Why are my photos that I shot in RAW format so small and grainy? Is there a way to fix this?

Question

I recently went out to take some photography and I decided to shoot in RAW format. That night when I tried to open them the images were small and grainy. I could see the pixels. How do I fix this problem?

Answer 1

Sorry, but I never understand why people shoot RAW when they have no idea what the format is and what has to be done with the photos. All RAW format photos have to be "processed" in software and then converted to either Jpeg or Tiff files. You cannot look at RAW photos immediately like you do Jpeg. A RAW file is sometimes called a "digital negative" and the RAW converter software the "digital darkroom". In the RAW converter, you will do things like adjust exposure, white balance, individual colors, noise reduction, lens corrections and many other details. The whole point of a RAW file is to give YOU much greater control of how the finished photo will look and to tweak it to help resolve any problems from the initial capture.



Until you learn about RAW conversion, I suggest you keep shooting in Jpeg.



steve

Answer 2

What did you try to open them with? Unless you used a software that can process the specific RAW data format of your camera, you're probably looking at the (highly compressed and probably processed) preview picture the camera uses to display the image in playback mode (or your computer might use in the directory view).



Like the others said - learn/read up on what RAW format is and does, and what you need to process it. It's not that difficult, but e.g. on the Mac, you'll have to use Aperture instead of iPhoto.

Answer 3

^^^'s right. You need to open the images with a "raw converter," such as ACR (Adobe Camera RAW) found in Photoshop. CS6 is the latest version. If you have a different photo editing program, you may be able to find a plug-in raw converter for that program or there might be one on the CD that came with your camera. You can't simply open the image with Windows Picture or whatever the basic photo viewer is called.

Answer 4

"Grain" is the least of your problems with that image. 1) it is underexposed by maybe three or four stops 2) the white balance was not set for the lighting in the room For clarity, "grain" is an attribute of film, NOT digital cameras. What you are calling grain is actually noise. As mentioned you need to reshoot and use an electronic flash with the white balance set to flash

Answer 5

1

Answer 6

If you need to download Gimp you can get it here for free http://j.mp/1lqfKot

It's the best choice.

I hope it helps

Answer 7

try Adobe Photoshop CS...whichever CS version...latest being 6...if im not wrong..



cheers...

Answer 8

Well, it depends..