Please Help Regarding RAW Images

Hi,

A hired a photog to take pictures of my daughters bat mitzvah. I asked him to give me a copy of the RAW's so if i wanted to work on them in the future
( Once i learned How, I could ). I guess he only shot the pictures in RAW. He used lightroom to fix them up and says to me How am I going to print them if they are in RAW? What do I have to do with these RAW images now on DVD's in order to print them. The only software I have is Photoshop elements 9. What problems might i run into?

Troy

windoze wrote in post #12410544
What problems might i run into?

The problem you might run into is if you do not know how to use the program, you will potentially make the images look worse.
Is the goal to learn or to get good looking prints?

If you an not experienced with LightRoom, it can be very expensive to make prints only to be disappointed in the color. If you are using these images to learn, expect to put some time into learning how to calibrate your screen.

Then learn how to use calibration techniques for the specific printer device as well.

That is just the start.

KurtGoss wrote in post #12410635
The problem you might run into is if you do not know how to use the program, you will potentially make the images look worse.
Is the goal to learn or to get good looking prints?

If you an not experienced with LightRoom, it can be very expensive to make prints only to be disappointed in the color. If you are using these images to learn, expect to put some time into learning how to calibrate your screen.

Then learn how to use calibration techniques for the specific printer device as well.

That is just the start.

THANK YOU FOR THE RESPONSE!

I want to print out what the photog did. What Im saying is that according to him he shot the event in RAW, he processed the pictures using lightroom and now says that they are still in RAW file format which he put them on a CD. I know i can not go to my local store and print out RAW files on their machines. He did not convert them to jpegs when he was done. If i dont have Lightroom can i open up the files using PS Elements 9 and juct convert to a jpeg and Ill have the RAW for later on when i want to dive deeper into that


Win

windoze wrote in post #12410721
If i dont have Lightroom can i open up the files using PS Elements 9 and juct convert to a jpeg and Ill have the RAW for later on when i want to dive deeper into that

Yes. The only problem may be if it is from a newer camera and then you may have to update ACR so that PSE9 will recognize them.

I would think if he shot them in RAW and edited i Lightroom, he should have an edited set of jpegs (which you could print off the bat) and a set of RAW files which you could use to learn PP. I know I keep the RAWs and export the edits so I have 2 separate files for each. I would think a pro would do the same.

huntersdad wrote in post #12410883
I would think if he shot them in RAW and edited i Lightroom, he should have an edited set of jpegs (which you could print off the bat) and a set of RAW files which you could use to learn PP. I know I keep the RAWs and export the edits so I have 2 separate files for each. I would think a pro would do the same.

This is what I expected, yet I feel the "pro" doesnt know how to do this, as a matter of fact, prior to my suggestion he never shot in RAW an event. He is old school, his pictures look great but I should have realized he might not know how to save a RAW file in Jpeg, I just want to be sure ( Im feeling better about it now ) that what ever he did I can open them and save them as jpegs so my wife can print them at a local store


troy

What you can and need to do depends on what the photog is willing to do and on the specifics of the processing he used.

Elements 9 and Lightroom 3.x do share the same basic processing "engine" but two things to be aware of:

First, if you are using Windows, the Raw processing toolset is a "trimmed down" version of the tools available in the CS5 and Lightroom 3 Raw processors. What that means it that it is very possible that not all adjustents made in Lightroom will be visible in the Elements Raw processor. I'm speculating here because I don't have Elements to test them out, but it is very possible. If you have a Mac with Elements the newer versions of Elements use the Bridge interface (like Photoshop CS uses and, magically, you can open up Camera Raw from Bridge with the full toolset (if you open the file properly). If you do use a Mac let us know and a Mac user can give you specifics.

The second thing is very important and will require one more step by the photog. If on the CD he gave you you examing the folders with the system file browser and you see the Raw files listed, well, that of course is to be expected, but if that's all you see then you will have a problem. When you work on a Raw file in Lightroom, the program keeps the editing and other information in "metadata" which is stored by default in the Lightroom catalog. It is not written to the Raw file. What this means is that by default if you open the Raw file in any other Raw processor/viewer, any edits you have done will not be viewable or applied to those images.

