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A
AxlV
Participating Frequently
July 12, 2016
Question

Lightroom: Import RAW only, not JPG

  • July 12, 2016
  • 9 replies
  • 12560 views

I shoot RAW+JPG.

For the more casual stuff, I can import JPG straight into Apple Photos.

When wirelessly transferring photos from my A6000 to my phone, JPG offers better quality.

For the more serious stuff, I import RAW into Lightroom 6.

The problem is that Lightroom imports both.

I have no use for JPGs in LR when I have the RAW file.

My library is full of JPGs that I do not want and I can't figure out how to only import the RAW and leave the JPG on my SD card.

This topic has been closed for replies.

9 replies

H
hash71
Participant
December 6, 2018

I have another issue is that i shoot raw and when i import my image on Lr on iphone its jpeg, how to solve this issue so that i can have my raw format, thanks

C
cooldaddyluke
Participating Frequently
March 9, 2018

I have a macbook pro; this is a solution after you import:

While you can't import RAW only, once the import is finished (in Library > filter > any searchable field > contains all > [Type] jpg and ENTER/RETURN

This will separate all your jpgs; simply select all and delete. All that remains are your RAW (DNG).

S
stevemcgf
Participant
February 5, 2017

I have exactly the same issue as a workaround I made a little script to delete JPGs after I import or even later.

$dngList = Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Users\Steve\Pictures\ -Filter *.dng -Recurse

foreach ($dngFile in $dngList) {

        $jpgFilename = $dngFile.FullName -Replace "[Dd][Nn][Gg]$", "jpg"

        if ( Test-Path $jpgFilename)

        {

                $jpgFilename

                Remove-Item $jpgFilename

        }

}

This code look for all *.DNG files on a directory recursively. Then it test if the same name but with .JPG exists then it delete the .JPG

Change the path to whatever location you're using. You must run this under Windows PowerShell.

I hope it helps you. It's very annoying Lightroom doesn't have the option to not import the JPG.

M
Moblin
Participant
August 25, 2016

I am trying to import BOTH raw and jpg images BUT oddly only the RAW files are showing up, even though they are different images altogether.  See screenshots showing the entirety of the folder with both raw and jpgs, but LR only showing the raw files. I am sure I am doing something stupid.  I called Adobe support and after going through 10 prompts and leaving my call back number and holding for a person, it hung up on me.

Is there a LR expert out there I can rely on?

Scott

Thanks!

ssprengel
ssprengel
Inspiring
August 25, 2016

The answer is in the forum thread you’ve added your reply to, so click over to the web version of the forum message, and read down through the messages.

Just Shoot Me
Just Shoot Me
Legend
July 16, 2016

I think you are missing the point of LR.

LR is design to handle all your images not just some of them.

Using 2 different image management and editing software programs is counter productive to having a well managed image collection and being able to sort and find images you might need, for whatever reason.

I suggest you pick one, LR or Apple Photos, and stick with it for all your image management.

A
AxlVAuthor
Participating Frequently
July 16, 2016

I'm happy with my current setup and choosing one over the other is not an option. They're nothing alike and serve very different purposes.

Its just that not every picture needs RAW processing. If LR insists I import everything in order to fish out the files I need, I'm basically creating my own junk only to clean it up afterwards. If that's the way it is, fine. But it's not the philosophy I'd expect from an advanced image library manager.

A simple option in the preferences as to which filetype to import if both are available would make sense to me personally.

    Just Shoot Me
    Just Shoot Me
    Legend
    July 16, 2016

    I'm not aware of cameras shooting DNG, TIFF or PSD, but almost any camera is able to shoot RAW+JPG. No matter what your reasons are for doing so, the problem is Lightroom can only store either both or none, treating it as a bundled package.

    We already have Windows Explorer or Apple's Finder to manually work through them. The point of a library manager such as Lightroom is to batch process your files to keep you from doing so. Especially monotonous, repetitive tasks that are easy to program. HDRs and panoramas are other examples where LR fails to do the work for you. I have no idea what lead to these UI decisions but to me they seem awkward, focusing too narrow on a specific user or workflow.


    Not everyone uses LR or any image cataloging and editing program to get images off a camera or a camera memory card. Some copy images directly to their hard drive and then import them. Some even us a different RAW editor, like ACR or Capture one, and then send that file to PS or generate a TIFF from that other editor and then import them into LR for image management (All Images in one place to be searched, flagged, color labeled, filtered or whatever).

    I for a long time used the Adobe Photo Downloader program that comes with PS & Bridge to get images from camera card to hard drive even though I've used LR since version 1. That is until I read an article on how to edit an import preset to give me the naming, Date, convention that I liked and had used with the Photo Downloader program.

    Now I do use LR to get images onto my hard drive. But I still sometimes create TIFF files on my notebook that I then need to import into LR on my main desktop system.

    A
    AxlVAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    July 16, 2016

    Not every setting is able to produce RAW files.

    In-camera HDR for example and some of the apps save to JPG.

    So even if I filter to JPG I have to then manually filter out the ones that do not have a RAW copy.

    That you can save both formats doesn't mean you'll always need both.

    I think it would be neat if LR offered more control in the import dialog.

    A
    AxlVAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    July 12, 2016

    I have JPG files in my LR library without a RAW substitute, how should I filter those out then?

    My camera has 1 SD slot.

    It seems very strange to me that LR is unable to deal with this.

    Abambo
    Community Expert
    AbamboCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 12, 2016

    Recent imports come in a own collection "previous import". You can use here a filter on the JPEG file format. Also, I suppose that your imports go into a folder structure, that allows you to easily select pictures from a specific date.

    AxlV wrote:

    It seems very strange to me that LR is unable to deal with this.

    I don't shoot JPEG at all and do not see use into that. When I need JPEGs I just create them from my RAW files. But that's my workflow...

    ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
    JoeKostoss
    Community Expert
    JoeKostossCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 12, 2016

    Depending on your camera, there is a way to do this in camera.  On my Nikon D7000, there are 2 card slots.  I can program the camera to put NEF (raw files) on one card and JPG on the other.

    dj_paige
    dj_paige
    Legend
    July 12, 2016

    There is no function in Lightroom to import RAW only in your case.

    You probably need to pre-sort the photos using your operating system (RAW in one folder, JPG in another) and then import just the RAW.

    Abambo
    Community Expert
    AbamboCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 12, 2016

    Or you simply delete the JPEGs after the import.

    ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
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