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Crappy RAW workflow--anyone else do it?


drjoder

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<p>I'm a relative beginner who has recently (January of this year) started shooting RAW with my Nikon D70 and D90. I'll take a "keeper" image from the day's shooting, do minor tweaks in ViewNX, then convert it to a TIF file. Then I open it in CS4 and make adjustments as required. Here is where I know I am being lazy...Once I have a "final" version of the TIF, I then just flatten it, resize it for possible printing (someday, maybe), Smart Sharpen it a bit (still learning the complexities of sharpening), then convert it to JPEG. I save the JPEG in my "2010 Best" file (along with a web-sized version) and I delete the TIF I was working with. I still have the original RAW file, so as my post-processing skills improve I figure I can go back and do it right at a later date. In the meantime, I am learning how to use the different Photoshop tools, layers, masks, adjustments, etc. So, right now anyway, I am specifically NOT saving a PS file with all it's layers even though I think that's what people do so they can go back in and make very specific changes. Anyone else do these kinds of shortcuts? Am I being an idiot, or am I just passing through that phase all beginners must traverse? Recommendations? A demented mind wants to know.</p>
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<p>well, I use photoshop raw and lightroom....not view nx....but I do as much editing in the raw converter as I possibly can. Doing it this way does not degrade the image at all (mainly because you are working with numbers, not an image). So, your minor tweaks in your raw converter is defeating the greatest benefits of shooting raw.</p>

<p>Also, these days most experts recomend a two step sharpenning process. One immediately upon opening image in photoshop and one at the end....this is a minimum, and is done in a layer. You can also do selective sharpenning of local areas during the rest of the process, as needed.</p>

<p>I personally don't delete the TIFF file. Altho I dont generally save a PSD file either....altho, sometimes I wish I had.</p>

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<p>How is it being lazy or taking a shortcut if you then have to go back and delete the TIFF file? Wouldn't it be lazier to just not delete it and save 2 seconds? Are you so tight on space that you can't save the PS file? Wouldn't it take about the same 2 seconds to save the PS file as it takes to delete the TIFF file?</p>

<p>Many photographers have switched to using workflow tools like Lightroom and Aperture and rarely even need to go into Photoshop anymore. You can call that being lazy or taking a shortcut but most of us call it a productivity enhancer.</p>

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<p>No; you're not an idiot nor demented; at least I hope not. ;)</p>

<p>There is no such thing "as one size fits all" when it comes to digital work flow.<br>

If there were, we would all be doing it! LOL</p>

<p>There are however simple logical steps we all need to take if we value our imagery.</p>

<p>1) Edit like crazy. No; not enhancements...rather, decide what to keep and what to delete.<br>

2) Backup...2 copies minimum</p>

<p>Concerning which format to save to is driven by needs and requirements.</p>

<p>In some ways I feel lucky as most of my shooting is assignment driven and subject specific; so saving my editing steps is very important to me.<br>

This cuts down on many things including batch editing and key wording.</p>

<p>While TIFF is a format that will probably be around a long time, the file sizes are gigantic compared to jpeg and even RAW. There really is no excuse not to save as TIFF as mass storage is fairly inexpensive these days. A 1 TB hard drive I believe is easily less than 200 bucks. I'll let you do the math on how many TIFFs you can fit on a (1) TB drive. :)</p>

<p>Personally, I see absolutely no reason to save as a jpeg unless I'm sending it to a print lab.</p>

<p>If you do extensive edits, it is just plain silly NOT to save as RAW or PSD; unless you love doing all those edits over again.</p>

<p>Lastly; and something you didn't mention is CATALOGING.</p>

<p>Finding all the images you will no doubt be building in the coming years will be next to impossible unless you start (key wording) now. Can you imagine 2 or 3 years from now asking yourself "Where is that picture of Aunt Mary standing under that weird apple tree when we were on vacation in Miami?"...as you start looking thru who knows how many DVD's or scanning the daylights out of your HD's. Yikes.</p>

<p>I was guilty of terrible metadata input for a few years..I'm finally caught up.</p>

<p>So along with file formats, the first thing I would do if I were you is start filling in the IPTC data fields before you edit anything. This can be done as a batch operation so the workload isn't that bad.</p>

