Software for RAW/DNG Workflow in Windows 2000 ?

I am having problems finding software to help me move from jpg to raw/DNG
processing.

The workflow I think I need is:
- browse raw photos deleting most
- bulk convert RAW to DNG for archiving
- process the images
- 99% of the time just for sharpness (but maybe also white balance etc)
- trim images
- make a jpg version, perhaps with smaller pixels width for web, email, etc

I have been using Silkypix for the browsing and deleting step. It has good
deleting since it deletes all files with the same prefix so jpg thumbnails
also deleted. But it takes about 20 secs to display each image so it a slow
process. (I would prefer to use Irfanview but it displays my raw files as
just noise. DNG files are displayed correctly but Irfanview wont navigate
between images (says end of folder reached even if it is not) or show DNGs
in thumbnails view.)

Silkypix cannot create DNG files but the stand alone Adobe DNG converter
seem to do a good job of creating DNG files which adhere strictly to the DNG
spec.

For some reason Silkypix wont sharpen my images. All the other controls
work but even maximum sharpening makes no difference whatsoever either to
the 'auto preview' or an outputted file. So I have to use Raw Therapee
which has a very good sharpener. Raw Therapee could be used for most of the
workflow except that you cannot specify the pixel width of the output file
and it cannot delete images so cannot be used for initial browsing (this
seems to be a fundamental omission?)

So the simple workflow above needs in sequence:
- Silkypix for browsing/deleting
- Adobe DNG converter
- Raw Therapee for sharpening
- Photoshop for producing web-sized images

Using four pieces of software seems crazy. Is there a better way to do it?
At a pinch I could use my wife's Windows XP PC.

thanks in advance, Davy

Davy wrote:
> I am having problems finding software to help me move from jpg to
> raw/DNG processing.
>
> The workflow I think I need is:
> - browse raw photos deleting most
> - bulk convert RAW to DNG for archiving
> - process the images
> - 99% of the time just for sharpness (but maybe also white
> balance etc)
> - trim images
> - make a jpg version, perhaps with smaller pixels width for web,
> email, etc
>
> I have been using Silkypix for the browsing and deleting step. It
> has good deleting since it deletes all files with the same prefix so
> jpg thumbnails also deleted. But it takes about 20 secs to display
> each image so it a slow process. (I would prefer to use Irfanview
> but it displays my raw files as just noise. DNG files are displayed
> correctly but Irfanview wont navigate between images (says end of
> folder reached even if it is not) or show DNGs in thumbnails view.)
>
> Silkypix cannot create DNG files but the stand alone Adobe DNG
> converter seem to do a good job of creating DNG files which adhere
> strictly to the DNG spec.
>
> For some reason Silkypix wont sharpen my images. All the other
> controls work but even maximum sharpening makes no difference
> whatsoever either to the 'auto preview' or an outputted file. So I
> have to use Raw Therapee which has a very good sharpener. Raw
> Therapee could be used for most of the workflow except that you
> cannot specify the pixel width of the output file and it cannot
> delete images so cannot be used for initial browsing (this seems to
> be a fundamental omission?)
>
> So the simple workflow above needs in sequence:
> - Silkypix for browsing/deleting
> - Adobe DNG converter
> - Raw Therapee for sharpening
> - Photoshop for producing web-sized images
>
> Using four pieces of software seems crazy. Is there a better way to
> do it? At a pinch I could use my wife's Windows XP PC.
>
> thanks in advance, Davy

Since you seem to have Photoshop, why not use it for everything?