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Answered

Exporting RAW to JPEG - poor quality and lots of noise

Forum|Forum|15 years ago
November 21, 2010
13 replies
31778 views

Hi folks,

I am new to using Lightroom - I have imported my RAW files, done some editing on some of my images and have then tried to Export as JPEGs (because I would like to have them in a file format that I can send to others to use).

I have used the "Export" function in Lightroom and followed the steps there (including setting the quality to "100") - I have successfully made JPEG files but there is so much noise in them. They are visibly much much poorer quality than the equivalent RAW image. I understand there is likely to be a loss of quality as you go from RAW to JPEG but this is a serious amount of noise.

This leads me to think I am doing something wrong in the Exporting process, but because I'm a novice I can't think what it is - any help out there would be much appreciated!

Thanks.

This topic has been closed for replies.

Correct answer wyeaton

I know this is an old thread, but I have the same problem and am hoping perhaps to get some new feedback. I also have used all the same settings,

the best quality settings that I can do on export, but the quality I get when I convert to JPG is very poor. I do save at 100% because I want to send some of my images to stock agencies that want JPGs but at the very best possible quality. I have experimented in changing the resolution to 300, resizing to 18MP (which is the native size from my camera (Canon 7D), leaving the resizing box unchecked, and tried all all levels and types of sharpening, and none of these settings makes any improvement. I honestly do not think this is an issue of color calibration. The images that I get when I convert from RAW to JPG are are very poor quality, but not so much noise as they appear pixelated. I am going to try to attach a screen capture of a RAW image and a JPG that has been converted. Realize there is a bit of loss of quality in both of these images as they were done by the print screen function, then saved as BMP and then JPG..But doing it this way actually produced a much better quality image than exporting the RAW file to JPG in LR3. Both of these images were saved at 100%

The image at the top is a small segment of the RAW capture at 100% and the bottom one is a segment of the same area of the exported JPG at 100% Note the writing and how it is very pixelated. I think you would agree that it is quite a deterioration in quality. Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Message was edited by: wyeaton I'm sorry that the images do not appear to be showing up on the thread. They do show up when I uploaded them and when I edit them, but I don't see them once I do the update. Any suggestions there would be appreciated as well. Thanks.

D

DG27733727u5t7

Participant

I had this same problem saving my Sony RAW files as JPEG. I "solved" it by selecting the "Edit in Photoshop" option in the File Menu and then just exporting from Photoshop. Didn't have to do any additional editing in PS... I think LR just isn't great at exporting RAW files--possibly may only be a problem with Sony's RAW format, which has been a headache for editing software since they came out with it on the A1. Or it could be LR. If anyone figures out a fix that doesn't require an extra step for every photo, that'd be great.

F

fabio_oms

Participant

Look the difference between windows ten's photo viewer and windows seven's photo viewer. The major problem is when i upload the photo on sites, like Facebook or Google Drive, it's look extremely noise.

Windows 10 photo viewer.

Facebook.

Somebody may help me?

F

fabio_oms

Participant

My Lightroom has the same problem. This's my output export settings.

M

MrShuffles

Participant

I was having a similar frustrating problem. I'm relatively new to Lightroom too (plenty of experience with other imaging software). The problem for me was not the actual export settings but the default settings in the Develop tab for "Sharpening" and "Noise Reductions". Lightroom has a default Sharpening amount set at 25 for RAW images. This was the underlying cause of the problem for me. I dropped this back to zero. I then raised the Noise Reduction luminance setting to 30 (If there is a large amount of noise then you may look at raising this a bit higher). If the photo was shot with a high ISO you might look at increasing the Colour noise reduction option too. Just be wary not to raise them too high or you will lose fine detail. I applied these settings to all my photographs (using the sync option for sharpening and noise reduction only). Exported the RAW to jpg at quality 80 and results are now great. The settings can be saved in place of the default. Maybe this will help some others here.

N

Natalouwrens

Participating Frequently

If my settings are wrong, is there someone that can advise me in what they should be.. I 've been crying all day and don't know what to do. Everything went smoothly beforehand...

