Do you save your originals?

[waitingforthedoctor]

I'm new to the world of post processing and I can't decide whether to hold onto my original shots or to just replace them with the edited photos.

So, I am turning to you. Do you hold onto your originals or do you replace the originals with the edited images? Do you have any opinions on which is better?

[HermitsLife]

I keep all my NEF files, you never know when you may want to have another go at processing an image and doing it in a different way. So all my NEF files are on an external HDD while my edits are on a second drive.

[Tstandiford]

Originally Posted by waitingforthedoctor

I'm new to the world of post processing and I can't decide whether to hold onto my original shots or to just replace them with the edited photos.

So, I am turning to you. Do you hold onto your originals or do you replace the originals with the edited images? Do you have any opinions on which is better?

Absolutely yes. I always keep my originals. You never know when you're going to want to come back and use the image again later.

[hubblefromthesun]

Yes, I keep the original ones. I am still learning to edit and I know that I want to go back to certain shots to redo them. If you store it in an external hard drive or on DVDS, it wont' take up room on your computer.

[dlambert]

My opinion: Never ever, ever, ever throw away your RAW files.

You can think about it....but don't do it.

(I don't get to quote Buford T. Justice very often, but this one fits pretty well)

[Jim Poor]

I take it a step beyond that even. I don't keep the final versions once they are printed/delivered. The only exception is for collage or composite work. I run a search for ".jpg" in my datbase and kill all of them about once/week.

[karen_s]

I shoot Raw and I keep the originals. PP software gets better and better and so do the people who use it. If you throw away the originals, it makes it very hard to go back and apply new technologies and techniques.

And I 'm kinda like Jim, I toss JPGs after printing, unless I have altered them in Photoshop. I may keep those for awhile.

[andyw]

Originally Posted by waitingforthedoctor

I'm new to the world of post processing and I can't decide whether to hold onto my original shots or to just replace them with the edited photos.

So, I am turning to you. Do you hold onto your originals or do you replace the originals with the edited images? Do you have any opinions on which is better?

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS keep the originals and only work on copies.

[DanSir]

Originally Posted by waitingforthedoctor

I'm new to the world of post processing and I can't decide whether to hold onto my original shots or to just replace them with the edited photos.

So, I am turning to you. Do you hold onto your originals or do you replace the originals with the edited images? Do you have any opinions on which is better?

hey,

Yes, i definitely keep all my originals. I keep them on a hard drive by year and date. I do not necessarily keep them on the camera, as that holds up space on the Compact Flash Drive. The only pictures I do get rid of, are pictures that "black" or "white".

for example, i will have a series of shots, say of a flower, and half of them turn out black because the shutter speed was too fast or something, those i will get rid of, and i will get my tripod.

i also do not keep super blurry shots.

Danny

[mshockley]

I keep all my RAW files--BUT--I have become very, very selective about what gets deleted before I even get to the point of "keepers". I know some never delete anything, but I'm finding that by being extremely picky things are so much better in the end!

And like so many of the others, backups and RAW files are on an external drive.