Re-editing RAW images in Lightroom

Report · Mar 06, 2019

I would love to know if it is possible to re-edit a RAW image in Lightroom?

I understand that Lightroom does not alter the original image and you can re-set at any time but I am struggling to understand the export process. I have watched many tutorials where photographers say they export their files as JPEGs to external hard drives and keep nothing on their computer hard drive to keep it clean and fast.

I would presume that a professional photographer would be keen to have the ability to pull the image back into Lightroom for a re-edit should they choose and would want to keep a hold of the RAW file for a while at least. Why would they then export as a JPEG and not a DNG? To keep their computer hard drive clean they would have to erase all catalogues and files and you cannot re-edit a JPEG. From what I gather it is best to import images from an external hard drive as a 'copy' which I will do from now on but currently have thousands of RAW's sitting on my computer that are taking up too much space but some of which I would like to save.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks

Report · Nov 04, 2021

Readers please note that "[Ctrl + '] (Ctrl with the 'quote' key )" is inconsistent - correct to "with the 'apostrophe' key ), e.g. don't hold down the shift key (one less activity, and takes only one hand: thumb on CTL and a finger on Apostrophe). I've done that approximately a million times : ) .