ORF -- Olympus® Raw Format File Tool

ORF is a Microsoft® Windows® application for viewing and converting the Olympus E-10 and E-20 digital camera's RAW Format (.ORF).

	PCD Arts PaulChaseDempsey@msn.com
Copyright© 2001-2002 Paul Chase Dempsey All Rights Reserved

Download ORF from http://groups.msn.com/PaulChaseDempsey/files.msnw. Note that downloading from MSN requires a Microsoft Passport (Microsoft's requirement, not mine :-). See the Links section for additional download sites.

Parts of this software is based on the work of the Independent JPG Group (IJG). See Legal Notices for more information.

Contents

Revision History
Feature Summary
The ORF user interface
    Command line
    General Usage
    ORF Menus
    ORF Function Keys
    File.Open Dialog Box
    Options Tab
        Default Settings
    Curves Tab
    Sharpen Tab
    Histogram Tab
    Image Info Tab
    Save Format Tab
About Interpolation
File types
Installing and Uninstalling ORF
Q&A
Links
Legal Notices
    Trademarks
ORFDump Utility
ORF2TIFF Utility

Revision History

Feature Summary

 - Opens E-10 and E-20 .ORF files for viewing

 - Saves as 8bpp or 16bpp RGB and grayscale TIFF files, 8bpp Windows bitmap BMP files, or JPEG.

 - Choice of interpolation algorithms

 - Option to use, ignore, or modify the camera's white balance settings

 - Automatic texture defect detection and correction

 - Curves or scaling raw data (applied before interpolation)

 - Rotate

 - Flip (mirror) horizontally and/or vertically

 - Curves

 - Automatic levels

 - Unsharp mask (sharpen)

 - Gamma correction

 - Automatic color balance

 - Convert to black and white

 - Invert

 - View image histograms, at interpolation, and fully processed.

 - View image capture information (exposure, camera settings, etc.).

 - View individual channels

 - Point-sampling readouts

 - Save, Edit, and Open Adobe® Photoshop® curve files

 - Save and load ORF settings in text-based .OIS files

 - Keep a list of the 20 most recently opened files

 - Batch convert files in a directory

 - Add annotations to the saved files

The ORF user interface

ORF is a standard application for Microsoft Windows. To get the most out of ORF, run it once with the /Register command-line option. This gives your ORF files a nice icon, and allows you to double click an ORF file to open the file in ORF with the most recent settings.

Command line

The command-line options allow you to configure ORF, uninstall ORF, or start with specific settings.

ORF [options] [settings] [file]

You can open only a single orf file at a time. You can specify both a settings file and an orf file, but the settings must come first. For more information on the registration settings, see Install.

General Usage

The Shift and Ctrl keys modify various menu and keyboard commands, button clicks, and the effect of mouse wheel. Try it!

Long processes that display the animated progress indicator in the lower-right-hand corner can be canceled by pressing Esc.

In most numeric edit boxes, you can use the wheel mouse and arrow keys to increment and decrement values, as follows:

ORF works with groups of files. Drag a group of .ORF files onto ORF. ORF opens the first, then adds the rest to it's list of files. Click the arrow (menu) button in the lower-left corner of the ORF window or press F2 to display the file list. Click a file in the list to open it. Of course, ORF has the normal File.Open command, too!

To open the last file you were working on, press F8.

Right click the full image for zoom, channel, and file options. When zoomed, you can scroll using a wheel mouse. Press Ctrl and Shift to scroll by differing directions and amounts.

The thumbnail shows the current effect of all changed options. Click Apply or press F5 to update the full image with all the current options. If ORF detects the Texture defect at the current threshold, a small green dot is displayed next to the thumbnail. 

If you want to see more of the full image, you can open it in a separate window. Choose 'View in separate window' from the main View menu.

Pixel Sampler  (a.k.a. Eyedropper)

Just click and/or drag in the main image to sample pixels. Select a sampler size from the menu button. This information is displayed next to the thumbnail:

The Inputs (first row) reflect the image data immediately after interpolation. The Outputs (second row) reflect the final output image data that will be saved.

In addition to this information, the Curves and Histogram tabs track the sampled pixel and show you where the sampled pixel falls on the graph.

Notes

ORF never modifies a .ORF file. The Save command saves only in TIFF format.

ORF is not an image editor. All of the options are applied in sequence in one process as a file is imported.

Since processing the full image can be slow, the effect of an change in an option or curve is displayed immediately in the thumbnail. To see the effect of a change in the full image, click Apply (F5) or reload the file (F8).

