DPP

[DC65]

I have a T4i and I have been looking at photo editing software. I'm interested in the DPP software, mainely because it's free.

The latest version 4, from what I can see only works with full frame cameras. I'm not quite sure if version 3.13.0 is still available.

I'm new to photogrophy and there is a lot I don't understand but I'm sticking with it.

Can anyone tell me if I should be persuing DPP or start saving up for Lightroom and a new computer?

Thank you.

[Peter · Accepted solution]

It works with version 4. Start with that.

[Waddizzle]

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@Peter wrote:
It works with version 4. Start with that.

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I would also suggest the freeware application " Paint Dot Net "  for photo editing, instead of Photoshop.

[Maxie28]

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M5, 7D, 6D, D30, 300D, 30D, 1000D IR, EOS DCS 3c, EOS D2000, 16-35/4L IS, 100/2,8 Macro, 70-200/2,8L IS II, 24-105/4L, 85/1,8, 50/1,4, 24/1,4L II, 300/2,8L IS, Helios 58/2 diebestetest

Darktable, RawTherapee, Photomatix, Luminance HDR, GIMP 2.10.6.

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Just what I needed, worked a treat, thank you!

[imitchell119]

Hi,

I am noticing that I have higher quality images displayed in the "Crop and Rotate Images" but when I click on another tab (such as "Adjust Image Detail") the images looses a some sharpness, contrast, saturation.  This is true of the other tabs as well.

Only the "Crop and Rotate Images" tab has the noticeably higher quality.

Any thoughts on how to fix this (or what is causing this)?

DPP 4.9.20.0

Canon 40D RAW images

Thanks!

[BurnUnit]

I'm probably oversimplifying things here, but I think I've seen similar behavior when using DPP4. And I believe DPP4 is working properly, or at least as well as it can under certain conditions or on a given computer.

The adjustments you make under most, if not all, of the adjustment tabs are not applied to your full size RAW image on the fly as you make them. They are only made to the smaller image you see onscreen as you make your edits. This is done to help speed up your workflow as certain adjustments would take a lot longer if they were applied to the full size RAW file. Some of this may also depend on the capabilities of your computer, such as RAM, processor speed and graphics card.

DPP4 may consider the cropping and rotating to be the final step of your editing and attempt to apply all or at least most of your other adjustments at this point. But still, none of these edits has been actually applied to your RAW file. That only happens when you "Convert and Save" the image as a JPEG or TIFF. That's why converting to JPEG or TIFF takes so much longer, especially if you've done much noise reduction or sharpening. And even then, no real permanent changes are made to the RAW file.

I suspect if you Convert and Save a given image both with and without a crop and rotate adjustment you'll get two identical pictures, less any applied cropping and rotating. And now we'll sit back and see if any of the more experienced members here can explain this any better than I can.

[wq9nsc]

BurnUnit covered it very well.  There is a lot of processing going on when manipulating these large digital image files and depending upon computer resources available DPP will respond very differently.  I haven't noticed the behavior the original poster noted about sharpness/contrast only appearing to have changed in one of the available editing tabs but I am using a dual CPU workstation with a fast graphics card.  

With just the update from a slower to a faster graphics card in the last month, I noticed a change in how the auto gamma adjust tool responds.  With my prior Nvidia card during auto gamma adjust I would see several changes in the appearance of the image as it worked through the adjustment.  With the new graphics card which has more and faster "Cuda" cores available to DPP I see one shift in appearance as it starts adjustment and then a final shift as it finishes instead of all of the interim adjustments AND the auto gamma process is extremely fast now.

DPP will still provide the same quality output files with slower systems but it won't be as responsive in showing you what is happening during processing and the processing will take longer.

Rodger

[imitchell119]

Thanks folks -

Was away, was not ignoring your help!

I just find it so odd that the software/computer clearly has the ability to display the detail (after my adjustments) in the crop/rotate tab, but nowhere else.  When my JPGs are exported soft (and they all do) I can't tell if it's because they are JPGs or because the image is soft in DPP. 

It drives me nuts to see the detail disappear when a change tabs.

I should mention that this happens when there is no croping going on the crop/rotate tab - so all the tabs are showing the same original size image, but just one is sharp.

What a pain

[BurnUnit]

After doing a "Convert & Save" to your RAW files, do the resulting JPEG or TIFF files look as sharp and clear as the image you're seeing in the Crop & Rotate tab before you do the conversion? If so, I imagine that DPP4 is working properly and as well as possible on your computer under the circumstances. But I can understand it giving you doubts as to whether the software or your eyes are playing tricks on you.

I run DPP4 on a Win7 machine that's a few years old and is not nearly as "juiced up" as the computer Rodger is working on. Less RAM, a very basic graphics card and probably a slower processor. DPP4 works and overall I'm happy with the results, but it's often a frustrating and slow process.

But I also installed DxO OpticsPro a couple years ago on the same machine and it seems to run smoother and faster in many processes and I have to admit that I'm just as happy with the results I get. You might try a free 30 day download of DxO Photolab (the upgraded version OpticsPro) and see if it works better on your computer. But be warned that there will probably be a bit of a learning curve involved if you've gotten used to the DPP4 interface.

[imitchell119]

Exported JPGs are soft (even though high quality is specified) and look like the "soft tabs" in DPP.

I don't think computer power affects anything but how long the image processing takes.  Unless the software can detect poor graphics capability and then actually change the image processing algorithm(s) it uses - but one would think that it would give me a choice.