Can Lightroom match Canon DPP colors from RAW files?
Asked 7/6/2014
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Lightroom sometimes renders my Canon RAW files very differently from Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP), especially in certain lighting where skin tones can look green in Lightroom but pinker and more natural in DPP. I’ve tried adjusting white balance, exposure, and other settings, but it’s difficult and slow to get Lightroom close to the DPP look. Is there a reliable way to make Lightroom match how DPP develops Canon RAW files?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
6
You can't. Lightroom (LR) ignores the in camera settings that were in effect at the time the photo was taken and applies its own preset or auto settings.
I'm a Canon shooter. When I first open a Canon raw .cr2 file with Canon's in-house raw convertor, Digital Photo Professional (DPP), the application applies the in-camera settings that were active at the time the image was recorded to the preview I see on my screen. If I export the image as is, the in camera settings are applied to the raw data and the file is exported. Of course I'm also free to change any of the settings I wish before exporting with those settings applied. Most other manufacturer's in house softwares do the same thing.
Most third party RAW conversion software, such as Lightroom or DxO Optics, do not apply the in camera settings. Some of them will allow you to build a custom profile to apply to each image as it is imported or opened. There is still the disadvantage that the same profile will be applied to all images imported as a batch, even if the in-camera settings were different for the different images you shot.
For more on how LR ignores the in-camera settings recorded in the maker note section of the EXIF info of a Canon .cr2 file, see Why do RAW images look worse than JPEGs in editing programs? and How to automatically apply a Lightroom Preset based on appropriate (Canon) Picture Style on import.
Note: Since this answer was written we've become aware of a solution provided by Jeffrey Friedl and his awesome Lightroom plugin "Data Explorer". It's covered in detail in this answer written by c33s.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
12y ago
0
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Not exactly. Canon DPP can read and apply the in-camera Canon picture settings recorded with the RAW file, while Lightroom uses Adobe’s own RAW rendering and color profiles instead of fully reproducing Canon’s processing. That’s why the same file can look quite different, especially in tricky lighting or skin tones.
You can try to get closer in Lightroom by adjusting profile, white balance, and color settings, but there isn’t a guaranteed one-click way to make Lightroom perfectly match DPP. In general, matching DPP precisely is difficult because the two programs interpret RAW data differently.
If you want the closest result to what the camera or Canon software shows, DPP is usually the better choice. If you prefer Lightroom’s workflow, expect to spend some time building a look that approximates DPP rather than duplicates it exactly.
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