 This can be avoided by only producing lossy files from (lossless) originals and only editing (copies of) original files, such as images in raw image format instead of JPEG.If data which has been compressed lossily is decoded and compressed losslessly, the size of the result can be comparable with the size of the data before lossy compression, but the data already lost cannot be recovered.When deciding to use lossy conversion without keeping the original, one should remember that format conversion may be needed in the future to achieve compatibility with software or devices (format shifting), or to avoid paying patent royalties for decoding or distribution of compressed files.