Rangefinder Magazine
April 2006

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Basic RAW + JPEG File Workflow Neil Van Niekerk
 

When Neil van Niekerk opens the image in Phase One Capture One, which he now uses frequently, he instantly knows what he will want to do to the final image—in this case, some diffusion via Gaussian Blur and some burning in to diminish the background tonality. Original made with Canon EOS 1DS and 70–200mm f/2.8L lens. Credit: Neil van Niekerk for Milton Gil Photography; Above credit: Photo by Neil van Niekerk

Editor’s note: Neil van Niekerk of Planet Neil (www.planetneil. com), a unique web site for digital shooters, has some terrific advice for a RAW file workflow. Neil shoots nearly exclusively in the RAW file format because of the adjustment flexibility and because RAW is much more forgiving in terms of exposure and color balance than the JPEG format.

The main disadvantage to using the RAW format is that the files are so much larger than JPEG files. This means more memory space and more resources are required to process the files. An appealing aspect of the RAW format is that with JPEGs you’d have to come up with a system where you keep multiple copies and multiple backups so you don’t overwrite your originals. With RAW, you always have your originals to work on, and you can change them without causing file degradation.

My digital workflow is structured around my work as a wedding photographer. I photograph between one and three weddings each weekend, and I shoot between 800–1200 images at each wedding in RAW file format. My digital workflow is aimed at getting the best possible image in a reasonable amount of time. My workflow also assumes that I will convert the RAW files in the last phase to JPEGs for proofing.

Firstly, if you already have Photoshop CS2, you don’t need anything more than Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) for your RAW workflow. There is much to be said for working entirely within Bridge and ACR; however, I tend to mix and match various other programs in my workflow. I shoot with both Canon and Nikon cameras, and my workflow is slightly different for each. I like using Canon’s proprietary software, Digital Photo Professional (DPP). It is an easy and fast program to use. Nikon’s software is more limited for a volume workflow, so for volume work the other RAW editor programs are far more efficient.

I use BreezeBrowser Pro for my initial workflow, and for the actual editing process, I work with Phase One Capture One Pro, which is an impressively fast tool for editing images in RAW.

This workflow will certainly change over time as software specific to RAW workflows is developed. At the time of this writing, things are heating up with the release of Aperture (see article on page 66), and the recent release of Adobe’s Lightroom (Beta).

Workflow Stages 1. Image transfer—copy images from CompactFlash cards to hard disc. 2. Verify RAW files and rename—let Bridge or Capture One generate previews. 3. Create back-ups to DVD and/or other hard discs. 4. Edit RAW files—select, sort, add metadata, and correct RAW files. 5. Production—process to JPEG for proofing/web galleries.

Neil van Niekerk captures all of his originals in RAW (NEF) format because it gives him the flexibility and control over each image that he demands. Credit: Neil van Niekerk for Milton Gil Photography

The workflow is a methodical system to make sure I always have back-ups so I can retrace my steps at any point, in case I make mistakes or there are problems. The most important step for a good digital workflow is to make sure you have the best possible exposure and the best possible white balance when taking the actual photograph. The closer the image is to ideal, the less work you have to do in postproduction. Keeping your exposures and white balance consistent for an entire sequence of images, will greatly speed up your workflow, besides giving you optimum image quality. By shooting in manual exposure mode, all the photos in a sequence will be the same, so if there are any slight errors, groups of images can be adjusted, instead of laboring over individual images. This will drastically cut down on the time needed to spend on them in post-processing.

1. Image Transfer and Downloading Images
Since I use a PC, I simply use Windows Explorer to transfer images to my computer. Make extra sure to download all the folders that the camera created. It is important to copy files when you download and not merely move them. With Nikon files, I use Nikon Transfer, which works very well. With Canon files, Breeze Systems’ Downloader Pro handles downloading the folders in Canon’s multiple folder system very well. With my cameras synced for exact (clock) time, it is an easy matter to combine im-ages from both cameras into a single folder and have them appear chronologically.

2. Verifying Images and Renaming Files
Many of the image browsers show the embedded JPEGs and don’t show the actual images generated from the RAW files. It is therefore possible to have corrupt RAW files without realizing it. Therefore, I don’t format my CF cards until I am sure my RAW files are not corrupt. If I need to re-use my CF cards the next day, I can’t rely on programs such as DPP, Nikon Browser or BreezeBrowser to tell me that my images have been corrupted.

I like to use either Capture One or Adobe Camera Raw to generate previews before I proceed. It takes some time for Capture One and ACR to generate thumbnails, but the thumbnails are more accurate than the thumbnails you see in DPP, and the previews are a way to verify your RAW files.

Even though I like using DPP because is a fast way of editing Canon RAW files, I can’t rely on it to verify the images. As far as I know, DPP uses the embedded thumbnails, so DPP doesn’t generate previews like other RAW editor programs. It is one of the aspects that makes DPP a fast and efficient RAW program. But if I have to have Capture One or ACR generate the previews as a way of verifying my files, I may just edit my RAW files in those programs instead of DPP, since the previews are more accurate.

Credit: Neil van Niekerk for Milton Gil Photography

After verifying the images, I order the images chronologically based on the time the image was created. I then batch-rename the images, using Breeze- Browser Pro. Although numerous programs allow batch renaming, I like BreezeBrowser for this since it allows me to simultaneously rename RAW + JPEG in the same folder.

Many photographers only rename their files later in their workflow, but I like to rename my files nearly immediately to have more useful and recognizable names than that generated by the camera.

3. Creating Back-ups to DVD and/or Other Hard Discs
Before editing the images, I make a DVD copy of the verified images, and also copy the files to two other hard discs.

