RAW file import to Photos; OS X 10.10.3

My camera's JPEG processing is almost always better than the default JPEGs created by either Aperture or Photos for OS X.

Sure.

Not to mention the time needed to create them in the applications, which slows down the import process quite a bit.

Well that doesn't make sense, as they are created anyway, and if you use in camera editing on the jpeg you actually be generating two sets of previews on import.

If the shot doesn't need work I'd like to throw the RAW away and not pay for the storage it uses up (locally and in the cloud).

This is easy:

File -> New Smart Album

Photo -> is -> Raw

Find them, and then you can delete the ones you don't want.

Well that doesn't make sense, as they are created anyway, and if you use in camera editing on the jpeg you actually be generating two sets of previews on import.

JPEG "previews" are not created automatically if you shoot JPEG+RAW. The JPEG created by the camera is used as the actual image (exactly the same as if you hadn't shot RAW at all). If you manually switch to RAW ("Use RAW as original") the Photos for OS X application will then create a JPEG image based on the RAW file.

This is easy:

File -> New Smart Album

Photo -> is -> Raw

Find them, and then you can delete the ones you don't want.

First: This filter only shows images where RAW is used as original, not a JPEG+RAW pair where JPEG is used as original. (This behaviour was not was I expected, I was surprised when I tried it out.)

Second, and worse, when you delete one of these images both the JPEG and RAW image will be deleted (i.e. your JPEG version of the pair is also thrown away).

I'm pretty sure Apple has not gotten around to implementing proper handling of JPEG+RAW pairs yet. I used it extensively in Aperture for years (see my original post for main workflow) but it seems like it didn't make the cut for Photos 1.0. I'd be happy to be proven wrong though.

morberg wrote:

First: This filter only shows images where RAW is used as original, not a JPEG+RAW pair where JPEG is used as original. (This behaviour was not was I expected, I was surprised when I tried it out.)

Second, and worse, when you delete one of these images both the JPEG and RAW image will be deleted (i.e. your JPEG version of the pair is also thrown away).

exactly, thats the most annoying issue or missing feature in Photos for me - my harddrive will be full in weeks, for sure!

Stacking JPEG+RAW is not a bad idea, but it lacks a appropriate workflow to manage, edit and delete one of them.

morberg,

I think I understand your explanation and I have to say my experience has been similar. I shoot RAW+JPEG on a 5D Mark III and when I did an import fro the camera with Photos, what I got was a confusing mess consisting of what I later learned to be a stacked RAW+JPEG pair plus a separate JPEG. However, something struck me as odd as to what I was seeing, so I deleted everything and decided to import my photos directly from a reader.

When I imported only my RAW (CR2) files ( I shoot RAW to CF and JPEG to SD so this is an absolute total, firewalled no-braier), most RAW files have the R icon in the lower left corner, which to me implies that Photos automatically extracts the imbedded JPEG in the RAW file for the preview. Hence there should be no need to import your JPEGs whatsoever unless you want to see the impact of camera settings that may have been selected at the time.

However, this is not always the case. Not all RAW files have a stacked R icon in the lower left corner. Most do but some do not and for these there doesn't appear to be any way to create the JPEG pair from the RAW file even though it's obviously there. Why Photos sees this JPEG for some RAW files and not others is a total mystery to me. To add to the confusion when I deleted my RAW files and re-imported them, some that didn't have a stacked R icon the first time did after the second import.

I have to conclude that the importer for Photos is simply buggy and inconsistent, and why Apple didn't do a better QA check of something this simple is just as perplexing as the results I'm experiencing. Perhaps if I have the energy I'll drag my laptop to the local Apple store and asking them what the heck is going on.

Thanks for the input!

I feel you.I have developed a pretty lean workflow. I do it two ways. Mostly method one, lately. (I like having both and storage is cheap)

METHOD ONE: (uses most space but keeps your digital negatives in place for future)

1. I import photos and use the Photos EDIT to tweak photos that only need subtle tweaks. OR...

2. After import I use the Photos EDIT tool to edit in RAW mode for photos that REALLY need help.

METHOD TWO: (requires less space, but you lose the original RAW)

1. Import photos.

2. Pick ones that are borked (or all to really save space) and FILE-EXPORT-ORIGINAL. (exports RAW)

3. Load those exports in to Photoshop and tweak using Adobe Camera Raw then save. (as jpg)

4. Delete the previously imported files from Photos. (kills jpegs and the raw)

5. Import new JPEGS tweaked from Adobe Raw.

Ta-da!

