One Way to Split RAW+JPEG on iOS

Image via Wikimedia Commons

So, you connect your handy iOS Camera Connection Kit, you import your photos, and you can just edit them in any iOS photo app, right? Well, not if they're RAW or RAW+JPEG. It's understandable that mobile apps rarely edit RAW, but less understandable why Apple blocks photo apps from editing the JPEG file, just because a RAW file by the same name happens to exist.

Worry not. If you have a travel router like the US$36 HooToo TripMate at hand, you can split the RAW and JPEG pairs without much trouble, so that you can store the RAW files for later, and share the JPEG versions now.

1. If you don't already have it, buy the FileBrowser app from the App Store. It may well be the best $6.99 a travel NAS owner can spend, if only for its Chromecast button.

2. Connect your camera's memory card to the router via a USB card reader.

3. Configure FileBrowser to recognize TripMate by adding a server at 10.10.10.254 using your TripMate admin credentials (other routers have different specifics). Only configure once; after that, the NAS will show up automatically.

4. Use FileBrowser to copy JPEGs to the "Photo Library > Camera Roll" and RAWs to "My Files" (scratch space).

5. In a Web browser, log in to the travel router to tell it you want to remove the USB storage.

6. After disconnecting the memory card reader, you can then connect a portable HD to backup your RAWs, then remove the RAWs from the iPad to save space, while keeping the JPEGs in iOS for fun.

7. Send a howler to Apple to fix iOS. Kidding, but do politely let Apple know you need access to JPEG half of RAW+JPEG files in iOS apps (not just iPhoto) without this much trouble. "Squeak them wheels."

From the iOS Camera Roll, IFTTT can now see the new photos and upload them to Flickr. You can edit them in any iPad photo app and share them.

Of course, there are other ways around the problem. You could use a laptop, or manually shoot separate photos of RAW and JPEG, or edit RAW+JPEG files in iPhoto. EyeFi cards and apps help, but they're often too limited for extended travel. What I'm looking for are ways to shoot RAW+JPEG and get them into an iPad or iPhone using nothing but a Camera Connection Kit and iOS apps in a way that lets most photo apps access them. 

If you know a less obscure way to split RAW+JPEG for iOS, please leave a comment on the blog below, and I'll update the blog with your solution assuming I can verify it works. 

Jim Heid suggests US$4.99 PhotosInfoPro, but I haven't tried it yet. 

Have a perplexing tech conundrum to figure out? Circle me at Google+ and just ask; I'll do my best to think it through with you.

Until next time...