RAW files and XMP sidecars
Why sending the RAW file gives the best result, and how an .xmp sidecar is paired with its RAW photo whichever order you upload them in.
You can upload camera RAW files directly — there is no need to export a JPEG first. If you develop your RAW files with a preset, the .xmp sidecar next to the file carries those settings, and the order workspace keeps the two together.
Why send the RAW file
Working from the original RAW file gives your editor:
- More room to work. Highlights and shadows can be recovered and the white balance corrected in ways a JPEG no longer allows.
- Maximum image quality, which matters most on work you will print or deliver to a client.
- A better match with the look you are after, especially when you already use presets or camera profiles.
We recommend RAW for weddings, portraits and product work. For a snapshot you only need to look right on screen, a JPEG is perfectly fine.
What an XMP sidecar does
An .xmp file is a small text file that sits next to a RAW file and stores the develop settings you applied — exposure, white balance, tone curve, the preset you used. It is not an image, so it never becomes a photo of its own: it gets no card in the workspace, it does not count towards the photo count in the header (2 / 500 photos stays 2 / 500 photos), and it costs nothing.
Pairing happens by file name
A sidecar is matched to the RAW photo with the same name: DSC_0412.xmp belongs to DSC_0412.CR3. Because the match is by name, the order you upload them in does not matter. Add them the way you add any photo — Add photos in the header, the Add photos card at the end of Photos to edit, or by dragging the files anywhere onto the page.
- If the RAW photo is already in the order, the sidecar uploads and you see
XMP file for DSC_0412.CR3 attached. - If you upload the sidecar first, it is kept and the message tells you what is still missing:
XMP file saved — upload DSC_0418 to pair it. Add that RAW file and the two are paired.
The message disappears after a few seconds, but the pairing stays visible. In Cards, a paired photo shows XMP after its number in the bottom-left corner, for example 3591 | XMP. In Table, XMP is added to the line under the file name: 6000 × 4000 · 48.2 MB · CR3 · XMP. A RAW photo without that mark has no sidecar yet.
That message is the confirmation. The photo card itself looks the same with or without a sidecar, so there is nothing else to check.
The simplest habit is to select the RAW files and their sidecars together in one go and let the workspace sort it out.
Rules and limits
- Sidecars ending in
.xmpare accepted. Safari renames a sidecar to.xmp.zipwhile it uploads, and that name is accepted as well — you do not have to rename anything back. - Pairing is by file name only, so keep the sidecar named after its RAW file. A sidecar whose name matches no photo waits until that photo arrives.
- A sidecar is not a photo: it never appears as a card, never counts towards a photo limit and is never charged.
- While a sidecar is still uploading, Continue to review waits for it like for any other upload.
- RAW files, like every upload, are limited to 500 MB per file.
- A RAW file shows a grey tile with its extension, for example
.CR3, until its preview has been made — usually a few seconds. That tile is not an error: the editor receives the complete RAW file. See Supported photo formats.