Hi everyone, I feel inclined to try my hand at shooting RAW. I would need some help and info how to go about getting them into Lightroom and exporting. Do I need a special converter, or is it done in LR. What kind of file and where should it be saved. I have googled quite a bit, but am more confused now. As this site has been so wonderful in helping me sofar, I am sure that I will get the neccesary advice and info. I also have Photoshop, but do very little editing there. Thanks in advance.
@ludwigsdiana
Hi Diana - I'm no expert! I do shoot in RAW and import directly to Lightroom. I'm also not so good at relaying technical procedures. As well as all the fabulous help here! I've found Lightroom Queen to be a great help. https://www.lightroomqueen.com
@ludwigsdiana I would love to help but I'm in the same boat as you and tend to shoot in jpeg so that I don't have to go through the techie processing as I'm not very good at things like that
Diana there is no problem getting RAW into LR they just come in the same way you do your JPegs. And when you want to send them to Topaz choose copy rather than original because Topaz will need a Tiff and choosing copy or copy with LR adjustments will create a Tiff copy. You will be amazed at the adjustments you can make because RAW has so much more detail. I almost always use Develop which works like Camera RAW for adjusting photos before I take into Topaz. Let me know if you have any questions.
@brigette thanks Brigette, I will definitely look into it :-) @rosiekind thanks Rosie, maybe we can learn together :-) @joansmor thanks so much Joan, I will give it a go and keep you posted.
I edit all my RAW in Lightroom. Just "import" and there they are. When I installed Nik and Topaz Lightroom just added them as another editing option, so when I want to edit some more in either one I go to "Photo" in the upper left in the Lightroom Menu, then in the drop down menu it has "Edit In" and that pop out menu then lists the available programs that I can use. I select "Topaz" or whatever I want to use, and it asks if I want to edit a copy with the Lightroom adjustments. I say "edit" and it creates the TIFF copy, leaving the RAW, which is very nice as Lightroom retains the original RAW and you can always go back and try new edits if you want. It generally shows the TIFF next to the RAW in the photo bar at the bottom, so you can see the original and the copy side by side. Hope that helps. Have fun!
So glad you started this thread @ludwigsdiana because I haven't yet started using LR, just PS raw and there are some great replies here already that I'm going to follow up on!
I just import directly into Lightroom, and do most of my edits in Lightroom. If you need the extra power of photoshop you can go directly to it through Lightroom by Photo - Edit in - Photoshop. I've been shooting in raw for 2 years now and won't go back.
if you're already using lightroom, you're good to go! just import the same way as you do JPEGs... you'll have, i think, a few more options for editing... you'll be able to fully adjust white balance, and you'll be able to be more nuanced in your editing overall... you may want to start with the basics... adjusting the white balance, tweaking exposure and contrast, saturation and/or vibrance, adding or decreasing clarity or texture, sharpening (there are some presets for sharpening on the left), straightening, and reducing noise...
i found LR very overwhelming at first, but quickly figured out which settings i liked to muck about with and can now do basic editing quite quickly... if you're already using LR then you're "light" years ahead of where i was when i started so i'm betting you'll be able to jump right in!!
@aecasey@joansmor@yorkshirekiwi@northy Many thanks so much for these helpful replies. I have some time on my hands today and will give it ago. I believe all that you said is true, I will just have to try and achieve it ;-)
This is a great topic, Diana, because I've thought of trying RAW, too but not sure about doing it. I wonder if it makes a big difference or not in the finished product. I use Lightroom, too.
From reading above it does sound like Lightroom gives you more options with a photo in RAW. I'll have to experiment with it.
@mittens Hi Marilyn, I am shooting in raw now and have done some processing today. I watched a few tutorials about raw processing. I used the same shots and did 1 in Lightroom and the same ones in Topaz Studio. I am happier with the result of TS, but maybe only because I am used to it. To me Lightroom is much more difficult to see the result. I miss the toggling between edits. I will keep on experimenting though. Hope someone notices the difference 😊
@ludwigsdiana So interesting Diana. I'm not familiar with Topaz Studio. I'm not sure whether to try raw or not. When you are done editing, does it turn into a jpeg?
@mittens You can choose what to export it in Marilyn, I obviously export in jpeg unless I want to do some more playing around ;-) @rjb71 thanks Richard, that is very helpful :-)
@aecasey Hi April, I still have a question regarding RAW. Normally I used to upload photos on my laptop and immediately delete what I did not want. I would like to do this with Raw as well. Is there a programme I can download in order to do this, or must I delete in camera before the upload. Many thanks for your input :-)
So far even though I purchased LR I've not been using it, just opening the RAW in PS which uses PS camera raw and doing my first edit there.
