RAW editing - then what?

BIGEYE

BIGEYE

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1,205
Name
Jim
Edit My Images
Yes
I have just started shooting my images in Raw having switched from jpeg, and I can see why everyone favours Raw.
My quetsion is that after editing my raw images (using elemenmts 8), in what format should I save the edited images?
 
If you are publishing then you will need to save your edit as a snapshot so theat you can return to it. If its for personal use, I just keep them as RAW. If I need to create a JPEG or TIFF then it is easy to do and a lot less storage and cataloguing.
 
agreed! shooting RAW is good! takes alot of time to convert if you have a batch full!
and you need a big card, i must upgrade to a 32gb!
 
BIGEYE said:
I have just started shooting my images in Raw having switched from jpeg, and I can see why everyone favours Raw.
My quetsion is that after editing my raw images (using elemenmts 8), in what format should I save the edited images?
Click to expand...

Save the raw files as they are, but for ease save the output as jpeg 'large' 'fine' or whatever the highest setting is; I wouldn't bother with tiffs unless much more processing is needed that cannot be done in one hit, as they are much bigger than your raw files and are not really any higher quality than the much smaller jpegs - not that you'd notice printed anyway)

DD
 
This is why I like LR you dont really have to save your images at all if you dont want to, simply open it up do your editing and thats the way they stay :). I do usually save to a JPEG (biggest possible) afterwards though as final version or sumthing similar, always nice to have the RAW to go back to to try something different.
 
Have a look at Lightroom - it is much easier - you don't need to 'save' your RAW files - the data is written to a database. I output whatever is required but always have the original RAW to go back to - even to re-edit - months - years later.
 
Good god no, never overwrite a raw file, its your backup so save as a separate file in a different folder. Your processing might look great today, but tomorrow you might think differently and cant go back once its overwritten.

For the majority of mine I save to a print output sized large jpeg, a medium sized jpeg, and two site specific sizes.
Large I save at 12 x 9 240-300dpi, medium is around 8 x 6 same dpi, for here its 800 pixels on the long axis and for ephotozine its 600 pixels on the long axis, the later two are usually saved at 72dpi.
All the resize procedures are saved as actions, so its just one click to resize to each of the formats.

Original un altered raws are saved in a folder marked raw file vault and then dated sub folders (this is my default import folder, dated folders are created automatically on import).

Jpegs are saved in a separate folder with sub folders sorted by subject, each of these folders then has sub folders sorted by output size.

Though it took a little while to sort out initially the bonus is that now I can wiz through processing and saving quite quickly and always know exactly where images are, and of course I have the original file just as it came out of the camera for back up/re working etc.
 
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Save as DNG in Lightroom then all changes are included so you can go back to the original "as shot" photo if required, smaller files sizes too
 
My workflow used to be..
Download RAW in dated folders within a RAW Folder
Save highest quality JPG Output to dated folders within a JPG folder
Then within the dated JPG folders create any resize/watermarked pics as appropriate and create resized/watermarkef folders.

Seems a bit faffy, but its easy to do and I can find everything easily. I always have the original RAW to reprocess and the original processed large JPG to resize as needed.

I tried saving as tiff for a while, but it just ate space and seemed a bit pointless.
 
but again this means you are saving and re-saving jpegs - which is not good.
 
For ages, I thought I was processing RAW images but then realised that I was shooting RAW +JPEG & processing just the JPEG (because I couldn't see the RAW thumbnail images in 'my pictures'.

I still shoot RAW +L so I can view the JPEGS on my desktop before I upload them to PS. I ought to get into the habit of using Adobe Bridge more, though....
 
nom nom de plume said:
For ages, I thought I was processing RAW images but then realised that I was shooting RAW +JPEG & processing just the JPEG (because I couldn't see the RAW thumbnail images in 'my pictures'.

I still shoot RAW +L so I can view the JPEGS on my desktop before I upload them to PS. I ought to get into the habit of using Adobe Bridge more, though....
Click to expand...

What OS are you using? If Windows 32 bit, you can download the free Microsoft raw thumbnail viewer from Microsoft. If 64 bit, you will have to pay US$10 for the Fast Picture Viewer raw codec. Then you can save space and shoot raw only.
 
Always shoot in RAW, save them in the RAW format and don't modify them in any way.

Edit and save progressive changes ideally in PSD or TIFF format to another folder/directory.

When you have completely finished post-processing, save your final copy as both a PSD/TIFF image and as a JPG (highest quality).

Using this as a basic work-flow standard will offer you the best quality and most flexible sharing/distribution method while retaining a convenient step by step record of your editing procedure - if necessary you can step back to a previous editing point.

Converting to JPG is the last step you should take when processing since JPG is a lossy format due to the compression algorithm - before converting, ALWAYS save in a lossless file format such as PSD or TIFF - this file serves as the highest quality edited version of your original image.
 
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I feel I should clarify my work flow.

I import the raws to my hard drive

I then check the raws in bridge to see which I want to work on, I then open the file using CS5 which automatically opens the files in ACR.
I process the RAW, it then opens in CS5 for levels, resize and any filters or actions I may want to run, only then do I save the jpeg.
The output to jpeg is the final stage/finished product, they are not re opened to work on again they are only used to view, print or post
 
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