PS and probably most other aps will prevent you from saving back to the RAW format because if you change the actual RAW file, it isn’t RAW any longer; it’s modified.
So you’d need to save the modified file as another format, probably PS’s PSD.
The data about the changes are saved in the XMP file, which you can’t open. But it’s linked to the RAW file. If you move the RAW, move the sidecar file with it.
Art
Each RAW file has an XMP file associated with it. The XMP contains the instructions pertaining to the adjustments you made in ACR whilst the RAW file itself remains unaltered.
When you "Open" a RAW file in Photoshop, the instructions contained within the XMP are applied to the open file, which must then be saved as a TIFF or PSD.
As Art said, if you move the RAW file (to a CD for instance) you should move the XMP file with it so your original adjustments will be honored should you need to open the RAW file again in the future.
If you’d rather not have the XMP files, you can set ACR’s Preferences to keep this information in the central database instead.
Hope this helps.
Chris.
so how do i move the xmp file too? will i find two files in the same folder chris?
If you save an adjusted RAW as a .psd to the same folder, you will find both files in that folder.
I suggest you make a new folder as a sub, name it appropriately and save your conversions as .psd (or whatever you use, just don’t use jpeg!)in the new folder.
makes it easier to keep track of the important conversions.
thankyou Lawrence.
Then i open the .PSD and use that file?
Yes, you would then use the .PSD file for your work. Best to make a duplicate of it though, so you don’t have to worry about not saving it as a different file after you make further changes to it.
FYI, the reason Mr. Hudetz says not to save as a jpeg, is probably because that’s a lossy compression format. TIFF is lossless. If you’re shooting in RAW, you must be concerned about image quality. Compressing in JPG would take away from the quality of the file you deliberately shot in RAW.
However, after you have the image exactly as you like it, you can surely save it as a TIFF for quality, and then save it again as a JPG for file size considerations for use say, as a submission to a web page.
It all depends on the final use of the image. But be sure to keep the RAW file and any sidecar files associated with it. Just in case you want the exact data again in the future.
Many thanks Thomas.
By the way whats happened to the Adobe online help? Hass the site gone down?
