chapter 05
Getting photos to the bench
How to move photos without losing the RAW.
There is nothing to transfer any more. The phone that shoots your session uploads each frame as it is taken, so a new reading never leaves files for you to move. This chapter is kept for readings captured the older way, and for anyone uploading photos by hand.
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.