Silverman Loc: Michigan

Is it practical or even possible to have "Photography-Prints" made from RAW+JPEG files or just RAW files at my local Drug Store, Costco, etc.?
Or must I send them Online to a Professional Photography Lab to have Prints created.
As you can see, I am not a Technical Photographer, being 68 years old, recently starting to learn " Digital Photography" with my Nikon D3300 Camera.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Walgreens and Costco will make prints only from jpeg files. If you are shooting RAW if needs to be post processed with whatever software you choose and then exported into a jpeg (jpg) format so it can be printed.

If you are just starting out and do not have post processing software you have two choices.
First, just shoot jpeg and send those you want printed out.
Second, continue to shoot RAW + jpeg with the intention of some day learning post processing and going back to the older RAW files.

I am an advocate of RAW files, but in this case, I think that RAW shooting is an unnecessary complication to the early learning of photography fundamentals.

DebAnn Loc: Toronto

Since you are making RAW files, I must assume you know how to process them. Once processed, you can export the photos as jpgs ready to print. If you don't need to make any enhancements to your photos, then use the original jpgs for printing. Your local store will want jpgs. They are not in the business of processing RAW files.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Silverman - It is not possible to print a RAW file. RAW files are just computer data, “Xs and Os”. Any image you see when you view a RAW file is a temporary JPEG representation created either by your camera, by your computer or by an editing program such as Lightroom. You must convert that temporary image to a full JPEG and save it on your computer. After that, Costco or your local drugstore (if they have such an unusual capability) can print a copy of the image. Work with them to determine the best size of that print.
/Ralph

pithydoug Loc: Catskill Mountains, NY

A Third alternative if he has the software yet has not learned yet to edit - shoot only raw and simply export to a jpg. It will use a similar algorithm as the camera does and you don't need to save both.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

My advice is a little different from what you will see here and in other areas. Part of photography is the adventure of going to places, camera in hand, and discovering new "stuff" using the camera as your "eye".

The other part is turning what you have recorded into something that resembles was was in your mind when you took the picture, or maybe enhanced one way or another to make it meaningful.

There are at least two choices to be made here. You can use your camera like a cell phone, and take snapshots, your you can leverage the camera's capabilities and shoot raw. Shooting raw and making adjustments to get a nice image is far easier than trying to take an image that has already been process by the camera according to the rules (camera settings) you have already decided upon. When you shoot raw you have the ability to make those kinds of decisions for each image individually, or groups of images as need be.

Shooting raw+jpeg in my opinion is an unnecessary complication - shooting raw gives you more options and equal or better results.

Shooting raw, however requires that at the very least you do a simple conversion to jpeg, which is easy enough using the software that came with the camera or something like Faststone Image Viewer, a free application.

The slightly more advanced approach would be to use the software that came with the camera, or Lightroom, or Photoshop Adobe Camera Raw, to look at your image, critically, and make improvements to it. This is a good way to learn to take better pictures - and learn the limits of your camera, along with the important skill of evaluation of your effort.

Whichever road you choose, all labs that I am aware of do not accept raw files, only jpegs, and some do accept tiff files.

Enjoy your camera and keep challenging yourself - I've been at this for 52 yrs, and I still live by those two rules - I enjoy my camera and I love the challenge (pushing the limits).

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Temporary JPEG? RAW image files contain a JPEG thumbnail embedded in the file, not some temporary image. Binary data does not consist of Xs and Os, it's 0's and 1's.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Thank you for your precise answer. Many respectable sources refer to “temporary JPEG” images, hence my comment to the OP. Not knowing the level of the OP’s computer knowledge, I used “Xs and Os” as a simple analogy. I myself took graduate level computer and programming courses from DePaul U. in Chicago and later did software tech support for QuickBooks and Quicken in Tucson. Have a great day.

bleirer

A lot of labs will take tiffs which is totally lossless compared to raw. Costco, bay photo, probably others. Just 'save as' a tiff. Don't save layers.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

I was a programmer for one of the largest financial services support companies in the USA for 35 years, coding in MVS Assembly language, PL/I, Fortran and ADABAS Natural.
Are Xs and Os really any simpler than 0's and 1's?!
Regardless of the OP's knowledge of computers, isn't wrong information, wrong? Also, regardless of how respectable a source is, if they are incorrect then repeating them is also, incorrect.
Today is laundry day and my wife has been stockpiling dirty laundry for a couple few months. I don't mind doing laundry but it doesn't make for a great day.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

You can’t make a print directly from a RAW file. It has to be processed into a JPEG or TIFF or whatever other photo format the service can use. The RAW file is a data file with an embedded JPEG for viewing.

Silverman Loc: Michigan

I have NEVER shot RAW or RAW + JPEG, mainly because I have never learned Post Processing. Truthfully the idea of attempting to post process indimidates me as a 68 year old, very Non- Technical Senior Citizen who likes Photography. So, until I get someone who has patience to teach me, guess I will stick with JPEG.

Silverman Loc: Michigan

Thank you for your practical advice, I agree.😊

Rab-Eye Loc: Indiana

Well said, Gene.

bleirer

It's really no big deal, and there are programs that will hold your hand pretty well. There are often free classes at community colleges, the Y, local library, rec center, camera club, etc. You don't have to go wild, but sometimes you want to just brighten something, remove a color cast, increase the contrast, add some sharpness, etc. You just get more latitude in raw, not that it is impossible in jpeg.

You would open the program, for example Photoshop Elements, connect the camera to the computer, import your pics off the camera, Use the beginner mode to do this or that, and export the pic in a format the printing place can read, jpeg or tiff for example. Connect online to the printing place or put the pics on a usb thumb drive to take to the place.