# Recreate SOOC Jpegs from RAW?



## adamhiram (Jul 26, 2017)

I typically shoot RAW + Jpeg Fine (Nikon) - it's nice to have a backup, and occasionally I want the ability to share the Jpegs immediately.  Is there any way to recreate the same Jpegs I would have seen straight out of camera using just the RAW files?

I have heard that Nikon's applications may be able to do this (ViewNX?), but I don't have any experience using their software

Exporting RAW files with no processing obviously isn't the answer, the resulting Jpegs are the flat unprocessed images you'd expect
Selecting the appropriate camera profile (change "Adobe Standard" to "Camera Standard") gets closer, but is still a bit different without additional processing
I came across this preset a few years ago (via fstoppers.com) that gets even closer, besides being a great starting point for editing many images, but is still just an approximation.
Has anyone found a good solution to this, other than editing all photos, or always saving the SOOC Jpegs?


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## Overread (Jul 26, 2017)

The JPEG you see on the camera is embedded into the RAW file itself. I think there are JPEG unpacking programs online but I've never had a need to look into searching for one.


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## astroNikon (Jul 26, 2017)

You have to understand how the camera processes the image to your JPEG settings.

When I was learning more about this I could not find the exact answer of the exposure for say "Vivid" setting.  What are all the settings?
you can get certain ones but you can learn how to do and emulate the specific in-camera JPEG processing.

I started by using the "AUTO" in LightRoom.  Then understnading the changes it made to the RAW file.  Then learned more about each setting.  Takes time. but the only real way of understanding everything.

For instance Vivid raises Color Saturation, Contrast and Sharpening.  How much .. you have to experiment with your camera.  It may also change other parameters.
here quick information on that ==> Making Adjustments with Picture Controls on a Nikon DSLR - dummies


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## Ysarex (Jul 26, 2017)

adamhiram said:


> I typically shoot RAW + Jpeg Fine (Nikon) - it's nice to have a backup, and occasionally I want the ability to share the Jpegs immediately.  Is there any way to recreate the same Jpegs I would have seen straight out of camera using just the RAW files?



If you're saving the JPEGs why the need to recreate them?
Many cameras will allow you to recreate the JPEGs using the camera software -- menu item in review mode.
The JPEG is embedded in the raw file you can extract it.



adamhiram said:


> I have heard that Nikon's applications may be able to do this (ViewNX?), but I don't have any experience using their software



Yes. The raw processing software shipped with the camera will typically get very close to reproducing the JPEG.



adamhiram said:


> Exporting RAW files with no processing obviously isn't the answer, the resulting Jpegs are the flat unprocessed images you'd expect



Don't expect that. Sounds like you're using Adobe raw processing software. Other raw processing software doesn't necessarily do that.



adamhiram said:


> Selecting the appropriate camera profile (change "Adobe Standard" to "Camera Standard") gets closer, but is still a bit different without additional processing
> I came across this preset a few years ago (via fstoppers.com) that gets even closer, besides being a great starting point for editing many images, but is still just an approximation.
> Has anyone found a good solution to this, other than editing all photos, or always saving the SOOC Jpegs?


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## adamhiram (Jul 26, 2017)

Overread said:


> The JPEG you see on the camera is embedded into the RAW file itself. I think there are JPEG unpacking programs online but I've never had a need to look into searching for one.


Very interesting!  I had always assumed this was just a thumbnail and not a full-sized Jpeg version of the image.  Any idea if this is the same as the file I would see when shooting "Jpeg Fine"?  I just started looking, but already found a few hits here.



astroNikon said:


> you can get certain ones but you can learn how to do and emulate the specific in-camera JPEG processing.


Understood, and appreciate the explanation.  However my goal here is not to emulate these profiles in my editing, but simply to be able to recreate the same SOOC pre-processed Jpegs in an automated fashion.



Ysarex said:


> If you're saving the JPEGs why the need to recreate them?


My intent is to stop saving the Jpegs that I almost never use, but still be able to recreate them as needed - for example, to quickly throw some snapshots onto a thumb drive after a family gathering, rather than making them wait a week for me to have time to edit them.  The SOOC Jpegs are ideal for this, as they already have some in-camera processing done.  Any additional post-processing that isn't automated defeats the point of this use case.



Ysarex said:


> Many cameras will allow you to recreate the JPEGs using the camera software -- menu item in review mode.  The JPEG is embedded in the raw file you can extract it.


Really?  That sounds pretty convenient, I'll have to look into that and see if the D500 has that capability.



Ysarex said:


> Yes. The raw processing software shipped with the camera will typically get very close to reproducing the JPEG.


Honestly, this might be my best solution for quick batch conversion if it's close enough.  I do this so rarely that it seems a waste to keep shooting in RAW+Jpeg when I only use the RAWs, but knowing there's still a way to recreate them with minimal work makes that decision a bit easier.


