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Noel Carboni
Noel Carboni
Legend
May 18, 2011
Open for Voting

P: Add a Camera Raw Option to Prevent Writing Back into Input Files

  • May 18, 2011
  • 55 replies
  • 2025 views

Given:

Under some conditions Camera Raw writes data back into (overwrites) its input files. Example: A JPEG file.

Under other conditions Camera Raw maintains this same kind of information in a separate place (e.g., Sidecar XMP or central database). Example: A CR2 or NEF file.

Assuming one uses Camera Raw to open out-of-camera original files as many photographers do, depending on what mode one has captured the images in, Adobe is inconsistent about whether to keep its hands off them or overwrite them... This seems to be because some formats are proprietary and some are well documented. From a programmer's perspective, this makes perfect sense.

Trouble is, from a user's perspective, this behavior cannot be described as anything but inconsistent.

Personally, I do not want my original out-of-camera JPEGs updated/rewritten under any circumstances.

Camera Raw will not touch a proprietary raw file, such as a Canon .CR2 or Nikon .NEF. There's a whole process for remembering settings in a separate database or sidecar XMP files. So far so good.

However, if you open a JPEG, TIFF, or DNG through Camera Raw, data WILL automatically be written back into it to tell another run of Camera Raw in the future what settings you used - without the software ever having warned you it will do so.

It is true that some functions EXPLICITLY rewrite input files. You can ask the software to write new thumbnails back into DNG files, for example. This seems fine - the user has instructed the software to overwrite the file, and the user is in charge, after all.

Overwriting/rewriting an input file without being instructed to do so is NON-INTUITIVE BEHAVIOR for any application. Simply put, I would not expect an input file to be overwritten by Camera Raw.

And we do see that it causes people confusion and surprise from time to time. You may right now be reading this in disbelief. I recommend you go test it for yourself (on a copy of one of your original JPEG files).

The original file being overwritten is a chief reason why I don't configure Photoshop to open my JPEGs through Camera Raw.

Adobe:

Please give those of us who don't want our input files overwritten an option for using the database/XMP sidecar instead in EVERY case.

Thank you.

-Noel

    55 replies

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    Noel Carboni
    Noel CarboniAuthor
    Legend
    June 29, 2011
    Thank you, Rob.

    Yes, I'm envisioning the use of XMP sidecar -or- central database, EXACTLY as is done now for raw files that cannot be written back into.

    -Noel
    areohbee
    areohbee
    Legend
    June 28, 2011
    To Forum Administrator: please add 'Lightroom" designation to title, so Lightroom users know that this applies to them too - thanks.

    To be clear: this idea is about not writing back to original camera files, and handling all photos consistently, by using an XMP sidecar for all file types (and virtual copies), or possibly in a common database if not Lightroom environment.
    areohbee
    areohbee
    Legend
    May 19, 2011
    Speaking for Lightroom: two thumbs up, way up. And in the case of Lightroom, support for virtual copies would also make sense, big sense...

    Thanks for posing this Idea Noel.

    -Rob
    Noel Carboni
    Noel CarboniAuthor
    Legend
    May 19, 2011
    Hi Andrew,

    Thanks for commenting. Yes, that's the reasoning I derived as well.

    My point is: Yes, there is a reason I would not want the metadata written back into the file itself: I simply don't want changes to my original out-of-camera files, however trustworthy the application. Yes, I have them backed up several ways.

    As it is, I can accomplish this by just not using Camera Raw on any formats that it feels comfortable doing such write-backs to. This makes sense in another way in that Camera Raw was designed for, well, raw files, not JPEG or TIFF or PSD or whatever. The line grays a good bit when we talk about DNGs.

    I'd simply like to be able to configure Camera Raw to use the metadata database or XMP file in ALL cases via a configuration option. Then it would be consistent in its operation, and I would not need to worry about whether I'm opening an original JPEG with Camera Raw.

    Someone else will have to speak for Lightroom. I don't use it.

    -Noel
    TheDigitalDog
    TheDigitalDog
    Inspiring
    May 19, 2011
    I believe that because Adobe feels proprietary raws are read only, the alternative is sidecar files. All the other files are read/write, non proprietary files. In that context, the behavior makes some sense. Is there a reason you would not want the metadata data written into the file format itself?

    As for saving data without asking, isn’t LR doing this all the time? Well to the database (or the data itself if so set).
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