BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

I agree here. If you learned all there is to learn about editing jpg's, then RAW is no big deal. Jpg editors do everything raw editors do, and do it just as well and more as long as you didn't badly mess up your exposure to begin with. If you've been editing jpgs for years, and want to jump into raw for some reason, then your current jpg editor most likely also has a raw editor in it. PS, PSE, Affinity Photo, ACDSee and probably a whole lot more editors have raw editing. Of course if you have an old editor and a new camera, chances are the raw editor needs updated. That's an issue with raw files, they change, and are proprietary.

Abo

Yep... I'm igmorant of a lot of things too... but this is a photography forum..
so if someone asks a question don't you think it's best not to misinform them?

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Enough with the distraction.

Ysarex Loc: St. Louis

As Paul has noted Sony provides software with the camera; https://imagingedge.sony.net/en-us/ie-desktop.html

Sony also has a "deal" with Phase One to provide a free version of Capture One Express which is a limited version of Capture One -- obviously they hope the Express version will lead you to the paid version eventually; https://www.captureone.com/en/explore-features/sony

Since both are no cost and come with your camera that's a logical starting point. Then you can get started and research further what if anything you might want to adopt in the way of a bigger gun.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I really wouldn't consider using 'RAW' instead of 'raw' is misinformation.
How many people type 'jpeg'? Should they be corrected also?
My editors, and many other programs save with the '.jpg' extension, not '.JPG'. OMG!

I have many other things to worry about. Using 'RAW' is definitely not one of them.

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

👍👍👍
I'm wondering if you meant OMG or omg?
Non-secular vs secular.
RAW vs raw.
All important issues not worth worrying about.🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

YES and yes.....

Is OMG louder than omg?????

Rongnongno Loc: FL

*sigh*

R.G. Loc: Scotland

The ACR section in Photoshop Elements is a good introduction to raw processing, plus the rest of Elements is a good introduction to things like layers.

Abo

Arguably your comparing apples to oranges.

Remaining in lower case is akin to laziness... like who gives a square root, where as, actually going to the effort
of going to upper case (to make an error) represents something else entirely. lol

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Raw isn't just a file format, it's a way of life. RAW is one of the true wonders of modern digital photography. Many times while editing my RAW files, I begin to see my connection to the fabric of the universe.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I would repeat the advice to start with the software your manufacturer supplies. There is usually a free version which is available on the manufacturer's website. If you haven't done PP before, that will ease you into the basics. Once you are comfortable with the basics, you can consider the paid versions of editing software, of which there are many, and you will get recommendations for pretty much all of them since everyone has their favorites.

If you get more serious about photography, there are a couple things you should consider.

(1) Organizing your photos. That means that you place the photos in a location where you can find them, and have some system that enables you to find a photo that you recall taking 87 years ago, but can't remember the file name. There are several such systems included in various software packages. Some are based on a database and some are simply based on a meaningful folder structure (possibly with meaningful file names). Photo organization is more than just being able to find things. It includes not creating too many duplicate files in different places. Remember that if you have several different image files of the same image, editing (or re-editing) one of them requires that you replace ALL of the different files with the new file. Otherwise you have two different versions of the same thing and that can lead to a lot of confusion. (Been there).

(2) Backing up your photos files. Seriously, backup is not just for photos. it's for EVERYTHING of value on your computer. The photos should fit into your backup strategy.

(3) If you consider trying free trials of various software packages, do one at a time. The free trial period is always too short to do a complete study of the software unless you spend most of your free time on it. Trying to compare several at the same time limits your trial time for all of them.

You have been on UHH for a while now so you have most likely come across discussions of these topics already.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I'm sure it does. My personal experience with Sony and Panasonic RAW editors is that the Lightroom system is far more capable, complex and fun. For me, it is a never ending journey of learning the new to me stuff. On paper, I seem to be qualified as becoming late elderly. That makes learning new stuff more important than ever.

From the WWW: "Typically, the elderly has been defined as the chronological age of 65 or older. People from 65 to 74 years old are usually considered early elderly, while those over 75 years old are referred to as late elderly"

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Key operator: "...who gives a square root..."

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

Commit.

At first, do nothing different other than switching your camera from jpeg to 14 bit lossless compressed raw capture.

Use a recognized and popular raw converter - like Lightroom, Photoshop (Adobe Camera Raw), On1 Raw, DXO PhotoLab, Capture One. These are of excellent quality and all have a decently large user base and forums where you can post questions if you run into difficulties.

You'll find editing in raw MUCH easier than editing a jpeg. Fewer commands, and no changes are committed until you export the image to jpeg/png/psd/tiff. Even then you can reverse all of the changes to the raw file if you wish to start over again, which is why it is good to keep your original captures.

Most adjustments are global in nature, though some programs will allow/encourage local editing - or applying changes to a portion of an image instead of the entire image.

Once you get the hang of things, you can start to explore the benefits of raw capture - mainly RADR (Raw Accessible Dynamic Range), and more granular control over all the adjustments.

If you want to get turned off to editing - start with jpeg. It is usually far more difficult to do even the simplest of tasks, and to do so consistently from image to image.

In my workflow I edit a raw file in Lightroom, export as a 16 bit psd file in ProPhoto color space to Photoshop, and complete my editing there. Photoshop is a way better place to make fussy and complex adjustments, often involving masks and layers, but the results are often a cut above most raw-only output. Once the file is completely edited to my liking, I save it which places the result alongside my original raw file. From there I can send it to a variety of destinations - print lab, client, social media, email, etc. Each destination has its parameters for file size, quality and pixel count, so I've created a set of output presets with all of the destination-specific parameters saved for repeated use - which makes life very easy.

This is just a very broad overview - but keep in mind that each software has it's file management strategy and they are not transferable from one application to another. I like the catalog in Lightroom, many are befuddled by it. But if you learn it - which you can do in a weekend with a little guidance - you'll be glad you did. You do have to be fairly comfortable with file management using Windows Explorer or Apple's Finder.

Enjoy and good luck!