<s>
OpenRAW	B-Application
was	O
an	O
initiative	O
to	O
raise	O
awareness	O
of	O
a	O
serious	O
problem	O
with	O
top-end	O
digital	O
photography	O
and	O
to	O
help	O
solve	O
that	O
problem	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
problem	O
concerns	O
long-term	O
access	O
and	O
viewing	O
of	O
the	O
raw	B-Application
images	I-Application
often	O
used	O
by	O
professional	O
and	O
experienced	O
amateur	O
photographers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OpenRAW	B-Application
's	O
solution	O
(	O
also	O
their	O
motto	O
)	O
was	O
"	O
Digital	O
Image	O
Preservation	O
Through	O
Open	O
Documentation	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
in	O
2005	O
,	O
Juergen	O
Specht	O
and	O
the	O
members	O
of	O
his	O
mailing	O
list	O
D1scussion	O
began	O
to	O
identify	O
concerns	O
about	O
the	O
difficulties	O
associated	O
with	O
the	O
proprietary	O
RAW	B-Application
files	I-Application
introduced	O
by	O
camera	O
makers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
background	O
to	O
these	O
concerns	O
,	O
described	O
at	O
Raw	B-Application
image	I-Application
format	I-Application
(	O
Drawbacks	O
)	O
,	O
Digital	B-Application
Negative	I-Application
(	O
Objectives	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
dcraw	B-Algorithm
(	O
Motivation	O
)	O
,	O
is	O
that	O
the	O
photographs	O
from	O
top-end	O
digital	O
cameras	O
are	O
often	O
contained	O
within	O
files	O
whose	O
specifications	O
are	O
formally	O
known	O
only	O
to	O
the	O
camera	O
manufacturers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
seriousness	O
of	O
the	O
issue	O
was	O
quickly	O
realized	O
,	O
this	O
team	O
founded	O
an	O
initiative	O
called	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
,	O
with	O
the	O
goal	O
of	O
encouraging	O
image	O
preservation	O
and	O
ensuring	O
that	O
the	O
creators	O
of	O
the	O
images	O
retained	O
the	O
choice	O
of	O
how	O
their	O
images	O
are	O
processed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OpenRAW	B-Application
was	O
launched	O
worldwide	O
via	O
a	O
press	O
release	O
on	O
25	O
April	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
initiative	O
identified	O
the	O
seriousness	O
of	O
this	O
problem	O
,	O
articulated	O
it	O
in	O
a	O
way	O
that	O
photographers	O
understood	O
,	O
summarized	O
the	O
solution	O
with	O
their	O
"	O
motto	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
created	O
a	O
(	O
non-commercial	O
)	O
global	O
brand	O
(	O
"	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
"	O
)	O
which	O
encapsulated	O
all	O
of	O
these	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
initiative	O
raised	O
awareness	O
,	O
or	O
crystallized	O
vague	O
awareness	O
,	O
of	O
these	O
problems	O
with	O
many	O
photographers	O
and	O
organizations	O
worldwide	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
them	O
,	O
Sony	O
,	O
responded	O
with	O
a	O
letter	O
held	O
on	O
the	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
website	O
,	O
while	O
others	O
did	O
n't	O
respond	O
when	O
asked	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
no	O
evidence	O
that	O
any	O
of	O
them	O
changed	O
their	O
policies	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
the	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
initiative	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
's	O
peak	O
there	O
were	O
over	O
1600	O
registered	O
individual	O
supporters	O
from	O
across	O
the	O
world	O
,	O
writing	O
in	O
English	O
but	O
sometimes	O
as	O
a	O
second	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
popular	O
image	O
file	O
formats	O
such	O
as	O
JPEG	O
are	O
openly	O
documented	O
,	O
most	O
raw	B-Application
image	I-Application
formats	I-Application
,	O
often	O
used	O
by	O
professional	O
and	O
experienced	O
amateur	O
photographers	O
,	O
are	O
not	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
website	O
,	O
especially	O
the	O
non-forum	O
parts	O
identified	O
above	O
,	O
represent	O
views	O
of	O
many	O
companies	O
and	O
organizations	O
other	O
than	O
camera	O
makers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
resource	O
,	O
often	O
cited	O
on	O
the	O
web	O
and	O
still	O
pertinent	O
,	O
is	O
an	O
article	O
"	O
The	O
RAW	O
Flaw	O
"	O
,	O
jointly	O
authored	O
by	O
Michael	O
Reichmann	O
(	O
of	O
The	O
Luminous	O
Landscape	O
)	O
and	O
Juergen	O
Specht	O
(	O
leader	O
of	O
the	O
founding	O
group	O
of	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
)	O
,	O
and	O
published	O
on	O
each	O
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
problem	O
identified	O
by	O
the	O
sources	O
identified	O
above	O
can	O
be	O
summarized	O
as	O
:	O
"	O
there	O
is	O
an	O
ever	O
increasing	O
number	O
of	O
undocumented	O
raw	B-Application
file	I-Application
formats	I-Application
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
And	O
as	O
time	O
passes	O
and	O
these	O
programs	O
are	O
enhanced	O
,	O
what	O
are	O
the	O
chances	O
that	O
they	O
will	O
still	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
read	O
your	O
older	O
RAW	B-Application
files	I-Application
?	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
April	O
2005	O
,	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
continued	O
to	O
pursue	O
its	O
goal	O
of	O
open	O
documentation	O
of	O
proprietary	O
formats	O
rather	O
than	O
creation	O
of	O
a	O
"	O
universal	O
"	O
