Why no option to save as DNG when doing Lens Correction?

[chong67]

Where is there no option to save as DNG when doing the "Lens Correction" as a batch process in PS?

There are only 4 output available : JPG, PNG, PSD and TIFF

Thanks.

[D Fosse]

If you're doing this from Photoshop, saving to DNG makes no sense.

At this point it's an RGB file, no longer a raw file, and saving it to DNG doesn't change that. The DNG format is just a wrapper. You'd end up with an RGB file wrapped inside a DNG container. If anyone received this file you'd just confuse them, because they'd expect a raw file but get a rendered RGB file.

Save to a standard format so it's clear what the file contains.

[chong67]

Let me give you some background on my process.  I have DNG coming in and I want to save as DNG but only with the Lens Correction applied only.

Then I want to pass this DNG after the process to another program. Is this possible?  

I don't trust and like the other program's Lens Correction.

[D Fosse]

What I'm trying to say is that a DNG is expected everywhere to contain raw data from a camera sensor. That's what DNG is universally used for.

But that's not what you're getting from Photoshop Lens Correction. Saving to DNG here would be a "false flag". It's simply the wrong file format to use.

So where does the incoming DNG come from, what does it contain? And are you sure lens correction hasn't already been applied in the raw processing?

You're not giving us this information, so I have to ask these questions before it's possible to give a sensible answer.

[chong67]

Thanks for the reply.

The DNG is coming from the camera itself, unedited.  In PS and as a batch, I do "Lens Correction" on a bunch of these files and nothing else.  Then I want to pass it to a X program as this processed DNG so I can do batch AI process on denoise and sharpen. 

[D Fosse]

Then you're doing this the wrong way. You need to apply lens correction in the Camera Raw module (ACR), not Photoshop. Once in Photoshop, it's too late. It's not a raw file anymore.

There's another thing you need to consider. All adjustments to a raw file are metadata. You cannot, ever, overwrite a raw file. It's not possible. All you can do is add instructions for processing .

But those instructions are usually not readable by a different raw processor! So whatever you set in ACR will most likely be ignored in that other application.

If you feel that other application is superior to ACR's noise reduction and sharpening, I suggest you use that to process the raw files from the start. What you're trying here isn't going to work.

[Conrad_C]

What is the other program? Does it accept any file format other than DNG?

I have DNG coming in and I want to save as DNG but only with the Lens Correction applied only.

By @chong67

That you want “only” Lens Correction applied doesn’t change the fact that once you want to make any edit to it after it leaves the camera, no matter how small, that edit can be applied in only one of two ways: As a Lens Correction change baked into rendered pixels (in which case DNG isn’t really needed or applicable), or as a Lens Correction parametric edit written to DNG metadata (in which case the next program must understand that metadata). The first option can be done using Lens Correction in Photoshop, the second option can be done using Adobe Camera Raw or Adobe Lightroom Classic.

If you take the first option, the next program must accept a file format other than DNG (such as TIFF), or it must accept a DNG that’s just a wrapper around a rendered file.

If you take the second option, the next program must understand the Adobe metadata for an Adobe Lens Correction edit as written into a DNG file by Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom.