Printing DNG Files
When Camera RAW was introduced it offered a bevy vastly superior editing controls that could make edits never possible before. We all swooned and loved the new control, but when the practical aspects of designing a workflow came into play it revealed some major problems.
Being that all Camera RAW files are proprietary, the information on how they work internally is not disclosed by the camera manufacturer which leaves third party developers, even giants like Adobe, in the dark about how they function internally. So, if you process your image in Nikon or Canon software, those edits cannot be seen by any other software. This has been very unfortunate since it has limited the user to processing their files with either the software that came with their camera or using a software package (such as Adobe Camera RAW converter) which is making guesses about how to properly process the file. They are educated guesses of course, but since Adobe (or any other software company) did not create the Camera RAW file there are still, none the less, guesses. So, photographers now had a great new tool for editing their images but where stuck into a proprietary format.
Then a great new format cam along that took the power of Camera RAW into an open format. Adobe introduced the DNG file format so that Camera RAW data could be stored in an open format. DNG files are actually more like file packages, they contain the original unedited Camera RAW data but they also contain a JPG file that includes a ready to print file with all the edits that where maid when the file was first edited. The embedded JPG is full size so it can easily be resized and printed. Unfortunately, many software programs only show the user the Camera RAW data and not the JPG data. Apple Preview and most other applications can not display our print the embedded JPG (which has the edits in it).
But all is not lost, version 1.2 of the ImageNest RIP has now added the ability to open just the JPG portion of DNG files and can also automatically resize them for printing. No changes are made to the original file and all the resolution of the JPG is available. This saves users an incalculable amount of time since the do not have to export there DNG file to a new format (such as JPG or TIFF) and can print directly from the DNG file. Currently ImageNest is the only RIP on the market that supports this workflow and also supports every printer available on Mac OSX.
DNG Printing is the workflow of the future and with ImageNest your will not only be able to print the JPG files but will also be able to save paper with our Image Layout and Photo Layout features.