converting to jpg

[lay9eggs]

Hi,

Please do not mind me asking a very basic questions.

My raw files are taking up too much space on my harddisk. Is it okay to convert those raw files to jpg before using a photo editing software to improve on the images at a later time? Can someone point me to a basic tutorial if there is one on this site? Thanks.

[feppe]

Hi,

Please do not mind me asking a very basic questions.

My raw files are taking up too much space on my harddisk. Is it okay to convert those raw files to jpg before using a photo editing software to improve on the images at a later time? Can someone point me to a basic tutorial if there is one on this site? Thanks.

You will lose all the benefits of RAW processing if you convert to JPEG. In fact, there's little to no point in shooting RAW if you convert directly to JPEG, so you can save a lot of hassle and space on your HDD and memory cards by shooting JPEG in the first place.

Depending on your end product (web, print, etc.), you might see little to no benefit from RAW. There are a lot of working professionals who shoot exclusively JPEG - mostly wedding photogs and photojournalists. If you absolutely need the best quality out of your photos and/or do extensive photo editing, and don't mind spending quite a bit of time in post-processing, RAW shooting and workflow is necessary.

All RAW processors will convert your RAWs to JPEG, it's usually called "export."

[Ken Bennett]

My raw files are taking up too much space on my harddisk. Is it okay to convert those raw files to jpg before using a photo editing software to improve on the images at a later time? Can someone point me to a basic tutorial if there is one on this site? Thanks.

The simple answer is No. The conversion to JPEG precludes many improvements you might do at a later time.

Your best bet is to add hard drive space. Don't forget that all your drives need to be backed up onto additional drives, or possibly DVD media.

[marcmccalmont]

External USB hard drives are cheap these days. I just bought 2 "kits" from newegg
Put them together in less than 2 minutes did a NTFS format and they cost about $80 each
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136280
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817816001
Marc

PS I would also recommend Downloader pro for archiving your RAW files
http://www.breezesys.com/products.htm $30

[jjlphoto]

The RAW files are not that large. Typically 1/3 the size of a fully processed tiff. What is you storage and back-up system? I hope you are not simply saving them on your boot drive. As mentioned, hard drives are cheap. Best practice is to have some sort of dedicated drive to store all your RAWs (and with a back-up for that.)

I suggest reading The Dam Book
http://www.thedambook.com/

Don't be intimidated by it. Not everyone is in a position to implement everything discussed in the book, but it will cause you to look at your files in a new light. Take what you need and leave the rest as many good concepts are discussed.

[edwinb]

Storing any original in jpg format is always likely a mistake because it s a lossy compression system- ie you lose information when you use it
edwin

[lay9eggs]

Thanks to all. Yes, I need good quality images & I'm currently storing my raw files in my boot drive. Not a good idea I guess! I supposed I'll get an external hard drive dedicated to my raw file, plus back-up which I have not considered before. Appreciate all your teaching.

[Chris Paul]

My raw files are taking up too much space on my harddisk. Is it okay to convert those raw files to jpg before using a photo editing software to improve on the images at a later time? Can someone point me to a basic tutorial if there is one on this site? Thanks.

I think,just my own opinion, you do not have to convert your raw files to jpg.These files will not take up too much space.You'd better use a photo software(for example,the PS CSx) to edit the raw files when you are improving the images.This way,you will get clear pictures with better effect.