Michael Tapes and Bruce Henderson, authors of Canon RAW-file converter YarcPlus, have been hard at work lately updating their popular program to support RAW files from Canon's EOS D60 digital camera. (EOS-1D support is also on the way and should be ready soon...) There's recently been a fairly major new release, version 1.5 which they believe to be the first to use Canon's new Digital Camera SDK v1.0. As well as adding D60 support and a number of other improvements in this release, the latest beta, v1.5.3 continues by adding even more functionality for D60 users as well as a couple of bug-fixes.

Full details of the additions in both the beta and full-release versions, as well as known problems, are described below (from the official release notes). Note that version 1.5 marks the first official release of the program, and is available at a cost of $35. Unregistered versions do function, but will not extract JPEGs and will add a watermark to converted images.

YarcPlus Version 1.5
21 April 2002

YarcPlus Version 1.5 is the first official release of YarcPlus, which has been in public beta test for several months. Over this time, guided by user feedback the program has grown in ease of operation as well as functionality. As well as being the first official release of YarcPlus, this also represents the first usage (as far as we know) of the new Canon Digital Camera SDK V1.0. This is an evolution of what used to be called the Powershot SDKV3.9.1. As the first ones to use it we gain the benefit of its advantages, but also have to learn as we go. We are in contact with Canon to resolve some gaps in the documentation that do not allow us to implement certain features. These will be detailed below.

The main advantages of the new SDK are support for the D60 and 1D and faster conversion of D30 and other RAW files. In order to bring you as many of the benefits as possible as quickly as possible we have not waited until all of the functionality was complete within YarcPlus. That would not allow many people to gain the advantages of the new performance and support. So we will introduce the added features over the course of the next week or 2 in a series of releases that add functionality with each.

YarcPlus V1.5 is now an official release. After being available free of charge during the beta period, we now charge $35 US (special introductory price) for a Registration key which unlocks the full functionality of YarcPlus. However, without the Registration Key, YarcPlus runs in Evaluation mode which is identical to running the Registered version, except that JPEG extractions are not supported, and a subtle but permanent watermark is contained in the converted images. In this way we feel that we allow you experiment with every feature of YarcPlus with no restrictions as to your ability to evaluate it performance, quality and functionality (with the exception of embedded JPEGS).

The download file is the same. When you run YarcPlus, there is a reminder screen. Hit OK to run it in Evaluation mode, or click on Enter Key to enter a purchased key that will unlock the program for full operation. There is no time restriction or file quantity restriction when running the evaluation version. Experiment as long as you like, and try it with hundreds of files to check out the performance and feel.

New Features and Changes in YarcPlus V1.5

• Support for the Canon D60 is included in this release with the following exceptions...
  • No support for Exposure Compensation (this is in the current beta)
  • No support for Tone Curves (also now in the beta)
  • No support for small conversion preview (in discussions with Canon)
  • No picked WB possible due to lack of small conversion preview.
  • No support for Sharpness setting of “off” (in discussions with Canon)
• Support for Canon 1D will be included in V1.5.2 which is planned within 1 week or sooner.
• Faster conversions (20-30% based on machine) with many RAW formats
• New Feature: AutoARF...When AutoARF is selected, the ARF Mode (1 or 2) will automatically be selected based on the specific ISO setting of each picture. The setting of the ISO crossover point is able to be set in Options|Preferences|ARF.
• Source and Destination folder trees have been changed. You can now create new folders directly in the Destination Folder Tree.
• Further improvements have been made within the installer and uninstaller.
• New Feature: UNATTENDED BATCH MODE. Allows a shortcut to be created so that folder(s) or CRW file(s) may be dropped on the shortcut and the conversions will be done with no user intervention based on a predefined preset within YarcPlus. There can be up to 20 presets and any of them can be specific in a shortcut. This is perfect for batch or automated workflows. See the release notes for more.
• The EXIF log file feature has been restored. If this option is selected (Options|Preferences|Output Options) a text file containing the full EXIF data will be written in the same folder as the converted file.
• New Feature: AutoARF...When AutoARF is selected, the ARF Mode (1 or 2) will automatically be selected based on the specific ISO setting of each picture. The setting of the ISO corssover point is able to be set in Options|Preferences|ARF.
• New Feature: The file List menu now allows you to Remove Checked files. This is useful to remove already converted files (the ones that were checked during the last batch conversion).
• New Feature: A summary of how many files were converted along with the total time and average time is optionally displayed after each converting files.
• New Feature: You can now make an 8-bit Linear TIFF. This can be used in Actions such as Fred Miranda's HR action where 8-bit Linear and Non-Linear Conversions are required.
• Bug Fix: All bugs regarding context menus and YarcPlus have been fixed. You may now launch YarcPlus by right clicking on one or more folders or CRW files. Also you may right-Click on one or more folders or CRW files while running YarcPlus and these files will be added to the file list in real time. Files from multiple folders may be assembled within the file list in this manner.
• Added checks for corrupted EXIF data in THM files (this can happen when THM files are rotated in certain applications.
• Bug Fix: The option 'Always Load Exit Settings upon Launch" now properly persists across sessions.

Known Issues

• If a removable drive device has been selected as the source folder and the drive is removed, problems can occur.
• Converting to a full disk will issue an error code rather than gracefully tell you the problem.
• There are reported problems with converting a D60 file when it is in the root folder. All conversions from folder work perfectly. This will be fixed in V1.5.1 official release in a day or two.

YarcPlus Version 1.5.3 beta

YarcPlus Version 1.5.3 beta is essentially the same as Release Version V1.5 with the following additions.

• V1.5.1 beta
• • D60 Color Tone now supported.
  • D60 Exposure compensation now supported.
• V1.5.2 beta
  • D60 Small Conversion Preview now supported
  • D60 picked While Balance now supported.
  • D60 files located in the root folder can now be converted
  • Installer updates all required registry entries
• V1.5.3 beta
  • Histogram now available in the Conversion Preview Window for all camera types
  • Auto-preview mode added to D60 Exposure Compensation
  • Minor cosmetic changes
  • Minor bug fixes

Note: The Conversion Preview provided from the Canon SDK is VERY soft. It's purpose is to judge White Balance and Exposure Compensation. We are working with Canon to provide a less soft preview display for D60 images. The good news is that the preview is larger than for other cameras.

We have issued this beta release so that Canon D60 users may benefit from the new support that has been incorporated, as soon as possible. It has not gone through our normal rigorus testing procedures, however, exceot for the addition of these D60 features, almost nothing else has changed.

We are confident that this release will peform with little or no issues, except as noted below. However, because it has not been fully tested, there may be some issues that come up. We would appreciate that they be reported to:

[email protected].

D60 Issues

• No support for D60 Sharpness setting of “off” (in discussions with Canon)
• Support for Canon 1D will be included in V1.7 which is planned within 1 or 2 weeks.

Other Known Issues

• A Folder Browse button may be clicked while a folder browser is open, resulting in 2 folder browsers being open at the same time.
• If a removable drive device has been selected as the source folder and the drive is removed, problems can occur.
• If you arrow down to a file in the list and then hit the space bar, after a few seconds the last file in the list that was clicked becomes lighted (although focus remains where it should, on the list item just affected by the spacebar)
• Converting to a full disk will issue an error code rather than gracefully tell you the problem.