Hi Ron,
I was wondering if those using Qimage Ultimate to develop their RAW images would be willing to share their basic workflow steps.
You could make a start with the Learning videos:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/JBQPJw-ana8
http://www.youtube.com/embed/JBQPJw-ana8
http://www.youtube.com/embed/qjkASfTzfFA
Have a look at those  and ask any questions you may have.
The main features of  QU raw processing is:
a) it's smart in that exposure fill etc is done automatically by QU adjusting for each image INDIVIDUALLY.
User adjustments can be made noting that ....
b) there are a minimum of sliders to fiddle and be confused with.
c) exposure adjustments are made by clicking any one of the 9 rectangles in the raw refine screen or more recently, drawing your own rectangle over an area that you want to use to control the balance of the image.
d) Additional highlight recovery, if required, can be made with the HDR slider.

My workflow for raw is:
1. Copy & re-name the raw images from the flash card using QU Flash Card Copy-Move feature.
2. Open the folder of raw images
3. Wait to let the raw cache be built
4. Open raw refine for the images I want to check, either as a batch by selecting a set of thumbs or place them in the queue.
5. Check & Adjust white balance.
6. Make any adjustments as described in c) and d) above.
7. Close refine screen and open the image editor to do any additional sharpening or other "conventional" adjustments.
8. Print from the raw image and/or convert the image for web or email use.

Terry

Hi Ron,
Here is the missing link http://www.youtube.com/embed/88jb-__8cmo
The full list is here: http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage-u/learn.htm
A few comments.
I use a custom camera profile, wider than Adobe RGB, and am never surprised by a print compared to monitor because of using a fully colour managed process that's very easy to set up in QU.
Yes but the noise reduction is smart and adaptive; you should only need editor NR in very bad cases, very high iso or under exposed images.
Extra sharpening in the editor is a matter of taste.
That's because it aims to be "true to life" and to get the basic processing correct. You can do what you like in the editor.
WB is best done from a a grey gray area in the image, hold down CTRL to see possible sites or use slider.
Reducing Fill increases contrast not saturation. The HDR slider has no effect at  negative values of Fill. See the "Raw Refine" video (last on my original list) for it's use.
It is in Raw Refine and in the editor preview. The "filters" are applied in a sequence and some like noise removal take a little longer.
Have you accidently changed the location of QU Application data? There's an item in the Utility menu to migrate it. The default is C:\ProgramData\ddisoftware\Qimage.
If you open a non-raw image in QU it converts to 8-bit. Raw refine is 16 bit, editor is 8 bit.
Clarity is another word for sharpening at low percent and large radius. These terms are gobbledy gook in my opinion and they don't actually say what they are doing.
On an already bright scene you wont see a huge change with smart colour, it's adaptive to boost colours yet prevent blowing blowing them. You can give an extra boost in the editor on the Selective Colour tab and customise it.
There's far greater precision with numbers (editor) especially when say, adjusting a curve but you can drag too.
I think many of your comments about the interface are because you are used to the Adobe type approach. QU is different and I believe smarter and faster to use.
so ..
.. please do, we are here to help.
Perhaps you would post either attachments or links to a image to show what you mean by "a classic saturated Kodachrome post card like look" to see what you are getting at.
Terry






 

Hi Jeff,
I think you are referring to noise reduction options. I have mine set at default which covers the range 400 iso upwards. However, I have noticed that the adaptive feature does sometimes apply Grain (G) reduction to 200 iso in rare cases. I can see this from the new data that is given in the raw refine screen. So Mike's NR algorithms are really smart.  The latest version 238 now does have some extra data by the raw preferences NR slider.
I understand it's important to do any SEL COL smart colour before any contrast, curves, saturation etc. I like to do any contrast type adjustments before sharpening as that can affect the apparent sharpness, in fact I always leave DFS until last.
Terry

There's a lot of discussion here and I don't want the overall workflow concept of QU to get lost, so I'll add my 2 cents...

Raw Refine

Some people like to goose their photos (you mentioned that straight away using the term "overbaked" so I mention it here).  Regardless of whether you want neutral/color-accurate photos or you like a more kodachrome look, the MO of raw refine should always be the same: to get the most accurate rendition possible.

In the refine window, you are trying to get the photo to look like the actual scene.  If you didn't take the shot, do your best to just be sure WB looks correct, shadows aren't too dark, highlights aren't clipped, and that subjects are well exposed.  QU is already several steps ahead here (compared to other products) because by the time it gets to the raw refine window, it has already examined the histogram and has adjusted lighting to how the human eye would perceive the scene in most situations.

