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jeffs20
Participant
September 1, 2018
Answered

RAW photos convert to JPEG when imported from camera

  • September 1, 2018
  • 14 replies
  • 27345 views

Brand new to Lightroom.  On a free trial.     i just imported RAW photos (shot as RAW only, not RAW + JPG)  from my Canon EOS T3 and when I pull the thumbnails up they show as jpegs.  This certainly could be user error but not sure how that can be.   Do I need to convert them somehow? Thanks for any help possible. 

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer JP Hess

    All I can say is that what you are describing is not a normal and natural process in Lightroom. There isn't a process that will change a raw image into a JPEG. Something else is happening in this instance. Are you really using the cloud version of Lightroom?

    14 replies

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    A
    angelicat89165221
    Participant
    February 11, 2020

    I am having the same issue. Unfortunately, I have saved all my RAW photos in my external drive and deleted them from my memory cards already. They are shot RAW, but when imported to Lightroom Classic (updated cloud version) they automatically turned to JPEGS. It sucks as I always edit my photos from RAW. Any help? suggestions?

    L
    lctide
    Participant
    February 12, 2020

    I am having the same problem and it's driving me crazy!!

    A
    angelicat89165221
    Participant
    March 12, 2020

    Have you sorted this out?

    T
    TimA346+
    Participant
    November 28, 2019

    The same thing is happening to me! It was fine on my Lenovo but since I've switched to Mac I've had this issue. 

     

    K
    karlthefirst
    Participant
    April 12, 2019

    FYI, I know this post is a couple months old, but I'm having same problem right now with Lightroom CC on Mac. I'm shooting in RAW only and can import them to lightroom cc from iOS Photos app on my iPad Pro no problem. But for some reason when I import from Photos on the Mac, Lightroom converts them to JPEG before importing. They show clearly as the full RAW files in the Photos app. Utterly crazy. Sorry, I know it's an old thread but anyone out there with any thoughts/help?

      S
      svetlanay9829926
      Participant
      May 24, 2019

      Don't import from Photos on Mac. Import directly from the camera. I had the same problem. All you need to do is when you import photos to Lightroom, connect the camera to Mac and click on camera when importing. That way it imports in RAW.

        JP Hess
        JP HessCorrect answer
        Inspiring
        September 1, 2018

        All I can say is that what you are describing is not a normal and natural process in Lightroom. There isn't a process that will change a raw image into a JPEG. Something else is happening in this instance. Are you really using the cloud version of Lightroom?

        J
        jeffs20Author
        Participant
        September 1, 2018

        Jim

        The trial version is the cloud version. When/if purchase I would not need

        this. Yeah, I don’t get it. Shot everything in Raw only and all of the

        thumbnails have a jpeg suffix. Perhaps my camera is malfunctioning

        somehow. Hmmm? I double checked the camera quality setting and it has

        been on raw only. Thanks anyway for responding. I wonder if I somehow

        imported directly from the card (not in the camera) if that might be a

        solution. Not sure that’s even possible or how I would do it, but a crazy

        thought. I’m a novice at this stuff.

        J
        jeffs20Author
        Participant
        September 3, 2018

        Importing directly from the card is always a better idea. Card readers are generally cheap and many computers include a sd card reader and sometimes you will find them on displays too. If your camera shoots SD cards, USB readers can be had for less than $10.

        When you import, make sure you don't use some software utility that came with the camera as some of those convert to jpeg for you. Make sure you only directly import in Lightroom whether it is through a USB cable to your camera or through a card reader.


        Thanks for your reply. I deleted Lightroom and started over. I had the photos originally imported to my computer photo app and I think Lightroom was selecting from there rather than from a new import from my camera. Now working properly. Thanks again.

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