Raw, tiff, jpg? How do you store.
Discussion
Took about 500 shots at a mates wedding at the weekend.
Have got them down to about 200.
The NEF (nikon raw format) shots are about 5 megs each. I have used Raw shooter esentials to go through them and adjust the exposure and have then changed them all into Tiff files and have them all on my hard drive now.
I understand that keeping them as Tiffs is best as there is no compression etc. However they are now all 35 meg files and my computer takes about 4 minutes just to open all their thumbnails up in windows!
Is this the best and only reccommended format to keep them in? SShould I just burn them all onto DVDs and give them to my mate?
Thanks
Greg
Have got them down to about 200.
The NEF (nikon raw format) shots are about 5 megs each. I have used Raw shooter esentials to go through them and adjust the exposure and have then changed them all into Tiff files and have them all on my hard drive now.
I understand that keeping them as Tiffs is best as there is no compression etc. However they are now all 35 meg files and my computer takes about 4 minutes just to open all their thumbnails up in windows!
Is this the best and only reccommended format to keep them in? SShould I just burn them all onto DVDs and give them to my mate?
Thanks
Greg
Keep your RAWs either on DVD (which I have done up until now) or on a second hard drive (whcih I've just purchased - 250Gb* for under a ton). neither is completely foolproof, but they are your "digital negative" and as you develop your RAWshooter/Photoshoppe skills you can come back and do more to them.
*250Gb must be about 250 x 170 RAW files ... that's something over 42,000 shots.....
*250Gb must be about 250 x 170 RAW files ... that's something over 42,000 shots.....
Question.......
If the raw is the daddy with "all" the info and the tiff has "lost something" why is it that the tiff file is 7 times bigger than the raw file?
Also, I have to convert the raw's into tiffs in order to work on them in PS (no?)
Do you save the artworked shots (post PS) as jpg's then? (the ones you print from?
Greg
If the raw is the daddy with "all" the info and the tiff has "lost something" why is it that the tiff file is 7 times bigger than the raw file?
Also, I have to convert the raw's into tiffs in order to work on them in PS (no?)
Do you save the artworked shots (post PS) as jpg's then? (the ones you print from?
Greg
Greg...in "batch convert" in Rawshooter, you can change the setting to convert to jpeg, and any size you like.
I convert to 750 px wide jpeg so I've got easy to open thumbnails, and then you can go back to Rawshooter at any time to do a proper job of anything you want to print/burn to CD, and delete it when the job is finished so it doesn't clog up disk space.
Martin.
I convert to 750 px wide jpeg so I've got easy to open thumbnails, and then you can go back to Rawshooter at any time to do a proper job of anything you want to print/burn to CD, and delete it when the job is finished so it doesn't clog up disk space.
Martin.
Not sure why the Tiff is bigger - that's just down to the different encoding method used.
Put it this way - if you are converting FROM raw TO tiff - the tiff can't be adding something that isn't there - so at best it's the exactly the same, but uses more disk space.
Add to that the fact you can't adjust exposure/contrast/highlights in a tiff the way you can a raw file....
Put it this way - if you are converting FROM raw TO tiff - the tiff can't be adding something that isn't there - so at best it's the exactly the same, but uses more disk space.
Add to that the fact you can't adjust exposure/contrast/highlights in a tiff the way you can a raw file....
Martin, I couldn't work out how to fully batch convert. If you go along and "flag" each shot and delete the rubbish ones (or hit number 1, 2 , 3 etc) then when you hit the batch convert button on the top, it still only converts the image your looking at at the time.
Very odd.
Dobbo, it is odd isn't it, that the NEF has more use and info but is 7 times smaller than a tiff.
So do you open the NEF raw's in photoshop and artwork them and then resave as a raw again? What do you re-save themm as once artworked and tweaked?
G
Very odd.
Dobbo, it is odd isn't it, that the NEF has more use and info but is 7 times smaller than a tiff.
So do you open the NEF raw's in photoshop and artwork them and then resave as a raw again? What do you re-save themm as once artworked and tweaked?
G
mr noble said:
What do you re-save themm as once artworked and tweaked?
G
G
Once you've played with them, converted to jpeg or tiff, turned RS off then return to it...you'll see all the sliders in the same place as you left them. They are, as are all digital images, not in a permanent state.
M.
mr noble said:
Martin, I couldn't work out how to fully batch convert. If you go along and "flag" each shot and delete the rubbish ones (or hit number 1, 2 , 3 etc) then when you hit the batch convert button on the top, it still only converts the image your looking at at the time.
Very odd.
Dobbo, it is odd isn't it, that the NEF has more use and info but is 7 times smaller than a tiff.
So do you open the NEF raw's in photoshop and artwork them and then resave as a raw again? What do you re-save themm as once artworked and tweaked?
G
Very odd.
Dobbo, it is odd isn't it, that the NEF has more use and info but is 7 times smaller than a tiff.
So do you open the NEF raw's in photoshop and artwork them and then resave as a raw again? What do you re-save themm as once artworked and tweaked?
