I would like to convert my RAW files to a "digital negative" format that is the best quality. Making TIFF files costs a lot of megabytes. JPEG's are only for printing. How do you guys do this? What types do you keep for the future?
I usse "Camera Raw" from Adobe/Photoshop and convert them to JPEG. When I'm satisfied after editing the picture (both in PS and in the converter) I keep the JPEG-file and remove the RAW-file.
But why do you say: JPEG's are only for printing?
I use JPEG-files for my site (and I never print my photos) and I think most people do that.
Be aware that if you get better in processing your RAWs - and most likely you will - you'll never have the chance to do it again when you delete your RAWs. To me, that would be like printing photos and then throwing away the negatives...
Next to that most people are still using uncalibrated monitors, which cause them to correct monitor errors instead of photographic errors. The result will be that on your next monitor you will need to correct your previous correction, resulting in unnecessary loss of quality.
My advice: Always keep your RAW-file on back up, so you can undo previous mistakes and improve your current corrections without the loss of quality.
Two extra thoughts:
- The price of memory / harddisk capacity has dropped to acceptable levels, so file size should no longer be a dilemma in the RAW / JPG consideration.
- Almost all people who have uncalibrated monitors declare to be happy with their screens, while almost all people with calibrated monitors say that the difference with their previous uncalibrated settings is significant.
Do yourself a favour and shoot & store your photos in RAW format. If you fail to see the significance you can always throw them away, but if you do see the light you can never regain a RAW-file once you have disposed of it.
