open jepg as raw

[lovelila]

After my jepg file is opened as camera raw in elements 6, after editing it if I save it as a jepg again will it lose compression? Or, can I save it as camera raw?:rolleyes:

[ljameso1]

I would save as a tiff or psd file. They are both "lossless".

[Wendy]

Hi ...

What format you save your edited photographs in does depend on if you are going to be editing them again at a later stage. If you are then I would save as a psd or tiff ... but if you are not going to be working on them again then I tend to save mine as best quality jpgs.

The loss due to compression is minimal on one save (over even half a dozen) and the difference in space they take up is a lot, especially if you take lots of photographs ... so unless its a special photograph or I am going to be working on t again then I usually save thm as high quality jpgs.

Wendy

[genevh]

Unfortunately, saving a JPG as a RAW will not gain you anything. One of the biggest differences between RAW and JPG is that the RAW file is an unprocessed and uncompressed file that contains all the information as captured by your camera's sensor. JPGs have already had some processing done in camera, and then are compressed, and a portion of the data that RAW would have given you has already been lost and cannot be regained.

The best thing if you are worried about further loss due to compression, and especially while you are still processing your photos, is to save them as either PSD or TIF files. However, it would take many resaves as JPG before you would notice any significant loss of quality, as long as you saved them at the highest quality setting available. :)

[Michel B]

Gene,
You are right about information having already been lost in the jpeg capture. However, using ACR or not is a matter of editing, changing the jpeg version from the camera. Yes, it is 8 bits only. However, if jpeg is shot with moderate sharpening, contrast and saturation enhancement and saved in low compression, there is very little to be lost.
Now compare the way ACR edits with the normal workflow of PSE.
- This internal editing is made in 16 bits (I even read 32?) in a wider color model (prophoto?). Much better results if there is a risk of posterization (banding)
- white balance correction is far superior, and it is possible to edit a batch of wrongly balanced shots keeping the same setting
- Correction of shadows, highlight and midtones is superior
- You have got the powerful sliders for vibrance and clarity
- You can adjust sharpening (capture) and denoising, crop.
- You end up with lossless editing saved in the file header.

In many cases, you won't need any further editing.

[Juergen D]

Unfortunately, saving a JPG as a RAW will not gain you anything.
Gene,
Just for the record, a JPEG cannot be saved as RAW. Only a camera can create a RAW file. :)

Juergen

[TonyW]

You could I guess save as a dng file from Camera Raw which is what you get from the Save Image option. That at least would be a lossless save so you wouldn't lose any more than you already have in the jpeg. And it would save with the ACR edits so you could open and redit at any time without degrading the image.

But then when you edit a JPEG in Camera Raw that doesn't degrade the image either as it saves the edits separately from the jpeg image. So I'm not sure there would be anything to be gained by doing anything except sticking with the jpeg.

Tony

[Michel B]

Gene,
Just for the record, a JPEG cannot be saved as RAW. Only a camera can create a RAW file. :)

Juergen

I think Gene meant saving the ACR settings...
The main reason for not using ACR for jpegs is the fear of a difficult and lengthy editing process. We can admit that an amateur photographer smart enough to want to use ACR is also able to produce mostly good jpegs, and won't find ACR necessary except for wrong exposure or white balance. Using it only exceptionally, he won't try to elaborate an efficient workflow with ACR and ACR will mean losing time.
It is not necessarily so. Suppose your good recent P&S camera cannot shoot raw. Your challenge is to edit important batches of shots, a reportage, travel pictures. You'll want to keep your original pictures unchanged for obvious safety reasons, and you'll be happy to keep edited pictures for reprints. Maybe one set for home or lab printing, another for the web or digital frames. A few keepers only will be kept with layers in PSD or TIFF lossless format. If you think your editing ability (or software) gets better in time, you are ready to start over from the original.
Here is a possible workflow:
- With the organizer (or similar software) do the first culling, rating, tagging... keeping in mind similarity of edit types (outdoor, flash, incandescent, high ISO...)
- make special folders for each type of editing which will require similar ACR settings to store copies of the original
- Use ACR to process the first image of each subfolder. The default settings should be on 'previous conversion'. Click 'Done', not 'Open in Elements'. Your settings are saved in the file header. No disk space lost. Process the next ones. The settings should be close, except for crop and straighten. Do the same with each subfolder. Be careful to save in 8 bits mode.
- Now, you can use the 'process multiple files' feature of Elements to produce final jpeg versions for home or lab printing as well as web or digital frames. The editor will recognize the edit settings and open ACR. Yes, it does take time, but you don't need to be there, have a coffee cup or go to bed...
- Of course, you can reprocess your keepers and pictures which need layers and special editing at leisure and save them as PSD or Tiff.

The advantages are you don't need to save a PSD or Tiff version for every picture, pictures are organized from the start, you can deal with bad exposure or WB easily, take advantage of the ACR niceties like vibrance and clarity, batch reprocess for another purpose...

[genevh]

Just for the record, a JPEG cannot be saved as RAW. Only a camera can create a RAW file.I knew that....:o

You could I guess save as a dng file from Camera Raw which is what you get from the Save Image option.I think this is what I really meant....

I think Gene meant saving the ACR settings...And I really think Gene needs to answer some questions from his home PC when he can truly verify what he's talking about BEFORE he sticks his foot in his mouth....:confused:

I do all my initial processing in LR now, plus shoot 99% RAW converted to DNG upon import, and haven't opened ACR in PSE or CS3 in a long time.

I'm so embarrassed now.....:o

but not enough to keep my fingers off the keyboard!

[Chuck S.]

I do all my initial processing in LR now, plus shoot 99% RAW converted to DNG upon import, and haven't opened ACR in PSE or CS3 in a long time.

I'm so embarrassed now.....:o

but not enough to keep my fingers off the keyboard!

Gene: Been there, done that - over and over! Not only am I not opening ACR, I'm rarely going beyond Lightroom into PSE or CS3; I find myself trying to do everything in LR. Frankly, I'm getting lazy....:o Maybe if I ever retire again I'll get back into PS'ing....

[genevh]

I still take most of my stuff into CS3 (heck, I paid for it, might as well use it!) for my final touches, like sharpening and noise reduction. The tools in LR are good, but I still think CS3's are just a bit better for those items.