R a w P r o c e s s i n g S o l u t i o n s B y E t h a n G .

Sa l w e n

RAW Conversion Workflow Basics

“What is the best way for me to get my
RAW (Canon) files converted to TIFFs?”
One of the magazine’s faithful readers,
Mike P., sent us this great, basic question. I
e-mailed Mike some basic advice explain-
ing, in part, that: “There are any num-
ber of ways to go from Canon RAW files
(CR2s) to TIFFs, depending on one’s indi-
vidual workflow. Since I don’t know your
workflow, I’ll assume that you are looking
for the most basic solution and so I will
recommend using Lightroom 3 for the
entire process.”
In this column I will answer Mike’s
question more fully. It’s a great question
because it’s so basic, and basic information
is the most important information. After
all, if we haven’t mastered the basics we
get stuck and frustrated as we try to deal
with nuances. As Mike wrote: “I’m having
a heck of a time deciphering the RAW di-
lemma. Too much info out there and some
of it is conflicting.” Opening a RAW file in Photoshop launches Adobe Camera Raw, a powerful RAW processing engine.
This is done by clicking “Open Image,” which converts the RAW file into a Photoshop file that opens into
Because Mike asked about the mechan- Photoshop, making it ready for further editing.
ics of making TIFF files from RAW files
(and not about specific processing con- for all serious photographers to fall in what makes a RAW file so special—from
trols), I assume that his “RAW dilemma” love with RAW files because, unlike JPEG a workflow point of view. And then I’m
might best be summed up by this ques- files, RAW files require an extra step of going to tell you how to convert one RAW
tion: “What is the basic process of con- processing. Luckily, with programs like file into one TIFF file using Photoshop.
verting RAW files to other, more usable Lightroom this processing has become This might seem like overkill, but this will
file formats?” easier and quicker. Ironically, because of help you understand the fundamentals of
Lightroom’s robust, intuitive nature, this the RAW processing workflow—a work-
RAW Files Require Special Processing extra processing step has almost become flow at the heart of modern photography
RAW image files are unusable as cap- invisible. And so it can be difficult to see that can be easy to lose track of within
tured in-camera. Therefore, at its most exactly what is taking place in the RAW Lightroom.
fundamental, RAW processing is the act processing workflow.
of converting RAW files into other us- In fact if you work with RAW files in A RAW is Always a RAW
able types of image files. RAW files can be Lightroom you might not even realize As Gertrude Stein once wrote, “A
converted into Photoshop files for further that you are constantly converting RAW RAW file is a RAW file is a RAW file.”
editing. They can be converted into TIFF files to other formats. For example, you Okay, as you well know, she really wrote
files for publication or delivery to clients. import a day’s worth of RAW images into about a rose, but the sentiment might
And RAW files can be converted to JPEGs Lightroom, sort and output a Web gal- even be truer for a RAW file. When it
of various sizes and quality for printing, lery. When Lightroom makes the gallery comes to the RAW workflow, what you
sharing and use in Web galleries. it has to push every RAW image through need to understand is that once you cre-
RAW files are the capture format of the program’s raw processing “engine.” ate a RAW file (during in-camera cap-
choice for today’s photographers be- This same engine can be used to very eas- ture) you can never, ever alter the raw im-
cause, quite simply, they contain far, far ily make TIFF files from RAW files. age data in that RAW file. In other words,
more visual data than the other available I’m going to tell you how to do so in a RAW file is a read-only image format.
capture format: JPEG. It took a few years a moment, but first I’m going to explain You couldn’t write over or alter the image
data in a RAW file if you wanted to. Don’t
let the DNG file format get you confused.
Yes, you can covert proprietary RAW file
formats, such as Nikon NEF and Canon
CR2 files into to DNG files. However, the
DNG is still a RAW file and it contains
exactly the same raw image data as the
file from which it was generated.
Because you cannot alter the raw im-
age data in a RAW file, all RAW process-
ing requires you to create new files from
the original RAW file. The files you gen-
erate from a RAW file are called “deriva-
tive files.” You can make countless deriva-
tive files from a single RAW file. Before
the all-in-one solution of programs like
Lightroom came along, the typical RAW
workflow involved converting a RAW into
a Photoshop file (PSD) and then convert-
ing that into TIFFs and JPEGs. Lightroom
will now convert RAW files directly into
any kind of file you need, bypassing the
initial conversion into a PSD file.

