- published: 03 May 2013
- views: 19019
Digital Negative (DNG) is an open lossless raw image format written by Adobe used for digital photography. It was launched on September 27, 2004. The launch was accompanied by the first version of the DNG specification, plus various products including a free of charge DNG Converter utility. All Adobe photo manipulation software (such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom) released since the launch supports DNG.
DNG is based on the TIFF/EP standard format, and mandates significant use of metadata. Exploitation of the file format is royalty free; Adobe has published a license allowing anyone to exploit DNG, and has also stated that there are no known intellectual property encumbrances or license requirements for DNG. Adobe stated that if there was a consensus that DNG should be controlled by a standards body, they were open to the idea. Adobe has submitted DNG to ISO for incorporation into their revision of TIFF/EP.
Given the existence of other raw image formats, Adobe's creation of DNG as a competing format implies that DNG is unusual and satisfies objectives that other raw image formats do not. These objectives and the associated characteristics of DNG, as well as assessments of whether these objectives are met, are described below. Increasingly, professional archivists and conservationists, working for respectable organizations, variously suggest or recommend DNG for archival purposes.