So very confused, please help.

I have learned a ton of info from this forum including to shoot in RAW (although I shoot RAW+JPG) instead of JPG. I seem to have brain block when it comes to using/processing RAW. I have a bunch of questions and have been searching for answers but nothing seems to answer my questions.

1) Does converting from RAW to JPG change the RAW file?
2) Are both files then saved?
3) If I save over the JPG image shot at the same time as the RAW, does that change
the JPG image to match the RAW image?
4) If I alter the RAW image in PS Elements, save as a JPG, does that change the
original RAW file?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Mary

Hi Mary:

that's quite a laundry list you have there. This is what I typically do with a setup similar to yours.

1. Download RAW files from camera to DPP software. This is the software that came with your Canon camera. In DPP, I'll review all images and delete the bad ones, duplicates or files I just don't want to waste time processing. Complete this activity and close out of DPP.

2. Open PSE. Locate files, select all and pull them into the RAW file editor. This is where I do simple things like correcting white balance across a group of shots, adjusting exposure setting and other things.

3. Next step is to open each file into PSE for final editing. Make edits. Save to either .jpg or .tiff files.

4. Done.

dave

ps: Yes, the original RAW files still exist is you hit save in DPP during the first step.

My PC warns me if a pre-existing jpeg is on file, then I have the choice of overwriting it or not. I'd assume yours is the same? Unless the name of the file is changed, then its impossible to save two versions in the same format.

RAW and jpeg are different formats, changing one will have no effect on the other if you have saved both.

Now a question: Why use jpeg format, why not use TIFF or some other "better" format? jpegs are my last resort, only used when I'm posting on line or emailing. I don't touch them with a bargepole otherwise.

I'm not sure, but I think 1 and 4 are the same question. At any rate, no third party converter can ever change a Raw. The only one who has the code to write or alter a CR2 file is Canon and even Canon's converter, DPP, does not change it in normal operation, only when performing a special lens correction and sharpening operation recently introduced in the most recent version of DPP (and it gives you a warning before it does it). So in PSE you can make a dozen different versions of the Raw editing and save them out as jpgs, tifs or psds and the original CR2 remains just as it came out of the camera.

OH THANK YOU!!!!!!!! I use JPG just as a scaredy-cat safety net. I have all these RAW pictures that I've been afraid to touch for fear of messing them up, and you all have helped me so much! I want to try to improve my PP techniques which at this time are almost non-existent.

Thanks!!!
Mary

Lowner wrote in post #14762130
My PC warns me if a pre-existing jpeg is on file, then I have the choice of overwriting it or not. I'd assume yours is the same? Unless the name of the file is changed, then its impossible to save two versions in the same format.

RAW and jpeg are different formats, changing one will have no effect on the other if you have saved both.

Now a question: Why use jpeg format, why not use TIFF or some other "better" format? jpegs are my last resort, only used when I'm posting on line or emailing. I don't touch them with a bargepole otherwise.

Sports shooting. No sports shooter I know uses RAW for sports shooting.

Mary; It appears your questions have been answer but here's the short and sweet version:


1) Does converting from RAW to JPG change the RAW file? -- NO
2) Are both files then saved?-- NO
3) If I save over the JPG image shot at the same time as the RAW, does that change
the JPG image to match the RAW image? --NO
4) If I alter the RAW image in PS Elements, save as a JPG, does that change the
original RAW file? -- NO

The only thing you MUST remember it to "SAVE AS" your jpeg when you convert. If you make corrections to a raw file and then hit "save", you WILL permanently change the raw file.

elrey2375 wrote in post #14762908
Sports shooting. No sports shooter I know uses RAW for sports shooting.

I shoot motorsports (have a look at the zenfolio site listed below) and have used RAW from the moment I went digital, so do my motorsports friends.

Hinson wrote in post #14763055
2) Are both files then saved?-- NO

Depends on the software used:
The (metadata in the) Raw file will be altered by DPP.
ACR will save a "sidecar" .xmp file, containing the edits.
LR wil save the edits in its catalog, and might write an xmp sidecar file, depending on preferences.

Hinson wrote in post #14763055
3) If I save over the JPG image shot at the same time as the RAW, does that change
the JPG image to match the RAW image? --NO
4) If I alter the RAW image in PS Elements, save as a JPG, does that change the
original RAW file? -- NO

What is the question here?
If you overwrite the (in camera) jpg with the jpg edited in ACR or LR, obviously you will end up with a different jpg.

Hinson wrote in post #14763055
If you make corrections to a raw file and then hit "save", you WILL permanently change the raw file.

No, and certainly not "permanently". All that get's changed is metadata (see question #1.

Only exception that might be irreversible (not sure, haven't tried) is DPP "DLO". That also makes the CR2 quite a bit bigger.

I stand corrected and educated. If I understand you correctly, I can make corrections to the raw file, save it and then reopen with my changes intact. However, to open the original unchanged file, all I need to do is delete/rename the xmp file. Is this correct. I had seen the .xmp file numerous times but just never connected with the fact that those were the changes. And yes, I have saved a corrected and flattened psd file accidently and then deleted it thinking there was no way to undo the changes.

That is completely and utterly false.

What application do you think you are talking about? If it is DPP (the only one I can think of at the moment that uses the term "save", although there may be others), The only effect "Save", "Save As" or "Convert and Save" have on the Raw file is to insert a text list of the desired edits into the metadata section of the file. The original list written there by the camera (which DPP uses to set its defaults) is neither deleted nor overwritten and you can return to it at any time. The image data, an entirely separate section of the file, is in no way altered.
If you are referring to the ACR plugins in PSCS or PSE, not even that much is done. They regard the CR2 file as "read only" and save the edits in a separate .xmp file. If the CR2 has been converted to a DNG, the xmp is inserted into the metadata, but again, the image data is untouched. An RGB rendering of the image is transferred to the main bodies of the parent programs, but they are incapable of opening or writing to a Raw of any kind.
Lightroom saves the list of edits in its database or if so instructed will write an xmp file. Once again, the image data is sacrosanct.

Hinson - I was typing while you were posting; I type very slowly. Yes, it is correct that the edits are preserved in the xmp file which ACR uses to recreate your earlier work at a later opening of the Raw.

Mmmm, didn't read all the posts first did you?? LOL...

A RAW file from the camera starts off with no 'instructions for image modifications at time of printing'.

A RAW convertor opens a RAW file, and it creates and stores 'instructions for image modifications at time of printing' either into its down database (Lightroom catalog holds the list of things to be done to a RAW file) or (if you specify) this list of modifications is stored within .XMP files. DPP knows how to mimic what was stored by the in-camera JPG preview (and you can use that as a starting point for further modifications) in its own RAW conversion instructions.

But the ''list of modifications' information created by any RAW processor does not alter RAW data itself. At no time is the RAW file itself altered at all.

Apparently, the DLO creates a second Raw version within the original CR2. If the Raw is later opened, DPP will always open the second version, but if it is opened in ACR/LR, the original version will be used.

Lowner wrote in post #14763235
I shoot motorsports (have a look at the zenfolio site listed below) and have used RAW from the moment I went digital, so do my motorsports friends.

None of the shooters I know do. For the most part it's an issue of file size. As for the OP, depending on the program you're using, saving a photo should not alter the original RAW file in any way.