So when I take a photo with Halide on my iPhone, the file gets synced over to my Mac where I edit it in Photomator.
I take ProRAW + HEIC photos using Halide, and when I launch Photomator I see that it takes longer to load up the photo as compared to photos that are HEIC only. So it makes sense that it's opening up a ProRAW image which is larger.
However the photo shows up as RAW+JPEG in Photomator (and in the Photos app also). How do I know for sure which one I'm actually editing? Am I editing the RAW one coz it took longer to open? Does anyone know why I don't see 2 Photos? What if I want to edit just the HEIC? Or just the ProRAW? Seems like its one Photo. Or am I doing something wrong?
When I check 'Show Info' it tells me with a really tiny icon (to the right of my iPhone Model Info) that it's RAW. So where's the HEIC? If I wanted to edit, or share just the HEIC?
It's probably a question on how Apple handles things but I'm hoping someone has some guidance for me here. Coz it's kind of confusing.
2 Photos, 1 Photo, Which Photo?
2023-06-19 16:42:10
2023-06-26 15:07:35
I see you haven’t had a reply as yet, sorry I completely forgot to return here myself.
Anyway, What you have is Raw+JPG pairing - or it can be Raw+HEIC as you use, but it’s essentially the same thing. It a Raw image coupled with an identical bitmap copy.
To be exact, all images start off as Raw data from the sensor. A Raw image file is just that - data saved in a file (it’s not actually an image yet). The JPEG/HEIF/TIFF, or whatever you want, is a processed image created by the device from the Raw data.
So, you can choose to only use the Raw data and just save the Raw file only, or you can let the device process it straight into a bitmap version, such as JPEG or HEIF etc. But that loses the Raw data once done. And of course, you can choose to save both files at once.
Depending on the software used, you can choose to treat these as separate images, or have them combined by a DAM software so you only see one of them, but they are in fact both saved, only one is shown.
Apple Photos only imports them as a pair, and will only show one of them at a time (it defaults to showing the JPEG first). On the desktop version of Photos, there is an option to switch to the Raw version instead (but it still retains both image files, so you can switch back a forth). The iOS/iPadOS version does not have this option available, and will only show the JPEG - but it will show the Raw if you switch them using the desktop version.
There are other ways around this, in a clunky kind of way. You could duplicate them, and choose one as the Raw and the other as the JPEG (as far as I can tell this doesn’t double storage usage, it looks like they are virtual links to the one master file), but of course you’d need to do that with the desktop version. You could simply import the Raws and HEIFs separately, or you could import them as a pair, and then delete and reimport the exact file, if you only need a particular image version on certain images.
Thirds party apps can work a little differently, and can choose either of the image versions. I’m not quite sure how it works in Photomator, but I believe it will pick the Raw if you have an unedited photo to work from (if you edit in Photos first - or any other app - you’ll only ever get a JPEG whatever you do). I know that Raw Power has the ability to choose which version you want to work with.
Cheers
Anyway, What you have is Raw+JPG pairing - or it can be Raw+HEIC as you use, but it’s essentially the same thing. It a Raw image coupled with an identical bitmap copy.
To be exact, all images start off as Raw data from the sensor. A Raw image file is just that - data saved in a file (it’s not actually an image yet). The JPEG/HEIF/TIFF, or whatever you want, is a processed image created by the device from the Raw data.
So, you can choose to only use the Raw data and just save the Raw file only, or you can let the device process it straight into a bitmap version, such as JPEG or HEIF etc. But that loses the Raw data once done. And of course, you can choose to save both files at once.
Depending on the software used, you can choose to treat these as separate images, or have them combined by a DAM software so you only see one of them, but they are in fact both saved, only one is shown.
Apple Photos only imports them as a pair, and will only show one of them at a time (it defaults to showing the JPEG first). On the desktop version of Photos, there is an option to switch to the Raw version instead (but it still retains both image files, so you can switch back a forth). The iOS/iPadOS version does not have this option available, and will only show the JPEG - but it will show the Raw if you switch them using the desktop version.
There are other ways around this, in a clunky kind of way. You could duplicate them, and choose one as the Raw and the other as the JPEG (as far as I can tell this doesn’t double storage usage, it looks like they are virtual links to the one master file), but of course you’d need to do that with the desktop version. You could simply import the Raws and HEIFs separately, or you could import them as a pair, and then delete and reimport the exact file, if you only need a particular image version on certain images.
Thirds party apps can work a little differently, and can choose either of the image versions. I’m not quite sure how it works in Photomator, but I believe it will pick the Raw if you have an unedited photo to work from (if you edit in Photos first - or any other app - you’ll only ever get a JPEG whatever you do). I know that Raw Power has the ability to choose which version you want to work with.