ORF Menus

When you choose File.Convert All, the ORF2TIFF program is spawned in a separate MS-DOS Prompt window. The ORF2TIFF program must be present in the same folder as ORF. Once started, ORF2TIFF runs separately from ORF. Press Ctrl+C to abort processing. If the ORF2TIFF program is not available (for example, you may have installed only ORF.EXE), ORF processes the files itself. Press Esc to stop processing. Do not change options while the folder is being processed, as they will take effect almost immediately, which may not be a sensible point in the process :-).

ORF Function Keys

Once you've opened a file, you can use F6 (Previous File) and F7 (Next File) to visit all the ORF files in the same directory.

File.Open Dialog box

The Open dialog is an enhanced Windows explorer Open dialog. You can see a preview of the image before opening the file, along with some of the Exif camera information. You can rotate the preview to see an upright image for vertical shots. The rotation is used when opening the file.  By default, the preview is the JPEG thumbnail embedded in the file by the camera. This preview is designed for display on the camera LCD and is a cropped version of the image. Turn off Use embedded preview to generate a larger, full-frame preview. Generating the preview is slower than using the embedded preview.

File.Save As Dialog Box

The Save As dialog is an enhanced Windows explorer Save As dialog. You can choose additonal options for saving the current file. The options for this dialog box are the same as  the Save Format tab and provides an additional Description annotation string. The default options are taken from the Save Format tab, but you can change them for the current file. See Save Format Tab for more information.

Options Tab

The Options tab displays controls for the process of opening ORF Files and converting them to useable images. The options are displayed in the order of processing, from top to bottom, and left to right. The RAW options are Texture, Black Point, Camera White balance, Scale, and Raw Curves. Raw options are applied before the CCD pattern is interpolated. The thumbnail shows a preview of the effect of all options. To update the main image to the current options, click Apply or press F5.

The options in the following table are processed in the order listed:

Option	Description
Texture	Some images have what ORF calls the 'texture defect'. This appears as hatching or a canvas-like appearance to the image. It is caused by excess gain in the green components of alternating rows in the raw ORF data. The cause of this problem with the Olympus E-10 camera is unknown. Fixing the texture defect yields a slightly softer image. If an image has the texture defect (at the current threshold), a green dot is displayed next to the preview.
	Fix	Detect and (optionally) correct the texture defect.
	Prompt before fixing	Gives you the choice to fix or open the file without adjusting for texture. This option has no effect if the Fix option is not checked.
	Threshold	Sets the minimum average difference between odd and even rows to consider the texture defect to be present in the image. In a few images, a defect of only value 3 is noticeable. In other images, the defect is not noticeable for values as high as 30.
Camera Black Point	Subtracts the camera's optical black point from all pixels in the image. This can slightly reduce noise in
Camera white balance	Applies the Red and Blue bias factors set by the camera's white balance settings. To modify the camera's settings, uncheck this option, check Scale, then choose Camera Settings from the menu button.
Fudge	Applies a magic fudge factor to improve color rendition. It applies scaling by R:250/256, G:268/256, B:252/256. These numbers were determined by fiddling around with a few sample images, so this fudge factor may not be ideal for your subjects or shooting conditions.
Scale	Applies the specified ratios to the raw sensor data. This can be used for simple color correction.
	menu button (>) Pops up a menu with the following options. When you choose an item from the menu, it sets the Scale factors to the values indicated by the item. Note that you must check the Scale box for the new factors to be applied to the image. Item Description Camera Settings: camera info Sets the scaling factors to the camera's white balance settings. The current camera info is shown in the menu. Camera setting from reference image... Sets the scaling factors to the camera settings from a different ORF file that you choose. 3000° K Hot white incandescent light bulb Sets the scaling factors to the same scaling factors that the camera uses for the indicated color temperature. The most common usage is to choose a color temperature that matches the lighting conditions for the subject when the picture was taken. You can choose a different setting to change the mood or color balance for the image. This option is handy when you accidentally shoot a picture with the wrong color balance setting on the camera. 3700° K Incandescent (preserve mood) 4000° K White fluorescent 4500° K Intense white fluorescent 5500° K Clear Day 6500° K Overcast or Flash 7500° K Shade on a clear day
Raw Curves	Applies the curves shown in the curves dialog to the sensor data. Only one of Curves or Raw Curves is applied.
Method	Selects the interpolation method used to convert the CCD image pattern of the raw file to RGB pixels. Methods are listed in approximate order of ascending quality and descending speed. The highest quality and slowest processing is at the bottom, and the fastest, but lowest quality is at the top. For more information, see Interpolation. Tip: Set Bilinear for initial adjustments, then set the last method for final saving.
Color Matrix	Applies the camera's color transformation matrix. Improves saturation when turned on. When turned off, images tend to be somewhat flat and neutral.
Rotate	Rotates the image 90 degrees clockwise, 90 degrees counter-clockwise, or 180 degrees (upside down).
Flip	Flips the image horizontally (left <-> right) or vertically (top <-> bottom). (a.k.a. mirror, reflect)
Auto Levels	Calculates and applies a simple ramp (straight-line curve) to distribute an image's values across the available range of values. Auto levels is a simple way to improve the contrast and/or color balance of an image. For more sophisticated corrections, use curves. Specify Hi and Lo thresholds in percentages. Hi and Lo percentages specify how many pixels are clipped at the given end (Hi = bright, Lo = dark). Specify 0 to perform no clipping at that end. That is, ORF finds the highest or lowest pixel value in the image and sets the end point of the curve at that value. Specify -1 to suppress leveling at that end. This sets the end point at 0 (Lo) or 1023 (Hi). (0-1023 is the 10-bit range of the information in a .orf file.) To see the exact ramps created by Levels, use the Auto button in the Curves dialog. Levels    Analyzes luminosity, and applies a single ramp to all channels. RGB    Analyzes and applies a ramp to each channel separately. The RGB option can solve (or create) significant color casts in the image. You will use this rarely.
Curves	Applies the curves shown on the Curves tab to the image
Color Balance	Automatically balances color in an image using the "gray world" algorithm. This can remove color casts in an image. It works very well for images that are mostly gray, or have a wide variety of colors. It causes severe color casts in images with large areas of a strong color.
Black and White	Creates a grayscale image, based on luminosity
Sharpen (USM)	Sharpens the image using unsharp masking, or USM. Set USM amount, radius and threshold parameters on the Sharpen tab. Tip: Sharpening is very slow, so you may want to leave it off while you experiment with other settings, then turn it on to make  final refinements to the  image.
Gamma	Converts the linear values from the sensor to nonlinear values that better match the power response curve of the human eye. You will nearly always leave Gamma turned on, with the default value of 2.2222. This is the ITU REC 709 standard value.
Invert	Creates a negative
Save 16-bit	When checked, saves 16 bits per pixel in a TIFF. When unchecked, ORF down-samples to 8 bits per pixel when saving. Note that many programs do not support 16 bpp images. However, Adobe Photoshop 5.0 and above DO support 16bpp. Note that although the data is saved as 16bpp, .ORF files contain only 10 significant bits of information.
Annotate	When checked, adds the Artist and Copyright annotations to the saved TIFF. Edit the annotation information using File.Annotation Info (Ctrl+A).

