Preface: I think an outline of your
workflow would be helpful, as it seems to me that there may be some room
for streamlining.
These programs - in your case
Canon DPP - convert
Canon raw files to other formats, like tiff,
jpeg...
BUT, they allow you do do some editing first of the typically 14-bit data contained in your
raw file. Finally, you
typically save the result as an 8-bit
jpeg, with restricted image information in it.
Now, when you say the above quote, are you only shooting in and later opening jpegs in ACR? Is there any
raw format
stage? You mention "
raw files" in the quote below, and now to that...
DNG stands for digital negative. It is a "sort of Adobe open standard
raw file" (my understanding). As such, it has a higher bandwidth
- ie, it has more bits per channel - than a
jpeg has. Converting from a
jpeg to a dng would not have much benefit except that you
can use ACR.
What you should try to do is convert your
Canon raw files to DNG. That would keep much of the original
raw data AND allow you to
use ACR on that. Eventually you'd save as a
jpeg.
It seems to me (and I am happy to be told I'm wrong) that your "problem" is driven by
workflow needs.
I think if I had a
Canon - or
Nikon - I would exploit everything I could from the proprietary software, rather
than take a hit in data loss from using 3rd-party stuff. (This point of view is open to challenge.)
Edit: re-position this line that got moved somehow
:
That's all I can offer, and I will look with interest at other replies.