# deleting RAW, keeping the JPG



## El Konino (Feb 8, 2013)

Hi,

I have imported RAW+JPG photo's, and now I want to keep only the jpg. Can I delete only the JPG?

(I've been reading the other thread about deleting raw, and it seems unusefull but I'm still wondering if you can?)

Greetings,

Stijn.


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## Tony Jay (Feb 8, 2013)

You can delete either the RAW or the JPEG files.
But there is obviously a question behind the one that you asked.
My question is - why would you want to delete either?

Tony Jay


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## El Konino (Feb 9, 2013)

The question rather was how can you do it?

Why-> space  (btw I red your answer on the other threads about it , but I still couldn't figure out how)

stijn.


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## Jim Wilde (Feb 9, 2013)

El Konino said:


> and now I want to keep only the jpg. Can I delete only the JPG?



First of all, you need to clarify this comment. Which of the Raw+Jpeg pairs do you want to delete? I'm assuming you meant "Can I delete only the *Raw*", but we need to be certain of that, as this has an affect on the answer.

Another relevant question: did you import the Raw and Jpegs as separate files, or did you import them as dedicated Raw+Jpeg "pairs" with only the Raw file visible (in other words is the Preference setting for "Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos" *checked *or *unchecked*)?

When you get back with the answers, we should be able to help.


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## clee01l (Feb 9, 2013)

El Konino said:


> The question rather was how can you do it?


  You can import RAW+JPEG two different ways.  The JPEGS can be imported as sidecar files or and their own standalone image.  How do you import yours? 

Almost universally, I think everyone will agree that tossing out the Original RAW images is a bad idea. The quality and 8-bit color of the Camera processed JPEG will be what you are stuck with for the rest of your life.  OTOH, the original 12-14 bit RAW image can be improved in LR4 and again in LR 5, 6, 7... And with technological advances that you haven't even dreamed of.  
 If you really want to discard images, get rid of the JPEGs.  As these are the images that ultimately have the lease residual value


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## wianb (Feb 9, 2013)

Throwing away the RAW and keeping the jpg is the digital equivalent of making one paper print and destroying the negative.


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## El Konino (Feb 12, 2013)

Hi to all of you,

thanks for the response so far.
Sorry I wrote a mistake, so I deffinitaly want to delete the RAW (I know for some of you it is not a good idea, but that's what I want)
And I did not imported them speratly ( if it was, it should have been easyer to delete them i guess), so this option was unchecked!

I know there are ways around to do it but I'm looking for the right and easy way in Lightroom.

Thank you guys for the advise!

Stijn.




TNG said:


> First of all, you need to clarify this comment. Which of the Raw+Jpeg pairs do you want to delete? I'm assuming you meant "Can I delete only the *Raw*", but we need to be certain of that, as this has an affect on the answer.
> 
> Another relevant question: did you import the Raw and Jpegs as separate files, or did you import them as dedicated Raw+Jpeg "pairs" with only the Raw file visible (in other words is the Preference setting for "Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos" *checked *or *unchecked*)?
> 
> When you get back with the answers, we should be able to help.


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## clee01l (Feb 12, 2013)

El Konino said:


> ... I deffinitaly want to delete the RAW (I know for some of you it is not a good idea, but that's what I want)
> And I did not imported them speratly


Do remember this thread and advice when you come to regret this decision as sooner or later everyone does. Don't say you were not warned.

What you will do is _*remove*_ the RAW images from your catalog.  DO NOT delete them from the HD if LR gives that option. Then out side of LR you will delete the NEFs permanently from the HDs leaving only the JPEGs in the folders.
If you have 100 NEFs in your Catalog and these have listed associated JPEG sidecar files, you will end up with 0 images in your catalog.  All of your changes to the NEFs and all of your keyword, titles and captions associations will disappear since there are no longer any Images to associate and all of the Collections will no longer have these images. 
Next you will need to import the JPEGs. You can do this by opening the import dialog and selecting the folders that contain these JPEGs.  Choose "Add" not copy since these images are already in the place you want them on the HD. Once done you should have JPEGs in your catalog where you once had NEFs.  You can now proceed to add keywords, titles and captions to each of these newly imported images. If you want, you can add them to existing collections or create new collections


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## El Konino (Feb 16, 2013)

clee01l said:


> Do remember this thread and advice when you come to regret this decision as sooner or later everyone does. Don't say you were not warned.
> 
> What you will do is _*remove*_ the RAW images from your catalog.  DO NOT delete them from the HD if LR gives that option. Then out side of LR you will delete the NEFs permanently from the HDs leaving only the JPEGs in the folders.
> If you have 100 NEFs in your Catalog and these have listed associated JPEG sidecar files, you will end up with 0 images in your catalog.  All of your changes to the NEFs and all of your keyword, titles and captions associations will disappear since there are no longer any Images to associate and all of the Collections will no longer have these images.
> Next you will need to import the JPEGs. You can do this by opening the import dialog and selecting the folders that contain these JPEGs.  Choose "Add" not copy since these images are already in the place you want them on the HD. Once done you should have JPEGs in your catalog where you once had NEFs.  You can now proceed to add keywords, titles and captions to each of these newly imported images. If you want, you can add them to existing collections or create new collections



Hi Cletus D. Lee,

thanks for your advise, I really appriciate it!
The way you propose is is the worst case scenario... i tought there would be another way in LR, an easy simple one. ( I know I had to imort them sepratly of just the raw or jpg to start with but hey i'm a beginner)
If I should add all keywords, titels, labels, ... again for hundreds of pictures , then that would be a heel of a job! That's why i was looking for a way in LR and not outside ( windows).

Stijn.


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## clee01l (Feb 16, 2013)

There is no easier, simpler way because what you are doing is outside of the scope of standard DAM workflow practices.


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## ogrizzo (Feb 18, 2013)

clee01l said:


> There is no easier, simpler way because what you are doing is outside of the scope of standard DAM workflow practices.



All the editing you did to your RAW image can be written out in a sidecar XMP file; unfortunately, LR won't read such a XMP file as a sidecar for the jpeg, but experimenting with exiftool you should be able to embed it in the jpeg (I did it while switching from ASP to LR, but I had to deal only with standard EXIF and IPTC fields). Yeah, brain dead idea of embedding metadata in files, just to turn backups into a huge mess :twisted:

Another option could be creating lossy DNG files: they appear to be comparable in size with jpegs. Of course you'd be betting on long term support of such an odd beast, but at least it should be a straightforward operation.

Or, if you don't mind fixing your edits (I guess you wouldn't, since you want to throw away your raw files), you can export all images to an external editor which should just return a JPG (it'd be a oneliner running ImageMagick, or a Photoshop action, or whatever you're familiar with) which would be in turns reimported in the catalogue with all the proper metadata.

Actually even writing out the XMP sidecar, nuking the images from the catalogue (not from the drive!!!) and reimporting with jpeg's as standalone might work...

Given the price of removable hard-drives, one could always wonder whether the hassle is worth the time, but: hey, they're your pictures and your time


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## El Konino (Feb 21, 2013)

Thanks all for your support !

So deleting RAW only when imported with a jpg is not supported in LR. 

(thanks for explaining the ways around... I tought there was an easy option)

I hope the thread will be used by people dealing with the same question in the future!

Stijn.


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