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<p>Keep this in mind - hard drive space is cheap. I setup directories by year, and under those directories setup subdirectories by month. You may want to setup yours by subject matter or whatever makes sense to you. </p>

<p>The original raw file is in the month directory. When you make adjustments to the raw file in the converter, you are not really making adjustments to the file itself, but writing a side car file that is applied when the raw file is processed into a TIFF.</p>

<p>That processed file goes into a subdirectory called PROCESSED. After all of the PS work is done, that file is saved (with layers) in a subdirectory called PSD. The PSD is flattened and saved in a subdirectory called TIFF. Printing is done from the TIFF directory through Qimage so the file is sized by Qimage for the print being made. I have other subdirectories: one is called JPEG and another is called INET. The JPEG subdirectory is a full size JPEG from the TIFF, while the INET subdirectory contains a JPEG from the TIFF sized for Internet use. </p>

<p>This allows me to go back at any stage in the process and work with an image - hard drive space is cheap... </p>

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<p>

<p>I do mostly family shots and a ton of "volunteer" shooting, such as my daughter's gymnastics team last week, so this may have no relevance for you. Anyway, I basically shoot only in RAW then save on a primary hard drive in a folder structure that begins with year then has subfolders by subject. I batch rename the files in Bridge to include subject-date-number, e.g. Aruba_2010_05_22_0003.raw (so the file will stand alone when moved out of the folders, so the files will sort properly, and so the date is seen when doing slideshows where the filename can be seen). I will eventually do some tagging, but the file naming alone works 98% of the time for finding files. I have been rigorous about this structure/naming since my first digital shots in 1993 and it has worked great. All files are backed up to a second drive before the camera card is cleared. (I will eventually set up RAID storage.) A third backup is done periodically.</p>

<p>I open the files through Bridge directly into ACR, then open in PS, edit and save usually as jpeg in a subfolder titled E if edited only and ES if edited and sharpened (depends on anticipated printing/display requirements). TIFFs are too large and slow to handle for my tastes. If I want to retain the resolution and editing, I save the psd's, but I do this rarely. Just re-editing most files is not that big of a deal for my needs, and the ACR settings are captured in the xmp files.</p>

</p>

<p>I'll eventually do a massive batch conversion of all my RAW files to DNG for long-term archiving, since who knows what will open these proprietary RAW files 20 years from now.</p>

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<p>Charles...I appreciate the comment! : ) Although, if you saw me hack away at my images in post-processing, you might think differently...I definitely need to take a class! I am retired with time on my hands, though, so hopefully my learning curve is steep. Anyway, lots of food for thought from everyone. I think I'll do some rethinking of my process...I was indeed worried about giant TIFF files, for example...why? I don't know! One thing I do think I have, however, is the start of a good file organization system, so whatever changes I make with my work flow should be easy enough to fit into that...but, I might make a few alterations based on Steve's suggestions. Thanks to everyone.</p>
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<p>For me, the whole concept of having a check-list workflow smacks of industrialization and efficiency experts. It's anathema to art. I don't have a workflow. I just do whatever I need to do for any given picture, and I'm happy to be doing it. The "doing" is part of why I take photographs in the first place. Having an established workflow is to life what clipping highlights is to digital photography.</p>

<p>As long as you have the original raw or original JPEG from the camera, there's nothing you can't reproduce if you had to some time in the future. It's no different than when making wet prints... digital encourages anal retentiveness, I think. If there's an intermediate step involved that I really want to save, I save it... simple as that. I may never open that file again as long as I live, but so what?</p>

<p>Workflow? Yuch. I also never bothered writing outlines in school. I always just started right into the essay. I passed and survived anyway.</p>

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<p>While I wouldn't go so far as to use any of the terms you did, I still question the wisdom of still NOT using a proper DAM system, with proper archiving, cataloguing and keywording facilities. How DO you go about looking for a RAW file from 7-8 months ago? And how WILL you do it 3-4 years from now? Simply by naming them somehow? Not enough. By previewing them? Can you imagine searching for something through previewing thumbnails of 10,000+ images?</p>

<p>Whether using PSDs, then TIFFs and then JPEGs is entirely up to you - I wouldn't ever even dream of going there (I use LR for 90% of my needs), but if its something that suits you, don't change it. Change is not ALWAYS for the best...;-))))</p>

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