RAW vs JPG explain it to me one more time

[ArmySoldier777]

Originally Posted by OutdoorCanvas

Bear with me on this since I'm new to all of this. But what "RAW" software are you talking about? In other words are you saying that you can't open and edit a RAW image directly in a program like PS? First you have to open it in a RAW software? If so, can you recommend an inexpensive RAW software program for me to use?

I would like to try out this RAW vs JPEG myself. I want as much PP control as I can get.

Photoshop has a Raw Editor. When you open the raw file, a separate editing window pops up


David

[inkista]

Originally Posted by OutdoorCanvas

Bear with me on this since I'm new to all of this. But what "RAW" software are you talking about? In other words are you saying that you can't open and edit a RAW image directly in a program like PS? First you have to open it in a RAW software? If so, can you recommend an inexpensive RAW software program for me to use?

Exactly. Remember that RAW isn't a standard or even a file format. It's just a raw data dump from the sensor, and every camera deals with that differently. The RAW file format for a Canon 5Dii is not the same as the RAW file format for a Canon 7D. Different feature sets/different metadata.

So, the RAW file requires conversion into a graphic file format. Some programs, like Lightroom or Aperture do RAW conversion directly internally; some, like Photoshop, use a separate application or plugin. The Adobe program is Camera RAW, and it comes with Photoshop, as does Bridge. If you're using the Gimp, UFRAW is probably the RAW conversion program you want to look at. Other post-processing packages that can open RAW files directly would be RAW converters like Bibble, PhaseOne, or the open source (read: free) RAW Therapee.