Raw???

What does RAW mean when people are talking about RAW vs. jpeg.

thanks hampton

Think of RAW as like a films negative image. You use a RAW converting program which allows you to make adjustments to it like exposure compensation if too dark, and then create a usually tiff file to import to say Photoshop and then that is like a pre print version where you do what you like to it, maybe add a frame or clean up skin blemishes, etc and then print out or save for the web.

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Originally Posted by Hampton

What does RAW mean when people are talking about RAW vs. jpeg.

thanks hampton

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RAW is simply another image file format that DSLR cameras and editing programs like photoshop handle. RAW files differ from jpeg files in serveral ways, but primarily in that they hold more image information and they can be processed and edited many times over without losing any of the original pixel information.

I'd suggest doing a keyword search of the forum archives of this site to pull up some of the many discussions on the subject, and/or taking a peek at some photoshop bibles in your local book store to learn more about the format and how to work with it...

RAW is the term used to describe the raw data captured by the camera's CCD when a digital camera takes a picture. This data is read from the CCD by your camera's image processing program and is then either saved to flash as a RAW file, or in other cases it is converted into a JPEG image and then saved to flash.

With the RAW file, you have full control over how any resulting image is created. With the JPEG, you lose the RAW information and have the processed JPEG. Many if not most photographers weigh the extra work required to process the RAW file into a JPEG file against having the camera do it for them, and make a decision on which way they want to go: RAW or JPEG. Most professionals and "prosumers" prefer the RAW format; most everyone else prefers the JPEG format.

A huge advantage not already brought up here is that RAW files usually are captured at a higher bit depth. Jpegs are 8-bit by definition, but my DSLR captures at 12-bit. The difference is exponential; literally. There are just that many more colors for it to work with, and if you have an area with a slight change in color across a big area (like a blue sky) you can sometimes see the difference. Also when editing, if you move the levels around in Photoshop, then you have just that much more information to work with.