RAW and JPEG are file formats. Photographers use both. JPEG images have an amount of processing and compressing done to them when a photo is taken. RAW photos have no processing done to them other than creating the file, that is.

JPEG photos can be viewed by anyone straight off the memory card. To view RAW photos, you need specialist software.

JPEG files are smaller than RAW files, but RAW files contain more data to work with than JPEG files.

These are the main differences, but what does this all mean?

You can listen to the episode here

Or keep on reading – entirely up to you

Well, that was the answery bit – let me explain.

Hi, and a very warm welcome to Episode 194 of the utterly splendid Photography Explained podcast. I’m your host, Rick, and in each episode, I will try to explain one photographic thing to you in plain English in less than 27 minutes (ish) without the irrelevant details. I’m a professionally qualified photographer based in England with a lifetime of photographic experience, which I share with you in my podcast.

RAW vs JPEG is one of those things that sounds worse than it is. By the time you finish this episode, you will fully understand RAW vs JPEG and will know exactly where you stand on this issue and how this affects not only how you take photos but also your image processing. And you will see how important the file type that we use is. 

What does JPEG mean?

JPEG is the Joint Photographic Experts Group, a group of good folk who came up with the JPEG format, a standard file format, in the late 1980s that we still use today, which should tell you all you need to know in this world of seemingly constant change. 1986, to be precise, apparently. I say, apparently, as I don’t remember this happening. This must have been in the early days of digital photography. I still had a film camera then. Get on with it, Rick.

The JPEG file format can display 16.8 million colours yet still be a relatively small file size. This is achieved by what is known as lossy compression, removing visual data that the human eye can’t see and averaging colours within an image.

Now, this might sound bad, but it is so clever – JPEG photos still look great, and the file sizes are so much smaller than, say, RAW files.

And these JPEG files capture the metadata the camera captures when a photo is taken.

More on metadata in a bit.

I have to say there has to be a loss in image quality by the very nature of what is going on, but can we actually see the difference? That is the question that really matters.

Are there different types of JPEG formats?

This is where it can get complicated, there are variations but as far as I am concerned JPEG is JPEG.

So, no is my oversimplified answer to this question.

What does RAW mean?

A RAW file is simply a file not has not been processed, other than to create the file that is. Think of a RAW file like a film negative. And you can also think of the JPEG file as the print if that helps? I quite like this comparison, which I discovered researching the episode. Yes I do research this stuff!

A RAW file is larger than a JPEG file, much larger. And a RAW photo looks rubbish when viewed after import. Dull, flat, lacking in contrast. Quite the reverse of the bright and shiny JPEG. But don’t worry – there is lots of data in there to work with, and that is the point. More data to work with than there is in the JEPG file.

Using the RAW file format you have the opportunity to capture more of the brightest highlights and more of the darkest shadows, which has to be a good thing right?

Are there different RAW formats?

Yes there are. Canon has Canon RAW, file extension CR2. Olympus has Olympus Olympus RAW File, file extension ORF.

Each camera manufacturer that has their own RAW file format has their own RAW processing software which you are given when you buy a camera. It’s not free, the cost is built into the camera. But once you have bought it you own it.

Now, I have never used any camera manufacturer’s own processing software, so that is where my knowledge ends. So I will move on.

Processing JPEG photos

A JPEG file has been processed and compressed when you take the photo. You can use a JPEG straight out of the camera, or you can do further processing yourself. Other people can open JPEGS without you doing any editing to them.

But you cannot undo what has been done to the file when the photo was taken. What has been done when the image is taken is baked into the file. You can adjust what is there but you can’t go back to the RAW file.

Processing RAW photos

Unlike a JPEG, a RAW file has not been processed. So you have to process RAW files yourself from scratch.

An original RAW file looks rubbish before processing but there is more data to work with, meaning potentially better results.

Share a RAW file with someone and they won’t be able to open It unless they have specialist software – JPEGS can be opened by anyone though.

And share an unedited RAW photo with someone and if they can open it they will think that the photo is rubbish.

A word on JPEG presets

There is a whole world of JPEG presets that you can use to get specific looks. For example, Fuji have presets that create JPEG files that look like film photos. Now I have never used these, so this is all I know, but if you like the sound of having presets to take you straight to a different look or style you now know about this so you can look into this yourself. And if you do let me know how you get on.

File sizes – RAW vs JPEG

RAW files are much larger than JPEG files. So, if storage space is an issue, and a smaller file size is important to you, you need to remember this. But if you follow my one photo rule, this should not be a problem, should it, dear listener? Check out episode 152 titled How My One Photo Rule Will Help You Take Better Photos for much more on my one photo rule.

Now, I use external hard drives for my photos, and my Lightroom catalogue is on an external hard drive all of its own. 

How do I edit my photos?

Lightroom is my editing program of choice. I import all my images, be they from my Canon or Olympus cameras, into Lightroom and work on the RAW files in exactly the same way. Well on the face of it my processing of them is the same, I am not aware of any differences, but to be honest I have never even given this a thought until now.

So, if you have more than one camera system don’t worry, editing in Lightroom is just fine, and I would imagine the same applies with other editing software. So not a problem.

DNG

DNG is the other file format, which is a universal Raw file format, which you can select in Lightroom, although I haven’t found a reason to yet. DNG is short for Digital Negative, file extension Dng. Adobe created the spec for this format for others to follow to create a standard RAW format, the same idea as JPEG now I think about it.

DNG files are smaller than RAW image files and can load quicker so that sounds good, and while they have more compatibility with other stuff than RAW, this is not really relevant to me so I stay as I am.

And I will tell you why in a bit.

Are there any other file formats?

