Any one else using Fast Raw Viewer instead of Organizer?

[cjt]

First, a BIG THANK you to MichelP for all of the helpful information about the Organizer and it's catalog system. 

But, catalogs and databases of any kind seem to not like me very well. Maybe I have not sacrificed enough chickens?  And Organizer is no better or worse than any of the others. 

So, trying to come up with an alternative, I have gone back to trying Fast Raw Viewer again. It seems to not have a catalog or anything like that. Not sure, and manual is not clear. Therefore would like to hear from anyone else using this.

I'm running MacOSX Catalina.

Thanks in advance

[Chris]

Cjt, You are not alone. There are many who prefer not to use the organiser and just use the Photoshop Elements Editor. Personally, I prefer to use my personal filing system within windows explorer. If Fast Raw Viewer suits your needs, that's fine.

However, if all you need is a viewer, then there are free alternatives like FastStone Picture viewer. www.faststone.org/

There is also a free app called Raw Image Extension that enables you to see all raw files within Windows Explorer. After installing, you need to set folders to medium or large thumbnail view for it to work.

www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/raw-image-extension/9nctdw2w1bh8?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

Kind regards
Chris

[michelb]

I don't think that Fast Raw viewer is a competitor for the organizer, they should work well together. I don't use it myself but its purpose and features are very well explained by the smart team which created it as well as by many well-known photographers. They even customized its interface to be integrated in a Lightroom or Camera Raw workflow.

To be clear, the software is focussed on the first stage of the workflow of many pros, the culling and selection stage before the organizing and editing stage. Shooting big batches in the raw format and selecting the best files is slow by nature, or it is done rapidly by working on the embedded jpegs in the raw files. Those embedded jpegs don't take into account (= render) the raw edits and the jpeg histogram can't be trusted. That's why using softwares like Faststone are not ideal for those pros, even if they can speed up the culling process in the organizer or other raw editors.

On the other hand, Fast Raw Viewer makes shooing both raw and jpeg redundant in most situations, so shooting only raw only makes your workflow much simpler. I would be curious to test the processing speed which is said to be very fast by using the GPU.

I rarely have important shooting events to process, so I don't really need such a software. I consider that using FastStone is already a useful culling solution as well as an excellent viewer. I prefer to concentrate on optimizing my workflow through batch editing in camera raw, jpegs as well as raw (CR2 and RAF).

- automatic download and import in the catalog in date based subfolders

- for jpegs: open in camera raw by folders, applying 'auto' corrections by batches of about 50 files. After clicking 'Done', the jpegs are managed in camera raw from the organizer like real raws. Same process. No need at that stage to create version sets.

- Fast review to assign provisory ratings and to mark rejects.

- If needed, exporting those selected raws and jpegs as new jpeg files to share by Internet as rough proofs.

- The real batch processing stage starts by selecting files based on lighting for common corrections in Camera Raw (white balance and basic adjustements of shadow/highlight); if needed applying non destructive crop and straighten corrections.

- Tagging is best started after that stage

- Deleting rejects is never urgent and should be done as night job. Hiding is enough.

- After this second stage, it's possible to export selected files for web or print with globally enhanced and optimized files.

- Now comes the third stage which requires much more time to edit in the pixel editor. Most of the time (90%) I don't need the pixel editor, but I always want to save my pictures as version sets, in full size, high quality jpeg (quality 10). That way I can manage those version sets much faster than raws, they are the equivalent of full size previews in Lightroom. They can be printed or exported with good quality, especially as they will appear as 'top of version sets' in albums.

Saving those files as version sets takes time, but generally I am not in a hurry.

[kdcintx]

For those running Windows, Microsoft has a free raw image extension for viewing raw file thumb nails. It works for me on Windows 10 and Windows 7.

Sorry, but I'm not familiar with the Mac.

[cjt]

Once again, thanks to michelb for his excellant words of advice on the "flow process". I'm going to look at the flow system. Also, Time Machine and Organizer do not always play together nicely. I'm still trying some other apps out. It's not that there are not plenty of possibilities out there. At least in the Mac world. Looks like the same in Window world. Thanks to all for time and thought!

[pontiac1940]

May 4, 2021 20:20:48 GMT michelb said:

I consider that using FastStone is already a useful culling solution as well as an excellent viewer.

Yes, agree.

Thanks to Chris for suggesting FastStone. It is amazing. Because it displays raw images in a reduced size it is not great for determining if the "up close" focus is spot on. But it allows me to do a preliminary assessment and delete the masses of images that are not suitable. For example, when photographing flying birds, the wing "pose" is important and FastSTone is great for assessing things like that. Delete. Delete. Delete. Keep. Delete. etc. It is not unusual for me to take 300 photos during a 90-minute outing if there is a lot happening ... such as flying birds.  So having a viewing program to assess photos quite fast is important.  

Clive

[BuckSkin]

FastStone is absolutely the best; --- however, unless I am mistaken, it is a Windows only program.

I gave up on the Organizer years ago and developed my own system that works best for me = no "stacks" and no "version sets"

I use D.I.M. (Digital Image Mover) to offload and rename the files from the memory card.

Every image file is named by date and camera, and filed by date.

Each specific "event" has a dated folder containing sub-folders, often many sub-folders, for the various versions of the images, such as Original RAW, jpeg from RAW, PSD, Finished jpeg, and etc.

I don't have a mixture of file types, nor versions, together in any folder.

FastStone is the backbone of my system.

[BuckSkin]

May 6, 2021 14:51:39 GMT pontiac1940 said:

 Because it displays raw images in a reduced size it is not great for determining if the "up close" focus is spot on. 

Clive

I believe that behavior can be changed in Settings and it will display the full resolution RAW image; it warns that progress will be slow.

I am also pretty certain that there is a keyboard key that you can press to change a single image display from RAW embedded jpeg display to full RAW display.

[cjt]

Well latest attempts is with NX Studio, the free file browser and editor. I have been using the file part so far. I have been pretty happy with it. Does ratings, labels, albums, and can do keywords as well. If you have a Nikon camera you can sign up and get a free 20GB WWW space. There are apps for iOS and I think Android for iPhones, iPads, and so forth. Major downside is that you MUST have internet connection. This is not always handy, since I am often away from such connections and want to look at my photos. However, on a Mac, you can AirDrop your photos to your iPad and they "stick" so you can see them anywhere. Yes, Photos will do that, but Photos is another catalog app and catalogs do not like me. Thanks for the responses! Charles J.