In this article, I present an effective workflow for the editing, storage and sharing of True HDR photographs. As described in my article Navigating HDR Image File Formats from Abobe Camera RAW and Photoshop navigating the various files formats for HDR images for the various photo sites, applications and browsers can be very frustrating at the current time.
You may be interested in my articles:
Guide to HDR Image Formats: JPEG with Gain Map, JPEG XL, AVIF and HEIC/HEIF
Comprehensive Guide to “New” or True HDR Photography
After many hours testing all the available file formats, applications and browsers, I present my current workflow. The workflow allows you to archive (post-edit) HDR images in the best quality possible, using the future-proof lossless JPEG XL (JXL) format, while flexibly producing smaller, compressed HDR images to share online (using AVIF and/or JPEG with gain map).
The workflow has two distinct stages, which are very different in overall objectives. The first stage involves the editing of camera RAW files and the lossless storing/archiving of the edited HDR images. The second stage involves converting these high-quality, stored images into smaller, compressed HDR image files for display/sharing on the Web. The first part is more straightforward than the second, and only involves one HDR image format – lossless JPEG XL (JXL). The second stage is complicated by the extent of browser support and the need to support those without compatible HDR displays.
Workflow Stage 1: Editing of RAW files and production of lossless JPEG XL (JXL) files for archiving and display via Apple Photos
The first stage of the workflow is shown in Figure 1, below.
Figure 1: Workflow for the Processing of HDR Images
I edit my camera RAW files (from my Sony cameras and the iPhone 17 Pro Max) using Adobe Camera RAW (and Photoshop if needed). I then export the edited file in JPEG XL lossless format. Lossless JPEG XL is a great format to use for HDR image archiving purposes. As I have set up Adobe Camera RAW and Photoshop for the P3 (DCI-P3) colour space, I ensure that JPEG XL files are exported in the P3 colour space. The P3 colour space is an excellent choice when you are working on a compatible wide-gamut display as it offers a wider range of colours than sRGB.
Adobe Camera RAW and Photoshop can output both lossy (with a range of quality levels) and lossless JPEG XL files. JPEG XL can support both HDR and SDR (standard dynamic range) images. As such it is a complete replacement of standard JPEG. In lossy mode, JPEG XL images can be up to 60% smaller than traditional JPEGs for the same visual quality, but a huge advantage of JPEG XL over JPEG is that JPEG XL offers a lossless mode. This means that photographers can edit RAW files and save them in lossless JPEG XL form without worrying about any loss of information from the conversion.
As I personally do not have storage limitations, I have decided to store my edited images on local hard drives and SSDs in lossless JPEG XL format. If you do have storage limitations, you have the option of using lossy JPEG XL by setting an appropriate quality level in Adobe Camera RAW/Photoshop to reduce file sizes.
In addition to local storage, I also use Apple Photos, accessing this via apps on my iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPad Pro and Macbook Pro. The good news is that lossless JPEG XL files can be imported to Apple Photos and directly displayed in all their HDR splendour on my Apple devices. Apple TV presents the only major weakness in the Apple ecosystem currently. While Apple TV can display JPEG XL images, these are not (yet) shown in HDR. There is speculation that HDR display capability will be added in 2026 with the launch of a new Apple TV model and tvOS 26.4 firmware.
For Apple users, Apple Photos presents a great way to archive HDR JPEG XL images online (using Apple iCloud) while being able to display them on Apple devices. In comparison, Google Photos completely fails to provide competitive capability as it cannot import JPEG XL files. Once the ability to display HDR images on Apple TV arrives, Apple will have created a powerful set of tools for the storage and display of lossless (and lossy) JPEG XL images.
More good news comes in the ability of several Apple applications to directly import JPEG XL files, meaning that conversion to other formats is not necessary.
As described in my Guide to Creating HDR Video Slideshows from RAW Photos to Show on Vimeo, YouTube or Your Own TV, JPEG XL images can be directly imported to Apple Final Cut Pro, which can be used to create compelling video slideshows. Using high-resolution JPEG XL images allows an impressive level of cropping while retaining detail, even on 4k displays. As an example, a 4k TV (3840 x 2160) displays about 8.3 million pixels. So, a 60-megapixel 9504×6336 image from a Sony A7RV camera allows severe cropping to an incredible 13.8% of the image area while maintaining at least full 4k resolution.
As described in my article Apple Upgrades Keynote with HDR Image Capability, Apple Keynote now offers the ability to directly import JPEG XL image files. With it, it is possible to produce great presentations, which can be exported as HDR videos.
