sell on your old ME computer as a kit

By and large, software does run on XP. Some older games have issues. I'm still running 16-bit DOS and Windows 3.1 code (development stuff that cannot be brought into 32-bit Windows). With regard to your older programs, the best thing is to do a Google search and see what the status is with XP.

Sorry that it's an expensive route

Matt

Ava,
I can't help much with PS but I do have to build and sort out a lot of computers. The problems you describe with Me would seem to be syptomatic of a registry problem. The safest and easiest way would be to back up the data and put a fresh install in. I would emphasis MattMatic's comments about upgrades. The same goes for repairs. The first thing the upgrade or repair does is to copy the old registry including all the errors!.I don't know the spec of your present PC so I can't be too specific but the best option may be to run both ME and Xp on the same machine. On my main machine, I run 98, ME, 2000 and XP pro but that's a little more complex to set up. However when I now boot the machine I get a menu and just choose which system I want to use.

The way to do it is to partition the hard drive and use a boot manager, XP has this built into it though it it easier with partition magic. If I had a 120 Gb hard drive which is quite modest these days, I would make a primary partition of say 10 GB for ME, a 15-20 Gb partition for XP and thenuse the rest for an extended drive for data. Install Me plus drivers first then instal XP. This will recognise the Me setup and prompt you to install the bootmanager. Then install any type specific programs on the relevant partition. Install any programs you wish to use in both and data on the D drive (extended partition). You will have to install the programs on both systems to make sure the system files are present. therafter al you need to do to change operating system is reboot..

Another alternative is to get a separate base unit for XP and use a KVM switch to to use just one monitor and Keyboard/mouse. This is quicker if you have to flick between systems but is more expensive and takes up a lot of room.

Whatever you decide to do, I would back up your data and reinstall windows ME from scratch. As far as the writer is concerned, only ever install one burner program. If you have to change it, make sure you do a full de-install before puting the new one in. Burners have a multitude of resident elements which tend not to be compatible with one another. If you need any specific advice, email me with your present system spec. It may be that it would be better to get rid of the old system and set the partions up on a new machine if your old one would struggle with XP.

Regards
Kim

This is what I have right now.

3 yr old Dell Dimension 4100 series Pentium III at 1 Ghz.
256 SDRAM at 133MHz
40 GB Ultra ATA Hard drive
Windows Me

The computer still runs fine.

Do you think I could install XP and CS on this, or should I think about getting a new machine???

If you can wait until the weekend, when my copy of CS is due, I'll let you know how it runs on a dual PII 450MHz with W2K.

And if that's not up to much I have a 1GHz PIII I can give it a go on too. After that I am going to run into activation difficulties.

I can wait. I'll be interested to hear how CS works on your computers.

Hi Ava,
There are perhaps 2 issues here. Xp will certainly run on your machine. I am not an expert on PS so I will leave those comments to others. What it may come down to is how patient you are! I had a PIII 800 until recently and was very happy with it until I put a McAfee fierwall on it. It still worked and ran everything but it became painfully slow. This does tend to be a problem with the latest "2003" programs.

The other issue is your present problems with ME. It would appear you have a minor registry problem. I would back up your data and reinstall everything. The problem with an upgrade or repair is that the first thing windows does is to copy the old registry complete with all the errors
The problem with the burner is not unusual. All the burner software use a number of resident drivers and these tend not to be compatible with one another. Only ever use one burner program and if you have to update this make sure you fully de-install the old one before puting the new one in or you will end up with the problems you have at the moment. The trouble with the bundled packages is that they are "crippled" to only work with one make of drive. I would always use a retail version which stops this problem.
Kim

Malcolm,

Just a word of warning: Photoshop CS has an XP style activation.

AFAIK, you can only install on one machine. However, the license allows you to install on the main user's laptop, as long as both machines do not run PS-CS at the same time.

It's also worth noting that the Mac version does not, as yet, have this activation. Adobe are trying hard to stop the illegal copying of PS on the PC platform

Have fun anyway

Matt