Default Settings

Curves Tab

The input (bottom) and output (top) gradients always preview changes in the curve. Changes in curves are previewed in the thumbnail image only if you have Curves turned on in the Options tab. Even when curves are not currently applied, you can edit, load, and save curves.

To quickly change channels, you can use shortcut keys:

The curves tab offers many shortcuts for working with points on the curve:

Sharpen Tab

The Sharpen tab lets you preview and change the parameters for the Unsharp Mask (USM) process. The preview on the tab shows you a peephole into the main image at 100% (pixel-for-pixel). It is a more accurate representation of the USM effect than can be seen in the thumbnail. To move the preview, click and/or drag in the main image. While the mouse button is down, the preview shows the image without any USM. When you release the mouse button, the preview displays the effect of the current USM settings.

USM Cannot correct a badly focused image. USM works by comparing an image with a blurred version of the image, and exaggerating where they differ. The blur is a Gaussian blur. The effect is to increase the contrast at edges in the image. The human brain perceives the increased edge contrast as a sharper image. 

Histogram Tab

The Histogram Tab displays a histogram of the 10-bit image data. You can view a histogram of the raw data, the data after interpolation, and after full processing.

Click (and drag) in the full image to see an indicator where the pixel falls on the histogram. Not available for Raw.

To quickly change channels, you can use shortcut keys:

Image Info Tab

Displays camera and image capture information from the file, including date and time, exposure, focal length, camera firmware version, and so on.

For the technically minded, this information is decoded from the Exif and Exif MakerNote sections of the file. For more information on the ORF file format and the relevant industry standards, see the Links.

Save Format Tab

Sets the format and options for saving files. These settings are used for Convert All, and provide the default options for Save As.

About Interpolation

An ORF file contains a readout of the signals from the image sensor in the camera (the CCD). The sensor consists of a grid of receptors for each of the Red, Green, and Blue components of light. The camera does not capture all three RGB components at each receptor site. The ORF file contains a 2256 x 1684 grid of light receptors in the Bayer pattern:

    R G R G R ...
    G B G B G ...
    R G R G R ...
    G B G B G ...