N

Natalouwrens

Participating Frequently

Is there any awnser to this yet!? I have the same problem! And if I look for awnsers on the web I see I'm not the only one! In lightroom does not matter what view, it looks sharp and noiseless.. export or go to photoshop bad qualit! I never had this problem untill now!

now my work is at a hold and I have deadlines!

J

Jao vdL

Community Expert

What are your export settings? What are you using to view the exported files? 80% of times this is due to the export settings being wrong (very low jpeg quality settings, wrong color space, or wrong choices for the resolution). Another 10% of times this is due to uploading or viewing the file somewhere that degrades the images. Facebook for example is well known for obliterating images if you feed it too big images. Last 10% of times this is due to the image actually being very noisy but the user not noticing because they are judging it in a zoomed out view in Develop in Lightroom.

if your image is well developed in Lightroom and if your export settings are correct, you WILL get good quality exports.

N

Natalouwrens

Participating Frequently

Export settings:

quality: 90

Res: 300...

sRGB

when I get home I'll send a screen shot of both side by side..

I never changed any thing to my export settings. I'ts something that malfunctioned all of the sudden! l prevous images and jpegs where perfect, prints also no problems for all 3 years that I've been using lightroom! I don't know what whent wrong..

davidy83103999

Participant

I am having the same thing happen. Interestingly, I can do a screen shot of the Lightroom photograph, at 72 dpi and the quality is incredible compared to the export that looses so much quality. Screen shot still beats export, even when I export to extremely high dpi. My work around has been to do a screen shot and edit the screen shot in photo shop. I don't like doing this, I am not seeing or finding any other solution. I would love to have a solution.

dj_paige

Legend

Start reading at the beginning of the thread and answer the questions asked. Show us.

muffe

Participant

I'm seeing a significant lost in quality if I use any of the lightroom presets. You have to make your own custom one to preserve the image.

P

pvxvdise

Participant

I was having this problem myself there, however i have found a solution. I downloaded Lightroom mobile. Made a catalog and now just export them into that, I'm sorry this doesn't answer your question completely but if you are stuck this is a fantastic way to do it and suits me because I like to stick my photos up on Instagram anyway.

W

wyeatonCorrect answer

Participating Frequently

I know this is an old thread, but I have the same problem and am hoping perhaps to get some new feedback. I also have used all the same settings,

the best quality settings that I can do on export, but the quality I get when I convert to JPG is very poor. I do save at 100% because I want to send some of my images to stock agencies that want JPGs but at the very best possible quality. I have experimented in changing the resolution to 300, resizing to 18MP (which is the native size from my camera (Canon 7D), leaving the resizing box unchecked, and tried all all levels and types of sharpening, and none of these settings makes any improvement. I honestly do not think this is an issue of color calibration. The images that I get when I convert from RAW to JPG are are very poor quality, but not so much noise as they appear pixelated. I am going to try to attach a screen capture of a RAW image and a JPG that has been converted. Realize there is a bit of loss of quality in both of these images as they were done by the print screen function, then saved as BMP and then JPG..But doing it this way actually produced a much better quality image than exporting the RAW file to JPG in LR3. Both of these images were saved at 100%

The image at the top is a small segment of the RAW capture at 100% and the bottom one is a segment of the same area of the exported JPG at 100% Note the writing and how it is very pixelated. I think you would agree that it is quite a deterioration in quality. Any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Message was edited by: wyeaton I'm sorry that the images do not appear to be showing up on the thread. They do show up when I uploaded them and when I edit them, but I don't see them once I do the update. Any suggestions there would be appreciated as well. Thanks.

ssprengel

Inspiring

Attaching images to a web-originated message does work, so try again. There is a pixel limit and a file-size limit so try one at a time and/or crop them smaller.

W

wyeaton

Participating Frequently

Hopefully this will work this time, with the images being smaller, though the example is a bit harder to see now. The RAW appearance is at the top, the bottom image is after exporting to JPG. Both are at 100%.

Thanks again.

Message was edited by: wyeaton I tried again, making the images yet smaller...

J

Jao vdL

Community Expert

Sean is likely right. It is probably just the output sharpening. You should not apply any extra sharpening on output if you are not rescaling the image. This will only amplify any noise present in the image. Use output sharpening for screen when you scale down the image.

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