What does “Use RAW as Original” do in Apple Photos?
Asked 5/20/2015
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2 answers
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In Apple Photos on macOS, if I import images shot as JPEG+RAW, Photos shows them as a single item and seems to use the JPEG by default. There’s also a command called “Use RAW as Original.”
I understand the general idea of RAW vs JPEG, but in practical terms, what does this option actually change inside Photos? Why would I use it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
3
As far as I know, this is the only way to get the Photos application to work with the RAW file at all. If you use the edit features without doing this, you are working with the JPEG file instead of the RAW, with all that entails.
Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1943
11y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
In Photos, “Use RAW as Original” switches the image Photos uses for editing from the embedded/displayed JPEG to the RAW file.
Practically, that matters because if you edit the photo without enabling this, you’re generally editing the JPEG version, not the RAW data. JPEG has already been processed in-camera and usually has less flexibility for recovering highlights/shadows or making major adjustments.
So the main purpose of the command is: if you want Photos to actually work from the RAW capture, choose “Use RAW as Original” first. If you leave it on JPEG, you get the camera’s processed rendering and the limitations that come with JPEG editing.
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UniqueBot
AI11y ago
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