What is RAW vs. JPEG?
RAW is an uncompressed or minimally compressed file format that captures all data from the camera sensor, preserving maximum information for post-processing. JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a compressed image format that discards some data to create a smaller file size, applying in-camera processing (color, sharpness, noise reduction) that becomes permanent.
Why It Matters
The RAW vs. JPEG decision is one of the most important choices a photographer makes before pressing the shutter. For commercial, product, and professional photography, RAW is the standard because it preserves full editing flexibility. JPEGs are smaller and faster to share but limit how much a photo can be corrected or enhanced in editing.
How It Works
RAW files are much larger (15–50MB per image vs. 2–8MB for JPEG) and require conversion software (Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, or camera manufacturer software) to view and edit. They allow extensive adjustments to exposure, white balance, color, shadows, and highlights without quality degradation. JPEGs are processed and compressed in-camera — they’re ready to use immediately but bake in the camera’s processing decisions. For Amazon product photography or advertising images, always deliver final images as high-resolution JPEGs — RAW is the working format during editing.
Real-World Example
A product photographer accidentally underexposes a set of Amazon product shots by 1.5 stops. Shooting in RAW allows complete exposure recovery in Lightroom without noticeable quality loss. If those same shots were taken in JPEG, recovering 1.5 stops would create significant noise, blown-out highlights, and color degradation — potentially unusable images.
