Digital Photo Professional (hereinafter, “DPP”) is high-performance RAW
image processing, viewing and editing software for EOS DIGITAL
cameras. It is often thought that RAW images are difficult to handle
compared with ordinary JPEG images, but using DPP, you can perform
advanced edits and print RAW images with ease.

RAW Images and Their Features

A RAW image is image data that has recorded output data of imaging
sensor. Because image processing does not occur inside the camera
when a photo is taken and the photo has been recorded in the special
form of “RAW image data + Image processing conditions information at
the time of shooting”, special software is needed to view or edit the
image.
* “RAW” means “in a natural condition” or “not processed or refined”.

If described in terms of film, the concept of a RAW image is a shot
image not yet developed (latent image).
With film, the image appears for the first time when it is developed. And
as for the RAW image too, you cannot view it as an image on your
computer unless you perform subsequent image signal processing.
Therefore, even though it is digital, this processing is called
“development” and with EOS DIGITAL is performed using DPP.
With DPP, you can view, edit and print RAW images without having to be
particularly conscious of the development processing.

What is a RAW Image?

What is RAW Development?

RAW images are recorded in the format “RAW image data + Image
processing conditions information at the time of shooting”. When you
open an image in DPP, the image is instantly developed and you can
view the image as an image to which image processing conditions at the
time of shooting have been applied.
Even if you perform various adjustments to the image you have opened
(it undergoes automatic development processing each time), only the
image processing conditions (development conditions) change and the
“original image data itself” remains unaffected. Consequently, image
deterioration is not a problem and it is the perfect image data for users
who want to get creative with their images after they have been shot.
In DPP, the “Image processing conditions information” that can be
adjusted is called a “Recipe”.

What Advantages Does a RAW Image Have?

RAW image data

Image processing conditions information

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