RAW photos are not displayed (correctly)

RAW photos are not displayed (correctly)

For RAW files, Excire Foto relies on functions of the operating system (Windows or macOS) to develop and display the photos. If a RAW format is not supported by the operating system, a photo may not be displayed at all, or may not be displayed correctly in the 1:1 preview.

1. Make sure the operating system supports RAW
On Windows, please install the Raw Image Extension by Microsoft. Then perform the following steps:
  1. Restart Excire Foto.
  2. Remove the affected photos from your Excire Foto database.
  3. Add the photos again by synchronizing the folder that contains the images.
As an alternative to steps 2 and 3, you can remove the entire folder from Excire Foto and add it again.

2. Special case: highly compressed RAW formats
Many cameras offer several RAW formats in their settings: uncompressed, lossless compressed ("Lossless"), and highly compressed ("High Efficiency" or similar). The highly compressed variants are, in some cases, not supported by Windows and macOS. Such photos cannot then be developed by Excire Foto, which leads to an error in the 1:1 display as soon as it is selected.

This has been observed, for example, with Nikon's "High Efficiency Compression" (including the Z6, Z7, Z8, Z9). However, the problem is not limited to Nikon and can generally occur with any highly compressed RAW format from other manufacturers as well.

As an interim solution, until the operating systems support the respective format, we recommend the following measures:
  1. For the affected photos, use the embedded (not 1:1) preview and disable the automatic generation of 1:1 previews in general in the Excire Foto program settings.
  2. In the camera, choose a different (less highly compressed) RAW storage format for new shots.
Nikon only: For Windows, Nikon temporarily offered the Nikon NEF Codec so that Windows and Excire Foto can read the affected NEFs. However, with the NEF Codec installed, the correct rotation of photos with Exif orientation (e.g. portrait format) no longer works – the Windows Photo Viewer also displays the photos rotated incorrectly. As a workaround, disable automatic image rotation ("Auto Image Rotation") in the camera and rotate the photos manually in Excire Foto.

3. The RAW format is still not supported
If a RAW format is still not supported, you can convert the RAW photos to the DNG format using the free Adobe DNG Converter. This format is lossless and is displayed by Excire Foto without any problems.

Idea
Tip: If your camera offers several RAW formats (uncompressed, lossless compressed, compressed), it can be worth trying different settings – lossless compressed or uncompressed formats are usually the most compatible.

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