Printing; RAW to JPEG? TIFF?

[cardplayer]

Hi all,

I hope this is the right forum for this question.

As I continue to learn photography, I have recently begun experimenting with tons of different lighting and exposure scenarios. Most recently, I decided to try shooting RAW and exposing to the right, to take maximum advantage of my system's capabilities.

Sure enough, this is resulting in some results that I am thrilled with! The biggest bang of the technique for me is being able to tweak the white balance. Also, capturing that detail from the last stop has really given my photographs a new dimension. Previously, scared of clipping, I was underexposing a lot, and my shots always needed some brightening. This, naturally, added some noise in the shadows, and often some posterization. (I was 100% JPEG at that time, also, so the white balance was often off, too!).

Anyhow, as I am working with these RAW files, it occurred to me: In order to upload to online printing, such as York, Shutterfly, Wal-Mart, or whatever, will I have to convert to JPEG? If so, does this negate the quality benefits of working with RAW? Even if they accepted TIFF, it would not be practical for me, because my upstream bandwith is 512kbps. So, since the JPEG is 8-bit, will I still get the benefits of working with RAW when I print? I'm loving the ETTR (Expose To The Right) tactic for capturing more detail, and as mentioned, the white balance benefits are not to be believed! What is the recommended workflow for printing when you shoot RAW? What do you do?

Thanks,
cardplayer

 

[Digital Matt]

Jpg is fine for printing. You've maximized the quality of the photo by shooting raw, and that is a plus. You will always have to convert it down though, for commercial printing. The good news is that you are the one making the conversion, so you will keep the quality high on your end. An 8 bit rgb jpg saved at quality 12 will give you a great print. The thing you need to be aware of is your color profiles. Raw files allow a much wider gamut than can be printed or even shown on your monitor. You will most likely need to convert your images to sRGB for printing. (check with the printing company to see what they prefer) At any rate, keep your color profile consistent from program to pogram, and do your final conversion in photoshop when you save as a jpg.

 

[cardplayer]

Thank you very much.

That cleared it up nicely. None of the papers that I have been reading about ETTR and RAW mentioned the ultimate printing process. So, good to know we're all in 8-bit land at the printer . As I now understand it, the value lies in having extra latitude, and specifically deciding how the image will look prior to the JPEG conversion. Nice!

Incidentally, I'm still shooting RAW+JPEG since my camera allows it. I find that , in the keepers, 8 out of 10 don't need any work at all, but it's nice to have those "negatives". I can't spend all day in Photoshop, but it's nice to know that I CAN!

Thanks,
cardplayer