RAW Files
- Thread starter JulesWex
- Start date
I upload my raw files to my laptop, then edit from there. I go through the raw files and delete the ones I don't want to keep. The remainder I leave as raw files for editing later or edit them, save the edited product, and then export to JPG. The files I save are placed in appropriate directories, such as birds, pets, etc. I then back the files up to my file server and an external hard drive.
Why would I upload to another Web site and then edit?
Why would I upload to another Web site and then edit?
I keep all my files as RAW files (or more precisely DNG files) and only throw away the files I do not want to keep. You never know when a project will pop up that you'll need your earlier work. And with disc space getting cheaper by the day, backing them up isn't the big deal it was 8 yrs ago.
Mfrankfort
Senior Member
Best way to Organize. Lightroom. I store them all on an external hard drive beacuse of the size and ease of portability switching from desktop to laptop, and have Lightroom installed on both computers. It is your one stop shop for editing/organizing. Once I edit them, I will usually save them as JPEG, or TIFF for larger prints, and delete RAW files unless I know I am going to go back and edit them. But if it's just family (especially inlay) pictures, I'll delete the RAW ones I know I won't be editing any further. Everyone is different though. Just my 2 cents.
RockyNH_RIP
Senior Member
Michael J.
Senior Member
Maybe I should start taking photos in RAW. I tried many times but not one photo after processing was as I wanted to be. I used LR, Capture NX2, Camera Raw for PS.
I do it mainly because of the metadata. Metadata exists as a "sidecar" file in the NEF format and because of that the metadata can easily be lost. However, when you convert to a DNG format the metadata is incorporated within the file itself and cannot be lost. Also, a DNG file takes up approximately 20% less space than an NEF file which can really add up with you're talking about 1000's of files.
I keep all of my RAW files. To me they are like negatives of old - they are the originals and contain all the info. They get stored on CD or DVD and any 'special' ones are also stored online.
I initially view the RAW files in Irfanview. Any worthy of processing then get imported into Lightroom and after processing I usually export as JPEG.
I initially view the RAW files in Irfanview. Any worthy of processing then get imported into Lightroom and after processing I usually export as JPEG.
RockyNH_RIP
Senior Member
Thanks Dave.. I will look into that.. Do you have a batch method for the conversion??
Pat in NH
If you use Lightroom you can set it to convert from NEF to DNG as it's copying them from your camera to your computer. I also think Bridge will do this, too, but I'm not 100% certain.
Lightroom is nothing like Dropbox. Lightroom is an image database, conversion, adjustment application from Adobe while Dropbox is an online storage service.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
OK I understand how the metadata could be lost when working with a NEF (Nikon's version of RAW) file..eg converting to a jpeg might strip it away. What I would like to know is how is it that a DNG file is 20% smaller than a NEF?
Jpeg preview maybe? (which apparently is optional when converting proprietary RAW formats to DNG)
Personally after doing a lot of reading on this subject I think DNG is the way to go the real question becomes what is the best DNG converter to use with any given Nikon camera model.
I think my new motto is going to become I shoot RAW but save DNG.
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