Bunkershot Loc: Central Florida

Where can I get RAW photo files (NEF) printed? I looked at the Snapfish site and they only print JPEG files.

Michael Hartley Loc: Deer Capital of Georgia

You can't. Printers have to have JPG, or TIFF. After you finish PP'ing, you export you file in one of the afore mentioned formats, to the printer.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

An NEF file is NOT an image. It is the raw data that an image can be made from. You will need to process all that date and then save it as an image file, JPG, TIFF, GIF, BMP, etc. before you can print the image.

Bunkershot Loc: Central Florida

Just gave you suggestion a try and it works. But, I also found the NEF file had gone from 30.3MB to less than 3.4MB. Will the printed image contain the identical detail of the NEF file? Thanks.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Mostly, but that will depend on the level of compression you used to store the JPG version. More compression will result in less detail saved. Always save your JPGs at the higher quality levels if you can. For the truest resolution and best detail in the printable image, use TIFF format, especially if you ever plan to print the image as a large print size in the future.

Bunkershot Loc: Central Florida

Thanks very much for your help.

Bunkershot Loc: Central Florida

One more question. Are there websites that process TIF images? Or, do I have to store in JPG with no compression?

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

Any print lab can print Tiff. JPG images will ALWAYS be compressed, but you can control the amount of compression applied to a certain extent depending on the program you use for PP.

Michael Hartley Loc: Deer Capital of Georgia

They can, but will they? I printed some for a lady a few (10-12)months ago, she said they(CostCo), told her they couldn't accept the TIFF files. I don't know, I have never been in a costco store, just going by what she told me. Another HAPPY customer for me, even though she pays A LOT more, for her printing service with me.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

As a chain, yes. There may possibly be some local Costco's that do not want to use them because of the large file sizes, but none that I am aware of. I personally use Costco for large poster runs that I get orders for from local event organizers because they can print them for much less than I can on my Epson 9600 or my HP130NR large format printers that I use to print for my customers.

Michael Hartley Loc: Deer Capital of Georgia

Agreed.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Extremely high end pro photo labs or service bureaus that make art prints with inkjet printers MIGHT print from raw files. But here's why it's unlikely you'll find an ordinary pro lab printing from raw:

If you run a pro lab, you have to serve everyone. To do that, you print from a common standard. In the silver-halide "wet process" print world, the standard is JPEG files in sRGB, because most of the better pro labs use Kodak DP2, or somewhat similar workflow software from Fujifilm.

DP2, last I used it, supports TIFF, JPEG, and Kodak RAW files, but no other raw files.

Despite what Adobe wants you to think about DNG, there is no true standard for raw files! Every camera manufacturer has its own... NEF, CRW, CR2, PEF, etc., so a lab would have to have WORKFLOW software that opens, interprets, and converts all of those formats to something they can print.

What is workflow software? It is a database that combines customer and order information with the image, *and* lab-generated "adjustment" information about the image (crop, size, color, brightness, sharpening, curves, retouching, etc.) that is applied at print time to render the unaltered original to a size and output specs that make it look good.

Labs generally don't use any Adobe products for workflow. They might use them for advanced retouching, or "extra cost optional services", but probably not for printing. And the last thing they want to do is install Capture NX, Digital Photo Professional, and half a dozen other proprietary programs to open raw files, adjust them, and print them. They couldn't charge enough, and you wouldn't want to pay what they would have to charge just to break even!

Most "arty" photographers who want great prints from RAW are going to adjust them in a raw editor, convert them to 16-bit TIFF for more enhancement in Photoshop, then print them to their own inkjet printers, or save them as 8-bit, sRGB JPEGs for a lab.

Mainstream mass market (school, portrait, and event) photographers are going to work in JPEG at the camera and send precisely-exposed, "in-camera pre-processed" images to their labs. They use controlled lighting and test targets to calibrate their cameras, and the work they do does not need much post-processing.

The silver halide paper that photo labs use is barely capable of reproducing most of sRGB's color gamut, anyway, although sRGB can contain a few colors the paper can't reproduce.

The secret advanced pros use to work with a good lab is to get the lab's printer profile and use it as a PROOFING or SIMULATION profile in their software (Lightroom, Photoshop, etc.). When using it with a properly calibrated and profiled monitor, what you see is close to what the lab prints, within reason.

The secret to getting the absolute best quality possible is to buy a high-end pigmented inkjet printer, learn color management, and print your own work... OR, find a service bureau that works with folks like you. Neither option is inexpensive.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

You can't reproduce all the information in a raw file, just like the raw file can't reproduce all the information in nature.

Photographic reproduction is the art of simulating nature. Inevitably, this involves tonal range compression. We start with the color gamut of nature and compress it to the color gamut of whatever output medium we have... Silver halide paper, inkjet paper and inks, CMYK process printing, RGB monitors, or what have you.

The point of working from RAW is to select a range of tones and colors you consider to be important. Once you get the image adjusted (on a precisely calibrated and ICC-profiled monitor, hopefully!), you use software to "fit" that range into a color profile space that can be viewed and printed.

For 90+% of the world, that's 8 bits, sRGB. Most of our monitors are capable of 8-bit reproduction in sRGB. Most photo labs want 8-bit JPEG, sRGB (see my other post).

For the lucky few who can control the process quite a bit further, working in 16-bit TIFF in broader color gamuts such as Adobe RGB or ProPhoto RGB can provide richer color. But to work in that rarefied air, you need specialized tools, deep process knowledge, time, money, and patience.

Snapfish, Shutterfly, Costco, and WalMart are not going to offer output from RAW or probably even 16-bit TIFF. (Did you know there are nearly 50 different "flavors" of TIFF files?)

You will have the best luck and economy if you calibrate your monitor precisely, use a lab's simulation profile, and adjust images to taste while viewing through that profile. Output to 8-bit JPEGs in sRGB, and let the lab do what it does best.

Madman Loc: Gulf Coast, Florida USA

Please allow me to add my own question to this thread. I shoot in RAW only with my D7100 almost always. After I have made whatever changes I need using NX2, I save the changes in RAW, I can take any of those files immediately to my Epson printer. I do not convert to JPEG or any other type file. In fact, the only time I convert is when I put those photos on the net.

Is there a conversion taking place somewhere that I can't see?

silver Loc: Santa Monica Ca.

I also can print from any file including RAW NEF files. I use an Epson 7900 printer and I can't tell any difference from printing from a RAW file or any other type of file. Many of my clients send me all different types of files and I generally have no problem printing from them. Most commercial printing establishments insist that you give them files that are conducive with their parameters.