For some users, Apple’s ecosystem (particularly when it is further enhanced in 2026) will be sufficient to maintain a simple, but powerful, workflow using only lossless JPEG XL files. However, the need to share images more widely on the Web may require the second stage of my workflow. Apple Photos does not help in this regard since its sharing capabilities are currently weak. Apple Photos offers its Shared Albums but images are reduced in quality (with HDR image information removed). Users are left with the newer iCloud Shared Photo Library. While this works perfectly with lossless JPEG XL HDR images, the service is very limited – with up to six people being able to view images all in a single shared library. You cannot add albums.
Another popular way of sharing images among Apple’s users is with Apple Messages. While this currently works with HDR images taken with iPhones (using Apple’s HEIC format), Apple Messages does not currently display HDR when sending JPEG XL images. So, while Apple is certainly ahead of others with the management of HDR images, it still has some way to go to create a compelling ecosystem using JPEG XL. Apple Messaging and Apple TV Photos urgently need to support HDR display of JPEG XL images and Apple needs to create improved sharing of JPEG XL HDR images within Apple Photos.
Stage 2: Producing a range of HDR images with different formats (such as AVIF and gain-mapped JPEG) to share images on the Web
This is where things turn distinctly messier, with the optimum workflow dependent on:
- exactly what you are trying to achieve (considering the capabilities of software and the extent of browser support)
- the need to keep image files relatively small for quick loading times
- the extent to which you wish to control how images are viewed on non-HDR-compatible devices and displays.
Unfortunately, this means that this stage can be a great deal more time consuming than creating conventional SDR JPEGs. In part, this is due to the fact that you are essentially creating two separate images – one for display on HDR-compatible devices and one for display on non-HDR-compatible devices.
In all cases, we start with post-edit lossless JPEG XL files. These are opened in Adobe Camera RAW, which has the power to directly export in AVIF (with or without gain map) or gain-mapped JPEG format for website display, in optimum dimensions and/or file sizes. To ensure that JXL files are opened in Adobe Camera RAW (rather than Photoshop) ensure you have selected “Automatically open all supported JPEG XLs” in File Compatibility Camera RAW Preferences. Also, ensure you have “HDR” selected when Adobe Camera RAW has opened.
Because lossless JPEG XL files are generally very large (many MBs), they are generally unsuitable for sharing on the Web directly, and would need to be reduced in size anyway, even if the JPEG XL format was to to be widely supported on browsers (which it isn’t currently).
Producing images for a website
For those looking for the most control over how their images look, nothing really beats adding HDR images directly to a website. Limited browser support currently for JPEG XL images means that conversion to more supported image file formats is necessary.
There is the choice of two formats that have widspread browser support:
- gain-mapped JPEG
- AVIF (gain-mapped or non-gain-mapped).
Here we have to introduce a critical aspect for sharing images to a broad set of devices, some of which will be HDR-capable and some of which will not. That is gain mapping. A gain map (which can be created by Adobe Camera RAW or third-party software) is embedded within an image file to essentially instruct a browser how to display the image, depending on the capabilities of the device. If you intend to share photos with those using non-HDR-capable devices, it is important to include a gain map. Otherwise, those without compatible devices may be viewing images in standard dynamic range that look nothing like the photographer intended. That’s because the browser – in the absence of information that tells the browser how to display the image in standard dynamic range – will automatically apply what is known as tone mapping – which attempts to create an acceptable image (even though this may not be what the photographer intended).
Our first HDR image option is gain-mapped JPEG (sometimes known as Ultra HDR) where a gain map is embedded into a standard 8-bit JPEG to provide HDR capability. A gain-mapped JPEG contains both a standard 8-bit SDR (Standard Dynamic Range) base image and the extra data (the gain map) needed for HDR displays. Devices or software that do not support gain maps simply display the SDR image. A JPEG with a gain map is currently the best option for maximum compatibility. However, unlike AVIF (below), which offers reduced file sizes over standard JPEGs, the additional of a gain map actually increases file sizes compared to standard JPEGs. Also, because the high dynamic range information is being ‘stretched’ over only 8 bits, quality of the HDR version is inevitably compromised. To minimise degradation, it is recommended that higher quality levels (lower compression levels) are used to export gain-mapped JPEGs compared with conventional JPEGs – albeit at the cost of further increasing file sizes.
AVIF is a modern, superior format to legacy JPEGs, offering better compression, higher quality (up to 12-bit colour) and HDR. AVIF HDR images have a broad range of browser support, including Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox and Edge. However, while gain maps can be used with AVIF, browser support is not yet universal.
So, the choice of format depends critically on the images you wish to show to visitors without HDR displays. I have chosen to focus predominantly on image quality and reduced file sizes and have selected AVIFs (with gain maps) on this website, since it is targeted primarily at those with compatible displays.
