Is there an open format that stores non-destructive edits and lets the OS preview the edited image?
Asked 7/15/2011
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2 answers
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I want to keep my original image while sharing or viewing my edits across applications. My edits are basic Lightroom-style changes such as keywords, tone, and white balance. Ideally, I’d like the operating system (macOS) to show the photo with those edits applied, without having to export a separate finished JPEG or TIFF every time.
Is there an open format that can store both the original image and non-destructive edit instructions, not just keywords/metadata? If not, what comes closest in practice?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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DNG, with the XMP sidecar, can likely serve as a portable format.
However, you wish to have the file rendered on a browser with the edits. The problem is that when viewing a RAW file, there is a JPEG image embedded in the RAW (and DNG), that is used for image preview. This is what browsers and OSs use to create thumbnails etc of RAW files. Therefore, even if you were to use something like DNG with XMP, most likely the embedded JPEG would be used by the viewer in question.
Originally by user4880. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4880
15y ago
0
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There isn’t really a universal open format that does all of this reliably across applications and also lets the OS preview the edited result.
The closest practical option is DNG plus XMP sidecar metadata. That can store metadata and many non-destructive edit instructions in a portable way. However, OS/browser previews for RAW/DNG usually come from the file’s embedded JPEG preview, not by rendering the edit instructions. So Finder or other viewers typically won’t show the latest edits unless that preview is updated.
A layered TIFF or PSD can hold image data plus non-destructive editing structures in some workflows, but that’s effectively an exported rendered file rather than a RAW/original-plus-edit-instructions format that every app or OS will understand.
So, in short:
- No single widely supported open format fully solves this.
- DNG + XMP is the nearest match for portability of edits.
- OS-level preview of the edited image is the sticking point, because viewers generally use embedded previews rather than reprocessing the edit metadata.
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