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All my prints came back looking grainy and gray, when I knew the sky should have been printed dark. I had no way to go back and change the prints.

You can think of your digital camera as being a self-contained photo lab when you shoot in JPEG mode. The resulting JPEG file will have some, but not much, latitude for adjustments and corrections later on in your computer. It is fairly compact, it can be compressed, and if produced properly it can make excellent prints. But there are some significant limitations to the JPEG file that make it less useful for photographers wishing to get the maximum quality from their cameras.

This means that when you save them, the JPEG compression algorithm which makes the files smaller actually throws away image data. Every time you save a JPEG, some data are thrown away. Therefore, if you wish to use JPEG as your digital negative, it is imperative to use the highest possible quality setting and always save your processed images as copies.

Overwriting the original JPEG file results in unrecoverable data loss. JPEGs are 8-bit color. On the other hand, a bit image offers the photographer potentially 65, steps of tonality.

Is that overkill? What if you set the white balance wrong, or accidentally have noise reduction set too high and lose image detail? L-R Original image. JPEG image corrected using standard tools.

Especially to those new to photography, who might not be experts at dialing in the optimal camera settings for a particular scene, shooting JPEG is a liability.

The images below are an example of what happens when I make a mistake which happens a lot, according to my wife. The as-shot image was overexposed by at least 1. So what is a photographer to do? Clearly, the optimal format to save images in must preserve as much image data as possible, offer a bit color space, and allow the photographer the flexibility to override the settings set by the camera.

This is exactly what the RAW format does. The RAW Advantage Besides the obvious strength of the RAW format in terms of the quantity and quality of data preserved in the RAW file, the major advantage of shooting in RAW is that you can apply changes to your image in a way that is non-destructive. RAW files contain enough data to permit bit editing and they are substantially more compact than an equivalent RGB image file.

A layered TIFF or file is the preferred choice for non-destructive editing an RGB image, because the original image is preserved in the bottom-most layer, allowing edits to be done apart from the actual image data. Maybe you can hold off on getting that 3 terabyte storage disk array for a couple more months Because new features and improvements are made to RAW conversion software over the years, I can reprocess my older RAW files with newer software.

Also, as I learn new techniques for post- processing, I know that I can go back and apply the changes non-destructively to my old NEFs. Shooting RAW-- some considerations While the RAW format is an ideal one for producing high-quality images, there are some things to keep in mind before you jump in to becoming a RAW shooter.

Four-gigabyte memory cards are pretty much the minimum if you shoot RAW with a megapixel or higher camera. The other consideration to make when shooting RAW is computer horsepower.

For the purposes of this book, you can think of a NEF file as being a container with multiple partitions-- sort of like one of those plastic food containers with compartments for different foods. This part of the RAW file is never overwritten. The metadata includes information about the image, such as shutter speed, aperture, time, date, and more. Usually additional areas in this section can be filled in by certain computer applications. For example, there are placeholders for keywords, copyright information, and captioning.

Third-party RAW converters typically read only the white-balance information and discard the other instructions. The embedded JPEG image is produced by the camera and reflects the in-camera settings that were active when the image was taken. For example, I have a few custom banks set up in my cameras that allow me to quickly tailor images for landscapes, portraits, or wildlife shots.

The Shooting Menu is designated by a camera icon in your camera menus. It is where you will find all the major parameters that affect image processing and quality, such as ISO, white balance, and sharpening.

If you are using one of the newer Nikon DSLRs introduced after October , many of the image parameters are in the camera section called Picture Control.

Here is a list of the camera settings that you should consider when setting up for a shoot. However, you may have some additional options, depending on the camera you use. This can be useful when you are trying to preview lots of files on a less powerful computer or a laptop. If you choose a small, highly compressed JPEG, some of the image details may not be readily apparent when you review the image on your camera LCD.

RAW Compression- should you use it? So Nikon has some options where you can choose to compress your NEFs and save on file space. Nikon offers two forms compression in its NEF file format, depending on the camera you use. If you set white balance incorrectly, you could have unnaturally blue or orange images due to extremes in color temperature. You can use that gray card image later on in Capture NX2 to really nail white balance and copy the settings to the other images in the series more on that later.

Long Exposure NR This setting allows your camera to take a second exposure with the shutter closed, and then subtract any sensor noise caused by something called dark current.

It is very useful for getting perfectly black skies during long night exposures. This is one setting that cannot be altered in post-processing there is no way for the camera to take a second exposure after the fact. As a result, noise in shadow areas often becomes noticeable. First of all, you can get more control over noise removal in Capture NX2, or by using dedicated noise removal software.

