# any way to non-destructively edit a TIFF?



## mrklaw (Apr 19, 2018)

I recently switched to an olympus micro 4/3 camera and I love the out of camera JPEGs. But I'd like to process RAWs as they have more leeway to recover etc if needed. The RAWs themselves are quite flat so I'm looking for a way to get them more in line with the OOC JPEGs to use as a start point.
The software that comes with the camera (Olympus Viewer) allows me to apply the camera JPEG presets (and creative styles like mono etc) to the original RAW file. But then I'm stuck. I can only save as a TIFF or JPEG. 

Obviously TIFF is better for quality,  but if I import into LR for collection management and adjustment, then I lose the non-destructive element? Eg if I crop then its cropped? 
Its a shame that edits to other formats can't be considered and only against RAW. 
An alternative would be if there is any way to get olympus JPEG presets that I can apply to the RAWs in LR after importing?


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## Johan Elzenga (Apr 19, 2018)

Lightroom *always* works non-destructively, no matter what file type you use. Of course the conversion from raw to tiff would still be destructive.
It's better to learn how to use Lightroom so that you get the perfect result. We all started that way.


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## Jim Wilde (Apr 19, 2018)

mrklaw said:


> I recently switched to an olympus micro 4/3 camera and I love the out of camera JPEGs. But I'd like to process RAWs as they have more leeway to recover etc if needed. The RAWs themselves are quite flat so I'm looking for a way to get them more in line with the OOC JPEGs to use as a start point.



Have you checked out the camera matching profiles? I agree that the SOOC raws from my E-M1 MkII also appeared quite flat when I first started with that camera, but I quickly switched to the Camera Natural profile, which when coupled with Auto Settings in a preset gives a much better starting point.


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## clee01l (Apr 19, 2018)

mrklaw said:


> I love the out of camera JPEGs. But I'd like to process RAWs as they have more leeway to recover etc if needed. The RAWs themselves are quite flat


RAW image files are converted to RGB for further improvement.  Before they are converted to RGB, the data is  simply the light measured at each photo site (there are not pixels until converted to RGB).  The demoniac the data and convert to RGB some basic processing needs to be done to "See " the image.  Otherwise they are flat, toneless and somewhat noisy.   The tiny computer processor in the camera does this to create the JPEG, based upon settings that you chose before you pressed the shutter (and likely before you knew what the scene would even be).  Once you import the RAW data into LR, it is up to your to 'develop' the image to produce something like what you see in the JPEG.   With a little practice, you can produce LR images that are better than  what that tiny underpowered computer in your camera can produce.


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## mrklaw (Apr 19, 2018)

Jim Wilde said:


> Have you checked out the camera matching profiles? I agree that the SOOC raws from my E-M1 MkII also appeared quite flat when I first started with that camera, but I quickly switched to the Camera Natural profile, which when coupled with Auto Settings in a preset gives a much better starting point.



I haven’t - didn’t realise there was such a thing. Will check it out tonight, thanks


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## mcasan (Apr 19, 2018)

I used ColorPassport to make a camera profile for my E-M1 II.   It was very close to Camera Natural.  But the blues were low in Camera Natural compared to the profile I made.     So my default import Develop preset is with my customer camera profile plus Auto turned on the Tone areas.    It is a good place to start for landscapes and wildlife.


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