The short answer: shoot RAW, approve as JPG, deliver to spec
For film and TV unit stills, shoot RAW, review and approve as JPG, archive the RAW originals, and deliver the approved set to the distributor’s specification. This sequence uses each format for what it does best: RAW captures the most image data at the moment of shooting, and JPG makes that image fast to view and approve. Delivery then usually wants both — JPGs for immediate use plus a RAW format, TIFF or native camera RAW with its sidecars — but only once the images have cleared talent approval. The rest of this guide explains why, and how the conversion keeps the photographer’s work intact.
What a RAW file is and why photographers shoot it
A RAW file is the unprocessed data straight from the camera sensor, holding far more information than a finished image needs. Because nothing has been baked in, it gives a colourist or retoucher latitude to recover highlights, lift shadows and grade colour without the picture falling apart. That is why a RAW is often called the photographer’s negative: it is the master source you grade from, not the picture you publish. Unit photographers shoot RAW (or RAW plus JPG) so the production keeps every option open for the life of the title. The trade-off is size and usability, as RAW files are large and cannot be viewed or published directly, which is exactly the problem the next format solves. If you want the deeper version, see what are RAW files.
What a JPG is and where it fits
A JPG is a compressed, universally readable image that is ready to view and publish the moment it is created. That compression throws away data a RAW keeps, but in return the file is small, opens anywhere, and needs no rendering, which makes it the right format for two everyday jobs. The first is approvals: stills are uploaded to the Image Approvals platform as compressed JPGs so galleries load fast and cast, producers and clients can review them without waiting. The second is publicity use, where a JPG drops straight into press kits, EPKs and online channels. JPG is not the format you grade from, but it is almost always the format people actually look at and approve.
Converting RAW to JPG without losing the photographer’s edits
The key thing to understand is that a RAW file is never altered directly. When a photographer adjusts exposure, white balance or colour, those instructions are saved separately, either in an XMP sidecar file that travels alongside the RAW or inside a Capture One catalogue. The RAW stays untouched; the edits live next to it. This means a RAW to JPG conversion is only faithful if it reads and applies those edits, otherwise the JPG shows the flat, ungraded capture rather than the photographer’s intended look. Preserving edits matters because it is how cast and client see images at their best, and getting wrong-looking files in front of talent is how approvals stall. The same applies to image metadata such as captions and credits, which should carry across rather than being stripped. Handling this correctly, across JPEG, DNG, TIFF and proprietary camera RAW plus .xmp and Capture One sidecars, is something our photo lab at Image Approvals can take on for a production as an optional service. For more on sidecars, see everything you need to know about XMP files.
What to archive versus what to deliver
Before anything is delivered, it has to be cleared. Nothing leaves for the distributor until the frames have been through talent approval, where cast sign off the images they appear in within their contractual allowance — so the set you package is the approved set, not the full take.
What you then hand over is usually not JPGs alone. Distributors typically ask for both: high-quality JPGs for immediate press and publicity use, and a RAW format alongside them. That second format may be TIFF, or the native camera RAW together with its .xmp or Capture One sidecars so the photographer’s edits and the embedded metadata travel with the file rather than being flattened away. Always let the photography delivery specs — not habit — decide the formats, resolution and colour space; specs vary by distributor and change over time.
How much of the set goes over also varies. Some distributors want a copy of every approved image; others want only the key selects. The distinction matters because the approved set can run into the thousands, while the key selects are a small, highly curated subset of it — a distributor will typically expect somewhere in the region of 200 to 300 images, which is a manageable number to work with while still giving their marketing and press teams plenty of options. Where that is the arrangement, it is the selects that travel to the distributor and the rest of the approved set that stays with the production.
That remainder still needs a home. The production archives it — the RAW originals and their sidecars alongside the rendered files — either by its own means or through an archiving service. The archive is your insurance: it lets you re-grade, pull a larger or tighter crop, or regenerate files years later if a distributor comes back with new requirements. When it is time to package and send the approved set, delivering approved stills walks through the handover step by step. If you would like our photo lab at Image Approvals to handle the conversion, archiving and delivery for you, get in touch and we can talk it through.