chapter 05
Getting photos to the bench
How to move photos without losing the RAW.
The iPhone photo-picker trap: when a web page asks for a photo and you pick from the Photo Library, iOS converts your RAW to JPEG before uploading, silently and every time. The bench rejects these with an error. Route around it: Photos → share → Save to Files, then upload here via Browse (the Files app). That path sends the original bytes.
| Route | RAW survives? |
|---|---|
| Browser upload via Files app (Save to Files first) | ✓ yes |
| Browser upload via Photo Library picker | ✗ becomes JPEG |
| AirDrop of an UNEDITED photo (Mac only) | ✓ yes |
| AirDrop after tapping Edit on the photo | ✗ becomes JPG |
| USB cable → Windows File Explorer (DCIM) | ✓ yes (set Settings → Photos → Transfer: Keep Originals first) |
| iCloud.com → Download unmodified original | ✓ yes (the iCloud Windows APP is unreliable; use the website) |
| LocalSend (free, AirDrop-for-everything) | ✓ yes (share the file, not a rendered copy) |
| Messages / Mail / most chat apps | ✗ always JPG |
Rule of thumb: if the file that arrives isn't ~25 MB and named .DNG, the RAW didn't survive. The bench checks the actual bytes and will tell you.