Switching to shooting RAW instead of JPEG

[chirurgeon]

I know there are a few photography nuts here so, I thought I would ask this question here. If I switch, can I process the photos in Photoshop Elements or should I go for another photo processing program. I was thinking about Aperture since I have a Mac. My current version of Photoshop is 6, so I would want to upgrade. So, do I spend the cash on an upgrade or a new program?

Kim

 

[k5jm]

I know there are a few photography nuts here so, I thought I would ask this question here. If I switch, can I process the photos in Photoshop Elements or should I go for another photo processing program. I was thinking about Aperture since I have a Mac. My current version of Photoshop is 6, so I would want to upgrade. So, do I spend the cash on an upgrade or a new program?

Kim

RAW is so flexible and captures so much more detail that a compressed JPEG. I think it is well worth it. There a ton of tools for tweaking RAW files and them saving them as TIFFs. I know my camera alows me to shoot both RAW and JPEG. I also prefer to shoot in sRAW for the slightly smaller images. Unless I plan on publishing something, there is no need for an 18mb picture. Conserving CF/SD space is also something to think about.

 

[beasleybear]

I have PSE6, and yes, you can open & process RAW in it. Depending on your camera, you might need to get a newer version of Adobe's Camera RAW.

 

[kcb1dizbksfan]

I have been shooting digital for the past decade and film the prior two decades. I used to shoot both RAW and JPEG for every shot but over the past few years have only shot RAW.

Shoot ONLY RAW and save that image as your "Golden Copy", but once you save the image into whatever software your using for edits, create a JPEG image and then make your edits. Just be aware that every time you touch a JPEG image it will deteriorate it.

I shoot 21 MPL's at the highest quality image because you can always reduce the image size later, but when you print any enlargement you want the best image resolution you can get.

Good luck.

KCB