Exporting Nikon raw files in Aperture

MiniD3 · Jul 2, 2013

Hi guys
Still doing some research before my new Mac arrives
Been watching lots of videos on Aperture

So far, it appears, all raw file exports are converted to a tiff,

Is there a way you can export a raw NEF file to a folder on the computer as raw NEF file?
....Gary

flynz4 · Jul 2, 2013

MiniD3 said:
Hi guys
Still doing some research before my new Mac arrives
Been watching lots of videos on Aperture

So far, it appears, all raw file exports are converted to a tiff,

Is there a way you can export a raw NEF file to a folder on the computer as raw NEF file?
....Gary

I get the RAW file on export. Actually... I generally import as a RAW+JPEG (JPEG Master) and when I export... I get both the RAW and the JPEG. It doesn't matter which file of the pair I am using at the time.

/Jim

JDDavis · Jul 2, 2013

MiniD3 said:
Hi guys
Still doing some research before my new Mac arrives
Been watching lots of videos on Aperture

So far, it appears, all raw file exports are converted to a tiff,

Is there a way you can export a raw NEF file to a folder on the computer as raw NEF file?
....Gary

I'm not the expert on this but I believe anytime you export anything out of Aperture it's going to be processed or saved in a viewable format such as tiff or jpeg. A "RAW" NEF file is just data. Your NEF file will be stored in the Aperture Library or another location that you specify. It will never be touched by Aperture. When you make adjustments Aperture makes note of all that and then applies it on export. If you want the NEF file for something you can either save a duplicate copy somewhere off of your camera card or you can go back to the aperture library (in the Finder), right click on it and click "show package contents" and then go to the masters folder and find the NEF file you are looking for.

BTW, I shoot only in RAW and let the Aperture Library manage the masters. If you search around you'll find others who swear by other methods. This one works for me.

Hope that helps.

MiniD3 · Jul 2, 2013

Thank you Jim,

Have a feeling I may have been reading some of the training videos the wrong way?

They were saying exporting to a plug-in like Nik Software, for example, the file has to be exported as a tiff,

So I guess any "normal" export would be the same as the original raw file?
....Gary

----------

JDDavis said:
I'm not the expert on this but I believe anytime you export anything out of Aperture it's going to be processed or saved in a viewable format such as tiff or jpeg. A "RAW" NEF file is just data. Your NEF file will be stored in the Aperture Library or another location that you specify. It will never be touched by Aperture. When you make adjustments Aperture makes note of all that and then applies it on export. If you want the NEF file for something you can either save a duplicate copy somewhere off of your camera card or you can go back to the aperture library (in the Finder), right click on it and click "show package contents" and then go to the masters folder and find the NEF file you are looking for.

BTW, I shoot only in RAW and let the Aperture Library manage the masters. If you search around you'll find others who swear by other methods. This one works for me.

Hope that helps.

Thank you Jeff,
That sounds positive,
Except for plug-ins, I don't mind the tiff conversion,
If I can get a good grasp of setting up a good camera profile, hopefully, I won't need the "security blanket" of Nikon Capture NX2
I have become very competent with CNX2,
I have lost the activation code anyway, so many years ago,
If I can manage with Aperture, that will save a couple hundred dollars
....Gary

JDDavis · Jul 2, 2013

MiniD3 said:
Have a feeling I may have been reading some of the training videos the wrong way?

They were saying exporting to a plug-in like Nik Software, for example, the file has to be exported as a tiff,

So I guess any "normal" export would be the same as the original raw file?
....Gary

Not sure I quite understand what you're talking about. If you are exporting to a plugin like Nik (I have them and love them). Then it's not really exporting. It's kinda handled "in house". You right click the image and select edit with plugin and select the plugin. For Nik plugins the image opens up in say Silver EFX, you edit the image and when you save a new version appears beside your original version back in the Aperture Viewer (now you have two versions). You still have to export the new Nik version if you want to put it on the web or send it somewhere. The Aperture Library still manages all of that.

You can always get the original file if you want it. At least for Nik plugins there is no need to manually export or import files between Aperture and Nik. It's all handled for you by clicking "edit with plugin".

A "normal export" will be the same as the original file if you choose to make no edits. Except you will have to choose a file format to save it in. Like I said, though, if you want the original NEF for use in different software you can always get it. It's never edited by Aperture.