Converting RAW to TIFF a la Photoshop

This is how you convert a RAW file into
a TIFF file, first by processing the RAW
file into a Photoshop file using Adobe
Camera Raw. Even if you never plan on
doing this, you will find it helpful to un-
derstand the process.
1. Open a RAW file up in Photoshop.
This action automatically launches Adobe
Camera Raw (ACR), a “plug-in” applica-
tion that is the powerful RAW processing
engine that is part of Photoshop.
2. Click “Open Image.” This compels
ACR to process your RAW file, convert-
ing it into a PSD file, which opens in
Photoshop.
3. Select “Save As.”
4. Select “TIFF” under “Format.”
5. Click Save.
This is remains a valid way to make
TIFFs from RAWs, but there are quicker,
more automated ways to do so in Light-
room alone. The real point is to note that
to open a RAW file into Photoshop takes
processing with Adobe Camera Raw.
Noted that we did make adjustments
to the RAW image in Adobe Camera Raw,
which is important to get the best conver-
sion going into Photoshop. We also did
not further adjust the image in Photo-
shop, where we could have refined editing,
resized and performed output sharpen-
ing. Those are all important steps, but our
Adobe Camera Raw controls (left) and Lightroom Develop module controls (right) may look different,
but functionally they are exactly the same.
focus here is to understand overarching
concepts in the RAW workflow. Unless
you really need to get into Photoshop, I
suggest you handle the various aspects of
RAW conversion in Lightroom. It’s faster.
However, I also suggest you realize that,
in the background, Lightroom is basically
going through these same steps
Two Keys to Lightroom RAW
When working with RAW files in
Lightroom, it is helpful to know two
things:
• The RAW processing engine used by
Lightroom is exactly the same as Adobe
Camera Raw—at least in function. The
form might appear a little different, but
the engine under the hood is identical,
and the same controls affect your RAW
processing exactly the same.
• When you adjust the controls in the
Lightroom Develop module you are not
altering the original RAW file. As noted,
this is impossible, but this fact might seem
confusing because as you work, you will
see your image preview change drasti-
cally. This is called “parametric editing”
or “nondestructive editing.” What you are
doing is writing instructions to the Light-
room database to indicate how you want
your RAW file processed when you actu-
ally get around to processing it.
RAWs to TIFFs in Lightroom
You now know how to use Photoshop
(in conjunction with Adobe Camera Raw)
to convert a RAW to a TIFF. You also
know that Lightroom (via the Develop
module interface) is also using the power
of the same RAW processing engine in
Adobe Camera Raw. Adding some image
editing (of the nondestructive kind), let’s

The “Export…” functionality in Lightroom is incredibly powerful, and a great tool for processing indi-
vidual RAW images. Here the file format has been set to TIFF and resized to 6-inches long at 300ppi.
now take a look at a RAW to TIFF work-
flow in Lightroom.
1. Import your RAW files into Light-
room. This will not actually move or copy
the files (unless you ask the program to),
but rather “creates a link” between the file
and the program.
2. Use the Library module to sort and
select the files you want to convert.
3. Use the Develop module to adjust the
RAW images you have selected.
4. Use the “Export” function to export
selected RAW files as TIFFs.
Lightroom’s “Export” function is in-
credibly versatile, and it gives you a lot
of power in converting RAW files into
all critical image formats. This is prob-
ably the single most efficient way to make
derivative files from RAWs. For example,
when converting to TIFFs you can select
color space, bit depth and resizing op-
tions. Besides file type, you can control
a number of other factors such as where
files are saved, how they are named, what
degree of sharpening to apply and if you
want to add a watermark.
Have RAW Fun in Lightroom
Lightroom is fantastic for working
with RAW files because the robust RAW
processing engine works in the back-
ground for so many jobs—invisibly and
seamlessly. While it was once necessary to
take RAW files through Adobe Camera
Raw into Photoshop, we can now basically
cut out the middleman. In Lightroom,
RAW processing has become so seamless
it’s easy not to realize that it’s taking place.
This is pretty cool, but it’s even cooler to
realize what’s taking place, to appreciate it,
and use our knowledge to fuel our image-
making efforts.
Ethan G. Salwen is a journalist based in Buenos
Aires, Argentina. His passion is recording Latin
American culture, and he also covers a wide
variety of topics for professional photographers,
including profiles, techniques and industry
trends. Salwen studied photography at Rochester
Institute of Technology. Visit his blog at www.
aftercapture.com.