RAW vs. JPG

The Great Digital SLR Debate

If you've researched digital SLR cameras, you've probably heard of RAW vs JPG.

While it sounds like it might be the final match in an evening of professional wrestling, it really describes the two different ways you can take photos with a digital SLR.

Let's simplify the issue for a moment.

When it comes to RAW vs JPG, there is really only one basic question you must ask yourself: do you want the camera to act as a mini-photo lab and process your images or not?

Curious about the difference? I'll explain in just a moment.

RAW? JPG? What ARE these?

RAW and JPG refer to the two different file types your camera can produce.

Think of it like this: whenever you use a computer program, it creates a file type that can (typically) only be used with that program.

For example, MicroSoft Excel creates XLS files, while Word creates DOC files. Adobe Photoshop saves files that are typically called PSDs.

All acronyms aside, it's sufficient to understand that RAW and JPG are two fundamentally different file types.

While all image editing programs are able to open, edit and save JPG images, RAW files require special software to view and process (in the same way that you can't open a Photoshop PSD in MS Word).

This is a key difference between RAW vs JPG that we'll come back to later on.

RAW Defined

RAW files are aptly named in an odd sort of way.

Most of us are more familiar with another definition of "raw": uncooked.

A RAW file is the unedited image data that you digital SLR camera captures every time you take a photo.

So you could say that a RAW file is an "uncooked" digital photo.

The camera does not manipulate the image in any way before it saves the photo onto a memory card.

A RAW file is a pure capture, and can be considered very similar to a digital negative - an unprocessed image that you can adjust to your heart's desire before you make a print.

JPG Defined

Unlike a RAW file, a JPG is a processed image. All of the processing takes place inside the camera before the camera saves the photo onto a memory card.

Here's just some of the processing that takes place:

Color Saturation - an increase or decrease in the intensity of colors
Sharpness - the image either looks crisp or somewhat soft
Contrast - high contrast images have dark blacks and bright whites
Compression - see below

When a JPG is saved onto your memory card it's as if the camera has "developed" it first.

The changes that the camera has made to the image can't be undone.

This doesn't mean that you can't make changes to your photo in an image editing program after you take it - you certainly can.

It just means that the changes that the camera applied when the photo was saved to the memory card cannot be fixed after the fact.

Image Compression

It's worthwile during a discussion of RAW vs. JPG to talk about image compression.

If you've read the article on megapixels, you'll remember that a digitial image is made up of millions of tiny dots called pixels.

A digital camera has two options when it comes to the color of these pixels.

Leave them exactly the same as they were captured
Adjust ones with similar color so that they are the same

When pixels that are very similar in color are all made identical, this reduces the overall file size of your digital photo.

This is only one part of digital photo compression.

There are other ways in which a compressed image can be altered to save space on your hard drive.

Regardless of the compression technique, the end result is the same: a compressed image has "lost" some of the original image data. This elimination of data is necessary to reduce the file size.

Keep this in mind as we go into the pros and cons of RAW vs. JPG.

The Battle Lines Are Drawn

Now the real fun can begin.

We're going to talk about the benefits of each file type, and why you might be more inclined to use one or the other.

The Benefits of RAW and JPG

Here are some of the reasons why you want to set your digital SLR camera to capture RAW files:

You can apply your own image processing to the original RAW file
You have control over every element of the final photo: color, sharpness, intensity, etc.
You can correct any mistake - even if you accidentally under-expose a whole group of photos, they can be correctly balanced if they are RAW files

And now, why you want to take JPG photos:

Small file sizes maximize memory card and hard drive space
Easy to open and edit with any image editing program
Easy to share with anyone using another computer

The Drawbacks of RAW and JPG

Let's tackle the opposite side of the RAW vs JPG coin - why you might not want to use one of these formats.

Here's the cons of using RAW files:

RAW files require special software to view and edit
File processing takes a huge amount of time, since you can adjust the image settings of every photo you take
File sizes are enormous and require large memory cards and powerful computer to process

The cons of using JPG:

You have less control over the final result of each one of your digital photographs
Compressed image files lose original image data
A processed JPG file is harder to fix if you make mistakes when taking photos

So which one should you use? Well, it's really a matter of taste and time.

The Professional's Choice

Many professional photographers only shoot RAW files and would never dream of using JPG images.

Keep this important fact in mind: photography is their job.

Since it is a full-time job, they can devote the hours it takes to process and edit RAW images so that they have complete control over the photo from start to finish.

They already have special software that allows them to process RAW files, and the computer power to manipulate them. They also understand how levels, curves, color saturation and hue can alter their photos and can make minute adjustments to each one of these.

If you have no idea what any of those terms means, you'll have a lot to learn when it comes to processing your RAW photos.

Using RAW files is all about control.

If you're the sort of person who always dreamed of developing your own film, then RAW is the perfect choice. You can make each photo look exactly the way you want it to.

On the other hand, if you enjoy taking photos much more than manipulating them after the fact then JPG is a much better option.

The Ease of JPG

This is probably the most signifcant difference when it comes to RAW vs. JPG: ease of use.

After you take a slew of JPG photos, you copy them from the memory card to your computer's hard drive. If you now want to view them and edit them a bit before you make prints, no problem!

Free photo editing software abounds (like Google's Picasa), and you probably even got some on a CD when you purchased your digital SLR.

Open the JPG files, browse through them, find the ones you like, and e-mail them to friends or upload them to a photo sharing site like Flickr.

You're giving up three things for this ease-of-use:

Complete control over the image
The maximum possible image quality
The ability to correct mistakes

Here's the thing: if you get everything right when you TAKE the photo (color, contrast and exposure) then you should not have to do a lot of image editing after the fact. In this case, you'll save a lot of time saving all of your digital photos as JPG files.