The way that Adobe "works around" this to make Metadata available to Camera Raw is by providing the command for Lightroom to "Save Metadata to Files", available in different ways in different modules. This creates what is called a "sidecar file" with an .xmp extension that has the same base name as the associated Raw file. It can be done with a batch with selected files. Camera Raw reads those .xmp files automatically, so once you have done this you can get off and running quickly.

Of course, a first question is whether Elemets 9 will be able to handle all the metadata from the photog's edits like I mentioned above, but the obvous big question is as to whether he did that save process at all, and if not, is he aware of the need to do that so that the Raw processing can be shared?

If he did the metadata save, then you are good to go, but if not then it's between you and him to work out what to do -- if he's happy to do the "Save Metadata" operation and then burn you a CD with the .xmp files, then good. If he is unfamiliar with that command, then you might forward to him a copy of this post so he can understand what the "deal" is. He could then search Help with the string "save metadata to file" and quickly get to the section that covers this and presents the various approaches to doing this.

If you can't get those .xmp files, you will be faced with a challenge -- all your wedding shots will open in Elements in their "bare bones" Camera Raw rendering and won't have the processsing done by the photog, which will frustrate you because you won't be able to match the prints he's given you with the ones you do.

If that's the case, the "good news" is that he was still able to get the Raws to you and you can launch into your Raw learning curve with a cool set of shots to learn with and, maybe, even begin to develop your own "style" that may make you quite happy!

One more suggestion I'd add to the excellent post by Tony. Another possibility would be for the photographer to burn you a second disc with jpgs that will contain his editing and will be suitable for printing. If he doesn't know how to do this, tell him (tactfully) to not be bashful and to join in this discussion and there will be many members who will be more than ready to help him and guide him through the process. Thus there will be a double benefit - you will get a disc you can use for prints immediately and he will learn a skill that will be of benefit to him in his business.

By the way - what kind of camera did he use? If you don't know, just tell us what the file extension is on those RAWs. If it is .CR2 you will have another option; you can use Canon's DPP RAW converter.

Can't you open the raw files in and editing program and save as jpgs?

If, as you suggest, the photographer is not familiar with shooting and editing Raw I'm willing to wager that he didn't burn the XMP sidecar files to the DVD. By default that setting is not turned on in Lightroom so chances are that any editing he did wasn't given to you.

windoze wrote in post #12410544
Hi,

.... The only software I have is Photoshop elements 9. What problems might i run into?

Troy

Elements 9 will auto-update to the latest version of Adobe Camera RAW, which is version 6.4. [Edit: Thank you René for catching my mistake. Too early in the morning, I guess. ] That will support just about every camera out there:

http://kb2.adobe.com/c​ps/407/kb407111.html

so you should be able to open the files and convert them to images.

It might take you a bit of work to get the hang of doing whatever processing you want, but It's important to remember that you can't "hurt" the RAW files -- all RAW processing is nondestructive and you can always reset to the as-taken condition and start over.

The short answer to your question of "...How am I going to print them...?" is:

Open them in Elements which will automatically send them to Adobe Camera RAW, make any adjustments you desire (may not need any), transfer them to the Elements workspace by pressing the "Open" button, and then either send them to your printer from Elements or do a Save As JPG and take/send them to your commercial printer.

Give it a try and I'm sure you will find it is easier than you expected.

Rimmer wrote in post #12412479
Elements 9 will auto-update to the latest version of Adobe Camera RAW, which is version 3.4

Lightroom 3.4 but ACR 6.4

René Damkot wrote in post #12412529
Lightroom 3.4 but ACR 6.4

Thanks! I went back and edited my post. Just too darn early here.

End of the story..........

So i met with the photog and he tells me he "learned" how to use lightroom and now can covert RAW to jpegs. Im the first client that ever asked him to shoot in RAW - so he ended up giving me two DVDs one with RAW, one with Jpegs. SO now my wife can print anything she wants and I can "fool around" learn how to post process and make my own image using RAW files - all worked out in the end........