 Lynsey Lund |
JPEG Vs. Tiff Confusion So I understand the degradation that happens when you save a photo as a JPEG each time. Here's when I'm not sure what would happen. I shoot in the highest-quality JPEG I can (no software for Raw yet). Then if I edit that JPEG and save it as a TIFF in Photoshop, does anything happen to it? What about when I then save that TIFF back as a JPEG? Does it do any good to save my original file as a TIFF until I absolutely need to have a JPEG, or does it not matter since it was shot in JPEG? Hope that made sense, thanks for the info!
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John Rhodes |
Lynsey, Actual visible degradation in JPEGs would take a lot, maybe hundreds, of saves. However, it would be a good practice to shoot highest-quality JPEG and save as TIFF before any editing. You can theoretically edit and save the TIFF an unlimited number of times without losing quality other than what you introduce by editing, i.e. oversharpening. Convert back to JPEG when you want to print, for instance, with no loss of quality. A major factor to consider is the storage capacity of your computer or back-up device as TIFF files are very large. John
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Lynsey Lund |
Thanks John. That's kind of what I was thinking but wasn't sure if it actually worked that way. Storage isn't really an issue, so I think I will do it that way until I can start experimenting with RAW! Thanks again.
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- Susan Jane Allen Contact Susan Jane Allen Susan Jane Allen's Gallery |
Uh oh! I have been working under the impression that with a jpeg photo that I download, I didn't have to save the photo in another format until I finished editing (and then do "save as") in order to avoid photo degradation. I save in PSD, by the way. Do I understand from the above that what I should actually do is save it into psd first, before starting to work on it?
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Lynsey Lund |
I'll be interested to see John's response if he has a second. But how I understood it was that by saving in another form and then editing, you have the ability to edit more than once. You can keep in a psd or a tiff or something until right before you need a jpeg then convert it...I know I have had to go back and make a change after I thought I was done editing. This may not be what I was supposed to get out of it though =o)
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- Susan Jane Allen Contact Susan Jane Allen Susan Jane Allen's Gallery |
Thanks for responding! Sorry, I wasn't clear. Yes, that is why I've been saving in psd, but unless I misunderstood the advice I got some time ago when I started doing this, I thought that no degradation would occur if I edited directly on the jpeg image and then saved it in psd. I usually keep three copies: the original, the psd that I edited when it was in jpeg and then saved as psd, and then another jpeg copy I make for sharing from the psd copy. So, my question is, should I not be editing directly on the jpeg downloaded from my camera, even if I do a save-as in psd afterwards---should I rather first save it in psd before editing?
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Sharon L. Weeks |
this is actually a tag on question. What would be the difference between saving the original jpeg as a psd or tiff?
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Mary N C. Taitt |
I have a question too--is TIFF the best format, or is psd or png better? I thought pngs and psds were lossless too.
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John P. Sandstedt |
PSD or TIFF are essentially equal; however, PSD is the native Adobe Photoshop format and might not be suitable for other editing programs. I've found that PSD files are usually smaller than TIFF files. Both are loss-less.
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Sharon L. Weeks |
another tag along question. My camera takes Jpeg & Tiff. When doing home portraits I always use Tiff - which turn out to be 9MG. As I research new cameras, very few offer Tiff, but many offer RAW, which I understand are even larger files. Have read about this until my eyes are crossed. Could someone post a photo taken in RAW so I could actually "see" the difference?
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Pete H |
Hi Lynsey; Just a thought here..You should never edit your original image..always make a copy of it and work on that. Pete
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- Susan Jane Allen Contact Susan Jane Allen Susan Jane Allen's Gallery |
But what about editing and not saving? In other words, my impression was that if I edited on the original, but didn't save the editing on the original, did a "save as" with a different name and in a different format, not only would my original remain unchanged, no permanent changes would be done to the pixels. And indeed, when I open the original again, say I want to start the editing all over again and don't want to do it off the psd edited version I saved, it always seems to be the same exact original photo. It would seem to be the same principle as with a Word document. If you make changes on it, and then do a "save as" with another name, you then have the original, exactly how it was before with no changes plus your new document.
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Lynsey Lund |
Susan, this was how I understood it as well. This is how I have always done it. Had my original opened, made my changed, then done a "save as" and save it as a tiff/psd. My understanding was that 1) my original jpeg would remail unchanged an undegraded (is that a word?) and 2) that my tiff/psd could be edited as much as I wanted without any degredation. since it started out as a jpeg, does any degredation happen going from the original jpeg to the tiff/psd (whether or not I make changes)? Does it make any difference to either photo on whether or not I make the changes before or after I do the "save as?" this is where I was confused, and I think I maybe didn't ask my original question right, but I have gotten lots of good information from the dialog here, I appreciate everyone's input!
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Save as will make a new file without doing anything to the original if you change the name and/or save it in a different place. Saving your shot as a jpeg as a tiff first is a way to work on it without undedegrodidation from multi editing.A
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- Susan Jane Allen Contact Susan Jane Allen Susan Jane Allen's Gallery |
Lindsey, Yes! That was exactly my question, and THANK YOU Gregory for the assurance that the original will be left unchanged and I can continue to do this! But, sorry for being so stupid, I don't quite understand your last sentence.
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- Susan Jane Allen Contact Susan Jane Allen Susan Jane Allen's Gallery |
Sorry I spelled your name wrong, Lynsey--it's how my niece spells her name and wasn't thinking.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Should have used a comma. Saving your shot as a jpeg photo, as a tiff file in the computer as the first thing you do, is a way to work on it without degredation loss from multiple editing.TTT
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David Earls |
Sharon, Can't post RAW on the web. Basically, every camera out there shoots in RAW mode, and then the camera's internal processor converts the image to JPEG or TIFF. Not every camera out there permits downloading pure RAW data, and you need computer software to read and process RAW data. Photoshop has a very powerful RAW plug-in, and both Canon and Nikon distribute software with their cameras that can process RAW data. Surprisingly, RAW files are frequently SMALLER than TIFFs. There are advantages to editing RAW files (changes do not discard pixel data), but it adds a step to your workflow.
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