raw file to silver efex pro2 problem

[rodders]

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Hi guys, hope you're all better after what seems to be s general consensus of disappointment from yesterday.

 

I'm an absolute novice but I'm trying to transfer a raw file from aperture which is just over 17mb to silver efex pro2. Trouble is, every time I open efex to edit the pic goes into tiff format about 6mb.

 

I want to get this print blown up and saw a good photo lab today. I showed what I had but it was a jpeg so saved as per their instructions to RGB 8bit Mac file. This somehow shows as about 7-8mb.

 

They prefer really large file around 40-50mb but I think they thought the photo was taken with a SLR not a puny X1 because of image quality.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

 

Rod.

[andybarton]

Don't you use SFX as a plug-in in Aperture?

[rodders]

That's right Andy. it is definately a plug in.

[rodders]

Funnily enough if I save a file in colour therefore no efex plug in it saves at about 38mb.

[andybarton]

I'm not quite sure what you are trying to do.

 

Do you want to send a RAW file to the printer? Aperture doesn't work like that. It saves edits to the image but keeps the RAW file intact. You have to export to a psd or tiff, when you have finished editing.

[rodders]

I'm not sure what I'm doing either Andy!

 

What I'm trying to do is edit a RAW pic in Efex and save to USB in the largest format possible as I want it to be a large print.

 

I start with a RAW file in aperture, it's 17.58 mb.

 

I then got to edit with plugin which is efex. When I do this and save it goes back to aperture as a bw pic. I save to USB and it is now only 8.2mb.

 

I take it that's it and the processing in efex effectively rids some info hence the reduction in file size.

 

Again, I have so little knowledge and appreciate your time!

[250swb]

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You need to save your RAW conversion as something. A RAW file is just 'air', a collection of options that the RAW processor sorts out automatically or with your input. So get the RAW file into the shape you want, and save that as a colour TIFF file in ProPhoto RGB or Adobe RGB colour profile. Then you should be able to play with it in Silver Efex Pro. When you finish in Silver Efex Pro export it back to Aperture by pressing 'OK' and save it again with a different filename. This is the image you can send or take to the printer. If you need a JPEG to send open your TIFF image and 'save as' a JPEG. If your printer wants the image in sRGB colour convert it at the same time. But do not do any editing in JPEG format, use either your 'master' TIFF again as the jumping off point (the colour one), or use your B&W conversion TIFF.

 

Steve

[rodders]

Thanks guys, all good.

 

Appreciate the advice.

 

Rod.

[jaapv]

The file size as such has nothing to do with the printing quality. The resolution of the printable file is determined by the size of the print and the number of available pixels.

As you are probably sending the file to the printer in JPG format it will be compressed according to content.So files with exactly the same resolution for exactly the same size of paper may have a strong variation in size. Nor is it a given that a higher resolution will give a better print. Most printers will give best results around 300 DPI, and more resolution is useless or even sub-optimal. Unless you know exactly what you are doing. Some professional book printers like to get a 600 DPI file.

[Jamie Roberts]

Ok, so how big an image do you want to print?

 

The thing that is throwing you is *bit depth* in the raw file, which is probably 12bpp.

 

When you save it out as a TIFF or a JPEG, you are probably saving a file with 8bpp. Consequently, you have a smaller file. The JPEG is also compressed, which will make it smaller again. That's ok: your printer probably can't use the added bit depth anyway!

 

If you then throw away colour information by saving it as a "greyscale" image (which, unless your printer tells you to do that, you shouldn't ) you will have even smaller files.

 

So: how big a print are you going to make? You say "large" but how large is that?

 

SilverEFX isn't doing any of this, by the way, but let's start with what you want to achieve and go from there.

 

PS--no printer I know wants 40-50mb "on disk" JPEGs!!! They might want them that "size" once they're in Photoshop (in memory, that is) but the file, as Jaap says, is compressed. A 50mb JPEG on disk, normally compressed, would be a massive, massive file when uncompressed for print!

[algrove]

Also when one flattens an image (in PS) for printing it actually reduces the size of the file, but not the quality of the print to be. Perhaps Aperture works the same way. Just a comment since I only use PS.