How to convert NEF to JPG without becoming pixelated and blurry?
I have a Nikon D3100 camera, and usually when i upload my pictures to my computer they are jpg files. But for some reason they were uploaded as NEF files. When I tried to convert them to JPG they became pixelated. How do I convert them without the pictures becoming blurry?
Converting?
RAW (NEF) image files have to be processed and then exported as JPEG images
RAW image files should give you the highest quality images once you process them and export them as high quality JPEG image files.
Pixelation is caused by creating very small image files. When you enlarge them past 100%, you will start to see pixelation.
Blur is a term that refers to what happens when the shutter speed is too slow to hand hold the camera or stop the motion of a moving subject. You can reduce the chance of blur by shooting at shutter speeds of 1/500th second or faster
In the future use Adobe Lightroom to process your RAW image files. In Lightroom, you can do some sharpening and noise reduction as well as tweak your white balance of either individual image files or in batches of images shot under the same lighting conditions.
Once you have the images looking the way you want, export them as JPEG image files at the highest resolution (100 on the sliding scale)
Make sure that your monitor has been calibrated and profiled recently to assure that the colours in your photos are accurate
"when I tried to convert them" - using what software exactly?
If the images were NEFs, then your camera is set to take RAW. If you don't know how to process RAW images, then change it back to shoot JPEG.
How did you convert them? When you got your camera, it came with a CD in the box. On that disk is a program called ViewNX. ViewNX will read the NEF file, you can do some basic corrections if you want, then export to TIFF or JPEG. This process will leave you with the original image size.
The other option is use a good photo editing tool that accept raw formats like Adobe DNG converter, Adobe Camera Raw (found with Photoshop), Adobe Lightroom, and other high end programs.
If you want JPEG image formats, you need to set your camera appropriately. See page 64 in your manual. Also check your image size which is explained on page 66. You'll want to use the Large image size.