digital dunce!

[back alley]

it's moments like this that i DO feel old and out of it.

i bought a cf card reader. read the skimpy instructions that basically said that with windows xp just plug & play.
so i did. i just plugged but still no play.
my computer recognized this 'new portable' drive and according to the instructions i should be able to open my files now.

i opened photo shop, it 'saw' the new drive, there are files there but they wont open!!

what am i doing wrong????

joe

[bruenhilde]

Make no mistake..., Plug & Pray is the phrase..

[jlw]

Try copying the files from the card to your computer's hard disk, and open them from there.

Not a guaranteed fix, but it might help -- and if the copy on the hard disk gets screwed up, you can drag another copy from the memory card.

(Caveat: I don't know anything about XP because I use a Mac, but in general I try to avoid opening files directly off a memory card. Just seems to work better.)

[Stanton]

I don't know what you are doing wrong, but the way it works for me with Windows XP, Home Edition is: Have the computer running. Put your card in the card reader. Plug the card reader into a USB port. On the screen the computer will recognize the card reader and the card and give you several options. One is a "slide show." One of the others, which I use to edit in Photoshop and which is what I think you want, asks if you want to save the photos on the card to a file in the computer. Say yes or highlight that option. There will be a series of dialogue boxes which are self explanatory. First, where do you want the photos saved? I say, "My Pictures." Then you have an option to provide a title for all of the photos. I put something which identifies them, "Los Angeles." The computer then downloads and numbers the photos sequentially. If you then go into Photoshop and open the file "My Pictures" (or wherever you put the photos, Photoshop should show them and you can then choose and manipulate from there. I hope this helps.

[back alley]

when i plug in the reader the symbol for safely detaching the reader shows up but nothing else.

i have copied the files from the reader to my hard drive but when i try to open them it says cannot open, it does not recognize how they were created. (or something like that)

joe

[Krasnaya_Zvezda]

I also had similar problems once, after I formatted the card in the camera, problem solved. Might try that.

[back alley]

would it matter if they are raw files or jpeg?

joe

[Sean Reid]

Hi Joe,

If they're RAW files, you'll need to open them in a program that can read them. Try Zoombrowser or, much better, Breezebrowser. Give me an example file name and I tell you what it is.

Sean

[Sean Reid]

or....set the camera to JPEG mode (double check), make some pictures and then upload those. JPEGs can be widely read. RAW files require special programs even to be browsed.

S

[back alley]

so photo shop cannot open a raw file?

joe

[Sean Reid]

That depends on what version of PS you have and whether or not that version works with the PS RAW plug in. What version?

S

[Sean Reid]

I'm headed to bed soon (gotta be up at 3) but I think PS 7 or CS is required for the RAW plug in. Head to the Adobe web site to find out. Adobe used to call the program "Camera RAW". It cost money on its own at one point and then was included with CS. But I may be remembering incorrectly.

S

[Sean Reid]

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/u-raw-files.shtml

sean

[back alley]

i have photo shop 7. i will check on that plug in.

ok, so i was able to open a file with zoombrowser so my problems were because of the raw files. thank goodness it was not entirely my own (un)doing.

i guess if i use jpegs i won't have this same concern/hassle.

so i saved the raw file as a jpeg and opened it on photoshop, here is a quick edit of a pic.

[JoeFriday]

joe.. it's pretty clear what you're doing wrong.. you're using Windows! ;)

but seriously, I only use jpgs when I'm taking snapshots.. with my cameras (Nikon D70 and Panasonic DMC-FZ20) there's a very noticeable difference between jpg and Raw (except the Pan won't do Raw... gotta do TIF)

[d30gaijin]

Originally posted by backalley photo
it's moments like this that i DO feel old and out of it.

Joe

We're the same age. You ARE old and out of it. Of course I claim dyslexia so I can be 45 on some days, like days when you're 54. But then again, I don't know what I'll claim after the next birthday. And the birthday after that, well I think I'll be hosed, or get lucky and be younger on most days.

Check out Capture One for a nice raw file converter, of course it adds another $100 to the whole mess but it works exceptionally well. Or use the Canon software to convert to a TIFF file then work from there in PS.

Don

[jon_flanders]

Yes, Joe is using Windoze. In the last few iterations of Linux Mandrake I just plug my camera into the usb port and a folder pops up on the desktop ready to open in the Konqueror file browser.

I then go to window split view to open a second view, take that one to the HD destination folder and drag the photo files from the camera to the computer.

Thats the way it should be. Simple.

See attached file.

[jlw]

Originally posted by backalley photo
i have photo shop 7. i will check on that plug in.

You're right, to open raw files with PS 7 you need the 'Camera Raw' plug-in, which is an extra-cost purchase.

Photoshop CS has the raw-file functionality built in, and it also opens more cameras' raw files and has more raw-file conversion options than the PS 7 plug-in.

[back alley]

the g2 came with photoshop elements, does that have the raw file converter in it?

joe

p.s.-- i want to thank you guys for the digital lessons!

joe

[SolaresLarrave]

I wish I could help, Joe, but I'm still rooting for you.

And taking frantic notes too!

[back alley]

ok, i just shot this pic of my pooch and the camera was set for jpeg.
all went smoothly, i opened it in photoshop without a problem.

i guess i need an alternative for raw files but that zoombrowser will do for now till i figure out how digital is gonna fit in my photo life.
her name is sugar, btw.

[back alley]

just playing and then i promise not to go digi-nuts on you guys.

this was a very slow shutter speed so not too sharp.

[back alley]

this is the view from my frosty front door (thru the storm door).

[Doug]

Nice doggy! :)

[taffer]

Sweet dog ! Bad pun, I know :p

[GeneW]

Originally posted by backalley photo
the g2 came with photoshop elements, does that have the raw file converter in it?

joe

p.s.-- i want to thank you guys for the digital lessons!

joe
Joe, the G2 comes with Photoshop Elements 2, which does not work with raw images. However, you can use the s/n to upgrade to Photoshop Elements 3 which does support raw file conversion. PSE3, btw, is a really excellent low-cost version of Photoshop -- it has a surprisingly large subset of the features in Photoshop CS.

Also, if you download the free and totally wonderful image browser Irfanview and the free plugins, it can view raw images.

www.irfanview.com

Nice shots, BTW!

Gene

[back alley]

that's cool as i have irfanview already. i used it before i got photoshop 7.

[Pherdinand]

irfan view is great.

[d30gaijin]

Originally posted by backalley photo
the g2 came with photoshop elements, does that have the raw file converter in it?


Joe,

I also have PS Elements 2. There is no RAW file converter in it. I believe PS Elements 3 does but, then again, that's another $100... unless they're including PS Elements 3 with some cameras now. Hey! That would give you an excuse to go buy another digital camera. LOL!

Don

[back alley]

oh no!!

[DougK]

I have to admit that I rarely, if ever, need to shoot RAW files, as on my DiMAGE 7i the highest-image-quality/lowest-compression JPEG settings are more than good enough to print excellent 8x10s.

The camera should come with basic image editing software which will allow you to do the RAW-to-TIFF or RAW-to-JPEG conversion as well as change white balance and some other settings. Once you've done that, save and open in Photoshop. Ideally it would be nice to have the plug-in for PS so you could stay in the same program, but budgets being what they are, I'd go with what you have for now - that way you can spend more on extra flash cards, rechargable batteries... :)

[back alley]

i'm sticking with jpeg for now.
if i master the digital medium then i might go with raw files to capture all the nuances in my masterpieces. lol

joe