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Working with RAW and JPEG bundles from digital cameras
If you've set up your digital camera to shoot RAW+JPEG, FotoStation has some nice features to let you work more effectively with these files using so-called bundles.
29. March 2025
Table of Contents
What are RAW+JPEG bundles?
If your camera has been set up to shoot both RAW and JPEG files, you can set FotoStation up to join the RAW and the JPEG file in a "bundle". Thus the files will be seen as a single file in FotoStation, but when applying metadata or when copying it to an output, for example, both files are included in the operation.
Note: The RAW+JPEG features described in this topic only work when FotoStation is accessing local volumes. RAW+JPEG bundle features are not supported in Index Manager archives.
Enabling RAW+JPEG bundle view
To combine RAW + JPEG files in a bundle in your archives, open the View menu and tick the RAW+JPEG Bundle View option. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-J/Command-J. Now RAW and JPEG files are bundled based on their filename. Renaming a bundle will change the name of both the RAW and the JPEG version of the picture.
How FotoStation tasks relate to RAW+JPEG bundles
When you work with RAW+JPEG bundles on an everyday basis, most operations you perform will be carried out on both versions of the picture. However, some specific tasks require access to either one or the other, as explained below:
Running Actions
When you configure your actions, you have a choice on the properties page of each action you create that controls how it relates to RAW+JPEG bundles. This can be set to one of three modes: Process JPEG only, Process RAW only or Process RAW+JPEG. When choosing either option that includes the RAW file, you will see that the list of available action is shorter, since not all actions can be performed on RAW files.
High-resolution editing
When you select a bundle in FotoStation and hit the Edit button to open the file in FotoStation's built-in image editor, you actually have a choice of editing the RAW file or the associated JPEG. This preference is set in the View menu, where you have a choice of Use JPEG on Edit or Use RAW on Edit
Note: Before editing a RAW+JPEG bundle, either make a copy with a different file name or save the file with a different file name so as not to break the bundle.
Applying metadata
When you apply text to a RAW+JPEG bundle, the text is applied to both files. Since the RAW file may not support embedded metadata, FotoStation will store the text in a so-called sidecar file with the extension .xmp. This file will not be visible in FotoStation, but will reside in your file system and travel with the RAW file when it is copied or moved to another location.