Why don't raw files show up in Photos?

Question

Why don't raw files show up in Photos?

I cannot understand what's happening to my raw files in Photos.

I imported some photos from a folder on my iMac's hard disk. When I did the import, "Copy items to the Photo Library" was checked in the Preferences. And it seems to have worked. In Photos, where the files for today's import are displayed, I see a file named "_1010402.JPG". If I use Spotlight to search for "_1010402" (that is, eliminating the filetype suffix) I find both _1010402.JPG and _1010402.ORF (Olympus Raw File format). And they're both in the same folder inside the Photos Library hierarchy. But I couldn't see the raw file in Photos. All I see is the JPEG.

I can see some of my other ORF raw files in Photos.

I asked Spotlight to display those files in their enclosing folder. I selected the raw file, right-clicked and pulled over to Share > Add to Photos... Then the raw file became visible in Photos. But only then.

I read about the option of clicking on the JPEG and going to Image > Use Raw as Original, but I have never actually seen that command active. It's always grayed out. Does not matter what file I select.

Please explain. If Photos isn't going to let me edit my raw files, that's going to be a serious problem (and one I wish I'd learned about before importing thousands of photos).

Thanks in advance.

Will

iMac 2017

macOS High Sierra (10.13.2)

Photos 3.0

"Download originals to this device" is enabled in the iCloud Library preferences for Photos

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017), macOS High Sierra (10.13.2)

Posted on Dec 29, 2017 2:42 PM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,501 points

Dec 30, 2017 1:18 PM in response to William Porter

Will,

to confirm your second post - that is exactly what is happening. RAW and JPEG pairs are imported stacked as one image, unfortunately with the JPEG original as the default. It would be much more convenient, if the RAW file were the default.

What I am doing after importing a pair is to duplicate the pair with "Image > Duplicate". Then I can set the second version to the RAW as the original and compare them easily.

I did some searches and poked around for a bit in Photos, and after a couple of minutes, I noticed that the J finally did change to an R. I guess that the database takes a while to refresh the display or something.

Are you using iCloud Photo Library? These changes will be shown, after the sync with iCloud is complete.

But my question now is, why does Photos not recognize these pairs consistently? I'm importing lots of folders that contain raw + jpeg pairs. They're always named identically except for the filetype extension, so there will be (for example) 12345.JPEG and 12345.ORF

I noticed this too. Sometimes the pairs are not recognized, if the capture time is not identical for some reason.

And sometimes the pairs are not recognized, if one of the two files is a duplicate.For example, if I already imported the RAW file and later try to import the pair, it will not work. I first have to delete the previous import from Recently deleted and iCloud, and then I can import the pair as a pair.

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Answer 2

Dec 29, 2017 3:14 PM in response to William Porter

Okay, I want to follow up on my own post. I think I understand what's going on better and would be grateful if somebody could either confirm that I have got it now or tell me what I'm missing. I dug into Jason Snell's excellent Take Control Of Photos book and found the answers to some questions. So here's how I understand things now.

Let's say I start with a folder containing six files: three raw files, and their three simultaneously-generated (out of camera) JPEG counterparts. Let's say all of these files have the same creation date.

101.raw

101.jpg

102.raw

102.jpg

103.raw

103.jpg

After I import this folder into Photos (with "Copy items to Photo Library" checked in Preferences), when I go to the recently imported display and review the import — or if I go to the 'Moment' for that date - I will only see three files. But if I use Spotlight to search and look inside the folder where Photos has copied the files from the import, there will be six files. So Photos has in fact imported all six files. But apparently Photos notices that there are raw + jpeg pairs here but only displays the jpegs.

Initially, while I view these files in the browser, all three will display a "J".

Now, if I click on an image and then hit Enter/Return (to open the image in Edit mode), then the "Use Raw as Original" command becomes available in the Image menu.

And if I invoke that command (use raw), then hit Enter/Return again to save the image, there will still only be three images displayed in that moment but the image I just edited should display an "R" now rather than "J".

Have I got it so far?

*

If so, I have two followup questions.

First, I noticed that, after invoking "Use Raw as Original" and clicking Enter/Return, the letter displayed on the image did not change to an R immediately. I thought I'd done something wrong at first, but when I went back into Edit mode and pulled down the Image menu, the command now reads "Use JPEG as Original" — so it seems to have saved my preference for raw on this file. I did some searches and poked around for a bit in Photos, and after a couple of minutes, I noticed that the J finally did change to an R. I guess that the database takes a while to refresh the display or something.

Second, is there a way to tell Photos to use the Raw file as the default for editing? I can see that one might occasionally wish to edit the jpeg, so the option needs to be there. But 97.2% of the time I am going to want to base my edits on the raw file, not the jpeg.

Thanks.

Will

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Answer 3

Dec 30, 2017 12:07 PM in response to William Porter

Okay, a day later, I'm pretty sure my second post was generally right — but now I have a new question.

Why does Photos fail to recognize a raw + jpeg pair?

To recap: After I posted my first question in this thread it became clearer to me that Photos is trying to import individual "captures" even if each capture is represented by two files — a raw file + a jpeg.

But my question now is, why does Photos not recognize these pairs consistently? I'm importing lots of folders that contain raw + jpeg pairs. They're always named identically except for the filetype extension, so there will be (for example) 12345.JPEG and 12345.ORF. I expect to see just one thumbnail marked "J" in Photos, but instead, I frequently see TWO FILES. In other words, Photos isn't recognizing the pairs. What's up with this?

Will

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