G
Batch convert is simple. My process is to categorise them, then if I want to convert all the 1's then select the 1 tab, hit 'ctrl-a' to select all the 1's and then hit add.
One thing I don't use (much) with RAWshooter is the ability to copy the image a number of times and do tweaks to different copies. It's quite a neat idea, in fact I don't know why I don't use it more.
I know I should know the answer to this...
... but does RAWshooter hold these when you close down for next time? I sort of assume it does on the basis that it saves a file in tandem with the image for all the tweakery-pokery.
I know I should know the answer to this...
... but does RAWshooter hold these when you close down for next time? I sort of assume it does on the basis that it saves a file in tandem with the image for all the tweakery-pokery.Imperialism2024 said:
So.. RAW is compressed yet lossless?
Each cameras RAW format is different (even between cameras from the same brand), but it does tend to be compressed, and lossless, and yes you can do them both at the same time, PNG is compressed/lossles too...
Edited by robdickinson on Tuesday 25th July 02:36
Most modern RAW formats use lossless compresion (much like a ZIP file).
JPGs use lossy compression (much like an MP3 file).
TIFFs are uncompressed (much like a BMP file).
I personally do all my work in Photoshop, and save my finished output in Photoshop format, which uses quite efficient losless compression. Doesn't make the file easily distributable to anyone without Photoshop, but I never send anyone the full-res versions anyway.
And I personally can't tell a difference between 16 and 32 bit versions of the RAW images that my camera produces, so I just stick with 16.
JPGs use lossy compression (much like an MP3 file).
TIFFs are uncompressed (much like a BMP file).
I personally do all my work in Photoshop, and save my finished output in Photoshop format, which uses quite efficient losless compression. Doesn't make the file easily distributable to anyone without Photoshop, but I never send anyone the full-res versions anyway.
And I personally can't tell a difference between 16 and 32 bit versions of the RAW images that my camera produces, so I just stick with 16.
Edited by -DeaDLocK- on Tuesday 25th July 02:21
This is a good question - there must be plenty of people like me who got into photography then ended up with loads of differen formats and a lot of head-scratching as to how to save it all!
I've got scans from negative or slide, which I used until I got the 20D, some digital shots from a compact, a lot of shots from the 20D and some scans of prints where I can't find the negs. I must admit that I tend now to save them all as JPEG's at quality 10 in Photoshop at what equates to about 300dpi at A4 size - pretty much exactly what the 20D and my slide scanner churn out. I only save the RAW files for shots that were particularly good, part of photography is the discipline to know what is good and what isn't and I don't want to save a lifetime of clutter as I'll never find anything! So while I might import and edit the RAW files, or 35MB psp files for the slide scanner, when I'm happy with the shot I save it as a JPEG only now, and only keep a few RAW's.
I store files under the device used to capture them and a year/month format, but also separately store all of what I consider to be my best shots as quality 10 JPEG's at full size, and also as 950 wide quality 5 JPEG's for web use. This is the folder I'm most careful aboujt backing up, and the DVD I'd grab if the house was burning down!
I've got scans from negative or slide, which I used until I got the 20D, some digital shots from a compact, a lot of shots from the 20D and some scans of prints where I can't find the negs. I must admit that I tend now to save them all as JPEG's at quality 10 in Photoshop at what equates to about 300dpi at A4 size - pretty much exactly what the 20D and my slide scanner churn out. I only save the RAW files for shots that were particularly good, part of photography is the discipline to know what is good and what isn't and I don't want to save a lifetime of clutter as I'll never find anything! So while I might import and edit the RAW files, or 35MB psp files for the slide scanner, when I'm happy with the shot I save it as a JPEG only now, and only keep a few RAW's.
I store files under the device used to capture them and a year/month format, but also separately store all of what I consider to be my best shots as quality 10 JPEG's at full size, and also as 950 wide quality 5 JPEG's for web use. This is the folder I'm most careful aboujt backing up, and the DVD I'd grab if the house was burning down!
if you are serious about your shots and spend time processing etc store raw and the psd/tiff etc, at the end of the day £ per mb hard drive storage is dirt cheap compared to your time (at least mine anyway) to convert them again. i have 2x250gb external firewire drives in icyboxes they are backed up from one another daily and as they fill up i replace them, simple.
I shoot in RAW+JPEG mode (hey, it doesn't take up too much more memory...) on my D70, as then I have an easy-to-view file and a "negative", so to speak. When I edit photos and decide they're "keepers", I save one in JPEG (quality level 5) and on in TIFF.
Also, the any time photos leave my computer, they're in quality 5 JPEG at a maximum resolution of about 1280x1024 when sending to friends, 750x499 for anywhere else, as to prevent my work being reproduced and passed off as someone else's. I'll bring along TIFF on a flash drive when I get poster-size prints done...
Also, the any time photos leave my computer, they're in quality 5 JPEG at a maximum resolution of about 1280x1024 when sending to friends, 750x499 for anywhere else, as to prevent my work being reproduced and passed off as someone else's. I'll bring along TIFF on a flash drive when I get poster-size prints done...
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