Is this good practice?

[cuivenion]

Before starting with the whole processing operation I am converting all my files (lights, darks etc) to the .xisf format. Is this ok? Also I have been saving my master as 32 bit floating point. Will I be OK doing this or do they have to be as near to the original bit rate as possible.

The original files are 14 bit .cr2 dslr raw files.

Thanks for any help.

[RickS]

It won't hurt, but I don't see any significant benefit in converting the original data files.

Saving the masters in 32-bit floating point is the right thing to do.  Truncating them back to 16-bit integer will throw away precision.

Cheers,
Rick.

[cuivenion]

For some reason my PC gets bogged down trying to process the raw files, it's fine with the .xisf though. Thanks for the reply.

[RickS]

If converting to XISF first saves time overall then go for it...