lfdaly

I'm using Elements 8 as primary software. Anyone know how to convert JPEG files for edditing in Adobe RAW menu in Elements 8? I know it can be done, but not so obvious how. . .

LarryD Loc: Mojave Desert

I'm not sure what you're exactly asking for..

At the menu on top, under "image"; the drop down menue lets you change the "color color profile"..

lfdaly

That doesn't do it. I just want to work in RAW converter in the edditor, not the standard JPEG editor

Cornishpete Loc: Illinois

Forgive me if I am having a senior moment but why would you want to convert a JPEG image to RAW? Why not shoot in RAW in your camera in the first place then open your RAW file in Elements and save it. Make a duplicate of this for your working file and make your adjustments on this. You can then convert this to Tiff or JPEG for posting on-line or making prints etc.
Am I wrong in thinking that perhaps you haven't understood that RAW files are only created in the camera. They hold every piece of info that the sensor records which is why one should save this and only work on a copy. On the other hand, a JPEG or Tiff has more limited information recorded and if you shoot in those there is no way that you are going to find information that wasn't recorded in the first place.

If I am in error ifdaly I know others will jump in and correct me!

arphot Loc: Massachusetts

I too am confused as to why one would want to go this route. However, aside from my lack of understanding, I know you can edit JPEGs in ACR. See: http://www.gotosnapshot.com/digital-slr/digital-photography-25.shtml . . . But defininately there is no benefit from converting JPEG to RAW (and you'd actually have to convert it to a DNG file because you can't actually convert it to a proprietary RAW such as Canon's CR2 or Nikon's NEF).

RockinRobinG Loc: The Middle of Nowhere, Nebraska

I've been reading on shooting in RAW and JPEG and am still confused. Would you (or anyone) please explain these to me. What actually is the benefit of shooting in RAW (I have an option of taking photos in both RAW and JPEG at the same time) and am currently shooting JPEG. Should I actually be shooting in RAW with my new D3100 and convert to JPEG only when I save my post-production files?

Bob Curtis Loc: Bay City, TX

Adobe came out with the Concept of Raw a few years ago so that you would have more information available for converting from the Raw concept to either JPEG (a slightly lossy process) or TIFF (not always recognized by some computers, but is a lossless format - (all the information is still there.) If you are an advanced photographer and your camera is capable of producing the Raw negatives, by all means try to learn how to use it. If your camera is NOT capable of producing the Raw format, it would probably be a a waste of time trying to Convert from JPEG to Raw, in my opinion, because (1) how many programs would have the capability of converting it back to Raw when you have finished, and (2) what would you accomplish after you have done it - - - you would still have to reprocess it for it to be recognized. Bob Curtis

Bob Curtis Loc: Bay City, TX

Adobe came out with the Concept of Raw a few years ago so that you would have more information available for converting from the Raw concept to either JPEG (a slightly lossy process) or TIFF (not always recognized by some computers, but is a lossless format - (all the information is still there.) If you are an advanced photographer and your digital camera is capable of producing the Raw negatives, by all means try to learn how to use it. If your camera is NOT capable of producing the Raw format, it would probably be a a waste of time trying to Convert from JPEG to Raw, in my opinion, because (1) how many programs would have the capability of converting it back to Raw when you have finished, and (2) what would you accomplish after you have done it - - - you would still have to reprocess it for it to be recognized. Bob Curtis

Bob Curtis Loc: Bay City, TX

Adobe came out with the Concept of Raw a few years ago so that you would have more information available for converting from the Raw concept to either JPEG (a slightly lossy process) or TIFF (not always recognized by some computers, but is a lossless format - (all the information is still there.) If you are an advanced photographer and your digital camera is capable of producing the Raw negatives, by all means try to learn how to use it. If your camera is NOT capable of producing the Raw format, it would probably be a a waste of time trying to Convert from JPEG to Raw, in my opinion, because (1) how many programs would have the capability of converting it back to Raw when you have finished, and (2) what would you accomplish after you have done it - - - you would still have to reprocess it for it to be recognized. By the way,for a goodly amount of information on Photography, check out the website for NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) - a group which has really grown in the last few years - - - discounts on seminars, materials, books and all kinds of help. Unless you are a member you wont be able to see too much, but it will whet your appetite for more. Bob Curtis

jgsawyer Loc: New Haven, CT

To RockinRobinG

If you were a film photographer, this should make sense to you. Think about the raw file as being the equivalent to the negative, and the jpg as being equivalent to the print from a Walgreens. The raw file just has more data in it, but getting it into a format you can use is more work. I take both raw and jpg, and the jpg is perfectly adequate for the 80% of shots that don't need much "help". As far as using jpg files as input to ACR, it can be done, as ACR now has some dandy editing tools. BUT, I question if you are at a point to need it. John

dongrant Loc: Earth, I think!

Woooaa here a moment!! Raw is the manufacturers file format (NOT Adobe ). Each band and sometimes model will have its' on raw format developed by the camera manufacturer. The best conversion is the converter provided by the manufacturer, not 3rd party software. Though many 3rd party software package will do an excellent job of conversion and provide the added convenience of a cleaner interface to the editor.

The biggest reason to shoot raw is that is the only file that will contain all of the image information direct from the sensor and camera processor. Anything else will have some additional loss of information. Most serious photographers will only convert to JPG at the LAST step in order to put the image into a format that can be read by a device that can not read raw, tiff, or the format that they actually worked with. Some photographers will shoot raw+jpg in order to have a jpg that they can quickly send to a client or post on the web.

Paw Paw Bill Loc: d

Sorry, converting jpg to raw is the equivilent of taking a scrambled egg and unscramble it and put it back into the eggshell and end up with a perfect egg.

I know that you are wanting to take whatever data the jpg has left and manipulate it with the raw functions of the software. However, the software for raw functions is designed to manipulate data that does not exist any longer in a jpg image. For this reason the menu refuses to allow those functions to be available when working with jpg. Jpg dumps too much of this data and raw menus functions would be useless even if they could be turned on.

arphot Loc: Massachusetts

The DNG raw format is Adobe's. It is an open source RAW format so that images can be converted to it and used in ACR.

arphot Loc: Massachusetts

As was stated, RAW is a digital negative. You can adjust this file's sharpness, contrast and other elements before converting it to your image type of choice. So, if a photographer in the film days was working with negatives to get their images the way they should be, then in the digital age, we should continue . . . or so it would seem.

Bob Curtis Loc: Bay City, TX

When you are over 80 you sometimes have a little trouble remembering everything. Thanks for the assistance.

Bob Curtis