NEF files are the Nikon RAW format.  Canon and the others will have their own RAW format, which might have the extension RAW or something else; however, they essentially work the same.

RAW files are not compressed, which allows you to ultimately print them bigger with better quality than JPG files.  For example, I can print up to 30 inches by 40 inches in RAW, while I can only print 20 inches by 30 inches with a JPG file and maintain the same quality.

Here is how to save your RAW file so that you can work with it like any other picture:

Open NEF or RAW file
Make adjustments as needed on RAW Adjustments Screen
Click OK on RAW Adjustments Screen
Click File -> Save As (to save to a PSD file)
OR
Click File -> Save for Web (to save as a JPG)
In “Save for Web”
Choose “JPEG” in drop down menu (instead of GIF)
Choose quality of “100″
Click Save

I recommend not saving as a JPG unless the printing company won’t accept PSD files. Rather save it as a PSD because when you save as a JPG, you lose some of the quality of the picture. If you save as a PSD, you don’t lose any quality. It’ll end up being a slightly larger file, but so what. Also, don’t save over the top of the original NEF file. That’s the source file that you can always go back to and mess with exposure compensation and other fun stuff. Of course, when you save as a PSD or JPG, it’ll have a different extension anyway so no big deal.

Tags: nef files, photography tutorial, photoshop tutorial, raw files

This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 10:37 pm and is filed under Help, Tutorials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.