Shooting my first set tonight in RAW format..help!

[adigitalcure]

OK...so I know some basic stuff about RAW format from reading this forum but im still lost about alot of stuff. First off i have the 300d and photoshop elements 3(which reads raw)....ok so i do my shoot tomorrow...pick out whats worth keeping... upload the pictures in photoshop...do some tweaking in raw?...and then what?...if i wanna save some pictures for print and for posting on my website?...should i edit the pictures in raw format and then save a copy of the file as a jpeg?...

Second question is what really is the purpose/advantage of saving a copy as a TIFF or photoshop file. Im use to working with nothing but jpeg so sorry if im such a noobie with the questions...i know jpegs lose alot of info the more and more you work on them...but if im working in raw format and just saving a copy of my work as a jpeg is that a probelm?.....

any help would be great thank you!!!
kevin

[rfreschner]

OK...so I know some basic stuff about RAW format from reading this forum but im still lost about alot of stuff. First off i have the 300d and photoshop elements 3(which reads raw)....ok so i do my shoot tomorrow...pick out whats worth keeping... upload the pictures in photoshop...do some tweaking in raw?...and then what?...if i wanna save some pictures for print and for posting on my website?...should i edit the pictures in raw format and then save a copy of the file as a jpeg?...

I use PSE3 also and, when I use Adobe Camera Raw to convert the RAW image, I use it to make initial adjustments such as white balance and exposure. When I'm satisfied with these settings, I click on OK to open the image in the PSE3 editor where I can make additional adjustments to the image. Once done, I can save it in any format I want including jpeg.

Second question is what really is the purpose/advantage of saving a copy as a TIFF or photoshop file. Im use to working with nothing but jpeg so sorry if im such a noobie with the questions...i know jpegs lose alot of info the more and more you work on them...but if im working in raw format and just saving a copy of my work as a jpeg is that a probelm?.....

TIFF or PSD are lossless, so you can edit these again and again without losing any of the image. Each time you save a jpeg you lose a bit more of the image. You can always use the RAW file to make another copy to work on if you'd like, but you would have to redo any of the adjustments you made in the PSE3 editor if you wanted them in the new image.

[PhotosGuy]

TIFF or PSD are lossless, so you can edit these again and again without losing any of the image. You will lose a bit through some processing, but not as much as you would by saving to jpegs. For instance, open a new file & adjust the endpoints a bit in levels. Notice the smooth histogram. Click OK. Now open it in levels again & notice the jaggies in the histogram. That's lost info.
Second question is what really is the purpose/advantage of saving a copy as a TIFF or photoshop file. I typically have pics with over 6 layers. Once you learn how to use adjustment layers & layer masks, you'll appreciate being able to save all those layers so you can come back to make changes (to the changes you made).

[neutral]

I shot my first RAW set lastnight too. :o

[rfreschner]

Now open it in levels again & notice the jaggies in the histogram. That's lost info.

Just for my own understanding, is that loss through saving the TIFF or PSD or is it from the processing? If from saving, is there any format that you can save to that is truly lossless?

[rfreschner]

Just for my own understanding, is that loss through saving the TIFF or PSD or is it from the processing? If from saving, is there any format that you can save to that is truly lossless?

I'm figuring that any processing of the image will cause you to lose some of it.

[PhotosGuy]

Just for my own understanding, is that loss through saving the TIFF or PSD or is it from the processing? The loss is from the processing. When you move the end points in & click OK, the range is expanded to fill the pervious space, so the image is sort of stretched out to cover the image which leaves holes. Some people do some editing in a 16-bit color space to avoid that, because it contains more info to start with, so you lose less. Not all editing can be done in 16-bit with PS, so then you convert to 8-bit to finish.
You might do a search for gamut, color space, comb effect (Jaggies), aRGB vs sRGB, etc. It's a big learning curve, but worth knowing at some point.
You might read these to start.
Adobe Whitepaper - Digital photography workflow
http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/ps_pro.html

Adobe digital photography white papers and primers
http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/ps_pro_primers.html

"Introduction to Color Spaces" w/image
http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Learn/color_spaces.htm

That will keep you in "light reading" for a while! ;-)

[rfreschner]

That will keep you in "light reading" for a while! ;-)

Thanks for the links - I'll get right on it after I finish working on my tax return!! No more L lenses for me for a while I'm afraid. :cry:

[langer]

I shot RAW last night for the first time for the entire job. Initially I thought the write time would have been a problem but it was ok. I bought a 1GB Sandisk Ultra II card with a 9mb per sec write speed. It was quick enough for my needs. The annoying thing about RAW shooting is the editing part. It takes much longer than Jpeg I shot over 100 pics last night and it is taking me more than half the usual time to edit them. But I must say you have much more control over various aspect of the pic.

[PhotosGuy]

Tried RawShooter yet? MUCH faster than the Canon utility.
http://www.outbackphoto.com/artofraw/raw_18/essay.html