Here's another thread that may help. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3995721?start=0&tstart=0

----------

MiniD3 said:
Thank you Jeff,
That sounds positive,
Except for plug-ins, I don't mind the tiff conversion,
If I can get a good grasp of setting up a good camera profile, hopefully, I won't need the "security blanket" of Nikon Capture NX2
I have become very competent with CNX2,
I have lost the activation code anyway, so many years ago,
If I can manage with Aperture, that will save a couple hundred dollars
....Gary

Hope it helps. I'm no pro but I use Aperture and the Nik plugin suite for 99% of everything I do. Every once in a blue moon I'll use Photoshop. I really like the Nik plugins (except the HDR one), I use them a lot.

I settled on setting up my camera to be neutral as best as I can get it. I try to do my best with exposure and then I have the best set of "data" to work from with Aperture and Nik. It's rare that I don't make edits to a picture but that's just how I like to do it.

swordio777 · Jul 2, 2013

MiniD3 said:
Have a feeling I may have been reading some of the training videos the wrong way?

They were saying exporting to a plug-in like Nik Software, for example, the file has to be exported as a tiff,

So I guess any "normal" export would be the same as the original raw file?
....Gary

When considering exporting, you need to remember that a raw file is not an image. It doesn't contain millions of pixels each of a different colour - it is simply raw information about what the camera saw at the time of capture. Raw converters can interpret this information to generate an image that we can actually see. Every time you make an edit in your DAM, the raw converter considers what the camera originally saw but also takes into account the changes you want to make, then it generates a completely new preview image. The raw file itself is never altered.

It is possible to export the raw file from aperture, however any changes made in aperture will not be saved – the exported file will be identical to the raw file you downloaded from your camera.

This is not a limitation of aperture – the same would be true of any other DAM because the original raw file cannot be edited (ie – you can’t change what the camera actually saw).

Plugins such as Nik software and external image editors such as Photoshop cannot interpret raw information – instead they need a raster (pixel-based) image that they can apply their edits to. The raw converter therefore needs to "bake in" any changes you made in that software before sending it off to the plug-in / external editor and does this by generating either a JPEG or TIFF. That rasterised image file can then be opened by the external software, edited, and sent back to aperture as a second file.

Hope that makes sense & helps.

OreoCookie · Jul 2, 2013

MiniD3 said:
So far, it appears, all raw file exports are converted to a tiff,

Is there a way you can export a raw NEF file to a folder on the computer as raw NEF file?

I don't think you understand what a RAW file is and how Aperture and Lightroom work: first of all, when you import a photo, Aperture will never, ever, ever touch the original file. So if you feel Aperture a RAW file, it will remain just like when you imported it. Secondly, RAW files are not jpgs, you need a RAW converter to process it. A RAW file is literally the equivalent of a digital negative that needs to be developed into a photo. That means a RAW file contains none of your edits.

Of course Aperture allows you to export the RAW file, but it'll be just that, the naked RAW file. From the sound of it, I don't think that's what you expect to happen.

MiniD3 · Jul 2, 2013

OreoCookie said:
I don't think you understand what a RAW file is and how Aperture and Lightroom work: first of all, when you import a photo, Aperture will never, ever, ever touch the original file. So if you feel Aperture a RAW file, it will remain just like when you imported it. Secondly, RAW files are not jpgs, you need a RAW converter to process it. A RAW file is literally the equivalent of a digital negative that needs to be developed into a photo. That means a RAW file contains none of your edits.

Of course Aperture allows you to export the RAW file, but it'll be just that, the naked RAW file. From the sound of it, I don't think that's what you expect to happen.

Thank you,
Yes, I didn't expect that to happen,
In a video I watched, they stated that a new version had to be made and only exported as a tiff, I guess that is just for the plug-in they were using
As I'm understanding it now, from what your saying,
If if export a file for an edit in Nikon CNX2, it will still be a NEF raw file

I'm going to try and do without CNX2 and see how I go, just didn't want to lose the ability to edit NEF'S outside Aperture, perhaps when I get a good camera profile set-up the anxiety will wane

....Gary

----------

swordio777 said:
When considering exporting, you need to remember that a raw file is not an image. It doesn't contain millions of pixels each of a different colour - it is simply raw information about what the camera saw at the time of capture. Raw converters can interpret this information to generate an image that we can actually see. Every time you make an edit in your DAM, the raw converter considers what the camera originally saw but also takes into account the changes you want to make, then it generates a completely new preview image. The raw file itself is never altered.

It is possible to export the raw file from aperture, however any changes made in aperture will not be saved the exported file will be identical to the raw file you downloaded from your camera.

This is not a limitation of aperture the same would be true of any other DAM because the original raw file cannot be edited (ie you cant change what the camera actually saw).

Plugins such as Nik software and external image editors such as Photoshop cannot interpret raw information instead they need a raster (pixel-based) image that they can apply their edits to. The raw converter therefore needs to "bake in" any changes you made in that software before sending it off to the plug-in / external editor and does this by generating either a JPEG or TIFF. That rasterised image file can then be opened by the external software, edited, and sent back to aperture as a second file.

