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Printing from DNG


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Hi all,

 

Apols if this a dumb question.....after 11 months with the SL, I am ready to get a few prints run off...just to put up in the house.

 

My question is whether I can print from a DNG file? I know they are larger in MB terms but setting that asked, I like the look of some of my DNG files.

 

Thanks.

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Yes..... the only camera setting I would use for fine prints. No reason to waste data, and storage is cheap. I do, however, export files from LR to ImagePrint (via tiffs) before printing, but keep the originals in LR.

 

Jeff

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Jeff, I think our OP, Big John, simply has no post-processing software.

 

Big John: What platform is your computer? (PC (windows), Mac, Unix?))

.

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I would use Lightroom. Just become comfortable with the Print option.

 

Nothing else that comes with the Mac is as direct - they rest require conversion to another format, and BTW, the TIFF files they make are 10 times larger than the DNG.

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Hi all,

 

Apols if this a dumb question.....after 11 months with the SL, I am ready to get a few prints run off...just to put up in the house.

 

My question is whether I can print from a DNG file? I know they are larger in MB terms but setting that asked, I like the look of some of my DNG files.

 

Thanks.

 

 

I do all my printing from Lightroom, whether the files are raw or JPEG or TIFF. LR's printing module is excellent and allows for tremendous consistency. 

 

G

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The LR print module is excellent; I've generated many beautiful prints using it in conjunction with an overall disciplined workflow.  No problem with DNGs...in fact I'd never use anything else for PP and fine printing.  

 

For those wanting even more, however, ImagePrint 10 (IP10) is superior, albeit expensive...and it additionally provides constant soft proofing and superb profiles for virtually every paper and lighting condition. I wouldn't recommend it for the occasional and casual print user; for that, the LR print module is just fine.

 

Jeff

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  • 2 weeks later...

Depends on what is meant by "printing from a .DNG"

 

If you mean sticking your SD card into a printer with an SD slot for direct printing - NO. It will have no idea what a .dng file is (as opposed to a "finished picture" format such as .jpeg or .tif.)

 

Same for the self-service printing kiosks in most photo stores - you have to give them a finished picture, usually a .jpg. A .DNG will be an unreadable file, as would any other raw format (Nikon .NEF, Canon .IMG, etc.).

 

If you mean handing your SD card in to a lab, with .DNG files on it - MAYBE. But unless you have tweaked all the default settings to something that you prefer, and give them the tweaked version of the .DNG (with those new settings saved into the DNG metadata), recopied from your computer, and not just the original file written by the camera — you may be surprised at the colors, sharpening, etc. etc.

 

The lab will have to have software that can read your .DNG and its metadata recording what changes you made creatively. Most labs I know of prefer a .jpg or .tif saved from your raw original, and in Adobe 1998 color space, and presized to the final print area you want (20 x 30" or 10 x 15", or 2' x 3' or whatever).

 

Printing at home from LR, Photoshop, any other imaging program that can open a .DNG, to an appropriate inkjet printer (for any size) or dye-sub (for small prints) - PIECE OF CAKE!

 

Although - technically - once you have opened a .DNG file as a viewable photograph, it is not longer exactly a .DNG. (Which would look like a dull, low-contrast, overall greenish checkerboard of red, green, and blue pixels). Stuff has been done to it on the fly to make it a visible picture (debayerizing, applying whatever profile you use, collapsing it into your chosen working color space, setting a size in pixels per inch/cm, applying a tone curve, etc.) When you "save" the .DNG, then the file is still a .DNG, just with new metadata (header data separate from the actual pixel values) that records all the settings you've applied.

 

Which is why the kiosks and direct-from-SD inkjets can't use a .DNG file "as is."

 

In and of itself, a .DNG ain't a picture yet, any more than a screenplay is a motion picture.

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I find it near impossible to centre prints on the paper using LR Print module.. At least one border is larger than the others even if I have cropped to the exact dimensions of the paper, and locked ratios during print layout size reduction.

 

It's a common complaint with LR, but I haven't found a workaround yet.

 

all best...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks guys. I learned a lot from the responses. Have also started to learn how to use LR, and am enjoying it too.

 

My naive opening question would have been better phrased by asking how to keep detail/resolution/file size when exporting for printing as typical JPEGs are low res.

 

Sorted now. Thanks!

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You guys are probably right.

 

I'm using an Epson R3000.  A pretty good printer, but soooo frustrating trying to centre images.

 

So yes, the Epson brand??

 

thanks...but still no workaround..

 

 

The problem is the Epson print driver; the dimensioning problem runs across all the printers with any software that uses the Epson print driver in certain ways. I find with the P600 that if I use any 'borderless' paper definition, precise dimensioning goes out the window. I found the same thing with all my previous Epsons, regardless of whether I use LR, PS, or any other software that utilizes the driver. Using one or two of the RIPs, there are no problems. Frustrating ... But most of the time, I print with rather wide borders anyway, so I pick the standard paper dimensioning and work within the 'none printing' area; then the dimensioning works fine. 

 

I've made (and sold) thousands of prints with Lightroom and the Epson R2400 and now P600. I've never had any problems making prints that clients like or that received recognition when exhibited. :D

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Thanks guys. I learned a lot from the responses. Have also started to learn how to use LR, and am enjoying it too.

 

My naive opening question would have been better phrased by asking how to keep detail/resolution/file size when exporting for printing as typical JPEGs are low res.

 

Sorted now. Thanks!

 

Exporting for specific print purposes ...? It takes some time and a little experimentation to figure out what works for your photos. There's no single magic formula that works for all photos. It takes a combination of the correct output sharpening, pixel sizing, and how much JPEG compression works best for a given size to maintain a usable file size, and that varies dependent upon image content.

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