Deleting Original RAW

[Chessman]

Hi..I started with LR3 > 4 > 6 (standalone). I'm doing a massive clean up/ culling operation, especially in LR3 as I have first-time user errors in cataloguing. I would take a photo,edit it and create an export folder in Pictures so I could just access it in the event of wanting to post in a forum or Email a photo. With just under 9000 photos I had a lot of these 'Edited' folders...each photo being about 400Kb but of course, they added up to Mbs-worth. I've deleted them in LR3 and LR4 ... I don't do it in LR6 which I haven't had. long.

In LR3 & 4 I imported the photos then I edited them and I use Define2 for NR and Elements 11 for sharpening and more so , cloning so I send the photos there, ticking to ' keep the original edits' and they return as a TIFF file and sit alongside the original. So..basically, as I understand it, I have two photos with exactly the same data. Everything that is in the RAW file is, basically, in the TIFF file..

The question: Can I safely delete the original imported RAW file and just keep the TIFF ? This would cut the space used for each photo by half. Looking at 'Dimensions' in the Library/Grid mode the TIFFS are only different depending on the amount of crop. They are the finished article. I don't have many photos in LR6 but I'm doing this double photo system now.

Thanks.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

You can, but it’s like trashing your negatives after you’ve made a print. Storage space is cheap these days...

 

[Linwood Ferguson]

...return as a TIFF file and sit alongside the original. So..basically, as I understand it, I have two photos with exactly the same data. Everything that is in the RAW file is, basically, in the TIFF file..

The question: Can I safely delete the original imported RAW file and just keep the TIFF ? .

The short answer is "no". The converted file never quite contains everything from the raw, and may contain a LOT less depending on the editing operations.

Lightroom edits are called "non-destructive" because they are a bunch of editing commands, and get applied whenever you need to see, save or print the image. Most external editors (and pretty much all that you can call within Lightroom) are going to do destructive edits, meaning that whatever change you make cannot be un-done. Consider an extreme example -- you crop half the image off. Generally that means it is simply gone in the TIFF. in LR when you crop it's always still there, you can change the crop.

Now... whether any of these things matter, to you, is a different question. If the result in the TIFF is final for you, and you have no more need to change it, then it's arguably irrelevant if there is more information in the RAW than the TIFF, so long as what you have in the TIFF is all you need. But that's not a question we can answer for you.

Generally speaking most of us treat the RAW image as a master copy, from which all edits and derivations come. So long as we keep the raw, we can go back and completely re-edit it, using different tools or different techniques. That's not true of TIFF (even less so of JPG of course).

 

[Chessman]

You can, but it’s like trashing your negatives after you’ve made a print. Storage space is cheap these days...

Thank you. Good Analogy.

The short answer is "no". The converted file never quite contains everything from the raw, and may contain a LOT less depending on the editing operations.

Lightroom edits are called "non-destructive" because they are a bunch of editing commands, and get applied whenever you need to see, save or print the image. Most external editors (and pretty much all that you can call within Lightroom) are going to do destructive edits, meaning that whatever change you make cannot be un-done. Consider an extreme example -- you crop half the image off. Generally that means it is simply gone in the TIFF. in LR when you crop it's always still there, you can change the crop.

Now... whether any of these things matter, to you, is a different question. If the result in the TIFF is final for you, and you have no more need to change it, then it's arguably irrelevant if there is more information in the RAW than the TIFF, so long as what you have in the TIFF is all you need. But that's not a question we can answer for you.

Generally speaking most of us treat the RAW image as a master copy, from which all edits and derivations come. So long as we keep the raw, we can go back and completely re-edit it, using different tools or different techniques. That's not true of TIFF (even less so of JPG of course).

Thanks Johan..I could be selective, then. I just had a thought. If I really needed to go back to the original with the TIFF couldn't I click on 'Import' at the bottom of History in Develop mode ? There are few US storm photos I wouldn't want to take a chance on..supercells at sunset and the lightning photos for instance-so I'd keep both with them. It's a hobby with me,I don't sell photos, j.ust frame any outstanding ones like those from the Plains and steam locos here in the UK.

 

[Johan Elzenga]

Thanks Johan..I could be selective, then. I just had a thought. If I really needed to go back to the original with the TIFF couldn't I click on 'Import' at the bottom of History in Develop mode

Your TIFF won’t go that far in history. It was created when the raw file was sent to Photoshop, so any edits before that point won’t be in the history of the TIFF file. These edits will only be in the history of the original raw file.

 

[Chessman]

Your TIFF won’t go that far in history. It was created when the raw file was sent to Photoshop, so any edits before that point won’t be in the history of the TIFF file. These edits will only be in the history of the original raw file.

Ok... I have a TB on this iMac so plenty, really.

Thanks, again.