For use on websites, it is vital to consider image dimensions and level of compression applied, which both affect file size, and hence page loading times. For website display (targeting retina displays), I have opted for two types of AVIF file. For square thumbnails, I export (from Adobe Camera RAW) AVIF files with dimensions of 768×768 pixels. I also export ‘full size’ files with a horizontal dimension of up to 2560 pixels (depending on the website page width). In both cases, I reduce the quality level (in Adobe Camera RAW) to about 5 or 6 “Medium” Quality Level. This is to balance image quality with webpage loading times.
For interest, I’ve included file sizes in the table below from the processing of a single example RAW image. You can see that conversion from a RAW file to a lossless JPEG XL HDR image does not significantly reduce file sizes (since I cropped the original RAW image). Lossless JPEG XL file sizes from high-resolution RAW images are substantial. I was able to produce a high-quality gain-mapped AVIF HDR image with dimensions of 2000×1301 pixels with a file size of only 197kB. For comparison, I created a gain-mapped JPEG image with the same dimensions, and this had a much larger file size of 1MB. This is because JPEGs are less efficient than AVIF and that a higher quality (lower compression) has to be used to minimise visual artifacts. I also created a standard JPEG (non-HDR), with a file size of 241 kB. So, the AVIF format is able to essentially provide two image versions (SDR and HDR) with a file size significantly smaller than a conventional non-HDR JPEG. AVIF brings HDR capability alongside faster page loading times while gain-mapped JPEG brings HDR but with slower page loading times (and compromised HDR quality due to the 8-bit colour depth). Those seeking maximum browser compatibility are paying a significant price.
| Image file | Type | Dimensions | Quality level | Gain map | File size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original (uncropped) RAW file | RAW | 7592x5304 | N/A | N/A | 85.7 MB |
| Edited (cropped) JPEG XL HDR file | Lossless JPEG XL (JXL) | 5152x3352 | 13 | No | 65.4 MB |
| Gain-mapped JPEG HDR file | Gain-mapped JPEG | 2000x1301 | 10 | Yes | 1 MB |
| Gain-mapped AVIF HDR file | Gain-mapped AVIF | 2000x1301 | 5 | Yes | 197 KB |
| Standard non-HDR JPEG | Standard JPEG | 2000x1301 | 7 | N/A | 241 kB |
Table 1: Comparison of Image Files for the Processing of a RAW Image
Producing images for Instagram
As described in my article Navigating HDR Image File Formats from Adobe Camera RAW and Photoshop, Instagram actually supports HDR images, but only those in a very specific format – gain-mapped JPEG. For technical reasons not discussed here, gain-mapped JPEG files produced by Adobe Camera RAW are not fully compatible with Instagram’s current system. However, there is a solution. Greg Benz – a true HDR photography enthusiast – has created an excellent Photoshop plug-in called Web Sharp Pro. This will produce compatible gain-mapped .jpg files that work well if Instagram is your thing. I find Instagram’s maximum image dimensions (a paltry 1080 pixel maximum width) combined with aggressive image compression too painful to bear. The combination of image compression and trying to squeeze HDR image information into a conventional 8-bit JPEG file results in noticeable visual artifacts (such as strange distortions in areas with intense colours) and banding. I don’t think this is what True HDR Photography is about.
I hope you have found my workflow guide useful. While True HDR Photography is currently rather messy as soon as you want to share images with others, this does not prevent you creating and storing high-resolution JPEG XL images from camera RAW files. My current focus is re-editing existing RAW files to create future-proofed lossless JPEG XL images. These can already be directly used in a variety of Apple applications (such as Apple Photos, Keynote and Final Cut Pro). Apple is transforming and simplifying the True HDR Photography workflow – keeping image quality, simplicity and future proofing as top priorities – while others are floundering with the flawed non-future-proofed gain-mapped JPEG format.
Conversion of JPEG XL files to compressed AVIF or gain-mapped JPEG (Ultra HDR) files allows HDR images to be displayed and shared on websites. It remains to be seen if JPEG XL becomes as supported as AVIF in web browsers. However, lossless JPEG XL files are far too large in size to be used directly on websites (reducing page loading times), so conversion to smaller, compressed JPEG XL files would be needed even if JPEG XL received widespread browser support.
JPEG XL can play a critical role in True HDR Photography workflows
The importance of the JPEG XL at the heart of a True HDR Photography workflow cannot be overstated. It has been proved to be the most efficient format for storing lossless images (i.e. offers the smallest file sizes while preserving all image data intact).