Second, NR requires much more computer horsepower when you render your image. Depending on your camera model, you might not be able to disable NR in the camera menus. Camera Settings or Picture Controls? In late , Nikon introduced a new form of adjusting the in-camera settings, called Picture Control.

Each of these starting points can be modified and saved in your camera. The Picture Control presets differ in their contrast, saturation, and sharpness settings. You can also customize the sharpness, contrast, saturation and hue for any Picture Control preset. You can compare the looks of each preset when you process your image in Capture NX2. Sharpening Sharpening is the one parameter that I adjust on each image individually, depending on its final output destination print, web and size.

Depending on your camera, sharpening is either in the Camera Settings menu or in the Picture Controls. Sharpening routines can have profound effects on image quality, and must be done with care. Fortunately, quality sharpening is one of the strengths of Capture NX2. For JPEG shooting, this is a critical setting.

Too much contrast will mean that shadow and highlight details may clip and be rendered unrecoverable. I personally use the Adobe RGB space. It offers a much wider color space than sRGB and is well suited for ink jet printers. For more about color spaces, check out a book on color management. Depending on your camera model, the color mode setting may also affect your choice of Color Space.

Note the stronger reds and greens in Mode III. Mode I can be utilized to make a fairly vivid image of people while still getting natural looking skin tones. Mode III color not only increases the color saturation, but it boosts reds and greens.

So where should you set the color? Ultimately, it depends on your subject. Good for portraits. Good as an all-around setting.

Useful for landscape shots. Not recommended for portraits! Standard sharpening and contrast. Can be modified for other effects, like sepiatone. For more on Picture Control settings, refer to Chapter 8. Hue Adjustment This setting allows photographers to change the way colors are perceived by their camera. If, for example, your photos showed a greenish cast, you could theoretically compensate for it by making a hue adjustment.

This is one feature that I never use in my camera, as it affects all the colors in the image. The next step is up to you. Go out and start filling up some memory cards with NEF files. This box allows you to choose the location of where that TIFF file is saved. Folder for temporary data For optimum performance, set this to a directory on a secondary hard disk drive. Color Management Preferences Proper color management is essential to digital workflow.

In this dialog, you can adjust how Capture NX2 handles color profiles. While I recommend the Pro Photo RGB space for editing, it is important to understand the basics of color management and how it can impact your workflow. Many printers install custom profiles based on different paper types and print settings. Therefore I have chosen the appropriate Epson profile from the drop-down box. I recommend setting the black clip point to 0.

Cache Preferences This section allows you to set the directories and size limits for the various Capture NX2 cache files. For best performance, put the cache directory on a secondary hard disk instead of your primary drive. Limiting the cache size will keep the number of cached images lower and retain space on your hard disk.

You can choose one of the presets, or set your own label values. Manage Settings Use this dialog box to manage your saved settings files. You can add and delete settings files from the list, and you can also make settings visible in contextual menu shortcuts by enabling the checkbox next to a setting. Use custom workspaces to tailor the Capture NX2 interface to suit your needs. Setting your cache file directories to the secondary hard drive improves data throughput and speeds up the application.

Not only will this arrangement improve Capture NX2 performance, but it will probably improve the overall performance of your PC. I always disable color noise reduction in my cameras because applying the in-camera NR settings to your images slows down Capture NX2 performance. I do use noise reduction, but I do it at a later stage in my editing workflow. Of course, my workflow is based around editing small numbers of images one at a time in Capture NX2, and my routine for noise reduction is generally tailored for each image.

A few new features were added to allow the user to customize the interface to suit their needs. The most obvious new feature of the Capture NX2 interface is workspaces. You can choose from one of four pre-configured workspaces depending on what you are using the application for. In the Browser workspace, the file directory tab on the left side of the screen is expanded. The Metadata workspace defaults to a list view of your image thumbnails. This workspace is useful if you are adding keywords and other metadata to your images in NX 2.

The multi-purpose workspace displays the editing palettes on the right-hand side of the screen, and has the browser window open on the left-hand side of the screen. The multi-purpose workspace is ideal for users who want to browse and edit images simultaneously.

All the palettes on the left-hand side of the screen are collapsed. The available choices will vary depending which workspace is displayed on your primary monitor. I use full-screen mode the most often as the gray background is useful for viewing colors accurately on the screen. Facing Page: Full screen mode top and Presentation mode bottom are additional ways to view your images.

My goal for each of the subsequent chapters is to go through the processing of a NEF file in the order in which I apply adjustments and operations. Keep in mind that Capture NX2 like many other image editing applications has numerous tools and many of them can be used to achieve similar effects.

