I save the RAW for any shot I care about. A TIFF or JPG from it will only represent one possible conversion of that RAW data. Tossing the RAW is always a bad idea.
If you do not want to save the TIFFs from the RAWs, yet you do not want to lose the settings you used to get a special conversion from that RAW, you can save the processing recipe as a separate (and very tiny) file. In DPP, you do this by using EDIT -> “Save Recipe In File” with the RAW file selected. You can then give that recipe a file name so that you can open the RAW later and use that recipe to have the program generate that exact same conversion once again - or use it as a starting point.
So you don't really need to save those huge TIFFs. You can easily regenerate them IF you've saved the processing recipe.
And further, DPP automatically tries to save the latest changes you've made to any given recipe when you exit the program or navigate to a new directory. If you answer "YES" to the prompt, the program will save the latest recipe for that CR2 file into its metadata. This DOES NOT change the actual RAW data, but it does attach this latest recipe to that RAW file so that the next time you open that RAW, it will start off set to this "last used" recipe.
Both of those things are handy and can save you from needing to save any converted version of the RAW file. Just having the RAW file (with the recipe) is enough to let you regenerate the TIFF or JPG any time you want.
BUT: If you do what I often do, you may wish to convert and save as a 16 bit TIFF and then open that file in Photoshop. If you then make changes that you do not want to lose, you will need to save that TIFF and keep it. It's the record of your Photoshop work on that file.
I've always wanted to have an option in PS that let you save the history for a shot so that it was saved as an editable action. To me, the history should BE an action, in a sense. That way, even if you're not recording an action, all of your steps, as logged by the history, could be saved as if it was an action at any time you decided to do so. And you could name it. That way, you could theoretically do a long bit of processing of a file including tons of cloning and other tedious work, but just save all of that as a small file which was an action to let you get right back to where you were without needing to have saved the TIFF.
That way, you could fire up DPP (or whatever RAW processor you've used), open the CR2, load up the RAW processing recipe you've saved, make another 16 Bit TIFF, then, in Photoshop, open the "history/action" that you saved for that file, and run that. Now you'd be back to your final product without needing to have saved anything but the CR2 and two "recipes".
I guess you could always record an action every time you start working on a file and get that effect. But I'd like to be able to decide that a history was worth saving AFTER the fact
Anyhow, I NEVER get rid of my RAW files for photos I'm saving. And I save RAW processing recipes that I don't want to lose. I also save TIFFs that have had a lot of PS work done too.
It all adds up to a lot of drive space, but drives are cheap these days.
I also figure that someone could come up with a new RAW converter at any time which does a much better job with my old RAWs, so I'd hate to have tossed the RAWs only to find a RAW converter that does something magic a year later.
So I agree entirely with your first paragraph:
I started mullin' this over in my head and my first thought was,
"well, you sure wouldn't want to get rid of the RAW file since that's
your negative and there could very well could be a time in the future
where you'd want to process it in a completely different way."
Then I thought, OK, you've processed the RAW file and saved it as a
TIFF. I would assume that for the most part, this TIFF file, would
from there on, be the jumping off point for any further PS work and
resizing for output. So you wouldn't want to get rid of that either.
I could bear to get rid of the TIFF IF I hadn't already done irreplaceable PS work on it AND I had the RAW processing recipe that I used to create that TIFF.
So then you've resized for the web and or output to a printer and
then save as a JPG. Well, since you've already done that work, you
sure wouldn't want to have to do it again so you wouldn't want to get
rid of the JPG either.
I agree with saving that too if it will save you work in the future as well. These JPGs are fairly small. No reason to get rid of them either IMO
This all leaves me thinking that I need to save EVERYTHING but I
don't think that is what most of you folks do, so..........
I do, except for saving TIFFs that are nothing more than the file straight from the RAW converter. Again, IF you've saved the RAW and the RAW recipe, then you can create that same, identical TIFF any time you want. The key is to be sure to save that recipe along with the CR2 so you'll have it.
1. Please share with me your file saving strategy.
2. And slightly OT, on the occasion that you DO decide to shoot JPEG
from the get go, would it be wise to save the these files as TIFFs
immediately after uploading so that you would then have a lossless
file to do any further editing upon?
I would say that it's reasonable to convert your JPG to a TIFF for further processing IF you'll be saving intermediate versions along the way. That way, you don't end up compressing as a JPG over and over.
Hard drive space is cheap. So I tend to save some intermediate 16 Bit TIFFs and all sorts of files, particularly when working on a "special" photo.
--
Jim H.
