Matt Spinelli Photography - Tutorial and User Guide for s7raw part 1

By Matt Spinelli, 10/16/2005 (updated 4/19/2006, see box below)

Previously, I wrote about the merits of raw photo editing with s7raw. Now we will take a more in-depth look at this photo editor in this user guide. Please keep in mind that the s7raw editor is still in a beta stage and this tutorial is based of off version 0.4.1 (now revised to include up to 0.4.3). I have tried to make this tutorial easy to follow, concise, and informative by splitting it into three main sections - understanding the user interface, making adjustments, and using advanced features.

Understanding the User Interface

The raw editor's user interface is split into three main frames or panels - the preview window, the display panel, and the adjustment panel. Most of the controls found within each of these panels can be moved and docked to one of the other panels. The magnifier window, when having its check box checked, can be undocked from the main form and enlarged for better viewing. For this tutorial will focus on the default layout.

Raw images are displayed in the preview window of this raw photo editor. It is not possible to zoom within the window as it only shows the entire image as a whole. To be able to zoom in closer, the display panel contains a five level magnifier window. This window will display a selectable 256 x 256 or 512 x 512 crop of the image at 100-500% magnification.

In addition to the magnifier, the display panel also contains a histogram, parameter curves, and Exif data. The histogram separates the RGB channels as well as luminosity. Each channel can be toggled on or off. The P, M, and S options of the histogram are also selectable. The preview (P) option displays the histogram of the whole image, the magnifier (M) option displays the histogram of the image inside the magnifier window, and the selection (S) option displays the histogram of a selected part of the image. To select a part of the image press CTRL and the left mouse button while dragging the mouse in the preview window.

Next, the parameter curves show the level curves of each RGB and luminosity channel. The last member of display panel shows the Exif data with the option of viewing just a summary, or all of the available information. Selecting all will display a very long list of information regarding the photograph.

The third panel contains the raw photo editing adjustments. This panel has six adjustment tabs - Adjust1, Adjust2, Detail, Curve, Lens, and Color. We won't go over what each tab contains in this section, but will instead address it in the making adjustments portion of the tutorial.

The last topic in this section is the menu. Just about all features found on the three main panels can be accessed from the Parameters and View menu. File, Edit, and Help are the normal fare. Batch Job will be discussed in the advanced features portion. The menu also contains buttons. Below you will find a brief description of each one:

	Open - Opens an existing document or parameters.
	Save - Saves the active document.
	Save Parameters - Saves the active parameters.
	Copy Preview - Copies preview image and puts in on the clipboard.
	Copy Magnifier - Copies magnifier image and puts it on the clipboard.
	Crop Tool - Affects histogram when in S mode and will crop the image upon output.
	Batch Job - Converts multiple files.
	16-bit PSD - Sets output to be a 16-bit per channel PSD (Photoshop) file.
	8-bit PSD - Sets output to be an 8-bit per channel PSD (Photoshop) file.
	16-bit TIFF - Sets output to be a 16-bit per channel TIFF file.
	8-bit TIFF - Sets output to be an 8-bit per channel TIFF file.
	JPEG - Sets output to be an 8-bit per channel JPEG file.
	Increment - Increments output file number if file already exists.
	JPEG Option - Adjust the JPEG quality.
	Full Size - Sets output to be full size.
	9/16 Size - Sets output to be 9/16 of the original image size.
	Quarter Size - Sets output to be ¼ of the original image size.
	Preview Size - Sets output to be the preview size, 512x384.
	Grid Menu - Displays a grid with the preview being divided by 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, or 16.
	Highlight/Shadow Warning - Displays blown or lost shadow detail.
	SelColors - Toggle selection color adjustments.
	LensCorrection - Toggle lens correction adjustments.
	FreeCurve - Toggle free tone curve.
	About - Display program information, version number, and copyright.

UPDATE 4/19/06: It was brought to my attention that some checkboxes have three states (checked with a white background, checked with a gray background, and not checked). Well after hearing back from the s7raw's development team, apparently a gray checked Prv checkbox indicates that after the parameters are changed by the sliders, the program waits a few seconds before updating the preview (white background does not have this delay).

Also the Mgn checkbox (this one is just two states, on or off) determines whether or not the magnifier is updated when the parameters are changed by the sliders.

Continue to part 2 - making adjustments