How do I export smaller RAW-like files from Lightroom 4?

Asked 4/15/2012

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I heard Lightroom 4 can export reduced-resolution RAW files. Is that possible, and if so, what export settings should I use to create smaller files while keeping RAW/DNG editing flexibility?

file-management lightroom dng export raw

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

14y ago

2 Answers

Having done some research on the Adobe Lightroom help site I found this article on how to export to file.

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/lightroom/using/WS75C39DDC-B701-4840-A703-0755A5C04878.html

I believe the feature you are referencing to is to do with

Enhanced DNG options

Resolution reduction via export provides the ability to share lower resolution versions of the original raw file without losing the capabilities offered by raw.

http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/2012/01/lr4betanowavailable.html

Originally by user5052. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user5052

14y ago

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Yes. In Lightroom 4, the way to create a smaller RAW-like file is to export as a DNG using lossy compression.

Use these export settings:

File format: DNG
Compatibility: Camera Raw 6.6 and later
Use Lossy Compression: enabled

This uses Lightroom’s enhanced DNG options to make a reduced-size, compressed DNG that retains much of the flexibility of RAW editing while taking much less space than the original file. According to the shared experience in the thread, a Canon 7D RAW file was reduced to roughly 25% of its original size.

So while Lightroom doesn’t export your original proprietary RAW format at a lower resolution, it can export a smaller DNG version that serves a similar purpose for travel, laptop storage, or sharing editable files.

How do I export smaller RAW-like files from Lightroom 4?

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