Hope that makes sense & helps.

All good, thank you,
YouTube can give you the wrong impression some times
The way things are panning out from the excellent feedback I've been getting here, I just may not have to get CNX2 in the first place
Sort of glad I'm not hooked on Photoshop
....Gary

initialsBB · Jul 3, 2013

Aperture uses the terms "original" and "version". When you import a file, that becomes the original file, which remains untouched, and as soon as you apply any modification (WB, crop, anything) it creates a 'virtual' version. When you want to export a file, you choose either to export the untouched original - RAW as it came out of the camera - or a version which would contain your edits - in which case you choose wether you want TIF, JPG, PDF, etc.

When in Aperture and sending a shot to Photoshop or to a plugin like the Nik suite, Aperture creates a new "original" file in your library in TIF format. So you now have the untouched RAW original, and a TIF original containing your edits so that external applications can have access to the file. This is because Aperture has a non-destructive workflow (Lightroom works in the same way), ie all edits remain 'virtual' until committed into an export.

Don't know if that was clearer or not

Padaung · Jul 3, 2013

When you import raw file into Aperture, the file stays as a raw file even after you've made adjustments to the image. The changes are recorded as a list of instructions which Aperture applies (on the fly) to the raw file every time you view the image. Tyhe original raw file is untouched by the edits. Only when you export the adjusted image are the edits saved as a new 'picture'. Upon export, you choose the file format you wish for the file to be saved as (for example, a jpeg, tiff or png). You cannot export another raw file with the adjustments added.

When you use a Nik plugin, Aperture will make a duplicate of the raw file you wish to edit and save the duplicate as a tiff file. The tiff file is then edited by the Nik plugin. If you have made some adjustments to the raw file before choosing to edit the file in Nik, the duplicate tiff file will have the adjustments applied to it.

MiniD3 · Jul 3, 2013

initialsBB said:
Aperture uses the terms "original" and "version". When you import a file, that becomes the original file, which remains untouched, and as soon as you apply any modification (WB, crop, anything) it creates a 'virtual' version. When you want to export a file, you choose either to export the untouched original - RAW as it came out of the camera - or a version which would contain your edits - in which case you choose wether you want TIF, JPG, PDF, etc.

When in Aperture and sending a shot to Photoshop or to a plugin like the Nik suite, Aperture creates a new "original" file in your library in TIF format. So you now have the untouched RAW original, and a TIF original containing your edits so that external applications can have access to the file. This is because Aperture has a non-destructive workflow (Lightroom works in the same way), ie all edits remain 'virtual' until committed into an export
Don't know if that was clearer or not

Excellent!
You have done extremely well,
Even for old geriatrics like me,

....Gary

----------

Padaung said:
When you import raw file into Aperture, the file stays as a raw file even after you've made adjustments to the image. The changes are recorded as a list of instructions which Aperture applies (on the fly) to the raw file every time you view the image. Tyhe original raw file is untouched by the edits. Only when you export the adjusted image are the edits saved as a new 'picture'. Upon export, you choose the file format you wish for the file to be saved as (for example, a jpeg, tiff or png). You cannot export another raw file with the adjustments added.

When you use a Nik plugin, Aperture will make a duplicate of the raw file you wish to edit and save the duplicate as a tiff file. The tiff file is then edited by the Nik plugin. If you have made some adjustments to the raw file before choosing to edit the file in Nik, the duplicate tiff file will have the adjustments applied to it.

Thank you,
That makes sense, getting a picture of how work flow may work,
Sorry for all the questions, even before purchase of Aperture, and the iMac for that matter,
I have a huge amount of files to sort out, unfortunately, sitting I'm fat32 drives so its going to take a lot of time to get them across,
All going to plan, 2-3 weeks

....Gary

Beau Nash · Sep 8, 2013

I'm late to this and I think I've already responded to the OP on another forum.

If you're interested, I've posted on my blog about how you can round-trip raw files to an external editor like PS or CNX2 and have them automatically re-imported into Aperture. It's a few simple Folder Actions that you build in Automator and I've given step-by-step instructions.

Let me know what you think.

MiniD3 · Sep 8, 2013

Beau Nash said:
I'm late to this and I think I've already responded to the OP on another forum.

If you're interested, I've posted on my blog about how you can round-trip raw files to an external editor like PS or CNX2 and have them automatically re-imported into Aperture. It's a few simple Folder Actions that you build in Automator and I've given step-by-step instructions.

Let me know what you think.

Much appreciated,
Thank you for taking the time to post and link your blogg
Regards.
Gary

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