Do you keep .raw files once youve edited?

mattyb, I think you misunderstood the key point in the question. Might be worth checking your comprehension skills before making harsh statements.
 
My comprehension is apparently failing on your post. I was directly answering the OP's and Haggis' questions. The only harsh statements I've made are about my own photographic skills or lack of. Unless you're talking about
or you lot need a life laundry :lol:
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which is just meant in jest hence the smiley.
 
I think it is this bit causing confusion

It's quite easy to make a decision that an image is never going to be any good so then why keep it?
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The OP talked about keeping raw files of already edited shots. No one mentioned keeping oof and wrongly exposed shots.
 
mattyb said:
Yes I throw the majority out on digital and a lot on film. I keep the gooduns (and rest on the strip) and bin the rest for both negatives and RAW files. Why would I want folders full of bad shots, OOF images, under/over-exposed beyond repair, ones that didn't work for whatever reason. It's quite easy to make a decision that an image is never going to be any good so then why keep it? Unless it's on the verge of being recoverable then it just clutters up your life with stuff that will never be needed.

Maybe I just take far more rubbish pictures, am more picky about keepers or maybe you lot need a life laundry :lol:
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This is my approach too.
 
PsiFox said:
I think it is this bit causing confusion



The OP talked about keeping raw files of already edited shots. No one mentioned keeping oof and wrongly exposed shots.
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Thanks Mark :thumbs:
 
I keep all of them. I find myself going back to edit older raw files everytime I learn or discover something new in photoshop.
 
always keep. as said, you may wish to revisit the image at a later date once you have learned new methods etc.

i use LR anyway which uses the RAW files and does non-destructive edits.
 
I now keep RAW files through lightroom, I used to edit my pics and delete, but have realized that I would edit the shots differently now.. So def keep them.
 
I try and keep everything i take, i have 1tb hard drive and 360gig hard drive, so i keep them all unless i have a hard drive fail... But i make a couple of backups. Lost quite a lot of images due to my rubbish filing and organisation system. Need to re-think it.
 
Me too- just bought a 1 TB external hard drive for £45 enough space for lots and lots of RAW files

Les :thumbs:
 
Yes i'd keep them. I only started shooting RAW this year after finally taking the time to learn LR3, and i now wish all my favourite shots from the previous year were done in RAW as the ability to re-edit is much better than a JPG file.

Though for snapshots that aren't very important i'd export to JPG and delete the RAW for it.
 
Just came accross this thread, so thought i would ask what it is i am missing:), if i export NEF files to my external hard drive and subsequently go back to them, i find that they are there, but are no longer NEF but JPEG. I use Picasso to export them. Anyone help?
 
Doog said:
I keep every one of them. They can be edited in all sorts of ways and as my PP technique improves I can revisit them.
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exactly i have started redoing some old shots
I do go through and delete out of focus and crappy ones when I've got the time
 
fernface said:
Just came accross this thread, so thought i would ask what it is i am missing:), if i export NEF files to my external hard drive and subsequently go back to them, i find that they are there, but are no longer NEF but JPEG. I use Picasso to export them. Anyone help?
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Pretty please anyone:D
 
fernface said:
Just came accross this thread, so thought i would ask what it is i am missing:), if i export NEF files to my external hard drive and subsequently go back to them, i find that they are there, but are no longer NEF but JPEG. I use Picasso to export them. Anyone help?
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Picasa can only export as a jpeg, hence the jpeg files!

If you wanted your NEF's to be sent to your external HD then you should have moved or copied them there and not exported.

Your NEF's should still be where they were originally , unless you have been silly enough to delete them!:eek:
 
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OlyPaul said:
Picasa can only export as a jpeg, hence the jpeg files!

If you wanted your NEF's to be sent to your external HD then you should have moved or copied them there and not exported.

Your NEF's should still be where they were originally , unless you have been silly enough to delete them!:eek:
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Thanks for that Paul, i have just checked moving or copying using Picasa 3 moving doesnt give me an option to get them to ext hard drive and copying just makes a JPEG copy within picasa. Suppose my question now is "how do get my NEF files to my ext hard drive"? As, it appears to me that i cant do it using picasa 3.
 
fernface said:
Thanks for that Paul, i have just checked moving or copying using Picasa 3 moving doesnt give me an option to get them to ext hard drive and copying just makes a JPEG copy within picasa. Suppose my question now is "how do get my NEF files to my ext hard drive"? As, it appears to me that i cant do it using picasa 3.
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I store all my raw and compressed files in a Photos folder, I then use SyncToy to automatically create copies onto external drives every evening.
 
redddraggon said:
I store all my raw and compressed files in a Photos folder, I then use SyncToy to automatically create copies onto external drives every evening.
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Thanks for the reply, have installed SyncToy and indeed now have my NEF files safely tucked away. Dont understand the Sync or Echo bit, but its enough for me that it works:). Thanks again-Brian
 
I keep all my RAWs. It'd be like a film photographer throwing out all their negs after making a print... you may live to regret it one day.
 
I keep mine as many have stated storage is cheap and as I upgrade my computer keep the old disk for storage.
I also find that as I have improved I can go back and improve images.
Done a lot of this and thought they weren't that bad.:shrug:
 
pixel said:
You should always keep them, the good ones at least.
I've been a professional for 24 years and using photoshop since 1990.
I'm still learning and every year I go back to old raw files to redo them better than i did originally. You would never throw away negatives or slides once you have made a print so why do the same with raw files.[/QUOTE]

I agree. I cannot understand the mentality of anyone deleting RAW files.

I used to back them up and DVDrs ( 2 copies ) until it got too silly and now I buy two 2TB hard drives and make two external backups.
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my personal experience: a long time ago when hards drives were still expensive, i deleted RAW files after edited (of cos, not importants clicks ;) )

Ok back to now, when HDD is less expensive and we got Photoshop lightning room, I prefer to keep almost of RAW files and export only some to Jpeg which need to show up or print ...

and i do back up very recently :D
 
I keep all of them on my main hard drive and back them up on an external drive! I can always re-edit my photos if I lose the jpg's!
 
I keep all my raws. Hard drive space is cheap these days.
 
I keep all of my raws, I have two external hard drives and then another stored off site and I back it up at the end of each week.
 
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