NEF files unable to load in CS3

[notahonda]

Hi all,
I was wandering if anyone has had this issue. I recently purchased a Nikon D300. Photoshop CS2 and CS3 are unable to load the file. I have tried downloading the DNG converter and adobe photoshop raw pack but still unable to load. Has anyone else experienced this?

[ricktas]

From memory you won't be able to open D300 photos in CS2 as the version of ACR for CS2 doesnt support it, but you should be able to for CS3.

Get the latest version of ACR for CS3 and see how you go

[notahonda]

yeah... thats what i thought... but i downloaded the latest ACR and it still cant open it ... :( hmmm....it will be freaking annoying if i have to format my computer and re-install everything...just to see if it makes a difference... VISTA aint the friendliest computer to rebuild :)

[Kym]

yeah... thats what i thought... but i downloaded the latest ACR and it still cant open it ... :( hmmm....it will be freaking annoying if i have to format my computer and re-install everything...just to see if it makes a difference... VISTA aint the friendliest computer to rebuild :)

It is extremely rare that you need to re-install. In fact since about Windows 2000 the idea of a rebuild (unless major hardware change i.e. new mobo) re-intallations can be avoided.
(edit: Viral infections aside - which is your own fault ;) )

Links that may help...
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html
http://www.gballard.net/psd/adobecameraraw.html
http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?50@49.cEcjcb4s3Sn.2172502@.3bb5b2e0
http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Camera_Raw_5.4

[GregoryH]

I upgraded to a D300 and had the same problem with CS3. I tried all cheats and methods and ended up having to get CS4. There is an upgrade for the Raw converter, but it only works with CS4.

Good Luck, I'd love to know if there is an answer to this other the the CS4 method.

Cheers,

Greg

[I @ M]

Notahonda and Greg, have you thought about downloading Nikon View NX ( free ) and converting them to TIFFs for processing work in whichever Photoshop you use?

[ricktas]

the latest version of ACR will only be for CS4. Adobe stop updating ACR for previous versions of PS when they bring out a new version of PS. So say you had CS2 today and tried to open a RAW file from a camera introduced this week, it will not work, cause the last version of ACR for CS2 would not have included the new camera.

You might need to see if you can find a slightly older version of ACR for CS3, that should work

[mcdesign]

Don't know if this will be of help...http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-57723-photoshop-cs3-can-t-open-raw-files AND http://www.dpnotes.com/before-you-open-nikon-d300-raw-files-in-adobe-photoshop-cs3-and-lightroom-2/ AND http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html

[notahonda]

Notahonda and Greg, have you thought about downloading Nikon View NX ( free ) and converting them to TIFFs for processing work in whichever Photoshop you use?

If i was to do this would i end up losing all the RAW information? or is working with TIFF very close to work with NEF raw files if i was to edit the file in Lightroom?

[notahonda]

Don't know if this will be of help...http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-57723-photoshop-cs3-can-t-open-raw-files AND http://www.dpnotes.com/before-you-open-nikon-d300-raw-files-in-adobe-photoshop-cs3-and-lightroom-2/ AND http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html

thanks for these links i will try them tonight as well :)

[I @ M]

View will allow you to convert single or multiple copies of images into either TIFF or JPEG and allow you to back up the original NEF as it does so. You won't lose the original NEF.
You can copy an NEF file and perform exposure corrections, picture control adjustments etc. within View then convert the file for further editing as a TIFF in CS without losing the original NEF.

[JM Tran]

just use the DNG converter to convert the NEF files to DNG format to open it

[arthurking83]

What Andrew said! :th3:

regardless of which editing program you use, you never work on the NEF file itself.

All editing is done on a TIFF or JPG version, and the edit steps are written into a side file that tells the editing program how to render the NEF.

eg. if you use CaptureNX, CNX edits the NEF side file but the image you view on the PC screen is actually a TIFF file. The TIFF file is stored in the cache at various edit steps, so you may end up with multiple version of the TIFF image of a single NEF.
Each TIFF can be as large as 90MB, so if you use ViewNX or CaptureNX it pays to regularly clean out the cache file.
In the cache folder there will be numerous files with convoluted numbers for names and no file extension. If you rename any of the files with a .tif extension you can then open them in any raster viewer to see what each file is.


I reckon use ViewNX to convert to raster, and edit with whatever program(even with CS2 if that's your preference) and save the raster image as you please. The NEF will remain as it was, at the time of conversion to raster image by ViewNX.

[notahonda]

awesome! i'll be trying it out this weekend...i'll let u guys know on my progress :)

[notahonda]

okay none of that worked. ... spent about 4 hours downloading and trying to photoshop to pick up the files ... capture nx requires licensing issues... which i dont have atm .... does anyone in here have adobe photoshop cs3? if so would it be possible for someoen to kindly email me the required file :)

if the program was installed in to the default location it should be that file there...
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Plug-Ins\CS3\File Formats\camera raw.8bi
PLEASE help me someone :)

nim.luong@elephant-it.com.au

the file is about 10MB ... hehe

[Kym]

Why is that missing?
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Plug-Ins\CS3\File Formats\camera raw.8bi
If you have a legit install should it not be there?

[Kym]

Try this...
http://www.jmbelite.com/photography/opening-raw-files-in-adobe-photoshop-cs4-or-cs3

[arthurking83]

okay none of that worked. ... spent about 4 hours downloading and trying to photoshop to pick up the files ... capture nx requires licensing issues... which i dont have atm .... does anyone in here have adobe photoshop cs3? if so would it be possible for someoen to kindly email me the required file :) .....

Sorry! can't help with adobe software, but you don't need CaptureNX.
ViewNX(which came on the CD in the camera box! :p)
Current version is 1.3.0 and I don't know what version you'll have, but there are a few good reasons to have the latest version.

Remember if you already have a copy of PS, and even if that's the earlier version, all you want to do is to sort through your images and then convert them to jpg or tiff, so that you can tweak them via PS(if that's your preferred program).
View NX will do all that you need, with the added bonus that you can play around with various in camera edits/tweaking(I do it all the time, it saves a heap of time in processing).

try that.

[Big Pix]

this should work for you...... http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php?title=Camera_Raw_4.6

the above will work with CS3

....... there is a later version if you want so do a search for " Adobe ACR "

....... "ACR" Adobe Camera Raw.....
Adobe tends to move bits to Adobe Labs......

[jazzy309]

I am not sure exactly what your problem is, but I assure you you do not need to upgrade to CS4.

I have a D300 and CS3 and it loads my NEF's file just fine. Make sure you downloaded the last version of ACR made for CS3 (it includes the RAW decoder for D300 NEF Files). I am not on my main computer so I can't look up the version number, sorry. Check for any updates on the Abobe site and install them.

Do you get any error messages when loading the NEF's?