Why shouldn’t photographers deliver RAW files to clients?

Being a photographer, it means you have to send your photos to your customers. How ever, which type of file formats should you deliver to your clients? Should you deliver RAW files to them?

Firsly, We should understand what RAW file is.

Raw files are uncompressed files. It means all the information of the photos remains unchanged and the images hasn’t been processed by any software. Raw files themselves aren't typically used as finished images. Photographers will make use of its data to create high quality final photos as they expect. This stands in contrast to jpeg (.jpg) format, which is a compressed, more or less finalized image file that has been stripped of a certain amount of information.

Why shouldn’t photographers deliver Raw files to clients?

Here are some reasons why you shouldn’t deliver Raw files to your clients:

Raw images are unfinished images: As its definition, Raw photos are uncompressed and they are unedited. They may contain bad light, over-exposure or low contrast… They need to be processed before exported. Besides that, Raw images are like all the ingredients that a chef need to cook a dish. Raw photos or ingredients are the necessary conditions to make a completed photo/dish.

Raw images destroy your brands: If you are doing a photography business, you will want to affirm your brand on the market by offering the best photos as you can. Besides that, all your photos need to have a consistent style which makes your clients love your work. And typically that consistency lying on your final products which have been undergone the same process in post-production, not in Raw images.

What if my clients ask for RAW images?

Being a photographer, you will know the differences of each file format. However, not all of your clients know it and they may ask you for Raw Images with the fear of missing great photos. Here are ways some photographers are doing to solve this problem.

Understand why do clients ask for RAW images: Knowing the reason why someone is making request, you will be able to know how to solve it. Let ask your clients directly why they need Raw files. Are they afraid of missing out on great shots? or Do they want to edit them on their own?

RAW vs. JPEG: Many clients might have no idea about the differences between RAW and JPEG files. It is necessary to help them understand that RAW files are not unfinished photos and require special software to even view them while JPEG files, which are automatically processed in camera and can show up as final photos.

Show off your RAW photos and the final ones: The reason for doing this is letting your clients see the differences between Raw photos and final photos which has been edited. And then ask your clients which ones they prefer.

Of course, there are few exceptions. There are some situations which photographers are willing to offer RAW photos and of course there should be some negotiations between them. So if you encounter this situation, consider to say "yes" or "no" carefully!

I am Amy from Vietnam. I am working as a retoucher at Beat Color - the leading real estate photo editing company in Vietnam.