Forget printing except for singles and contact sheets. SILKYPIX has measurements in milimeters rather than inches and it doesn't have any image size presets. Use Picasa. It's free.

SILKYPIX instructions are translated from Japanese. This can be confusing at times, but it's very learnable. You don't "save", you "develop". The documentation often uses reversed nouns and verbs, and there are other fun instances of poor translation throughout the program and manual.

Despite the translation errors, I'm impressed. I've always owned Toyotas, so I'm already biased. Plain and simple, those folks over there make great products! Finally, there doesn't appear to be any US distribution. You'll have to convert the 16,000 Yen to dollars and order direct. Order now, because the Yen is gaining strength.

Conclusions
I've been developing my digital workflow for about four months. RAW conversion is the best way to get the best output, period. I have looked at a lot of RAW conversion solutions, both commercial and free.

Bibble and SILKYPIX both produce high quality JPEG output from Pentax and Panasonic RAW input. Either is a better choice for me than Adobe RAW/PS E4-5 or the Pentax boxed software (the stuff that comes with the camera).

To me, SILKYPIX had a better interface, more control, and better final output quality than Bibble. The only thing I find that is still lacking in the two professional packages tested is the ability to easily print photos.

I guess that is why I included Picasa in my comparison. If it doesn't yet, the world needs to know about Picasa. If Bibble and SILKYPIX could add Picasa-like printing to the rear end of their digital workflow, I would not need Picasa. Of course, my wife would, because it's great for her. I develop, she arranges, stylizes, and compiles.

So, for now, I think SILKYPIX 3.0 offers the very best RAW conversion, workflow solution for me. It might, for you, too.

Chuck Lee is president of PartSense, Inc., a contract service that specializes in helping the engineering community leverage the power of advanced 3D modeling and drafting software while providing cost-effective and well-engineered electro/mechanical design solutions.