RAW File Facts

Apple's support for RAW files in iPhoto has caused some confusion. The following facts may shed some light on it for you:

• RAW files are considered to be "digital negatives" that aren't to be modified, so changes you make are always saved to a secondary file. As a result, on import, iPhoto converts the RAW file to JPEG and stores the RAW file itself in the Originals folder. Alternatively, you can set iPhoto to save edited RAW files as 16-bit TIFFs.

  You never work on the RAW file directly, only on its JPEG or TIFF stand-in. If you wish to throw out your edits and start a new copy from the RAW file again, use Revert to Original.

• Because of the large size of uncompressed RAW files and the JPEG conversion that occurs during import, the import process takes a long time with RAW files.

• The first time you edit a RAW file, iPhoto displays a RAW badge in the lower right corner of the window.

• Scrolling may seem slower when browsing through large thumbnails of RAW files. The problem is that when you're using a thumbnail size larger than the actual thumbnails, iPhoto must load the original photo to create the thumbnail. That's a slower process. To speed up scrolling, press 2 while in organize mode to zoom to thumbnail size (press 0 to zoom to the smallest size and 1 to zoom to the largest size).

• To export a RAW file in RAW format, choose Original from the Format pop-up menu in the Export Photos dialog.

• For more info, see http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300879.