Most people who shoot both RAW and Jpeg, like my self, do it for archival purposes. I only archive RAW photos that are loosely edited from the entire shoot but I save all jpegs. The RAW files that do not make the first cut get trashed. It saves a ton of space when a photographers archives are in the hundreds of thousands of images.

Interesting thread. I have another issue which at the moment I can't check because I'm exporting photos to my external drive. I have used Aperture for years and recently imported my Aperture library to Photos. i have since noticed that my Raw files are now all JPEG. I came here for an answer to this and saw this thread so when I can get into photos again I'll check to see if there is also a Raw file or if it has miraculously done away with them. I don't shoot in Raw and JPEG, just a Raw so slightly different scenario to others here. But I'd be interested to know if anyone else had the same result when importing their Aperture library.

You can trick Photos into not stacking the RAW and JPG by just importing them separately, first the RAWs then their JPG counterparts. For me, they then appear next to each other rather than stacked and you can smart album and delete away.

This is perhaps a bit off topic, but I like to keep my RAW (.RAF) files and my jpegs separated in Photos. If I import them in two steps, Photos doesn't stack them. I use Image Capture to import my photos from my Fuji X100T to a folder. I sort the folder by file size, which lets me quickly select the smaller jpegs, and drag and drop them into Photos. Then I go back and select the larger RAW files and drag and drop them. I am sure there is an even quicker way, but this works for me...

thank you so much! not remotely inuitive. delighted to find this answer 🙂

Hi guys

I have a challenge.

I have automatically uploaded RAW files together with JEGS on to my Photos but there is now limited space.

I'd like to keep the JPEG versions, if I can for easy reference, then take out the RAW files and save them on to a remote hard drive.

Is this possible and if so how?

If this is not possible how can I select all those images that are in RAW and stacked with a JPEG version so that I can saved them on to my hard drive then delete them from Photos? I've tried using the SMART ALBUM function but failed.

Many thanks

Louis

for the future do not shoot a format you do not want

for now the only way is to use a smart album (and yes that does work so you need to start a new thread with details of your system and your problem to get help - threakjacking an old solved thread is not the best way to get help) and export the unmodified originals then delete them from Photos

LN

I'm trying to help someone with this scenario but have run into menu options being grayed out, not available. For instance, when a stack is double-clicked and Edit is selected, when we want to select Use RAW as original from the Image menu, it's not available to chose. Same thing for trying to right-click the stack - Use RAW as original is gray. Have tried various ideas on her iMac that have been suggested here, but nothing has helped. I tried creating a Smart Album, but it was after the library had been brought in Photos from iPhoto so I gather it won't work. I meet with her again tomorrow and plan to experiment with importing the RAW and JPG images separately. Hopefully the RAW images we import will show in her Smart Album this time.

Previous to upgrading to El Capitan and acquiring Photos, this lady used iPhoto quite happily. She's terribly frustrated that she can no longer access her RAW images as they are used for her painting business. I haven't tried to export her RAW images, but I wonder if that's a possibility to get her RAW images out of Photos? If all else fails, we might just reinstall iPhoto on her iMac so she can go back to what's familiar?!

Thanks for the explanation, Morberg, of why the Smart Album failed to work for the RAW images brought over from iPhoto into Photos. I'm having fits trying to help a friend access her RAW images since she upgraded to the El Capitan Photos after using iPhoto previously. I'm finding that I'm not fond of Photos and am very happy our director has helped us keep iPhoto!!

Since iPhoto is dead and with some future upgrade will totally stop working it is a better idea to take the time to lean Photos now while it is not an emergency - it is a new program and is different and does have a learning curve but overall it is much better than iPhoto and sooner or later you will not have iPhoto available

LN