You can’t be too paranoid about backups. Hard discs will fail—not if, but when. It is important to be thorough and consistent about this phase of the workflow. Only at this point in my workflow do I format my CF cards for the next shoot. Yet, I still double-check to make sure I downloaded all the folders and that I recognize images from each card in the folder I use for editing. I also check that the images on the computer don’t appear to be missing any sequences.

There’s no going back once you start shooting and write files onto a formatted card, so you have to be 101% sure. It even makes sense to have enough cards to do an entire weekend’s worth of shoots so you don’t have to re-use any cards until the following weekend. Now I can proceed to the actual editing stage.

4. Editing RAW Files— Selecting, Sorting, Adding Metadata, and Correcting RAW Files
During editing, start with general settings, and then work down to the specifics. In other words, do global changes to white balance and exposure first, and then touch up single images that still need it.

Since we’re editing for proofing and web galleries at this point, it will also help your speed and efficiency if you aim for good, not perfect. Apply keywords and metadata if you want to search for specific photos later on. This depends on how or whether you want to keep track of your images. This step can be earlier on in the workflow, depending on the software you work with. Keywords are recorded in various ways, which will also be affected by the software. Some write the keywords in databases. Adobe Camera Raw writes them to sidecar files, Breeze- Browser Pro writes them to the actual file.

When selecting images, it is easier to “edit in” than to “edit out.” I therefore select the photos I want to keep, i.e. those that go to proofing and for the galleries. I create two folders—“RAW selected” and “RAW discarded”—and sort my images accordingly, by adding check marks to the files I want to keep. I might delete images that just don’t make it, but generally I put the non-keepers in the “discarded” folder, in case I need to go back. Selecting and sorting the photos can be done during the editing process, since it is as much effort correcting exposure and white balance on four images as it is for 20 images.

I often use BreezeBrowser to tag images I want to keep, but I’ve found the slideshow feature of Adobe Camera Raw to be exceptionally fast with this step. Also during the editing process, rotate images, if needed. This can be done with any of the programs, so I use whichever program I am editing the RAW files in.

I then edit the RAW files for white balance and exposure. For maximum efficiency, it is essential to adjust entire sequences or groups of images together.

Credit: Photo by Neil van Nieker

It is usually better to start with the white balance first, since adjusting the white balance can often affect the exposure if you look at the various channels. If an image appears very warm and shows overexposure in the red channel, then correcting the white balance could very well stop the exposure warnings in your editing program. Do a rough white balance with the white balance tool (eye-dropper), and then fine-tune with sliders. There are tools like WhiBal Card that will help white-balance correction in post-production, but mostly I click on white shirt collars and such to bring my images close to correct white balance. (Of course, your monitor must be calibrated!) Also, adjust contrast and brightness as part of exposure correction.

Overexposure warnings will help in judging exposure. With Canon’s DPP, this is a breeze, since you can highlight multiple images and drag the exposure slider, or change the white balance by selecting another white balance or adjusting the color wheel. Because the thumbnail in DPP isn’t an accurate reflection of the image once it is adjusted, your images need to be pretty good in terms of white balance and exposure. But as a good guide to your final image, this way of editing is hard to beat in terms of speed for a rough edit.

You can then open any image in the editor window for an accurate adjustment. You can then copy and paste the overall adjustments to any of the other images. This is where DPP is limited in comparison to Capture One Pro, where you can select which adjustments you want to copy over. With DPP you can only copy overall adjustments. Hopefully, future versions of DPP will consider this.

Credit: Neil van Niekerk for Milton Gil Photography

Other RAW file editing tips:

• When adjusting underexposed images, an S-shaped curve may hide shadow noise.

• Sharpening is left as part of the conversion to JPEG, since resizing might be involved in generating proofs or images for web galleries. Either way it is better to have less sharpening in the initial workflow.

• Noise Reduction is dependent on camera make and model and chosen ISO.

• You may want to convert some images to black and white or sepia. DPP is especially great for this, and it offers various filters that will help brighten the skin tones, akin to how you would’ve used an orange or red filter with black-and-white film to brighten skin tones.

• At this point I might also crop some of the RAW files to improve composition. Capture One and Adobe Camera Raw both have brilliantly fast ways of applying crops to multiple images. So if you routinely crop large numbers of images to 4x5 or 8x10, then a RAW workflow will save you considerable effort.

• Copying the crop to multiple RAW files is faster than doing the same for the JPEGs in Photoshop. You can also custom crop in ACR for web-sized images.

5. Converting RAW Files to JPEG
At this point I should have all my images corrected for white balance and exposure and even some of them cropped. I will now make another back-up of the RAW files—this time of the corrected and edited RAW files. The next step is to convert RAW to JPEG, via batch process. If you’re using Adobe Camera Raw, you could use actions to convert to JPEG, but saving directly from ACR is much faster, and it works in the background.

Batch processing the RAW files to JPEGs can take a while, depending on how many images you are processing and your computer’s processing speed. I normally perform this function overnight so the time it takes to process the iamges isn’t a problem. Next I will burn a DVD of these JPEGs and keep copies of the converted JPEGs on one of the external hard drives.

I don’t bother converting to TIFFs because all the potentially destructive correction and editing work was done on the RAW files already, so quality is still very high. Also, there is still the option of going back to a specific RAW file should there be a quality problem. At this point, the initial RAW workflow is complete, and the JPEGs can be sent off to the lab for proofs, or web galleries can be created.

Excluding the time the software took to generate the previews, I’m usually able to finish editing a wedding within three hours. Even though all that sounds like a lot of effort, with some practice it becomes a fast, yet completely reliable way of working with digital images. And in shooting RAW, I have the flexibility of changing most of the settings again. See www.planetneil.com for more information.