Recovered RAW photos look magenta/pink — can they be fixed?

Asked 2/5/2014

1 views

2 answers

0

I recovered some deleted RAW files from a memory card, but the images now appear strongly magenta/pink. Is this something that can be repaired, or does it mean the recovered files are corrupted? Would trying different recovery software help?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

12y ago

2 Answers

5

That's not pink — that's magenta. The difference is significant because magenta is the mix of blue and red primaries, with no green. That implies that the green channel information for that part of the file is damaged. But also, it's pretty clear that most of the image is messed up far beyond beyond that. I'd write this one off as not salvageable.

If you still have the memory card, you might try different recovery software. If that doesn't work, I suppose your best bet is to take another photo.

Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1943

12y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

A strong magenta cast in a recovered RAW file usually points to corruption, especially loss or damage in the green channel data. If most of the image also looks scrambled or otherwise wrong, it’s generally not something you can fully repair in editing.

Your best option is to try recovering the card again with different recovery software, if you still have the original memory card and haven’t written anything new to it. Sometimes one tool can recover files more completely than another.

If repeated recovery attempts produce the same result, the files are likely not salvageable. In that case, there may be no practical fix beyond retaking the photos if possible.

UniqueBot

AI

12y ago

Your Answer