Yes, there are many. I won’t list them all here, JPEG and RAW are the most common ones, and the only two that I use. Well, OK, I actually use the default file formats from Canon and Olympus, but I work on these files in exactly the same way.

I can convert all these files to DNG but have not found a reason to yet to be honest.

Why so many different formats?

No idea. Evolution I guess. Move on Rick.

You mentioned metadata – what is that?

Metadata is the technical details that a digital camera captures when you take a photo. Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, camera body, lens, focal length, image capture mode, file format, time, date and lots more. Everything that contributes to what ends up on your camera sensor. Even location if your camera has GPS or something similar.

This info is dead handy, and allows me to look at a photo taken 15 years ago and know what the aperture and shutter speed were – I used to write this in a book for every photo I took in the film days would you believe!

And both JPEG and RAW capture all this good stuff.

And that is JPEG and RAW explained.

The talky bit

There is no talky bit – I am going straight to what do I do, which will put all this stuff together nicely.

What do I do?

I take photos with my digital camera in RAW, edit them in RAW in Adobe Lightroom, then export the photos out of Lightroom as JPEG files to share and publish.

That is what I do. It is that simple. All I care about is the final image, getting the best image quality that I can. And the editing process is exactly the same with photos taken with my Canon and Olympus cameras. I think that this is the same for all cameras, not just Canon cameras or Olympus cameras.

One downside is that I have RAW and JPEG images, albeit that the JPEG files are much smaller files when exported – more on that another time.

I take the photos in RAW so I capture the maximum image data. I want to do the processing myself; I don’t want the camera to do the processing for me, so I don’t use JPEG.

And this works for me just fine and has for many years.

And remember I am not after quick photos to share on social media – no I can wait until the images have been processed. 

So what should you do?

If you don’t like the thought of using the RAW file format, for whatever reason, think about using RAW and JPEG. This is what I did. I started off using JPEG, but as I learned about RAW and as my photography technique developed I started to take RAW and JPEG at the same time.

I knew that there were advantages to RAW but I was not confident processing RAW images to start with, but as soon as I started to take RAW photos I started editing them and found it just fine – it is not that different to editing JPEGs, you are just starting from a different place and having to do more with what you have.

So, if you have any doubts but want to progress with your photography, use RAW and JPEG and plan to slowly move from one to the other. The camera settings to not change, just how the camera captures and records the light on the image sensor.

My only regret is that I did not do this sooner in my photographic journey. And once I got into the swing of RAW, I stopped taking JPEGs altogether and deleted the JPEG files where I had RAW ones.

What do professional photographers do?

I have no doubt that there are professional photographers using the JPEG file format and the RAW file format, which tells you that there is no right or wrong here – it just depends which works best for you, which only you can answer. Well I can help you if you ask me of course.

Do I really need to use RAW?

No you do not. And there are those who will say that in 2024 there is no need to use RAW, as JPEG is so good you can’t tell the difference.

But that is up to you – the only way to find out is to try. I have been shooting in RAW for well over a decade now and have no reason to change.

A quick word on white balance

If you are taking photos in RAW, and select Auto White Balance on your camera, guess what you can do in post-processing. You can select any of the white balance presets available on your camera. Pretty cool eh? And you cant do that with a JPEG. Just saying.

So I use auto white balance all the time, saving me time and hassle when I am taking photos.

What if I use a phone to take photos?

It depends what you are going to use the photos for. I can take photos in RAW on my phone, but I don’t bother as I have a camera to do that and I do not edit photos taken with my phone.

But if your phone is your main camera you might want to use RAW yourself – the principles of what I have said apply just the same with cameras in phones. You just need an App that will take RAW photos.

What do I do?

I covered that.

The good, the bad and what I did once.

When I started out using a DSLR camera, I was taking photos in JEPG. At some point I moved over to RAW and JPEG, and then to RAW.

But in the transition from one to the other I made such a mess of the files, which I can still see in my Lightroom catalogue today.

I think I over complicated things, and ended up with a right old mess to sort. I had not got my filing of photos sorted so I had a right mess to deal with.

Which has given me an idea for the next episode – how to organise your photos. Yes that sounds perfect, and will be the ideal follow on to this episode, and will stop you from making the mess that I did if you haven’t to this sorted yet.

Some thoughts from the last episode

I probably should have said last episode that it is good practise to keep your sensor clean. I check my sensor every now and then, and take test shots every now and then. But this is well worth doing, and something that I am now reminded to do more often.

I am still obsessive with keeping my camera sensors clean though – that is deeply I grained in me and my photography. And quite right too!!

Next episode

This episode was a result of a search when travelling on a train – “what is the most asked photography question”. Really. And in completing the writing of this the next episode appeared right in front of me which is good – it will be something about how to organise your photos – title to be worked on. And here is the title – Why Do I Have So Many Rubbish Photos? (And Why It’s OK, And What I’m Doing About It).

Yes, really.

Ask me a question.

If you have a question you would like me to answer, email me at sales@rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk or visit the podcast website, photographyexplainedpodcast.com/start. Or text me from the podcast feed.

If you want to say hi, please do – I love hearing from my listeners.

OK – I am done.

This episode was brought to you by a coffee which I consumed before I settled down in my homemade, acoustically cushioned recording emporium. This is a late morning recording, which will be followed by a cheese and pickle sandwich, no crisps.

I’ve been Rick McEvoy. Thanks again for listening to my small but perfectly formed podcast (it says here) and for giving me 27 minutes of your valuable time. After I have edited out the mistakes and other bad stuff, this episode will be about 27 minutes long.

Thanks for listening

Take care and stay safe.

Cheers from me, Rick

That was the podcast episode.

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Thank you

Thanks for listening to my podcast (if you did) and reading this blog post (which I assume you have done as you are reading this).

Cheers from me Rick