Adobe Launches Digital Negative Specification for RAW Files

Adobe Systems has introduced the Digital Negative Specification (DNG), a unified public format for RAW digital files. The company also has launched a free software tool, Adobe DNG Converter, which translates RAW photo formats into the new .DNG file format.

Built on the TIFF EP format, the DNG specification enables the preservation of a pristine version of the original RAW image as well as the metadata associated with it. The .DNG format is immediately supported in Adobe Photoshop CS as part of an updated Camera RAW Plug-in; Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 also supports .DNG files.

“Professional photographers and other creative professionals are moving to RAW camera workflows because of the outstanding creative control they get over digital images,” says Bryan Lamkin, senior vice president of Digital Imaging and Digital Video at Adobe. “However, clients and publishers have difficulty working with disparate RAW file formats, and nobody can be sure that today's RAW formats will be supported 10 years from now.”
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Adobe DNG Converter translates RAW formats from more than 65 cameras, including models such as Canon PowerShot S60, Epson RD-1, Fujifilm FinePix S20 Pro, and Nikon Coolpix 5400. (Adobe DNG Converter: www.adobe.com/dng)