Sliders are nice for some things where beauty is in the eye of the beholder (fill light and HDR sliders for example where you can light the scene for different moods).  For exposure, sliders aren't particularly helpful as even when watching a histogram, you have no idea what part of the histogram belongs to which part of the image.  So exposure is best done by selecting your subject as you do in QU so you can be sure your subject is properly exposed.

Editing

If you're a "baker", bake your images in the image editor after the refine is done.  In refine, you've refined the raw to get the most accurate image possible with as much detail as would normally be visible to the eye.  Now you double click on the raw thumbnail and edit it.  In the editor, you can bake it all you want.  You can do curves to add contrast, click on the wing of a dragonfly that's a little out of focus and sharpen only the wing (something you can't do in Adobe products), sharpen without halo artifacts (also can't be done in PS or PSE), crop, correct horizon (with 2 clicks), even change one color to another.  It's up to you.

Bottom Line

The bottom line is: use the tools for their intended purpose.  That is, use raw refine to get a visually accurate representation of the photo: no "baking" there.  Then follow up with the editor to do your creative work.  Don't try to "bend" QU into an Adobe workflow or even compare the two else you end up falling into a hole where you are using one tool ineffectively.  For me, the workflow is quite simple:

(1) Let the raw thumbs/cache build to see what QU can do for each photo.
(2) Look through/examine the photos to see which ones look like keepers: good photo and sharp focus.
(3) Send the keepers "On Deck" or just select them and add a rating so you'll know which ones to print.
(4) Of the keepers, do any look like they need WB correction?  Did QU pick the best exposure for the subject (QU can't know what/who your subject is)?
(5) If any need WB or exposure to bring back highlights, brighten, etc. do that in refine.
(6) Now refined, examine full screen: could any photos benefit from sharpening just a particular leaf, eye, etc. using TTS?
(7) Once any creative "highlighting" is done per (6), print using the best crop for the size print you are using.

Just a note on my personal preference

I call my step (6) creative highlighting rather than baking because I like my photos to look real and colors to appear as accurate as possible to most viewers.  If the photo looks more vibrant than real life, that's baked.  I generally don't do that.  Some people love to make photos so baked they look "other worldly", some don't.  Me: I like a photo to be a photo and art to be art.  To me, creative highlighting is when you have a dragonfly where it's wings were just out of the DOF and need a little sharpening: so you use TTS and sharpen only the wings to bring detail back in those.  Or even, you take a picture of a model who has vibrant eye shadow and you click on the eyeshadow and sharpen only that to bring out the eyes because that's what you noticed about her in real life.  "Baking" to me is not selective like that.  Rather than highlighting a subject (fill light does that too), an overbaked photo looks to me like it has been run through the printer twice.  Grass looks greener than you'll ever see it on planet earth, sky is bluer than blue (sometimes purple), a red car in the distance has red bleeding out of the edges, black pants are RGB 0,0,0 from waist to ankles (no detail due to pushed contrast), that sort of thing.  I cringe when I see those.  But creatively "touched" photos that just emphasize certain areas can look nice.

Regardless, the bottom line never changes.  Even if you want "other worldly" effects, refine is always used to get the most accurate-to-the-eye rendition.  Always start with the best ingredients.  Then bake.

Mike

Hi Ron,
I think that's impossible! 
I look forward to seeing your images 
Terry

Here is a WeTransfer link that has 3 files to download. This is a poor original image with lots of noise and needs a lot of help. The original RAW file is included, along with a basic development in the Elements edition of Adobe Camera RAW (7.4), and essentially the default from Qimage RAW Refine. I did check off the Ultra Noise Reduction (Medium) box in Editor, and it is provided with that as the only manual adjustment. It didn't make any significant difference.

http://we.tl/MUV358msNV

I did not manually do anything to move the application data. Somehow the installation of an upgrade to Qimage Ultimate must have moved them, or

Currently both the Thumbs and RawCache folders are under D:\Users\Ron\Documents\

There are the same two folders in the location you list, and the RawCache file is empty, while the Thumbs folders has some old files. I would guess they go back to when I used Qimage Pro?

I will delete these old thumbs and use the utility you suggest to move the current files to this area. That will put them on the SSD, and I would hope speed things up.