OC Zoom wrote in post #3514604
Once the RAW image has the PP'ing, it is saved as tiff or jpeg?.
it is not the raw file which is saved as tiff or jpeg. The raw file remains a raw file and a new file is created after converting the raw file. The new file cab be tiff or jpeg, depends on what you want.
OC Zoom wrote in post #3514604
Doesn't this process lose quality of the image?
With tiff, there is no lost of quality. With jpeg there is lost in quality but depending on the level of compression you choose, this may be visible or invisible to the human eye. It's all a compromise between the amount of quality you are ready to loose and the file size you want. Better quality means bigger size file.
OC Zoom wrote in post #3514604
Once it is saved as jpeg, is the RAW image lost?
No.
OC Zoom wrote in post #3514604
Can the RAW image be taken to a camera store for processing as a color print?
I think, no (at least in France). However someone posted a news here few days ago : National geographics can do the raw conversion for you (at which price ? don't know). But I don't know if they make the prints also.
Generally, prints are made from jpeg (or tiff also sometimes).