My intention is to work my way through the tools that I use most frequently, in the order of operation that is appropriate for optimal image output. The long and winding road In the journey that is editing a NEF file, no one should be without a road map. It is always important to know, even if just at a rudimentary level, where you are trying to go. In fact, most images rarely require the use of every point on my editing road map, and can be adjusted with just a few quick steps.

Another reason why it is good to have a road map of editing workflow is because the approach you take to post-processing should involve some visualization.

Before he went into the darkroom, Ansel Adams always had an idea of what he wanted to convey in his print. His goal was to convey in his print what he saw and felt when he captured his exposure in the field. Therefore, I feel it is important, as digital photographers, not to get caught up in trying to apply every tool and effect to a digital image just because our software has those tools.

These adjustments often revolve around the fundamental operation of converting the raw sensor data to an RGB image.

Think of the RAW Adjustments as the foundation upon which all your other adjustments will be built upon. A classic example is dodging and burning, where you are adjusting the contrast of certain parts of your image beyond what was obtained in the original exposure.

Other applications either do not permit local application of effects or require complex masking schemes to apply them. From there, the master image can be further refined for printing or other output. However, most photographs are judged by their final output, which usually involves a print. Final output could involve resizing the image for use on a website, or sending it in an email to friends and family. First, it gives you a good outline of the kinds of adjustments you can be thinking about when you first approach an image to work on.

Second, it puts the adjustments into the proper order that will maximize your image quality and minimize your frustration. Keep in mind that Capture NX2 editing workflow is linear, starting with the Develop Section and continuing with the order of the steps in the Adjust Section. Does that mean you need to stick to this script rigidly?

Of course not. The rest of the book contains lots of details about numerous Capture NX2 editing tools, but in reality, the overall image editing process is quite straightforward.

The following pages will take you through the basic image editing procedure to help you understand the simplicity of image processing in Capture NX2. After a few seconds, the image should appear. I chose this image because it illustrates some of the advantages of shooting in RAW.

First of all, my default settings applied far too much contrast to this image, especially because the subjects are back-lit. Too much contrast! The first item in the list is White Balance.

Because the in-camera setting I used was too warm yellow , we can override it here. This gives a look with strong contrast-- bad for people pictures! This will collapse the Develop Section. The image turns gray. This will boost the midtone brightness of the image.

Drag the black threshold level slider until you see dark areas appear. A Color Control Point is added to the image. The actual settings you choose will depend on your camera model. You can now add embedded XMP data, like star ratings, to your images. Even better is the fact that the star ratings and color labels you add in the NX 2 browser can be read by other applications that use the star-rating system, like Adobe Bridge and Photo Mechanic.

Sub- folders will appear in the browser; double-click on a folder icon in the browser to open it. A shortcut to that folder will be created in the Favorites list. This will collapse the Folder list and expand the metadata tab on the left side of the screen. This allows other applications to read the embedded data. For example, you could use one color to indicate files that have been processed, and another color to indicate files that have not been processed.

For example, you can create a preset to apply your contact information to your images. In the Thumbnail List view, images are shown as small thumbnails in a list that includes file data, star ratings, labels, date shot, and more. The Thumbnail List view is useful when you want to quickly sort your images on any one of the file data columns in the list. Use the Thumbnail Grid view when you want to view the largest possible thumbnails. Use the zoom slider or the zoom tool to increase thumbnail size.

Leave the right-hand triangle on the fifth star. For example, in a folder of mixed file types, you might only want to display JPEGs. By default, images in the File Browser are sorted by Name. Clicking the header one time will sort in ascending order, clicking a second time will allow you to sort the images in descending order.

The triangle icon is pointed up. The triangle icon is pointed down. Use batch operations for saving multiple files, applying saved settings files to multiple images, and for copying and pasting settings between files. Page Gradient Range Click and draw a line within the active image window.

When zoomed-in, the areas visible within the active image window are shown as a rectangle superimposed on top of the entire image. The Edit List palette was greatly improved, with the position of many tools and features moved to provide better access.

The Edit List palette can be used as a history that allows you to go back and modify any of the adjustments that you have previously made to your images.

Click on the triangle to toggle between showing and hiding the Triangles contents of the associated section or enhancement. Apply checkboxes are used to turn enhancements on or off.

Adjustments to an w Apply Checkbox enhancement automatically enable the corresponding Apply checkbox; Page Version Version The Version menu can now be found at the top of the Edit List palette, providing you with direct control of this powerful feature. Versions represent an advanced way of working with and maintaining a number of different versions of the same image within one image file.

