When you edit pictures...
 

Do you save over the original file? For some reason I'm scared to. I have a bunch of family pictures we took last weekend that are way too cool in color and have a black hose behind them. I can easily edit both of those things and would never use the picture unedited, so why am I scared to save over the original? I know saving jpgs over and over affects quality, but will one time affect it that much? I'm crazy, I know.

I'm the same way, Sarah. I always keep the original. :unsure:

if i edit the pic and i really like how it turns out, i will save over it.

I'm like you Sarah, I always save a new version. I'm too scared I might want to re-edit at a later date (since I'm always trying to improve my editing skills) or I may want to go for another type of edit that I can only do with the original.

Nope, I save it as a separate file i.e. IMG0001-e.jpg 'just in case.'

I figure it's okay since I don't save my .PSD files. I can be overcautious abt photos instead. :)

No, I don't save them over the original. If I'm just editing for a layout, I don't save the edited photo either.

I also save edited pictures separately, mostly for the reasons Sheri gave.

I shoot in RAW and always save the original RAW files on disk right when I take the card out of my camera. Then, I just keep the edited jpegs on my computer. That way, in the unlikely event I need to go back to the original, I can.

me too.

I edit for the layout and don't save the edited photo in most cases. Now if I am just removing red eyes and color corrections, then I do save over the original.

I don't save over the original. I'm chicken. I just have a sep. folder in each of my pic folders with all the edited ones.

I don't ever save over originals either. But I have a saving problem. I keep everything, originals, edits, multiple edits, etc etc.

I forgot to mention if I think I may want to use the photo again, most of the time I won't save a second .jgp, just my .psd document with all of my adjustment layers and edits. I almost always duplicate my photo and keep an original as a separate layer in my .psd (I know it makes for a large file size, but it save me time on photos I know I'll want to re-edit). I kind of have my own system, lol.

i keep originals too.

Me too! I keep the original.

i keep both the edited and negatives :D

Not if I'm editing it for fixing stuff and I know I'd never use the original but if I change the original to sepia or black and white or something then yes I will save the original.

I keep the original. I also rarely save the edited version. If I do, it's saved as filename-1 or -2 or whatever.

yup, me too

I save my edits separate too and keep my original

I save my originals and usually end up with a separate edited copy when I move my photos from Lightroom to Photoshop.

One tip for those that use Lightroom is if you only edit your photos in Lightroom or don't care to save the edits you do after in Photoshop, you can just create a virtual copy in Lightroom. It preserves your original file and doesn't take up any more space since it's only saving the edit information, not a copy of the actual file.

I will save over an original for red eye edits but everything else is saved as it's own copy, unless I am cropping & editing for a layout. I tend to do those in the layout itself so they often end up odd sizes & I don't save those.

Since i got Lightroom I now often have multiple versions of the original photo - one with just the basic adjustments for tone & levels, one with the color pumped, one with the color washed out, one in balck & white, another one in a more dramatic black & white and 3 more with various croppings applied.

I open the original, duplicate it, then close it. I don't overwrite original files anymore. I did years ago, before I knew better. :unsure:

I never ever save over an original jpg file. I do almost all my editing in Lightroom so I save all my Exports in a separate folder and then I have another file for photos that I've resized for the web that I post on my Blog/Facebook.

This is me!! If I'm editing to print I save a new jpeg and then once it's printed i dump those. If I'm using it for a LO I don't even save a copied version since I'm gonna have the LO printed I don't need a duplicate on my computer or printed in an album!!!