Apple is showing that it is possible, through broad application support, to achieve a lot just with lossless and lossy JPEG XL files (simplifying workflow to a single processing/editing step from RAW to JPEG XL). Early support for JPEG XL in Apple Photos was a masterstroke, permitting both archiving and display of HDR images in the best quality possible.
It is important to note that the appeal of JPEG XL is not just about the lossless variant. By offering both lossless and lossy options, the JPEG XL format can deliver the best quality possible with its lossless variant, while presenting excellent options (with lossy JPEG XL) for those concerned about HDR image storage limitations.
In some ways, the most attractive characteristic of JPEG XL is that it can deliver outstanding image quality with relatively modest compression such that it is not possible to visually distinguish the lossless image from a modestly compressed one. There is an important difference between “truly lossless” images (where no bits of information are discarded) and “visually lossless” where the image appears identical to the uncompressed image to the human eye, even if some of the original image data has been discarded.
The table below, shows an example of a RAW image processed by Adobe Camera Raw. The original 128.8 MB (9504 x 6336 pixels) RAW file was edited in Adobe Camera RAW, which involved some cropping, resulting in an image of 5000 x 3333 pixels. This was saved in the JPEG XL format, using a number of quality/compression levels used by the software, and the resulting file sizes are shown in the table.
| File and type | Dimensions | Quality (Adobe Camera RAW) | File size | Compression ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sony RAW image | 9504x6336 | N/A | 128.8 MB | N/A |
| JPEG XL (post edit) | 5000x3333 | 13 ("Lossless") | 58.8 MB | 1:1 |
| Lossy JPEG XL | 5000x3333 | 12 ("Very High") | 13.8 MB | 4.26:1 |
| Lossy JPEG XL | 5000x3333 | 11 ("Very High") | 6 MB | 9.8:1 |
| Lossy JPEG XL | 5000x3333 | 10 ("Very High") | 3.8 MB | 15.5:1 |
| Lossy JPEG XL | 5000x3333 | 9 ("High") | 2.8 MB | 21:1 |
| Lossy JPEG XL | 5000x3333 | 8 ("High") | 2.2 MB | 26.7:1 |
| Lossy JPEG XL | 5000x3333 | 7 ("Medium") | 1.9 MB | 30.9:1 |
| Lossy JPEG XL | 5000x3333 | 6 ("Medium") | 1.5 MB | 39.2:1 |
| Lossy JPEG XL | 5000x3333 | 5 ("Medium") | 1.1 MB | 53.5:1 |
| Lossy JPEG XL | 5000x3333 | 4 ("Low") | 823 kB | 71.4:1 |
| Lossy JPEG XL | 5000x3333 | 3 ("Low") | 678 kB | 86.7:1 |
| Lossy JPEG XL | 5000x3333 | 2 ("Low") | 584 kB | 100.7:1 |
| Lossy JPEG XL | 5000x3333 | 1 ("Low") | 468 kB | 125.6:1 |
Table 2: Comparison of File Sizes for JPEG XL for Different Quality/Compression Levels
While the mathematically lossless file is relatively large (58.8 MB), I was not able to visually distinguish a difference between the truly lossless image and one produced with the quality level of 11 (‘Very High Quality’), which was essentially “visually lossless” to me. Impressively, the file size (6 MB) was about only one-tenth the size of the “truly lossless” image. For many photographers, the use of truly lossless JPEG XL may seem like overkill since they are able to achieve much smaller file sizes without any noticeable impact on image quality. Long-term storage of modestly-compressed post-edit JPEG XL HDR images will make a lot of sense for many photographers.
Companies need to better respond to these needs. Currently, Smugmug offers photographers the ability to load conventional (and inefficient) 8-bit JPEG images up to 500 MB in size, with an additional solution offered for RAW storage (up to 3 GB per RAW image). Surely, companies like Smugmug have much to gain from allowing customers to upload much smaller, and arguably much more useful, JPEG XL images? Apple’s widespread support of JPEG XL, particularly with Apple Photos, is currently leaving Google and companies like Smugmug struggling to compete in the emerging True HDR Photography world.
You may be interested in my other pages:
Comprehensive Guide to “New” or True HDR Photography
La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona – a showcase of True HDR Photography
Navigating HDR Image File Formats from Adobe Camera RAW and Photoshop
Apple Upgrades Keynote with HDR Image Capability
Apple Introduces HDR Screenshot on macOS
Guide to Creating HDR Video Slideshows from RAW Photos to Show On Vimeo, YouTube or Your Own TV
Shoot in RAW as JPEG Will Become Obsolete in a True High Dynamic Range (HDR) World