Cheers
2023-06-26 15:20:04
Hey Andy,
Thanks for the super useful information. What I have found myself doing now is simply capturing the RAW file from Halide on my iPhone (Plain RAW, no attached JPG), sync up the file, then edit it in Photomator.
It still shows up with the RAW label in Photos after editing so if I feel like the photo is worth the 9-10x size for possible future edits, I Leave it in RAW. Otherwise I export it out as a JPG and re-import it (After deleting the source RAW file).
This gives me the ability I was looking for... To be able to edit in RAW and save RAW large versions if I want. And smaller JPGs if I prefer.
Since Photomator is designed to improve this kind of workflow, maybe a feature for this situation might help...
If I right click on a Photo in Photomator I don't see an 'Export' option. If however I go into the File menu I see it there. Would be crazy cool if there was a way to right click a bunch of images and have a "Re-import to JPG" type of process where it exports the files as JPG (possibly to a temp location), deletes the RAW, and imports the exported JPGs. So now they're all the smaller JPG versions.
Too cool. Maybe too much to ask. So baby steps... I would first hope to see 'Export' in the right click menu lol.
Thanks for the info man. It's coming together for me now.
Thanks for the super useful information. What I have found myself doing now is simply capturing the RAW file from Halide on my iPhone (Plain RAW, no attached JPG), sync up the file, then edit it in Photomator.
It still shows up with the RAW label in Photos after editing so if I feel like the photo is worth the 9-10x size for possible future edits, I Leave it in RAW. Otherwise I export it out as a JPG and re-import it (After deleting the source RAW file).
This gives me the ability I was looking for... To be able to edit in RAW and save RAW large versions if I want. And smaller JPGs if I prefer.
Since Photomator is designed to improve this kind of workflow, maybe a feature for this situation might help...
If I right click on a Photo in Photomator I don't see an 'Export' option. If however I go into the File menu I see it there. Would be crazy cool if there was a way to right click a bunch of images and have a "Re-import to JPG" type of process where it exports the files as JPG (possibly to a temp location), deletes the RAW, and imports the exported JPGs. So now they're all the smaller JPG versions.
Too cool. Maybe too much to ask. So baby steps... I would first hope to see 'Export' in the right click menu lol.
Thanks for the info man. It's coming together for me now.
2023-06-29 16:04:43
Just be wary of arbitrarily deleting the Raws though, depending on how you like to manage your photos. This sounds horrible to me.
The Raw file is the equivalent of an old photo negative. Your JPEGs are like the Prints you got from them. For sure you can develop the negative and copy the prints later, but they are stuck with however you developed them, and will degrade with levels of copying (same as JPEGs do).
With the Raw file (as with the old negatives), you can always go back and reprocess the image if you wanted to, say, redo some of the white point clipping, or adjust the White Balance setting, because you think you didn’t do a good job, or might just prefer it a little different. You can’t recover clipping from a JPEG, that’s data that’s gone, and you can only correct White Balance relative to what you made it. With the Raw, there is often data still available in clipped areas, which can be recovered, and WB is done from scratch.
Of course if you have the Raws backed up in a separate storage, then all good, you can always recover them later if needed. If this is you only storage, then you’ll lose them forever.
Just some thoughts.
The Raw file is the equivalent of an old photo negative. Your JPEGs are like the Prints you got from them. For sure you can develop the negative and copy the prints later, but they are stuck with however you developed them, and will degrade with levels of copying (same as JPEGs do).
With the Raw file (as with the old negatives), you can always go back and reprocess the image if you wanted to, say, redo some of the white point clipping, or adjust the White Balance setting, because you think you didn’t do a good job, or might just prefer it a little different. You can’t recover clipping from a JPEG, that’s data that’s gone, and you can only correct White Balance relative to what you made it. With the Raw, there is often data still available in clipped areas, which can be recovered, and WB is done from scratch.
Of course if you have the Raws backed up in a separate storage, then all good, you can always recover them later if needed. If this is you only storage, then you’ll lose them forever.
Just some thoughts.
2023-06-29 17:06:38
I need the ability to keep JPG versions of stuff that I don't need to edit in the future. You know, Photos of things like the next Wine I need to try, or the fertilizer we got to buy next week for the lawn.
The ProRAW stuff would be used for things like Glamour shots of my Basenji.
I do hope the export feature is something the folks developing Photomator can think about. If there is an automated process for exporting and deleting the RAW and re-importing as JPG would save a bunch of headache.
Thanks for all the info dude
The ProRAW stuff would be used for things like Glamour shots of my Basenji.
I do hope the export feature is something the folks developing Photomator can think about. If there is an automated process for exporting and deleting the RAW and re-importing as JPG would save a bunch of headache.
Thanks for all the info dude
2023-07-04 13:09:21
How have you setup your file defaults?