Then I choose to open the photo and it open in PS and I have all the usual tools, or could then take it into somewhere else like Topaz.
I can't believe the difference in what I can bring out that the camera captured but needed a helping hand to reveal!
I hope to make some time after next week to sit down and do some LR tutorials so I can see whether I will start in there rather than PS camera raw.
Any thoughts from Adobe users here that use LR and PS on the pros and cons?
You can used LR then import from LR to PS. That way you have the best of both worlds. I don't keep all raw files they are way to big. I only keep the special ones, most I keep in jpeg form once I edit.
@koalagardens I would definitely rather upload to LR and do some basic editing there first. Especially when it comes to highlights, shadows etc, it is very good. Afterwards I take them to TS, but you can then continue in PS. I keep my RAW files on an external drive as I was told they are so big. The tutorials on how to edit RAW are very good :-) @shutterbug49 Yes they will need to be jpeg, I export from TS in jpeg.
@ludwigsdiana it's great to have this conversation since I am at such a beginning stage! I still have to sort out my new photo storage system as I haven't set up the external drives yet... so much fun to be had!
@ludwigsdiana Sorry about the delay. I haven't been on the computer today. As to deleting RAW, I often import all my photos for the day into Lightroom, and then delete those that aren't very good or that I don't want. I right click the photo, go to "remove photo", and then select "delete from disk." I've never encountered any problems with this method, though I've never researched it either. I also do a lot of deleting on the camera card in camera, though I've recently begun waiting until my card is full and then formatting it as I do know that is the proper way to clear a card. Hope this helps.
@aecasey that's exactly as I do. @ludwigsdiana my other advice would be to start with a good catalogue system for filing your images or you can end up with a mess!
@aecasey thanks April, especially for the formatting tip which I was not aware of ;-) @brigette thanks Brigette, as I am only starting, I don't have so many. I do have them in folders with names and dates though. Hope it is good enough ;-)
@northy once more many thanks for your input. I have been trying to edit in LR and find it rather tricky. I never really got the knack of it, even after watching hours of tutorials. It seemed so easy, but I still find it rather challenging. I have not really used it before, just uploaded my pics there. I have problems with sharpening and noise reduction (I have a rather noisy camera). I will still keep on trying and hope one day to achieve the results I see in the tutorials ;-)
@ludwigsdiana hmmm... what are you struggling with? i think for me, originally i found all the various options and tools overwhelming... the trick was to figure out what i wanted to do, and then i went about working to figure out how i made it happen in LR... for the most part i use only a few of the tools, and generally with a very specific purpose in mind...
for sharpening, i almost always just use the "light" preset and leave it at that... for noise-reduction, i generally move the slider to about 80...
@northy I was not even aware of a light preset, will have to check it out. I suppose that I have been using TS too long and just need time to adjust :-)
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Hi Diana - I'm no expert! I do shoot in RAW and import directly to Lightroom. I'm also not so good at relaying technical procedures. As well as all the fabulous help here! I've found Lightroom Queen to be a great help. https://www.lightroomqueen.com
@rosiekind thanks Rosie, maybe we can learn together :-)
@joansmor thanks so much Joan, I will give it a go and keep you posted.
i found LR very overwhelming at first, but quickly figured out which settings i liked to muck about with and can now do basic editing quite quickly... if you're already using LR then you're "light" years ahead of where i was when i started so i'm betting you'll be able to jump right in!!
good luck and enjoy!
From reading above it does sound like Lightroom gives you more options with a photo in RAW. I'll have to experiment with it.
@rjb71 thanks Richard, that is very helpful :-)
Then I choose to open the photo and it open in PS and I have all the usual tools, or could then take it into somewhere else like Topaz.
I can't believe the difference in what I can bring out that the camera captured but needed a helping hand to reveal!
Any thoughts from Adobe users here that use LR and PS on the pros and cons?
@shutterbug49 Yes they will need to be jpeg, I export from TS in jpeg.
@ludwigsdiana my other advice would be to start with a good catalogue system for filing your images or you can end up with a mess!
@brigette thanks Brigette, as I am only starting, I don't have so many. I do have them in folders with names and dates though. Hope it is good enough ;-)
for sharpening, i almost always just use the "light" preset and leave it at that... for noise-reduction, i generally move the slider to about 80...