Keep Raw Files? (Page 3): I would highly, and I do mean HIGHLY, recommend getting an External Hard-drive. I have a 500GB Western Digital and LOVE IT!!! You can get 1, 2 & even 3TB...

FramerMCB Loc: Northern, ID (formerly Portland, OR area)

I would highly, and I do mean HIGHLY, recommend getting an External Hard-drive. I have a 500GB Western Digital and LOVE IT!!! You can get 1, 2 & even 3TB (Terabyte) ones now for between $100 - $150 and they are great for backing up files. And an easy way to transfer files from one machine to another.

What happens if your laptop crashes? Or your HD in the laptop decides to "give it up" one day?

I save both processed and RAW files to backup, always have, always will. For me, it is done for both peace of mind, and in knowing that I can always go back to the original and continue tweaking it or, change it back to how it came out in camera...a very good feeling.

ottopj Loc: Annapolis, MD USA

Store them somewhere else. Anywhere, but on your computer. Sooner or later it will be stolen, crash, be destroyed, etc., and you will lose everything.

lsimpkins Loc: SE Pennsylvania

minniev wrote:

I never delete a RAW file unless I am sure it is f... (show quote)

This is very much my philosophy and workflow. I seldom even create JPEGs unless I Know I will be uploading to a photo sharing site. And LR does not alter your out of camera raw files, so you always have access to the original that contains all the data that was captured.

jeryh Loc: Oxfordshire UK

You have really no option but to get an external hard drive; either that, or stop doing raw- I had that problem, ran out of disk space until I was put wise by another pro- I stopped doing RAW; no problem since, the jpegs are every bit as good, no one else notices the difference, I don't mess about in front of the damn computer so much, and my computer isn't bunged up !

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

amehta wrote:

It's certainly easier when the programs you use can use the same file formats as input and output. :-)

:thumbup:

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

tsanders30004 wrote:

Do you keep your raw files after you have done all or your post processing? i.e., convert to JPG and then delete the RAW file... I am reluctant to delete my raw files but they require a lot of disk space and I work on a laptop. Since I don't want to work using external hard drives, I keep all my photos on the laptop disk. But sooner or later I will run of of space... Comments?

I don't delete my raw files, because I may have a change of heart at a later time on a certain image (like creating something entirely different), then I can just go back to the original and start over. I really don't need to do that, since I always save my files as TIFF's and that preserves all my layers and transparencies, so I can go back and make changes at any point. But a lot of times I just prefer to start over with the original. It's just like with film and getting back to your negatives/slides and trying something new.

Crwiwy Loc: Devon UK

tsanders30004 wrote:

Do you keep your raw files after you have done all or your post processing? i.e., convert to JPG and then delete the RAW file... I am reluctant to delete my raw files but they require a lot of disk space and I work on a laptop. Since I don't want to work using external hard drives, I keep all my photos on the laptop disk. But sooner or later I will run of of space... Comments?

My HDD automatically backs up to an external HDD every evening and I manually back up my files to a separate external HDD every week. That drive is only plugged in for the backup and then removed.

I keep the best RAW files in case I want to reprocess later but the majority I have decided not worth keeping so delete them and just keep the JPG's.

After working with JPG's at 100% I sometimes have large files so run them through Faststone File Resizer (free) to reduce the compression to 80 or 90%. :thumbup:

Bram boy Loc: Vancouver Island B.C. Canada

tsanders30004 wrote:

Do you keep your raw files after you have done all or your post processing? i.e., convert to JPG and then delete the RAW file... I am reluctant to delete my raw files but they require a lot of disk space and I work on a laptop. Since I don't want to work using external hard drives, I keep all my photos on the laptop disk. But sooner or later I will run of of space... Comments?

after your done , just delete every thing and be done with it . or your going to wind up with hundereds of disk that you will never look at again . the same as
old pictures albim or a few hundered VHS tapes of old movies that you haven't looked at in 25 years . and old music tapes collecting dust . just clean it up as you go along .

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

Depends entirely on how well you photograph and what you do with them.
If you need to keep copies 'to hand' then you need to store them. If you are hoping that they will improve with age (they don't) delete them. If you are selling them then do your print run and burn to disk so that you have a hard copy to prove ownership if needed.

UtahBob Loc: Southern NJ

G Brown wrote:

Depends entirely on how well you photograph and what you do with them.

:thumbup:

G Brown wrote:

you need to keep copies 'to hand' then you need to store them. If you are hoping that they will improve with age (they don't) delete them.

Sometimes you can improve with age ... years ago I ran brackets sometimes, way before hdr was fashionable, but not with the intent of creating an hdr/tonemapped image but only to try and capture the scene at different exposures because I wasn't confident that I was going to get it right in camera. Now I can go back and work those files with the current crop of hdr software.

Same with panoramas, the stitching is better, the blending is better, and the masking is awesome. The hardware is better and you can edit large images in a breeze where previously you'd settle because it just either took too long or you needed a smaller pixel size to fit within the 30,000 limits of PS for instance. You can just get a better result today.

tsanders30004 Loc: Atlanta, GA

Thanks (to everyone) for your constructive comments... I have decided to keep RAW files and deal with disk space...

I recently found a RAW file that I though was beyond hope; but new tricks in Lightroom rescued that photo - and who knows how many more are like that... (Converting from Aperture to Lightroom...)

Im convinced... Thanks again.