Any progress on a DNG command line?

[dtrayers]

The last post about this was in May:

http://www.breezesysforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=515

Has there been any progress on being able to have DLPro create DNG copies of the raw files as their downloaded, or perhaps integrated into BB or BBPro?

Thanks.

[Chris Breeze]

Sorry, there's been no progress on this because Adobe's DNG converter does not have a command line interface. I think Adobe are reluctant to provide a command line interface because the DNG converter is free and there would be no way to show it was an Adobe product if it had a command line option. Personally I think the benefits of being able to automate the creation of DNG files and therefore promote the use of DNG would be more important.

[Barry Pearson]

Thomas Knoll has posted the DNG Converter command line interface:

http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/[email protected]@.3bbcb7ac/5

Command Line Support in the Adobe DNG Converter

Introduction

Previous versions of the Adobe DNG Converter always displayed a UI, which required human interaction to convert propriety raw files into DNG format. This made DNG conversion difficult to include as part of automated raw processing workflows.

Adobe DNG Converter 3.2 has added command line parameter support, which allows it to be run by automation systems without displaying a UI. This allows DNG converter to be included in automated raw processing workflows.

Running the Adobe DNG Converter from the Command Line

Under Windows, you can run the DNG converter from the command line by just typing the path to the executable file, followed by the parameters. For example, assuming the DNG Converter is installed at the standard location, type:

“C:\Program Files\Adobe DNG Converter.exe”

followed by the parameter list.

Note: Under Windows, you need to include at least one option in the parameter list to prevent the DNG Converter from displaying its UI. If you don’t have any non-default options to specify, just in use the “-c” option, which is a default option.

Under Mac OS X, you need to type to entire path to executable file, which is inside the Application bundle. For example, assuming the DNG Converter is installed at the standard location, type:

“/Applications/Adobe DNG Converter.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe DNG Converter”

followed by the parameter list.

Parameter List

The parameters list consist of options followed by the names of raw files to convert. Options must precede the names of any raw files that they apply to, and apply to all the remaining raw files on the command line.

Command Line Options

The Adobe DNG Converter supports the following command line options:

-c Output compressed DNG files (default).

-u Output uncompressed DNG files.

-l Output linear DNG files.

-e Embed original raw file inside DNG files.

-p0 Set JPEG preview size to none.
-p1 Set JPEG preview size to medium size (default).
-p2 Set JPEG preview size to full size.

-d Output converted files to the specified directory.
Default is the same directory as the input file.

-o Specify the name of the output DNG file.
Default is the name of the input file with the extension
changed to “.dng”.

[Chris Breeze]

Thanks for the info. I will download the latest version of the DNG converter and do some tests.

[Chris Breeze]

Downloader Pro v1.7.1 beta 1 is now available and includes a new DNG Converter plug-in to create DNG copies of raw files as they are downloaded.
Please see http://www.breezesysforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3564#post3564 for more info.

[dtrayers]

Thanks, Chris! I can't wait to check it out. I've downloaded and installed the beta, but I'll have to wait until I get home to test it.

One question that wasn't clear to me... Can I configure it so that the raw file (CR2) can go to one directory and the DNG file to another? I thought I could use a token of the file type in the path like I do when shooting RAW+JPG with the RAW going to one folder and the JPG to another, but I couldn't find a token showing the DNG file type.

Also, will IPTC data be written to the DNG file as well as the RAW?

Thanks again!

[Chris Breeze]

I'll add the option to store the DNG files in a separate directory in the full release of the plug-in.

It doesn't write IPTC data to DNG files because they only support XMP data. I plan to add support for XMP data in future releases of DLPro and BBPro but this is proving much harder than expected due to problems with Adobe's XMP SDK.