A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

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Rudi
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A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

Post by Rudi »

Quoted from a TechSupportAlert Article in my email today...
If you've ever lusted after a product such as Adobe Lightroom, which lets you experiment with different exposure settings etc in order to produce great-looking pictures, then I strongly recommend you take a look at a brilliant web site called Polarr as soon as you can. Simply load up one of your existing digital images, then play around with all the on-screen sliders in order to get just the effect you're looking for. Or to discover effects that you never knew existed, or that you were unaware could enhance (or ruin!) a picture.

Polarr is free to use, and it works with any modern web browser.
Give Polarr a test run here...
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Rudi

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HansV
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Re: A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

Post by HansV »

It works for me in Firefox 33.1, but not (at least not correctly) in Internet Explorer 11.
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stuck
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Re: A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

Post by stuck »

Does it process RAW files? My quick Google on that question didn't find an answer. If it doesn't, it's not even close to Adobe's Lightroom and I'd then take it's claims to do be able to wonderful things with a pinch of salt.

Ken

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Re: A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

Post by Rudi »

HansV wrote:It works for me in Firefox 33.1, but not (at least not correctly) in Internet Explorer 11.
It works well in Chrome too.

Ken, where can one source a RAW file? It could be interesting to find out if if can process these file types. Not that I am comparing this online editor with Adobe Lightroom...gosh, for my needs it is fine...
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Rudi

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Re: A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

Post by HansV »

Digital cameras...
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Re: A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

Post by Rudi »

Will the file have a *.raw extension?

OK...downloading a sample RAW file now... from here!
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Rudi

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Re: A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

Post by HansV »

Many digital cameras have the ability to produce RAW files; the extension depends on the brand, for example Olympus uses .orf and Canon uses .cr2. See Raw image format.
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Re: A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

Post by Rudi »

TX Hans,

I downloaded a SONY raw file... seems the extention is *.ARW

Apparently Polarr does not open RAW files based on my attempt...
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Rudi

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Re: A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

Post by PaulB »

HansV wrote:It works for me in Firefox 33.1, but not (at least not correctly) in Internet Explorer 11.
Strange, it's the exact opposite for me. All I get in Firefox is a grey screen. It appears to load up and operate in IE, although I did not do any testing.
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Paul

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stuck
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Re: A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

Post by stuck »

OK, where's my salt cellar? I'll laid odds it won't do anything that something like IrfanView or Faststone Image Viewer can't do.

Meanwhile my take "on what is a RAW file?" goes like this...

A digital camera's sensor is an array of Red, Green and Blue sensitive pixels hence the fundamental electronic output from the sensor is an array of numerical data that represents the response of each pixel to the colour and intensity of the light falling on it. There is no agreed standard that defines how this RAW should be recorded hence every camera manufacturer has their own RAW file formats (.cr2, .nef, etc.).

However, a human won't see a picture if they look at a RAW file, there's a bit of computing to be done to convert the numbers that come off the sensor into a different set of numbers that can be written as a .jpg, .tif , whatever which can be visualised.

All but a few high-end point&shoot cameras do this RAW conversion in-camera and write only the converted data to the memory card. More sophisticated cameras, like DSLRs, allow the user the choice of what's written to the card, typically:
a) just a converted file (invariably a .jpg)
b) both the RAW file and the converted file
c) just the RAW file

Why? Who needs a RAW file if it's not actually a picture? Well, the algorithm that generates the converted file will have to make some assumptions and these assumptions may not render the image in an optimal manner. Allow a human to control the RAW to .jpg conversion and all sorts of creative possibilities open up.

Can't you just edit the converted .jpg? Yes, you can but the data that's being tweaked is inherently limited/less than the RAW data it came from so you're not going to have the same flexibility as you have with working with a RAW file.

My Canon DSLR is set to write both RAW and jpg files to the memory card. Most of the images I post here are derived from the in-camera created .jpg. They're not bad (if I say so myself) but now I can usually do better if I do the RAW conversion myself. Having RAW files means I can revisit old pictures and re-work them with the benefit of experience.

Ken

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Re: A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

Post by Rudi »

TX for the insights Ken.
I've always considered myself to be a learned amateur photographer. I had apprenticed with a British photographer for two years in the dawn of my interests in this field and I have been playing the game for two decades now, BUT since I lay down my 35mm Pentax cameras and went digital (not with SLR's), I stopped learning (and reading) in this field. What you have written about is quite new to me and I think my "amateur" status has just dropped down to novice again!!!

As a matter of fact, most of the images I snap away nowadays is from my iPhone. My Sony FinePix has been hibernating in the camera bag for a few months now :sad:
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Rudi

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Re: A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

Post by stuck »

Rudi wrote:As a matter of fact, most of the images I snap away nowadays is from my iPhone. My Sony FinePix has been hibernating in the camera bag for a few months now :sad:
Why sad? Do you not enjoy snapping pictures with your iPhone? Of course you do!

In which case, does it matter if your 'proper' camera is left in a bag? Don't think so!

Ken

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Re: A Superb Online Photo Editor (Free To Use)

Post by Rudi »

My sympathies are not with myself or the images I snap away, but rather for my Sony. I'm sure it's feeling neglected after being such an integral device before I got my iPhone. Anyways!... that's just something I have to work myself through :grin:
Regards,
Rudi

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