Why does the DNG Profile Editor only open DNG images?
The reasons are given below. First, however, let’s cover the practical implications. The PE will only open and preview DNG raw files. Raw files in other formats, such as Canon CR2 and Nikon NEF formats, must first be converted to DNG files (e.g., via the DNG Converter) before they can be opened in PE. However, external DNG camera profiles, including those built by PE as well as the new Adobe Standard profiles, can be used to process raw files in any format, including non-DNG formats such as Canon CR2 and Nikon NEF. In other words, PE supports only DNG images (for the purposes of previewing a profile’s adjustments), but the profiles themselves will work with all raw formats. The primary reason for limiting PE support to DNG images is to decouple the CR and PE release schedules. Some background info is needed to fully appreciate this. If PE supported non-DNG images, then we would need to release a new version of PE with every CR update, adding a substantial amount of overhead to an alrea
