Imoprting RAW images from my Nikon D90 into iphotos

Question

I'm sorry I know this must be pretty basic but I am having problems importing my RAW images into iphotos. I have a Nikon D90 and I shoot in both jpeg and RAW - when I import the images from the camera into iphoto it imports two images but they are both jpegs and of course when I upload the either of them into Photoshop - Photoshop does not open up with the RAW convertor because the image has come across as a jpeg.
1) Have I lost my RAW images - if not how do I get them back, and
2) What should I be doing in the future to avoid this?
Sorry to trouble you with such basic info - but you know what it is like - it can be so frustrating until you get it right,
Thanks
Ray

Answer 1

when I import the images from the camera into iphoto it imports two images but they are both jpegs
They're not.
Processing Raw in iPhoto
When you import a Raw to iPhoto it automatically creates a jepg preview of the file. Why? Because you cannot do anything with a Raw: you cannot print it, use it a slideshow and so on. However, with this preview you can work with the photo immediately. (Which kind of makes shooting Raw and Jpeg perhaps a little pointless?)
You can, however, also process the Raw in iPhoto simply by editing it. The Raw processing engine in iPhoto the same one used in Aperture, but with less fine control. (Think of the differences between Word and TextEdit, iMovie and Final Cut). The output from the processing then replaces the preview. You can choose to save your output as either jpeg or tiff in the iPhoto Preferences.
When you are processing Raw in iPhoto you will see the Raw badge on the bottom of the iPhoto Window
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Note: After you have processed a Raw, subsequent edits to the photo are carried out on the processed jpeg (or tiff) not the Raw. If you want to go back to the original then you need to use the Photos -> Reprocess Raw command.
Processing Raw in a 3rd Party Application
You can also process your Raw with a 3rd Party app like ACR or Photoshop. But iPhoto does not handle this gracefully and it's a bit of a kludge.
First off set your preferred app as an external editor in iPhoto:
You can set Photoshop (or any image editor) as an external editor in iPhoto. (Preferences -> General -> Edit Photo: Choose from the Drop Down Menu.) This way, when you double click a pic to edit in iPhoto it will open automatically in Photoshop or your Image Editor, and when you save it it's sent back to iPhoto automatically. This is the only way that edits made in another application will be displayed in iPhoto.
Note that iPhoto sends a copy+ of the file to Photoshop, so when you save be sure to use the Save command, not Save As... If you use Save As then you're creating a new file and iPhoto has no way of knowing about this new file. iPhoto is preserving your original anyway.
Next: In the iPhoto Preferences -> Advanced, elect to use Raw with your External editor:
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Now when you go to edit the Raw it will be sent to your external editor.
Now for the kludge:
You cannot save a Raw. The work you do must be output to a new file, in a new format (jepg, tiff, whatever). However, as the External Editor is making this new file iPhoto has no knowledge of its existence. Therefore you *must save it to the desktop and then import it back to iPhoto as a new file*.
This means that you will have your Original Raw and the processed version in iPhoto but they will not be recognised as version and original. iPhoto will see them as two separate shots. Add that to your jpeg from the Raw and Jpeg shooting and now you'll have three versions of the shot...
Regards
TD