Does Photoshop Elements Organizer modify RAW files like Nikon NEF files?
Asked 3/31/2013
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I’m using Photoshop Elements with Nikon .NEF RAW files and want to be sure my originals stay untouched. In Organizer, captions and tags seem to live in the catalog, and when I edit a RAW file, Elements appears to save the edit instructions in a sidecar .XMP file rather than changing the NEF itself. Can Organizer or the Elements Editor ever alter the original RAW file, or are RAW edits always non-destructive?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
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The raw file is called that for a reason - because it represents the raw data off the sensor, so no program should really modify it. Any non-destructive raw edits are generally saved in sidecar files or a database. I think Elements has that option to store in either an XMP file or a database.
I think the DNG file format allows for writing edits to the end of the file itself, rather than a sidecar.
So your original NEF is untouched. The XMP file contains all the raw edit information. If you delete the XMP file and reopen the NEF file, Elements will once again show it as it was originally. Elements will never do anything destructive to the NEF file.
Originally by user4191. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4191
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For a Nikon NEF, Photoshop Elements generally treats the RAW file as non-destructive. The original sensor data in the NEF is not edited directly; instead, RAW adjustments are typically stored as metadata in an XMP sidecar file or in a database/catalog.
So in normal RAW workflow, your original NEF remains untouched. If you remove the XMP sidecar, Elements will open the NEF as its original unadjusted file again.
Organizer metadata such as tags/captions is usually kept in the catalog, while edits made in the Editor to a rendered file such as PSD can be destructive unless you save a separate version.
One caveat from general RAW workflow: some formats such as DNG can store metadata inside the file rather than in a separate sidecar. But for your NEF files, the original RAW image data should not be modified by Elements.
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