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## qmr55 (Jul 26, 2017)

Welcome to the ERawP web pages

Instant JPEG from Raw


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## astroNikon (Jul 26, 2017)

Just process it in camera then when you need it.  You have certain editing features in camera.
pg 316 from D500 manual


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## Ysarex (Jul 26, 2017)

adamhiram said:


> Overread said:
> 
> 
> > The JPEG you see on the camera is embedded into the RAW file itself. I think there are JPEG unpacking programs online but I've never had a need to look into searching for one.
> ...



Look at the tread just below this one. You can't stop your camera from making and saving a JPEG. Even if you save raw only on the card you still get the JPEG embedded in the raw file. Qmr55 has your answer with the utility from Michael Tapes. I use it all the time.

Joe


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## adamhiram (Jul 26, 2017)

Ysarex said:


> Look at the tread just below this one. You can't stop your camera from making and saving a JPEG. Even if you save raw only on the card you still get the JPEG embedded in the raw file. Qmr55 has your answer with the utility from Michael Tapes. I use it all the time.


Thanks Joe (and QMR), I'm excited to give this a try when I get in this evening.  Not only will that enable me to shoot just RAW instead of RAW+Jpeg, but hopefully I can delete/archive approximately 30k Jpegs in my library taking up almost 150GB of space.


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## KmH (Jul 26, 2017)

adamhiram said:


> I had always assumed this was just a thumbnail and not a full-sized Jpeg version of the image.  Any idea if this is the same as the file I would see when shooting "Jpeg Fine"?


What is seen on the rear LCD and embedded in the Raw file is a JPEG Basic, the smallest (file size wise) JPEG file possible.

FWIW - JPEG is an acronym that stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group and is all capital letters.
Raw is not an acronym, but is a noun, and as such is Raw - rather than RAW.


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## Braineack (Jul 26, 2017)




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## adamhiram (Jul 27, 2017)

Thank you for the great recommendations.  I took some time to test out several of these solutions, and thought it would be helpful to share the results.  If anyone is interested, I can share some samples for pixel-peeping.

*Shoot Raw+JPEG*

Pros
Provides JPEGs right out of the camera with no additional processing necessary
Some in-camera processing applied
Suitable for quick delivery where full editing or Raw file is not an option

Cons
Takes up valuable space on memory card (64GB card holds 1.3k Raw, or 978 Raw+JPEG Fine)
Takes up disk space on computer (approximately 30% more space used)

*Extract JPEG from Raw file using IJFR <-- Winner!*

Pros
Tiny program, very easy to use, able to select multiple files and convert in a single action
JPEG files extracted look identical to SOOC JPEGs because they are literally the same file
Quality looks almost identical to JPEG Fine versions, but at 1/10th the file size

Cons
As was mentioned above, these are actually JPEG Basic quality, and you can see some compression artifacts if you look hard enough
sRGB color space is not included in resulting file, so colors may not render properly in applications that consider this (i.e. Photoshop)

*In-camera conversion (Retouch Menu)*

Pros
Produces nearly identical files to original JPEGs
Able to do right in camera as needed

Cons
Processing is not 100% identical to shooting Raw+JPEG - it looks like it does not correct for vignetting, but everything else looks to be the same
Only works with images taken on that camera - for me this meant that I had 25k images from an older camera I could not convert this way
Manual process that cannot be automated - copy images onto memory card, navigate to Retouching Menu, select images one at a time to convert.  Definitely not practical for any significant amount of photos

*Convert with Nikon ViewNX-i*

Pros
Exported photos look to have nearly identical processing
Batch processing multiple photos is pretty simple

Cons
Application download is nearly 300MB, lengthy install process, kludgy user interface
Processing not completely identical - images come out slightly brighter when converted with ViewNX
Files are nearly the same size when converted at quality=100, but very noticeable artifacts
Mapps to NikonRGB color space instead of sRGB - not really sure what the difference is, as they render the same in Photoshop
Definitely the worst solution tested; I will be uninstalling this application shortly


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## Ysarex (Jul 27, 2017)

adamhiram said:


> Thank you for the great recommendations.  I took some time to test out several of these solutions, and thought it would be helpful to share the results.  If anyone is interested, I can share some samples for pixel-peeping.
> 
> *Shoot Raw+JPEG*
> 
> ...



Nice synopsis there. Glad you found a good solution.

Here's another Con to add to your Shoot Raw + JPEG list. This varies somewhat for different cameras and it's not the kind of thing to be a deal breaker, but ideal or optimal exposure for one is not ideal for the other. In other words if you adjust exposure to get best looking JPEGs you're probably underexposing your raw files and if you adjust exposure for a best possible raw file the camera JPEG will typically be trashed. With my Fuji X-T2 the difference is about 1 stop so that best raw file exposure gives me a 1 stop overexposed JPEG.

Joe


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## Flash Harry (Aug 9, 2017)

I created a script in PS to do this years back when CF memory was a lot smaller than it is now so didn't want to save two files on camera to take up any space, iirc there was a few issues mostly to do with numbering the files and where they got stored in the computer but they were down to me and not the program, I think you only hit the 'record' button prior to opening and editing the first raw and follow through to 'save as' etc then run the script on the whole batch. Obviously any shots massively underexposed/overexposed will come out as such but if you're pretty good with SOOC shots you should get what you want from that.


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