file	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
We	O
want	O
camera	O
manufacturers	O
to	O
publicly	O
document	O
their	O
RAW	B-Application
image	I-Application
formats	I-Application
-	O
past	O
,	O
present	O
,	O
and	O
future	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
have	O
suggested	O
(	O
and	O
Adobe	O
has	O
created	O
)	O
a	O
common	O
,	O
open	O
file	O
format	O
for	O
RAW	B-Application
image	I-Application
files	I-Application
for	O
all	O
camera	O
makers	O
to	O
use	O
as	O
a	O
solution	O
to	O
the	O
RAW	O
problem	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
common	O
,	O
openly	O
documented	O
RAW	B-Application
format	I-Application
would	O
fulfill	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
goals	O
of	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
,	O
but	O
is	O
likely	O
to	O
face	O
significant	O
resistance	O
from	O
manufacturers	O
who	O
feel	O
their	O
"	O
creativity	O
"	O
and	O
ability	O
to	O
innovate	O
would	O
be	O
constrained	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Open	O
documentation	O
of	O
all	O
RAW	B-Application
file	I-Application
formats	I-Application
by	O
manufacturers	O
is	O
the	O
quickest	O
and	O
most	O
satisfactory	O
way	O
for	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
's	O
goals	O
to	O
be	O
reached.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
phrase	O
"	O
(	O
and	O
Adobe	O
has	O
created	O
)	O
"	O
above	O
refers	O
to	O
Adobe	O
's	O
DNG	O
(	O
Digital	B-Application
Negative	I-Application
Format	O
)	O
,	O
launched	O
7	O
months	O
before	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
DNG	O
was	O
designed	O
(	O
among	O
other	O
things	O
)	O
as	O
an	O
archival	O
raw	B-Application
image	I-Application
format	I-Application
and	O
has	O
a	O
published	O
specification	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
April	O
2006	O
,	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
's	O
stance	O
was	O
opposed	O
to	O
DNG	O
and	O
language	O
supporting	O
DNG	O
initiative	O
was	O
removed	O
from	O
"	O
The	O
RAW	O
Problem	O
"	O
article	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
article	O
"	O
Notes	O
on	O
the	O
future	O
of	O
Open	O
RAW	B-Application
formats	I-Application
,	O
and	O
a	O
look	O
at	O
DNG	O
"	O
said	O
"	O
DNG	O
is	O
not	O
the	O
answer	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
an	O
interview	O
,	O
a	O
founder	O
of	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
said	O
"	O
No	O
,	O
DNG	O
is	O
unfortunately	O
not	O
a	O
solution.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Rather	O
than	O
advocating	O
for	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
an	O
open	O
file	O
format	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
DNG	O
)	O
,	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
was	O
seeking	O
specifications	O
for	O
the	O
various	O
proprietary	O
file	O
formats	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
stance	O
continued	O
as	O
DNG	O
became	O
better	O
established	O
while	O
camera	O
makers	O
showed	O
no	O
signs	O
of	O
publishing	O
documentation	O
for	O
their	O
raw	B-Application
file	I-Application
formats	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
Mailing	O
List	O
was	O
closed	O
to	O
new	O
members	O
in	O
April	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
website	O
became	O
inactive	O
in	O
August	O
2009	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
last	O
post	O
was	O
a	O
year	O
earlier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
May	O
2011	O
a	O
new	O
home	O
page	O
summarized	O
the	O
history	O
of	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
,	O
saying	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
While	O
the	O
final	O
goal	O
of	O
"	O
Open	O
Documentation	O
"	O
has	O
not	O
yet	O
been	O
reached	O
,	O
the	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
initiative	O
and	O
the	O
survey	O
results	O
have	O
triggered	O
the	O
ongoing	O
development	O
of	O
an	O
"	O
Open	O
"	O
RAW	O
standard	O
which	O
is	O
in	O
the	O
final	O
stages	O
of	O
becoming	O
a	O
reality.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
had	O
a	O
lot	O
of	O
impact	O
on	O
the	O
world	O
of	O
photography	O
and	O
it	O
continues	O
to	O
aim	O
at	O
improving	O
the	O
situation	O
for	O
photographers	O
and	O
their	O
photographs	O
for	O
years	O
to	O
come.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Niche	O
and	O
some	O
smaller	O
camera	O
makers	O
use	O
DNG	O
as	O
a	O
raw	B-Application
image	I-Application
format	I-Application
,	O
and	O
so	O
conform	O
to	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
's	O
requirement	O
by	O
using	O
an	O
openly	O
documented	O
non-proprietary	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
larger	O
camera	O
makers	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Canon	O
,	O
Nikon	B-Algorithm
,	O
Olympus	O
,	O
and	O
Sony	O
,	O
continue	O
to	O
use	O
raw	B-Application
image	I-Application
formats	I-Application
that	O
are	O
not	O
openly	O
documented	O
,	O
and	O
so	O
still	O
cause	O
the	O
problems	O
identified	O
by	O
OpenRAW	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
variety	O
of	O
DNG	B-Application
converters	I-Application
enables	O
the	O
undocumented	O
proprietary	O
formats	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
larger	O
camera	O
makers	O
to	O
be	O
manually	O
converted	O
to	O
DNG	O
.	O
</s>