An image file that you view on your computer contains all three RGB components at each pixel. The process of converting the CCD sensor pattern to RGB is a process of interpolation, where the surrounding values are used to estimate the missing components at each pixel. ORF offers a number of interpolation methods to choose from. They vary in accuracy, speed, and the nature of the artifacts that are inevitably produced by interpolation. You may notice that the image sizes produced by the different methods are slightly different. This is due to differing numbers of edge pixels that are not converted by a given interpolation algorithm. These pixels are omitted from the final image.

ORF offers the following interpolation methods:

Tip  Use Bilinear interpolation for quick viewing and adjustments, then switch to the last option before saving for the highest quality image.

Versions of ORF earlier than 1.24 offered more interpolation algorithms and choices among integer and floating-point implementations. Most of the differences are of academic interest only, since what you really want is the best possible image. Starting in 1.24, ORF offers the most useful options, in faster fixed-point implementations.

File types

ORF works with the following file types:

Installing and Uninstalling ORF

You can install and run ORF simply by copying the ORF.EXE file to your computer and clicking on it. To get the most out of ORF, run it with the following command-line options. Specify command line options from the system Start.Run command, an MS_DOS prompt, or a shortcut.

When you run ORF with these options, ORF displays only the splash screen briefly, then terminates.

Q&A

Q: What if I want something added to ORF or I find something wrong with it?
A: Send the author email! Click here.

Q: How do I save a set of options and curves to use on other images?
A: Make the settings and curves you want, then choose Save Settings from the file menu (Ctrl+T). You can load this file from the command line, or choose Load Settings from the file menu (Ctrl+L).

Q: How do I reset ORF to the default settings?
A: Choose Default Settings from the File menu.
Tip: Save your favorite settings in a file so you can load them easily.

Q: How do I start ORF with the same settings each time, instead of remembering the previous settings?
A: You can set up a shortcut that runs ORF and lists an ORF Import Settings (.OIS) file on the command line.

Links

http://groups.msn.com/PaulChaseDempsey is my personal web page on MSN, where I drop the latest versions of ORF. (Download from the Files page.) Look for ORF Decoded on this site: a detailed explanation of the ORF file format. Note that you may have trouble accessing this site or downloading files without a Passport or an MSN account.

Partly because of these problems, the friendly gracious and helpful Dave Nicholls kindly mirrors the ORF releases on http://www.dcnicholls.com/plugins. 

ORF Suite is also hosted by the E-10 club in the Downloads section.

While working on this program, I found many of these links useful.

Legal Notices

ORF Suite - Copyright© 2001-2002 Paul Chase Dempsey, All Rights Reserved

This program is free and provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk for the quality and performance of this program is with you. Should the program prove defective, you assume the cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction.

This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group (IJG).

The IJG code carries the following legal notice:

The authors make NO WARRANTY or representation, either express or implied,
with respect to this software, its quality, accuracy, merchantability, or
fitness for a particular purpose. This software is provided "AS IS", and you,
its user, assume the entire risk as to its quality and accuracy.

This software is copyright (C) 1991-1998, Thomas G. Lane.
All Rights Reserved except as specified below.

Permission is hereby granted to use, copy, modify, and distribute this
software (or portions thereof) for any purpose, without fee, subject to these
conditions:
(1) If any part of the source code for this software is distributed, then this
README file must be included, with this copyright and no-warranty notice
unaltered; and any additions, deletions, or changes to the original files
must be clearly indicated in accompanying documentation.
(2) If only executable code is distributed, then the accompanying
documentation must state that "this software is based in part on the work of
the Independent JPEG Group".
(3) Permission for use of this software is granted only if the user accepts
full responsibility for any undesirable consequences; the authors accept
NO LIABILITY for damages of any kind.

Trademarks

Olympus® is a registered trademark of Olympus Optical Co. Ltd.
Adobe® and Photoshop® are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc.
Microsoft® and Windows® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

ORF is NOT a product of Olympus Optical Co, Ltd. PCD Arts and Paul Chase Dempsey are not affiliated with Olympus Optical Co.

ORFDump Utility

Some releases of ORF such as The ORF Suite include the ORFDump utility. ORFDump is a small command-line program that can extract the Exif information (camera/capture/image data), JPEG thumbnail (identical to the camera's .THM file) , or other information from an ORF, TIFF, or JPEG file. If you didn't get ORFDump along with ORF, you can download it from the site noted at the top of this file.

ORF2TIFF Utility

Some releases of ORF such as The ORF Suite include the ORF2TIFF utility. ORF2TIFF is a command-line version of ORF geared for batch conversion of Olympus Raw Format files. It is most easily used with OIS files saved from ORF, or with the -c option, which uses ORF's current settings.

See the separate ORF2TIFF Documentation for more information.