How to stop the browse previews from being normalized?

[asharpe]

Hi folks,

I'm still on version 18, so maybe this has already been addressed in 19, but I'm looking for a way to not have the browse window normalize the previews for exposure. For example, if one shot is 2 stops under exposed, one is exposed "correctly", and a third one is 2 stops over exposed, the preview thumbnail and the View Image display have already been "corrected", so I cannot determine which shot had the best exposure. You might argue that since PL made them all look alike, it shouldn't matter which one I choose, but it makes a great deal of difference when I start pushing and pulling on the image during processing. The one that is exposed better simply responds to abuse better . So, how can I simply have photoline show me what I shot, without trying to auto correct? These are all DNG raw files.

[Martin Huber]

If there is an embedded thumbnail in a raw file (and most raw files contain an embedded thumbnail), the Browse window will just show this thumbnail. So PhotoLine usually isn't applying any correction.

Martin

[asharpe]

Actually, the thumbnail is untouched, you are right. The Show Image display, however, has been corrected. How can I stop that from correcting? In other words, the Show Image display should look just like the thumbnail preview, but larger.

[Martin Huber]

I don't really see a way to stop the normalizing, because without the normalizing raw images are usually very dark (next to black).

You could record an action, that replaces PhotoLine's correction layer by a histogram with a fix scaling, and then set that action as raw action in the raw options. But this raw action will be used for any kind of raw import in PhotoLine, so opening a raw file as document will use that, too.

Martin

[asharpe]

Thanks for the response. I'm curious why other raw processing tools don't seem to have this issue; for example, darktable and ufraw will show the image quite similarly to the embedded preview. How are you doing your normalizing? If it was always with a constant value, then the images would come out darker or lighter depending on their exposure. If you are instead trying to maximize the whites, or bring the image up to a certain gamma, that would be when all the different exposures start to look the same.

[Martin Huber]

THow are you doing your normalizing? If it was always with a constant value, then the images would come out darker or lighter depending on their exposure.

It's not a constant value, therefore I suggested in my previous post to create a raw action, that uses a constant value ("fix scaling").

Martin

[asharpe]

It's not a constant value, therefore I suggested in my previous post to create a raw action, that uses a constant value ("fix scaling").Martin

Ok, thanks. I admit to being entirely ignorant of how to accomplish this; can you suggest a specific series of steps? Also, I'm on 18; perhaps this is different (or easier) in 19? Thanks for your patience.

[bkh]

It's really easy to record such an action. Just open a raw file, go to the action panel, create a new action (bottom left icon) and press "record" and make the settings you'd want as the default. Then press "Stop". Open a few raw files and press "playback" to test the action. If it's the way you want it, then set it under Preferences -> File -> Raw.

Just in case, I've attached a sample action. Just unzip it and drag and drop it onto the PL icon. It should appear in the Actions panel, then. If you open the action, you'll see the individual steps:

actions panel.png

You can modify the settings of each step by double-clicking on it. If you have a raw file open and the top layer is active, then you can directly see the effect. (You may, of course, delete or just uncheck those steps which you don't need.)

The current values are the ones I use for my camera, but of course the settings depend on camera and taste.

Cheers

Burkhard.

[asharpe]

Thanks, I'll try this! But will the action run when I use the Browse Show Image function, or only when I open the image up?

[bkh]

Thanks, I'll try this! But will the action run when I use the Browse Show Image function, or only when I open the image up?

Judging from what Martin wrote, it will also work in the Browser. All my raw files come with preview images, so I can't try this myself.

(You can simply install my sample action and see if the darker images have darker previews. – Make sure that PL will create new preview images, e.g. by setting "Browse File: Don't Save" under Preferences -> Browse -> Settings.)

Cheers

Burkhard.

[asharpe]

Wait, I'm confused. It shouldn't matter if the RAW files have preview images in them or not, because it's only when you use Show Image (to see a larger version of the photo, but not open it for editing). Since the Show Image is "correcting" the image, then it cannot be using the embedded preview image, it is reading the RAW data and normalizing it. So, you certainly can try this. If you use Show Image, and you have your RAW processing action, then the image should *not* be normalized; it should use your action. If it ignores your action, then this action won't help.

[bkh]

Wait, I'm confused. It shouldn't matter if the RAW files have preview images in them or not, because it's only when you use Show Image (to see a larger version of the photo, but not open it for editing). Since the Show Image is "correcting" the image, then it cannot be using the embedded preview image, it is reading the RAW data and normalizing it. So, you certainly can try this.

Yes, you are right, I just verified that "Show Image …" uses the action. (I exptected it to use the full size preview image in the raw file, just like the larger preview area at the bottom of the browse dialogue).

Cheers

Burkhard.