Using NX and CS3 together?

[flygirl1]

Hi all. In my quest to decide whether to upgrade to CS3 from Elements, I have one question. For those using NX and CS3, if I did most of my NEF processing in NX then saving it as a NEF, would CS3 see the changes and such that I had made in NX. Elements appears to, but want to make sure about CS3. Or do people save the processed NEF as a 16-bit TIFF and take it into CS3.

Thanks all for your thoughts
Nancy

 

[Rich Gibson]

For me NX is more of a processor. I always take everything into Photoshop to prepare it for printing, internet posting, etc. I mostly use shadows and highlights, noise reduction and sharpening. It does a much better job at those than NX.

Rich

 

[flygirl1]

For me NX is more of a processor. I always take everything into Photoshop to prepare it for printing, internet posting, etc. I mostly use shadows and highlights, noise reduction and sharpening. It does a much better job at those than NX.

Rich

Thanks Rich. But, do you take it into Photoshop as still a NEF(RAW) or do you save as a TIFF, 16 or 8-bit.:smile:

Nancy

 

[Gale]

No PS will not ..You either have to change in acr 4 or nx.to your choice of jpg or tif. i save all as 16 bit tiff till I am done with all processing in PS.
I think ACR4 is going to be a better converter in my opinion.
But guess it is person choice in raw processors. What ever works best for ya.

I still use capture 4.4.2

 

[flygirl1]

Thanks Gale. I thought that, but was not sure. I am still trying to work out workflow, but I think I am close. I am taking a course on NX in October in Orlando here, so I will get a better idea of things then for sure.

Nancy

 

[Mike Z]

Nancy,
I use both for separate purposes. In direct answer to your question, PS will not recognizes changes made to a NEF file by NX that is saved as a NEF. The changes are recorded in a sidecar file that isn't picked up by PS. To retain the NX changes in PS, as Gale indicated, you have to save the image as a TIF.

I find each program has benefits. I prefer NX for raw processing and for most other processing. On the other hand, ACR does a better job in recovering shadows and highlights and getting files prepared for the web. Keep in mind however, you can now use ACR for all types of files, not just raw, and take advantage of the shadow highlight and color temp. elements for all types of files. I do all of my final preparation for the web in photoshop. I do all my printing in Qimage, but Qimage requires a tif or jpg.
Mike

 

[Rich Gibson]

Thanks Rich. But, do you take it into Photoshop as still a NEF(RAW) or do you save as a TIFF, 16 or 8-bit.:smile:

Nancy

In NX, just as with Capture I save the RAW (NEF) setting file in the same folders as the originals, so they don't get lost. I save an 8 bit TIF file and open that in Photoshop. I use 8 bit TIFs because the White Balance, EV and shadow colors al balanced in NX. Here is a sample folder/directory

2007-04-28 Chris' soccer game
...Culls (stinko NEF files..I delete this folder at year's end)
...Originals (keeper nef files.eg 2007-04-29-(0001).nef)
......Settings (eg 2007-04-29-(0001).set
...Production (eg 2007-04-29-(0001).tif and .jpgs...sized for smugmug.com)
...Working (eg 2007-04-29-(0001).jpg original camera jpgs..folder is deleted after processing.

Rich

 

[flygirl1]

Thanks all for your thoughts. Well, it seems I am doing just about the same thing, which makes me feel good.

cheers all
Nancy