SERFedit (Spacial Exposure Raw Filter Editor) is a software program for Adobe Digital Negative files that provides the advanced amateur and professional photographer a convenient tool to apply neutral density, color, and graduated filters in user defined geometries to a photograph.

Graduated color and neutral density filters are commonly used in front of the lens to add visual depth or control the dynamic range of a photo. SERFedit goes beyond the effects of the popular "Galen Rowell" Graduated Neutral Density filters by providing for continuously adjustable exposure gain, as well as loss, in horizontal, vertical, or radial geometries. Up to 3 filters are "stackable" and each can be adjusted to any color or density. Since they are applied digitally to the negative with 64 bit pixel sampling there is no unwanted distortion, vignetting or aberrations that physical filters may create.

SERFedit reads Adobe Digital Negative format files and can filter and write the files in 8 or 16 bit .dng format or 8, 16 or 32 bit .tif file format compatible with Adobe High Dynamic Range (HDR) images.

Output files can be sent directly to an external editor such as Adobe Photoshop and/or saved to a predefined export directory for auto import into programs such as Adobe Lightroom.

SERFedit currently only supports reading of Digital Negative format files.

(A converter for Cannon .crw and Nikon .nef formats to .dng can be found here)

Download and run the SERFedit install program from the link above. The install program will create a Windows Start Menu entry for SERFedit as well as a desktop icon. After first starting SERFedit, open the options dialog and select the options appropriate for your work flow and optionally set the External Editor, Export Folder and temporary file locations. Multiple Digital Negative files can be dragged and dropped to the desktop icon or to an allready open SERFedit program and they will be loaded into the file list. Unsupported file formats are quietly rejected and will not be loaded. Select any file from the file list and that file will be opened in the preview display. Files can also be opened via the editor "Open" button.

See the online SERFedit Filter Tutorial or download the tutorial here: (PDF format ~2MB).

A sample Digital Negative file can be downloaded: (gray50.zip ~200KB) and is also included with the editor. Gray50.dng can be used to explore the various filter geometries and filter dialog controls.

Additional SERFedit sample Digital Negative Files to be used in exploring SERFedit are available for download in zip format: (Samples.zip ~12MB)

When a digital negative file is opened any applicable Embedded XMP information is read and the preview XMP dialog controls are pre-set accordingly. These values can then be changed and enabled/disabled via the XMP preview dialog.

Each of the 3 filters are controlled by the filter dialogs on the right of the editor and changes to these filters are applied in real time to the currently open digital negative. Each filter may set to horizontal, vertical, or radial geometries via the check boxes in each filter dialog and adjusted for exposure and position appropriately. The filter gradient algorithm may be set via the drop-down control and can be inverted by checking the "invert" check box.

Each filter position can also be set quickly by clicking on one of the filter position markers along the right or bottom edge of the open image and then clicking within the image at the point where the exposure edge or radial center of the filter is to be set.

A filtered image may be saved via the "Save" button or optionally may be sent via the "Next / Send-To" button in the default format to an external editor and/or saved to a common Export directory.

When saving in digital negative format any enabled changes to XMP values are written into the XMP tables of the saved image, their end-effect on the image as seen in the image preview is not applied to the image data itself. This allows for further editing of the RAW image in other Digital Negative aware editors without impacting the image data beyond the filter application.

When saving in tif format, including 32 bit HDR format, enabled changes to XMP values are applied to the output image data itself before saving.

All controls in SERFedit are self-explanatory and include pop-up help information as to what that control does.

Serfedit-Basic - Serfedit 1.3.1 Released with licensing and advanced funtionality disabled.
Natural Log filter center point is now adjustable.
Fixed some minor display annoyances.

Ver 1.3 - Added Symetrical Step Filter to horizontal and vertical geometries. XMP settings no longer reset after saving file.

Ver 1.2 - Added Luminance and Saturation to XMP preview controls. Minor speed enhancements.

Ver 1.1 - Added color filter density controls.

Ver 1.0 - Initial release.