Today’s Question: I am using latest version of Lightroom Classic. How do I discontinue Import DNG Creation? Under preferences, File Handling, I am unable to disable this feature. Hence, my images are no longer available in Canon Raw. I’m missing something, obviously.
Tim’s Quick Answer: The option to create Adobe DNG (Digital Negative) files upon import is found at the top-center of the Import dialog. Simply choose the “Copy” option (rather than “Copy as DNG”) and your proprietary raw captures will be retained without being converted to DNG.
More Detail: When importing new captures into Lightroom, you’ll generally want to copy your images from their current storage (such as a media card from your camera) to a hard drive. However, there are actually two “copy” options when importing your photos.
At the top-center of the Import dialog you can choose whether you want to copy the photos being imported, move those photos, or simply import from the current location using the “Add” option. When downloading from a media card, of course, you would want to copy the images to a hard drive.
If you prefer to make use of the Adobe DNG format (rather than your camera’s proprietary raw capture format) you can choose the “Copy as DNG” option at the top-center of the Import dialog. Of course, if you don’t want to convert your images to DNG (or you want to import the proprietary raw captures and convert to DNG at a later time) you will want to use the “Copy” option.
So, next time you import photos, you can simply change the import setting from “Copy as DNG” to simply “Copy”, and you’ll be once again copying your proprietary raw capture files without converting them to the Adobe DNG format.