“RAW” vs. “raw” photographs

To minimize confusion, on this website:

1. The word “raw” is used in lower case when referring to the content of photographs.

“The renowned war photographer was in the battle zone for less than an hour but brought back hundreds of raw images of the fighting.”

2. The word “RAW” is used in All Caps when referring to a file format.

“During her trip across Europe she shot most of her photos as jpgs, but the photos that had most promise were also recorded as RAW.”

1. The content-related usage (lower-case) is unlikely to change, having been in use for centuries.

Shakespeare used a variation of it in his 1606 play Macbeth.

2. But should the industry embrace an alternative term for the (All Caps) file format that isn't likely to be confused with the content-related usage, this website will of course employ that new term.

No prominent English playwrights — or anyone else, for that matter — appear to have used any variation of the 3-letter term for file formats before 2001.