I'm sure I'm missing something very basic here and will probably feel very silly when the answers come in but….. I'm shooting RAW files which vary between 7 - 10 mb each picture. I import them into aperture to work on them and make adjustments (but not cropping which I know reduces pixels…), but when I export them out to be printed etc each file has reduced in size to around 1.5mb. Why is this? Am I doing something wrong? How do I work on my pictures and keep the pixel resolution? Thanks in advance!
Hi Alison
That’s a guid Glasgow name! Anyway, when you export to a jpeg, the picture data is compressed but are you printing out several metres square? If not, you simply won’t be able to tell the difference. You can crank up the jpeg quality settings and compare, or export to a TIFF rather than a jpeg, but I’d be amazed if it makes a difference.
OK, read the question again… How do I work on my pictures and keep full res? Aperture always works at the appropriate resolution. So when you change something in the adjustments, Aperture re-draws the picture on your screen at full res. When you export it redraws the picture at the resolution you require. But if you did have a screen - say - that had the same pixel dimensions as your camera you would get every pixel, with the adjustments applied.
So don’t worry :)
d.
d.
Alison,
The only thing I’d add to David’s reply is to ensure that you’re exporting a full resolution file by ensuring you’re using a preset labeled “Original Size” [screenshot].
A RAW file that’s 10MB could easily be 50MB as a TIF and only 1.5MB as a JPG. It’s a mad, mad world.
@PhotoJoseph
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