Lightroom is capable to convert JPGs into DNG. The DNG Converter unfortunately currently is not. Please add JPG support to the Adobe DNG Converter. Thank you very much for considering!
Still not implemented in DngConverter 8.8. :-(
It would be nice to get a statement from Adobe, why DngConverter still does not allow us to embed JPGs into a DNG container (while Lightroom does) and if they would please consider to implement this!
It seems that Lightroom is the only way to batch convert (=export) a full batch of non raw format pictures to DNG. (I don't know for CC with Bridge).
A lot of Elements users deeply regret that you can't use the Organizer to open non raw files in ACR. In recent versions of the editor, you can open several non raw files at the same time in ACR, which is good. However, you have to 'save' them individually to DNG in the limited ACR dialog version. Letting the DNGconverter do the conversion like in Lightroom would be a very good solution.
As Granny said- "You cannot make a silk purse from a sow's ear."
Briefly-
DNG files are fully un-processed RAW files with 14-bit data.
JPG files are compressed "lossy" 8-bit rendered files.
There is little point in converting JPG to DNG as you cannot recover lost quality and lost image data from the jpg.
And you can open JPG files in ACR, (from Bridge CTRL+R) but you will not have the full range of edit benefits that a 'true' raw image provides.
That is all well known. Still, Lightroom is able to put a DNG wrapper around a JPG or TIFF, so it would be awesome if DNG Converte could too. We'd need this for LRTimelapse's workflow for time lapse processing.
Robert,
Obviously you don't see the point.
Lightroom users don't need this at all.
There are also other ACR users, particularly Elements users.
Today, most Elements users have jpegs to edit together with possible raw files.
As you say, they can open the jpeg files in ACR from the editor, but they can't open in ACR from the organizer. (Maybe a deliberate choice to push towards Lightroom). They have to save as DNG and re-import, possibly stack the DNG with the original
That's a major loss of time. You can't really imagine if you don't try yourself.
That's also a different workflow. Being able to use the same parametric and non destrctive workflow would be a significant bonus.
Of course, a jpeg is just that and does not offer all the raw advantages. But today, most users edit not only raw files, but the jpegs from their P&S or smartphones, the pictures they receive from the web. Editing in ACR is vastly superior, quicker and simpler than using the array of the tools in the editor.
With a single DNG version, you only keep one file. You have available three versions: the original, the default ACR version (generally already much better) and your own edits. No necessary need for version sets.
You can sort of 'batch process' jpegs, applying the same settings to many files.
Your options for color balance correction, shadow/highlight management, clarity, sharpening and denoising are superior.
I can tell you that if I have to process hundreds of pictures from various cameras from a given event, converting all jpegs to DNG in a batch before the editing session would save me a lot of time.