Two different types of versions are available, and access to these versions is provided within this menu. Chapter 15 — Edit List Batch Menu You can further modify the setting with the Fine Adjustment slider. Page Select this option if your image was shot using a Nikon Speedlight as the light source. You can further modify this setting with the Fine Adjustment slider.

Note that any optional Picture Controls used on the camera must also be installed on the computer. Move this slider to the left to decrease the Sharpening, Contrast, and Saturation sliders. Move this slider to the right to increase these sliders. Page The Brightness slider enables you to control the brightness within the image. Move the slider to the left to darken the image or move the slider to the right to brighten the image. The results of the Saturation and Hue section are also dependent on the Picture Control option selected.

Page Active D-Lighting Active D-Lighting, available only for cameras that provide this functionality within the camera itself, was designed for photographing subjects where it is difficult to capture detail in both highlights and shadows.

If Active D- Lighting is enabled ion the camera when a photograph is taken, the image will be underexposed to preserver highlight information. Within the Tone Curve tool, you are presented with a curve that enables you to control the relationship of input luminosity values to output luminosity values.

This will redistribute all of the values to stretch the luminosity range to match the entire possible range of values. To determine whether a given combination of lens and camera will record distance information, see the table below. This feature enables you to modify an image taken with a compatible fisheye lens to make that image appear to have been taken with a wide-angle rectilinear lens.

Each adjustment step can contain the following elements: Selection Information The selection information area is displayed whenever a step has been selectively applied and provides information and control for selections made to the current adjustment step.

Page Opacity Mixer Opacity Mixer The opacity mixer provides you with the ability to blend the current enhancement with the rest of the image. The opacity mixer becomes available as soon as you add any features from the Adjust or Filter menus, or a color, black, neutral, or white control point to the image. You can move this slider to the left to prevent the current effect from being applied to the green channel, or you can reduce the other two sliders to ensure the current effect is being applied to the green channel only.

Clicking on a step or enhancement will cause it to become highlighted within the Edit List palette. You can then press the delete key on your keyboard or select Delete from the Edit menu to clear that step or enhancement from the image. Page Linking Enhancements Linking Enhancements Linking enhancements within the Edit List palette enables you to apply the selective controls that are used within one step to more than one enhancement.

By default, each enhancement is applied to a separate step. By linking two or more enhancements together in the same step, each of those enhancements can benefit from the same selective controls that were applied to that step. Click on this button if you want to manually generate a new step within the Edit List palette to start a new series of enhancements.

The following channel options are available: The RGB option displays the red, green, and blue histograms, superimposed over one another. Where the individual histograms overlap, secondary colors are displayed. If no black pixels appear in the image, slowly drag the shadows slider to the right.

Once you notice black pixels appearing, release the mouse button. When you click on this button, the mouse cursor will change to a crosshair and enable you to place a watch point directly on the image.

The fisheye lens, neutral control point, color control point, distortion control, colorize, and certain Color Efex Pro plug-ins from Nik Software can utilize the color picker for their enhancements. When you click within the color wheel, the hue will immediately change to the color that you clicked on. Page Chapter 17 — The Color Picker Open With… This option is only available if Camera Control Pro is installed on your computer.

It is recommended that you leave this box checked unless your printer requests that you do not embed the color profile in the image. Save As… Bit Depth Choose to save your image either as an 8 or bit per channel image. Protection can be turned on within the camera or within another Nikon image editing application. To turn off protection and enable the image to be edited by Capture NX 2, select the Protect File item to uncheck it. Additionally, a number of options are presented to enable you to create print packages, add metadata, and color manage your prints.

You can print the active image by selecting Print from the File menu, or you can select a range of pictures to print by highlighting multiple images within the browser and selecting Print. Please note: If you assign color management within the print dialog, it is very important that you turn off color management within your printer driver. This ensures that the black point from the image is mapped to the black point of your printer, enabling the full color range of the printer to be used.

If your prints contain either gray shadows or too little detail, try turning this option off. Page Chapter 19 Edit Menu Chapter 19 Edit Menu Undo The Undo command enables you to take one step backward and remove changes that were made to the image or that were made within the current dialog.

You can undo an unlimited number of changes within the same step, and nearly all changes you make on your image are undoable. Page Duplicate Duplicate The Duplicate command makes an immediate copy of the currently selected object. Straighten Select Straighten to add a straighten step to the Edit List palette. In the Straighten step within the Edit List palette, you can rotate an image incrementally clockwise or counter-clockwise, or you can trace a line within your image that should be either horizontal or vertical and allow the straighten tool to automatically straighten your image.

Page By default, Capture NX 2 will automatically crop the image using the same aspect ratio to hide all areas of the image where there is no image information. These areas that lack information are created when the image is rotated, and are represented by pure white pixels.

This is especially helpful if you want to batch resize a number of images that may each have mixed orientations, some portrait and some landscape orientation.

Page Select the appropriate units of measurement. If the images will be printed, it is best to use inches, centimeters, or millimeters. If the images will be displayed on a web page or other electronic display medium, select pixels.

Enter the largest value of the image size into both the Width and Height boxes. You now have a settings file available that can be used in a batch process to apply the Fit Photo command to a series of images. Compatible With. Learn more about the D Archived. Learn more about the Nikon 1 J5 Archived. Learn more about the Nikon 1 J4 Archived. Learn more about the Nikon 1 S2 Archived.

Learn more about the Nikon 1 V3 Archived. Learn more about the D4S Archived. Learn more about the Nikon 1 J2 Archived. This Agreement constitutes the complete and exclusive agreement, oral or written, between you and Nikon. The Manual are for customers who have purchased our products.

We may be unable to respond to inquiries from individuals who have not purchased our products. Please note that the manual and the contact information therein are subject to change without notice. The Manual is protected by Japanese copyright law and international copyright laws and treaties.

You must reproduce on each copy the Nikon copyright notice and any other proprietary legends that were on the original. The adjustments can then be applied to selected pictures on the other computers using Load Adjustments.

AAHad we selected Copy Updated Adjustments in Step 2, the exposure compensation and Picture Control for the selected image would have been set to the values selected in Step 1, while white balance would have remained at the value selected in Step 3. The new size can be entered in pixels, centimeters, or inches. When you enter a value for either Long edge or Short edge, the remaining value will automatically be adjusted to maintain the original aspect ratio. A dialog will be displayed where you can choose a file format and adjust such settings as compression and image size.

The higher the value, the lower the compression ratio and the higher the image quality; the lower the value, the higher the compression ratio and the smaller the file size. DDLZW compression may sometimes increase file size when applied to bit images. If you selected Free Crop in Step 1, you can also drag the edges of the crop. The crop palette will be displayed. Follow the steps below to crop images.

A crop with the selected aspect ratio will appear over the preview image. AAThe aspect ratio can be changed after you have resized and positioned the crop.

A Crop Crops are not applied to the original image data. The crop can be changed at any time by clicking the button in the toolbar. Batch processing options are shown below. To choose a different folder, remove the check from this option and click Browse. To save the processed files under the same names as the originals, select Use source file name if a file with the same name and extension already exists in the current folder, the processed file will be renamed by adding a number to the file name ; to choose different names, remove the check from this option and click Edit.

To include all images in sub-folders under the selected folder, select Include subfolders. To apply adjustments previously saved from the adjustment manager, choose Adjustments to apply and click Browse to choose an adjustments file. To export the images in the selected folder in another format without changing the settings currently selected for each image, choose Apply adjustments already in files. Progress can be viewed in the Queued and Finished tabs.

A File Conversion If multiple files are selected when the button in the toolbar is used to export files in another format page 34 , the files will be exported as a batch process. Adjust settings as described for items e through o on page The progress dialog can be displayed by clicking the the toolbar. Capture NX-D automatically chooses the number of pictures printed on each page. Click Settings to choose the printer and paper size and adjust other printer settings.

Copies Choose the number of copies of each page printed. Rotate to fit Rotate pictures to print them at the largest possible size. Crop images Pictures are enlarged to fill the print area. Portions that do not fit in the print area are to fit cropped out. Page Layout Adjust settings as described on the following page and click Print to print the picture as shown in the preview.

Background Choose the background color. Choose White to print with no background. Color Border width Choose the width of the borders printed around the image the color of the borders varies with the background color. Choose 0 to print without borders. Copies of Choose the number of copies of each photo printed. Information A Notes on Printing Pictures can not be printed from the full-screen display. The most recently-used settings are recalled when the print dialog is next displayed.

Date Shot Print the date of recording in the position selected for Position. Time Shot Print the time of recording together with the date. Metadata Choose the file and photo information printed with each picture. Page Number Choose whether to print the page number and the total number of pages and select the position and alignment. The page number can be positioned at the page Top in the header or Bottom in the footer. Footer Enter the text and choose the alignment for the footer that will be printed at the bottom of each page.

Font Settings Choose a font, style, and font point size for the header, footer, and page number. Metadata that does not fit in the print area will be omitted.

The number of pictures per page is automatically adjusted according to the size selected. The size of the pictures is automatically adjusted according to the options selected. Choose the number of pictures per page from a list box.

The size of the pictures is automatically adjusted according to the option selected.