Raw Files in Lightroom

I'm using LR 2.3 and I'm finding that when I import RAW files from the camera, they come in initially with the camera profile (eg vivid colour some sharpening). After LR renders the preview, they revert to what seems to be the raw state (duh, I know)...

Whats causing this. I had thought that one could set camera sharpness and colour profiles on camera. Can you set LR to take account of these and leave well enough alone. I feel I'm missing something pretty basic here.

Any help Appreciated

When you shoot in Raw none of that stuff matters. It will give you the the data in LR but it does not take affect because it does not write that information into the file. This allows you to edit in a non destructive way, and then after you are done in LR and export the image to a .jpg it will then write whatever information you did in LR into the file.

Nah, I've worked it out. The initial image displayed is the embedded JPEG in the RAW file. I can match a LR preset to apply those changes.

Query closed. Thanks for responding

CMPOB said:

Nah, I've worked it out. The initial image displayed is the embedded JPEG in the RAW file. I can match a LR preset to apply those changes.

Query closed. Thanks for responding

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You lost me....but ok.

There are two separate files that reference each other. There is no JPEG "in" a RAW file. Lightroom on a Mac? Hm, when Aperture is so much more mature, flexible, faster, and more powerful?

BenB said:

There are two separate files that reference each other. There is no JPEG "in" a RAW file. Lightroom on a Mac? Hm, when Aperture is so much more mature, flexible, faster, and more powerful?

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I have tried Aperture and for me Lightroom is much better suited to my workflow. And honestly I have no idea what you mean by saying Aperture is "more mature, flexible, faster, and more powerful". For me Lightroom does everything I need it to do amazingly fast, and it integrates seamlessly with CS4. Heck the only time I open CS4 any more is when complex retouching is needed on an image.

BenB said:

There are two separate files that reference each other. There is no JPEG "in" a RAW file.

Click to expand...

I usually don't like to jump in the middle of a conversation, but, I don't know where you heard that with regard to raw files. In many (most) raw formats, there are embedded jpegs for preview. Some cameras offer a raw+jpeg capture capability where two files are stored, but Canons .crw and .cr2 both have a jpeg embedded in the raw file for preview. Some Nikon .nef files (depending on camera) have an embedded preview image that is similar to a jpeg basic.

see here for more raw information:

Raw image format - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - scroll down to the file contents section.

For information on the .crw format specifically, this page has a good breakdown:

The Canon RAW (CRW) File Format

scroll down to 0x10b5 which represents a specific location in the crw file that starts the reference area describing the jpeg that is included with the raw data.

Raw files can and many do have embedded jpegs - this is usually the imagery used by portable viewing devices (like the Epson P2000 for example) to display the photo contained in the raw file - those portable devices don't contain near enough processing power to decode and display a full raw file quickly, but they can extract and display the embedded jpeg included with the raw file.

Some cameras allow you to turn off the embedded jpeg format and save the jpeg that would normally be embedded as a separate jpeg file (I believe the 1DMkII has this option and possibly newer in the same line)

What software do I use? Lightroom - why? Because I owned a license key when I switched to Mac, and because other software was more pressing to replace and I liked lightroom, I decided to just move to the Mac version. Eventually I may get Aperture, but there are many things ahead of it on my purchase list