RAW histogram

[sfbillm]

Would very much like for PM to have a RAW histogram. I often use FastRawViewer to cull and select photos when I have a shoot with bracketed images, as jpeg-based ones aren't accurate enough for critical work. But it's not nearly as intuitive or fast to use as PM.
Could you add RAW histograms to PM?
Thanks.

[Kirk Baker]

Would very much like for PM to have a RAW histogram. I often use FastRawViewer to cull and select photos when I have a shoot with bracketed images, as jpeg-based ones aren't accurate enough for critical work. But it's not nearly as intuitive or fast to use as PM.
Could you add RAW histograms to PM?

The short answer is: no.

PM doesn't render RAW files itself, so it can't have access to the image data and as such it can't count the frequency of color data.

Speed comes from not rendering RAW files.

-Kirk

[sfbillm]

Appreciate the prompt reply. But as far as speed of rendering is concerned, FRV on my not the latest or most powerful rig is quite speedy - no noticeable difference between it and PM. Admittedly, the folders I'm opening in either don't have thousands of images - at most 2 or 3 hundred, and most far fewer than that.

[Kirk Baker]

Appreciate the prompt reply. But as far as speed of rendering is concerned, FRV on my not the latest or most powerful rig is quite speedy - no noticeable difference between it and PM. Admittedly, the folders I'm opening in either don't have thousands of images - at most 2 or 3 hundred, and most far fewer than that.

In general, PM does not render RAW images.  Since it does not render RAW images, then it can't also get a more accurate histogram either.

-Kirk

[djjcarroll]

Tuesday, August 08, 2017, 1:40 PM

Kirk, if PM does not render raw images, then re the Preferences - Raw Section, what does RAW rendering for Previews do?  I was just looking at a contact sheet of raw (Fuji Raf files) and noticed how very long it took to view the thumbnail at its sharpest point.   I then followed a previous post of yours and turned off using RAW rendering and reloaded the disk and the thumbnails appeared instantly.

So, I am wondering, when I should use Raw rendering for previews if used what exactly does it do?

Don J J Carroll

[Kirk Baker]

Don,

Tuesday, August 08, 2017, 1:40 PM

Kirk, if PM does not render raw images, then re the Preferences - Raw Section, what does RAW rendering for Previews do?  I was just looking at a contact sheet of raw (Fuji Raf files) and noticed how very long it took to view the thumbnail at its sharpest point.   I then followed a previous post of yours and turned off using RAW rendering and reloaded the disk and the thumbnails appeared instantly.

So, I am wondering, when I should use Raw rendering for previews if used what exactly does it do?

Only on the macOS version has RAW rendering an option, and unfortunately it is far too slow to be truly useful for a general Photo Mechanic workflow.  If you want the option to render RAW, then you can enable it, but I suggest choosing to use embedded JPEG previews for thumbnails and previews.

In Save As or the uploaders (or any other feature that offers output) you can then choose to render RAW, but understand that you'll have no control over the rendered image and it very likely won't have the same color tone as the embedded JPEG preview.

-Kirk

[djjcarroll]

Tuesday, August 08, 2017, 4:05 PM

Thanks for the clarification Kirk, and yes I am a Mac user and will now do as you suggest and not use Raw Rendering for Previews.

DJJC