Workflow - RAW - JPG

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peterc2609

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Name
Peter
Edit My Images
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Hi

I'm only an amateur but consistently shoot in RAW (CR2)

Whats the best way to convert them to JPG...

I have Lightroom and Photoshop.

I know I can do batch converts, but that sort of negates the need for RAW files.

So what process do people follow, i.e. I wouldnt want to edit every photo from a set, but I dont really like deleting them either. So I'd want to pick certain photos, edit them and then save as JPG, but what is the most efficient way of doing it?

Thanks,

Peter
 
Peter

If you have Lightroom, then you don't need to convert until you need to send the image somewhere .
You can edit in Lightroom and all the changes are saved in the catalogue. It's not until you hit the export button do you need to convert to JPEG. Plus the advantage of Lightroom is the editing process is non destructive so change your mind at any time and make changes

I agree you may not want to edit every image but why delete those you may not choose at the moment. I only get rid of obvious failures, and those that really don't work. I've often gone back over images and found ones that I didn't like initially, that, with a bit of work, produce results I hadn't initially thought would be worthwhile.

You can print from within Lightroom. ( the Lightroom 3 Beta has a much improved print module by the way).

However the most efficient way to edit images in Lightroom is from your set of images, make a collection of those you want to work on. If you key "B" on those you like they will be added to the "Quick Collection" Now select the Quick Collection, ( Keyboard short cut ctrl/cmd +B). Now edit the images. When done Export to your desired location.

If you are worried about filling up your computer hard drive you could store your RAW images on an external drive.

Please also consider a back up solution. too many people suddenly find their hard drive has crashed and have lost all their images. £60 now on an external hard drive saves a lot of grief later. But lets hope you never need to use it. better safe than sorry though.

John C
 
peterc2609 said:
Hi

I'm only an amateur but consistently shoot in RAW (CR2)

Whats the best way to convert them to JPG...

I have Lightroom and Photoshop.

I know I can do batch converts, but that sort of negates the need for RAW files.

So what process do people follow, i.e. I wouldnt want to edit every photo from a set, but I dont really like deleting them either. So I'd want to pick certain photos, edit them and then save as JPG, but what is the most efficient way of doing it?

Thanks,

Peter
Click to expand...

That's the main reason I shoot RAW, keeps consistency between series of images. Lightroom is one of the best convertors out there so that should meet all your requirements.
 
Another vote for using Lightroom here.

I only generate jpegs as and when I need them.
 
Lightroom is a godsend for this sort of work.

I have 2 folders on the desktop: "PS To Do" and "PS Finished"

My workflow:

Stick card in reader
Do a "Convert to DNG and import" action in Lightroom
Leave everything as a .DNG file in MyPictures

If I want to edit a file, I have a LR export function that exports the .dng as a TIFF to "PS To Do" folder. Still have the original.

Do work on shot in Photoshop.
Save work to "PS Finished" as a TIFF file.

Open Lightroom when finished and re-synch "PS Finished" folder, moving the shots back into MyPictures.

I don't save anything as .jpeg, but I do have 2 more export functions in Lightroom. One that resizes to 800px, 72dpi and exports as .jpeg to "Web photos" folder, and one that exports as a 320dpi jpeg to a "To Print" folder. Generally the files in these folders are deleted when I've uploaded/printed as I always refer back to original .dng's or .tiff's.

Reason I use DNGs as opposed to RAW (CR2's) is that Photoshop CS3 won't open RAW files from my Camera (I need CS4 for that), and I work on images on different computers (some at college) and with different software. I've found that .dng will be opened by just about anything.

Hope this helps!

Ian.
 
I suppose the other thing I'm looking at is, you've just been to a party/event/shoot etc...

Do you put ALL the photos through Lightroom and in these folders on your desktop or do you give them all a quick once over and only keep the ones you're happy with... If not I guess you have millions and millions of photos??
 
I tend to import everything from a shoot into a Temp folder through Lightroom.

Then I go through the whole lot and colour code them

Red = Bin
Green = Keeper
Yellow = Needs Photoshop Work
Purple = Needs Lightroom work (i.e. just a touch of WB or exposure modification)
1 Star = Photos that are better than average

Then I filter by red only and go through them one last time to make sure I'm sure I don't want to keep any, then I delete them from disk. (I've found that by doing a second review I compare all the crap photos together and occasionally find a couple more keepers.)

Keyword the remaining photos as a group with any group keywords I need.

Remaining photos are finally moved to a new folder in MyPictures.

I'm quite savage with what I get rid of unless they're family/friends. Doing a 52 has helped me critique my own shots and anything that will never see the light of day again (Client, Flickr, Here, Projects) gets binned. Even if it's a good shot, if I'm not going to use it I don't keep it.

I'm not a professional photographer though. I would imagine things are very different in that field.

Ian.
 
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