MRWFormat is plug-in for Adobe Photoshop (and other compatible software) to open and pre‑process raw images taken by Minolta DiMAGE digital still cameras. The main goal of this plug-in is to allow the user to use all the benefits of shooting in RAW format, giving him complete control over every step of image processing.

As I am not very happy with the performance of the supplied Minolta DiMAGE Viewer Utility (DIVU) I have decided to write my own software which allows to import the RAW pictures straight into Adobe Photoshop. I have spent a lot of time in examining the structure of RAW file and the way how the color conversion works. I believe that at this moment I have the best knowledge of this process (with exception of Minolta engineers) and I have tried to create a tool which will allow you to get the best possible result from mrw file.

The current version is 2.40 for Windows and 2.10 for MacOS X. See What's new page.

The new support forum for your questions is at http://www.dalibor.cz/support.

Main plug-in features:

•  Support for all Minolta DiMAGE prosumer cameras
  Plug-in was tested with the pictures taken by DiMAGE 5, 7, 7u, 7i, 7Hi, A1, A2, A200 and Dynax/Maxxum 7D
•  Very fast compared to DIVU and CameraRaw
  Updating preview doesn't take seconds, it almost real-time.
  The size of preview is selectable so you can choose it according to speed of your computer.
•  More precise than DIVU
  There are at least two serious bugs in DIVU's algorithms which I have found and corrected in this plug-in.
  All mathematics is done in double precision so the processing doesn't further degrade the image quality.
•  Many interpolation algorithm to choose from (with preview of the interpolation result)
  You can choose from a large number of different interpolation algorithm and immediately see the impact of the interpolation algorithm on your image in preview window. This saves a lot of time and allows to choose the best algorithm for your image.
•  Exposure compensation
  You can correct the bad exposure (over- or under-) before processing the image.
  There is a feature to automatically expand the dynamic range to maximum (very useful for a technique called ISO-pushing)
•  Live intelligent histogram
  You can easily check the clipping of the white or black areas when editing the picture.
•  Very detailed information about every picture
  There is an info window showing all the information about the camera settings. It is extracted from MakerNote so it is much more precise and complete than normally used EXIF information.
•  Precise gamma and contrast adjustment
  Total control over gamma and contrast in very fine steps.
•  User defined white balance coefficients
  The Neutralization tool gives you very fast and precise white balance for every picture (this is very handy for IR photography). There is also a WB memory which allows you to process a series of shots taken under the same light with the same WB settings to get the best results.
•  Highlights clipping warning
  Shows the areas where the image information is being lost due to excessive highlights.
•  Selectable color conversion
  You can choose if you want to process your pictures the old way (5, 7) or the new way (7i, 7Hi)
•  Attaching of ICC profiles
  The pictures are opened in Photoshop with ICC profile attached.
•  Full EXIF information and MakerNote display
  This plug-in passes complete EXIF information back to Photoshop. You can also display all camera settings stored in MakerNote tag.
•  Very fast generation of thumbnails in File Browser
  Thumbnails displayed in Photoshop's file browser are generated much faster than with other products.
•  Works not only with Adobe Photoshop
  The plug-in should work even with Image Ready, Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Photoshop LE.

See User Guide for detailed description of features.

You can download the test version of the plug-in and if you like it then you are welcomed to buy it for $20.
This plug-in works with Adobe Photoshop 6, 7, CS and Photoshop Elements 1,2 and 3 on Windows.
There is a version for Adobe Photoshop 7 and CS for Mac OS X also.
This version of the plug-in does not work with non-Adobe application (PaintShopPro, PhotoPaint,...)

There is only one restriction in this demo version. The high quality interpolation algorithms will process only upper left quarter of the image.

There is no version for MacOS 9 and as it is an obsolete operating system I have no plans for developing it. If you really need MacOS 9 version then let me know by email so I can estimate if it's really worth it.

I appreciate all comments to plug-in's features, speed, compatibility, problems and any suggestions for future development, ...

Please email me at mrw@dalibor.cz