Having a fast computer on which to edit the RAW files is also a necessity. Backing photo’s up on DVD disks instead of CD will also let you save more images per disk. If you plan on shooting in this mode then I recommend having at least two 4gig memory cards for your camera. RAW CR2 files are very large and take a lot of space on your cameras memory card and on storage disks. Like most things, there are also some disadvantages that must be taken into account when setting your digital SLR camera to photograph in RAW format. This resulted in a much better color tone in the tree. Luckily I photographed in RAW format so could open the file in my editor and change the color balance to ‘daylight’. Had I taken the photograph in JPG format, I would have been stuck with this image as it is. As you can see the ‘shade’ white balance setting wasn’t suitable for this particular day which resulted in the tree having an off orange tinge to it. When I took the first photograph shown below, I’d forgotten to change my white balance from the day before. This is particularly useful for beginners who may forget to change their picture style from portrait to landscape when going from one particular subject to another.
Instead you can change this later on using a RAW editor. Other advantages to setting your digital SLR camera to RAWĪnother advantage to using RAW is that you don’t need to have your camera’s white balance or picture style etc set perfectly when you take the actual photograph.
If you purchased your camera second hand, then you can download 3rd party conversions like Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in. For example Canon offers with each SLR camera a copy of Digital Photo Professional.
Chances are, if your DSLR camera has a raw file option, then your purchase should also have included a raw software package on a CD. If you need to convert a raw file into a jpg so you can use it on a website or have it printed, then you need a conversion software package that can read this format. Then you can digitally edit the jpg as many times as you want, knowing that you can re-save an original copy from the raw file if needed in future. What this does is it saves each image in two different file formats, one jpg and one raw. Whenever possible use RAW format or if you own a Canon digital SLR camera change the settings to JPG + RAW. It didn’t matter if you damaged the photograph back then because you knew you could pull out the old negative and have it printed again. JPG is really only recommended for website viewing due to its fast loading, small file size.Īnother way to think of RAW format is to being similar to negatives back in the eighties. TIFF files also keep a high percentage of the data’s quality when compared to JPG. Then it’s recommended to open the RAW CR2 file and save it as a TIFF file before printing. It’s clear to see how much data is lost in the JPG on the right. It is a desktop picture taken from a raw editing program showing both the JPG and raw CR2 file side by side. However, if you set your camera to save in RAW CR2 then all the data is kept in tact. Therefore loosing all the raw information that was originally gathered by the camera. The downside to jpg is that they start to deteriorate or loose quality from the first time you edit the photos.įurthermore, even before the editing stage, your digital camera compacts the image into a smaller file when it saves JPG format.
To convert camera raw image files to JPEG, please download and install 2JPEG software.What is RAW file format and how do you use raw photographs.ĭigital SLR cameras usually save images in either jpg or raw format (or both), depending on the camera model and settings. When you select the good photos, you can either make use of JPEG files, or get back to the RAW photos with file names you already know. This solution makes viewing the photo session much quicker and more comfortable. With 2JPEG software you can convert camera raw image files to the JPEG format in batch mode. But opening RAW files is quite problematic for your hardware.ĭue to the large size of RAW file, the computer cannot open them quickly enough, and this is what may cause user's frustration. There may be hundreds of RAW files saved on the flash card, and after the photo session you will need to view the photos on the computer to select the best ones.
This can rescue a photo with a good composition, but poor lighting.Ĭamera RAW files have just one drawback. This image format allows processing photos by photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop, when, for instance, you can open the details hidden in the shadow of a dark photo, or change the white balance.
Most of professional photographers prefer to take pictures in the digital camera raw format. 2Jpeg > Product Overview > Camera Raw Images Processing Camera Raw Images Processing