No matter what you do, at some point, you will need to know how to export RAW files from Lightroom. While RAW files are the standard when it comes to photography, they can also confuse a lot of people, especially when just starting.
A RAW file has a lot more information than a classic jpeg, and you need that in order to get your edits right. Any DSLR or mirrorless camera can store your photos as RAW, so you don’t need a fancy camera for this. What you may need though, is to be able to export your RAW files to edit them in different software, or simply to store them.
If you’re like me and keep a lot of folders with hundreds of photos, it may be the best choice to only export the raw files you want to keep and have those beautifully organized.
Let’s go ahead and take a look at how you can export RAW files from Lightroom.
1. Select Your Photo
The first step would be to select the photo or photos you want to export. Simply go into the “Library,” select your photos, and then click “Export.”
2. Export Original Files
In order to export the RAW files, you only need to change the “Image format” in the “File Settings” tab, to “Original.” This means that the exported images will have the format your camera initially exported in, such as .NEF, .CR2, .PEF, .ARW, etc.
Besides this, you should also change the location of the exported files, because you need to know exactly where to get them from.
From the same export window, you can export in any format you need your photo to be, from .tiff, to .jpg and .dng. The DNG is considered the Adobe standard, as any other RAW file can be converted into DNG and used on almost all the editing software out there.
3. Click On “Export”
The only thing left to do now is to export your files. You will find them in the folder you selected earlier, and if the photo was edited, you will also find a .xmp file. Lightroom basically exports your RAW file and edit separately.
If you want to import that preset back to Lightroom, all you need to do is click on the little “+” in the “Presets” tab and then choose “Import Presets.” You will be able to import your .xmp file and keep the preset on hand.
Keep in mind the fact that if you want to export a RAW file to edit in Photoshop, you can simply select your photo in Lightroom and choose “Edit in Photoshop.” The program will open, you will edit your photo and it will be saved in Lightroom as a duplicate of the original one.
Without a doubt, you now know how to export RAW files from Lightroom, and it will probably help you in a lot of situations.
