Dave243 Loc: Bothell, Washington

I must have been in the back room having a peanut butter shake when they passed out the brains. All my pics are taken RAW. When I save them I put them in two places one as a .jpg and one as .psd AND then today I noticed that there is a RAW option. I typically save all pics as .jpg and only certain ones as .psd thinking I was going to have the benefit of a RAW file. Now I am confused. What will my .psd file to for me?

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

.psd is an Adobe Photoshop Document extension, which can be opened & edited in all PhotoShop programs, such as CS5 and PSE-10.

ecobin Loc: Paoli, PA

Dave, I shoot in raw also and use Photoshop CS6. When you want to go back to a photo that you've post-processed and make changes or keep going (say you're working on many layers and didn't have time to finish) then save as .psd which when you re-open will show all the work you've done. The file size grows with more work & layers, so when you're finished save it as a TIFF and JPEG for email. I rarely save as .psd unless I think I might want to revisit what I've done. I've never used Photoshop Raw format and don't know what advantage it might have over TIFF.

robert-photos Loc: Chicago

I use PSD (Photoshop Document) files to save files with layers created in PS for future editing (adding a layer mask, changing blending mode or changing the opacity, etc.). Most often they are interim saves in my work flow with noise reduction and sharpening layers.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

No harm; no foul! You've done little or no wrong in saving in PSD vs. RAW. The only concern is that PSD sometimes does not save all metadata. If you are shooting in RAW, save the original in RAW (in a separate folder) and, if you wish, do a bulk operation to save to JPG (although this is only required if you're going to edit the photo.)

robert-photos Loc: Chicago

In PS when you save in RAW it does not save in your native RAW format but in Photoshop RAW (Leica RAW).
Photoshop RAW format does NOT fully encode the image mode, printer settings, layers AND size among other things. When saved in PS RAW the image may NOT ( read "probably will not" ) be fully restored when you re-open the file.

Based on my experience I do not recommend saving layered files in PS RAW.

If you want, please try it first to a different folder and then try to reopen. See what happens :roll:

katbandit Loc: new york city

i have an external hard drive..i make two folders one for the .NEF file and one for the .JPEG of the same photos...each group of shots that i take are on the drive..then i make a disc of each group separately ..one with the raw and jpeg of each photo .the discs are labled and filed so if i want a particular shoot i just pop that disc into the computer and drag whatever photo i need..

RichieC Loc: Adirondacks

Also, if you are shooting in raw, then the image is probably 14 or 16 bit- in any case more than 8. Newer PSD can work in and save images in 16 bit, but by default will convert it to 8 bit. Thus if you have a special image, I'd keep it in 16 bit.

I'd also save the original raw file- just in you ever want to revisit the image, you'd want ALL the information there ever was to work with, rather then a truncated conversion.

Read this:
http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/8bit-versus-16bit-difference.html

Mudshark Loc: Illinois

Save your RAW files someplace and keep them. Think of them as your negatives. Never can your RAW files...

Photo-Al Loc: Sonoma County, CA

OK ... I'm confus-ed (normal state of my condition). If you shoot RAW, then open it to modify and save as PSD or Jpg or Tiff or whatever, your RAW file still exists in its original state, no? I am not sure what "saving" it in RAW is referring to here: I'm just starting to work in RAW, and my assumption was that I should not "save" the RAW file after processing, but that I should leave it as originally shot, and any "saves" would be in another format, depending on intended use. ??? No?

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

Here's what I do: If I think I might want to work on the photo in the future, save the RAW (I use the original NEF or convert it to DNG sometimes)--it's like a negative. While working on the photo, I save it as PSD. If I think I might need some adjustments in the adjustments (!) later, as if printing on a different printer, I might save the PSD. Otherwise, I save the "final" print (as of this day) as a TIFF and a JPEG. So far, I have not been stuck, unable to fix or re-do or modify, having the raw, working PSD, final TIFF and JPEG.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

You are correct. Open the raw image in the raw editor and make edits then tell it to close or open. If you tell the raw editor to close, the raw image edits will be saved in a sidecar file or your PS database depending on how you have it set up. You can always go back to the original raw with the click of one button. After your edits in the raw editor you decide to 'open' the image, the changes are again saved in the sidecar file so the raw image retains your raw edits, and new image is formed and displayed on you computer monitor. This new image will be displayed with the changes you made in the raw editor, and now you can proceed to make additional changes i.e. filters, layering, cloning etc.

After working in PS on the layered image, it's best if you want to take a break or you are finished with the image to save as a tif or psd to save the image with the layers so that you can go back to the image any time and make additional edits. So save as tif or psd. The last step in your work flow, now that the image looks the way you want it to look, is to do something with it - i.e. print, save on the web, save on thumb drive for printing, email etc. This is the step where you 'save as' or 'save for web' in jpg file format. You want to make sure that all your edits are done first because when you save as a jpg, the file is compressed a lot. You have a choice of how much compression, but even if you choose the highest quality, each time you save it, the file is re-compressed and some data is lost.

I'm leaving out a few steps that more advanced users would go through such as proofing before printing, checking for out of gama color proofing, converting color space, embedding a print profile (icc) and watermarking your image.

dfcredo Loc: Grand Rapids,Michigan

You might find it helpful to use folders WITHIN your latest shoot folder:
a)RAW
b)Works in progress (ie PSD saved files)
c)Ready to Print (saved as jPeg)
d) e-mail sized (reday to print reduced to 25 or 50% size)

just a thought.

Mudshark Loc: Illinois

I keep all my RAW files on an external hard drive and/or disk. One example of the value of this...I have RAW files shot several years ago, soon after the EOS 1Ds first came on the market. On a few occasions I've needed to revisit one of those images. Since I have the ORIGINAL RAW FILE...and since the software has progressed dramatically, I can now process those images and make better photos than I could years and years ago. My Phase One software has seen huge leaps forward as has Photoshop and my ink jet printer.
Beyond that and slightly off topic...I've also been scanning some of the negatives my father shot in the 1940's-60's and some of the stuff I shot in the '60s and making B&W prints for my livingroom wall and for Christmas gifts for relatives. WOW! When you start with a 4X5 sharp negative (think RAW flle...) and digitize it, make some adjustments in Photoshop and produce a 16X20 print...Holy Kodak Batman!!!!
Always save your original negative...Always save your original RAW file...ALWAYS!!!

dfcredo Loc: Grand Rapids,Michigan

I'd like to see some of those old Black and Whites. Don't think a 16x20 will fit my screen; but post some for old time sake.