What format do you use to save your photos?

[Rodamu]

I use Nikon cameras and Adobe Photoshop, so have saved my photos in the Adobe .dng format. Any comments as to whether this is the best format to use?

 

[Replytoken]

I used to save all of my raw images in their native format and a copy in DNG which I imported into LR. I will soon be dropping the DNG copies and just working with the native format in LR (and saving backup copies to backup drives). I understand and appreciate what the DNG offers, but am comfortable with just having the native raw files.

--Ken

 

[DRwyoming]

I use Nikon cameras and Adobe Photoshop, so have saved my photos in the Adobe .dng format. Any comments as to whether this is the best format to use?

There's nothing really wrong with the .DNG format but it does introduce extra steps into the workflow and I'm not sure it really returns much value for those extra steps.

I remember the big push Adobe made around .DNG about seventeen years ago, they basically made a pitch that there are too many raw standards and a risk of raw file obsolescence with manufacturer proprietary formats that change with each camera release. As time has passed it really doesn't seem like .DNG has caught on in a big way nor has raw file obsolescence turned into a real problem as ACR (and LR which uses the same engine) and other raw processing tools continue to support even very obscure cameras from the early days of digital.

If you don't mind the extra steps at import or decide to store edited images in .DNG format it's probably fine but like Ken above I'm fine with just saving the original raw files out of the camera and then saving edited files as: jpegs, layered or flattened tiffs or sometimes .PSD (photoshop format files) if I want to save all my layers for some project.

 

[Replytoken]

The two primary advantages of DNG for me were file integrity (and the ability to check for it) and no sidecar files. But I eventually realized that I would need to actively check for file rot, which can take time, and that I was storing all of my edits in the LR catalog and not writing them to the file, so the value of the DNG format declined to the point where I just decided to stick with the raw files, especially since I was saving copies of them anyways.

--Ken

 

[DaleJr]

I save all my files in their native RAW format. When finished with my edits, I export them to jpgs.

 

[Jmaes]

I just save a copy of the native raw format (.nef in my case) as well as the processed version in either .tif or .jpg.

 

[Snapshot2020]

Of the NEF files selected to process they are converted to jpegs and both files are saved. Backup storage isn't all that expensive and with those 45 mp files they eventually need a lot of storage space.

 

[bleirer]

The downside to .dng if you throw out the native raw is you can never go back to the manufacturer software for demosaicing. Say there is some dramatic innovation next year. You are tethered to Adobe or software that reads .dng. Save the raw in their native format separately even if you convert a copy to .dng.

 

[JohnW]

Save all the raw files in their raw format . Processed files and files for print saved as tiff's. Only convert and save from tiff to jpeg , those files to be posted on social media or in portfolio.

 

[Woodpecker]

Any format other than the native RAW format of the camera will cause loss of information and even DNG is no exception. Thus I store my originals as NEF and the final processing results as JPGs, who then are subject to tagging and IPTC data enrichment. I am a confessing Adobe-ophobic and because I am using DxO PL4 as my only processing tool, there is no need for me to deal with anything else but NEF and JPG. All the processing changes are stored in sidecar files related to the original NEF and my workflow allows me to find back any original based on the information stored with my JPGs.

The reason for storing the exported results in JPG is simply because it is the most common and still the best if it comes to handling meta data.
I used TIF just an an intermediate format in times where I purely worked with Nikon software and where in rear occasions I wanted to have an extra go in the good old Capture NX2 with its U-Point technology for selective processing, because this "granny" software could not interprete the NEFs of newer camera models any more.
But since I changed over to PL4 this problem is gone .

For those interested, here are a couple of thoughts Nasim Mansurov published regarding native RAW versus DNG:

• DNG vs RAW - Which One is Better and Why
• Why I No Longer Convert RAW Files to DNG

Of course those working with Adobe software miht not come around it, but from my perspective DNG was an attempt by Adobe to achieve something similar for photos as they did with the PDF format for documents and IMHO I am happy they didn't succeed .

 

[RichF]

I save my raw files as .nef but now that I may process some with PureRaw I may save the .DNG files also. I then save the Photoshop .PSD or .PSB file. I still have lots of disk space (I purchased an OWC 6 bay enclosure which I filled with 6 x 10TB drives which I run as a RAID 5 system). Of course I had buy a second copy of the system to have a backup so the costs quickly added up ...

 

[RichF]

Of course those working with Adobe software miht not come around it, but from my perspective DNG was an attempt by Adobe to achieve something similar for photos as they did with the PDF format for documents and IMHO I am happy they didn't succeed .

I agree. DNG gives up too much information and is not a standard that is widely available. I would stick with the raw format. Even if canon, nikon, sony abandons their raw format, it will be support for years to come. If you go outside the Adobe universe, DNG may not be readable

 

[NorthernFocus]

NEF. For the ones that get processed in layers I keep the PSD until satisfied that I have a final product. Then save as tiff and get rid of the PSD which is often much larger file. For phone shots etc that are jpeg originals I convert to DNG for the master copy.

 

[Backdoor Arts]

Raw files are saved in their native formats. Processed files are saved with layers as PSD files and then JPEGs are created from them and posted as desired. I only store JPEG if it's something specifically for prints or other reproduction at the appropriate size and resolution.

I like having the fully annotated PSD files as over time I will go back and revisit images as my post-processing routines and software change. In some instances I'll start from scratch, in others I'll go back a few layers and refinish.

I work off of a 500GB Macbook, so I generally don't keep anything other than recent images on the local drive, moving images off every 45-60 days onto external storage which is double backed up. Now that I'm shooting with an R5 I'm finding that I need to move more often as the raw file sizes have increased significantly.

 

[Viathelens]

Everything is either RAW, or if processed in another app than LrC, a tif. Sometimes in PS it might be a different format, depending upon how large the file is. When I need an image in JPEG I export it from LrC, use it, then delete it from my computer. In LrC the catalog saves the metadata automatically so I don't need to use the Save command. The metadata and the RAW files are kept separately until they are "baked in" via export from LrC.