Good Entropy

link is here

“Embedding the Raw files seems to be the safest way to go, to be as sure as possible of future proofing the photos.”
Alternatively, archive the raw files separately and treat them as another backup. While you can always extract embedded raws from the DNGs, this parallel archive approach also leaves the raws directly available if you want to try out some other software which doesn’t support DNG.

Apart from the good advice you’ve already received, I’d also advise you to work with a DNG workflow for a short while before you make the big step. I switched when CS2 came out and initially did so for a month, thinking that going back over a month’s new shooting wasn’t too long if I decided to abort the test and go back to a non-DNG workflow.

You need to review aspects other than escaping from sidecar hell. One is backup. There’s a point of view that xmp sidecars allow people to backup incremental changes by taking advantage of LR’s auto xmp writing – in DNG the xmp is written into the files so their backup programs would wastefully backup the image data every time there’s a metadata change. Alternatively – and this is where I am – others backup the DNGs only upon their creation and then only backup the database file. Work through this area too.

John

John Beardsworth
Photographer, Author, Consultant