 Denise M. Snyder |
Raw vs. JPEG I read somewhere that JPEG's lose quality each time you open them... does that really mean that every time I open an image on my computer that is saved as a jpeg, the quality suffers??? I'm not really clear on that whole concept. I love to open up my images and show them to people, but if I'm harming the images by doing so, I need to know that. Also, if I were to shoot in RAW, dont I need special software to open the images on the computer? I'm somewhat confused by this issue... Help???
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Rob Zuidema |
JPEGs don't lose quality when you open them, only when you save them again. And how much they degrade would depend on the compression setting used when saving them.
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Steve Beckle |
I shoot 100% RAW with my Nikon D200, then convert to JPEG, TIFF, etc. I use Nikon Capture to process my RAW photos... about $90 to purchase. Adobe Photoshop has plugins you can buy that also allow raw processing. I would suggest shooting raw if you can...my photos improved immensely since I was more in control of the final image vs. having the camera create a JPEG image for me.
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Ariel Lepor |
JPEG is a compressed picture designed to make the picture look as close to the original to the human eye as possible while not taking up so much room. Every time you re-save a jpg, it looses quality, depending on what level jpeg you save it as (the higher the number, the better). RAW does need special software, and lots of programs don't accept them. RAW also takes up much more room than a similar looking jpeg. The reason people use raw is so that you can edit the picture as much as you want without fear of loosing quality, and then they can save it as a high quality jpeg or tiff after edits. As for me, I shoot in high quality (2mb) jpegs because raw would just take up too much room and time. Ariel
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Pete H |
Denise, Your entire question falls under the category of "Image Management." The answers above are true. This is why most photogs who value their images, NEVER work on the original image. WE make a copy and work on it. Some will argue you can open a JPEG 100 times, resave and not see any degradation..probably true. Final thought: Many often save their original in the TIFF format as it does not compress as aggressivly as JPEG..but you pay the price in file size. "Next best thing for the digital shooter besides a faster lens is giant multiple hard drives!" LOL All the best, Pete
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Andrew Laverghetta |
Depending on what program you use to edit photos, you may be able to download software called a plugin that will help you edit raw, or maybe buy a newer version of the program you're using. For RAW, the reason why people use it more is because it doesn't go through ANY processing when it's saved, besides I guess being compressed a little? Still, it doesn't lose any information. Usually with RAW you have the option to correct errors a lot easier than with JPEG. Just off the top of my head, I tried to think up an anology of JPEG to RAW. You might think of RAW as the dough or even the ingredients that you use to make cookies with. You can still change so much about the final cookie. With JPEG, it's like the camera shapes and bakes the cookie for you based upon which settings you use in the camera (like sharpness, contrast etc). As another rough analogy, if you open up and jpeg image (a finished cookie) and you want to change something, it's kind of like breaking of a piece and then kinda pasting it back together but there will always be the little crumbs that you can't get back in. Also, when you use RAW, you can't really resave it as a RAW, or at least it isn't standard. I dont' think you can resave it in the original raw format, just like a photoshop version of raw. Also, .tiff format is kind of like a magic cookie. You can break it and stuff and still get all the pieces back together where they need to be. Hope this helps, because it was a lot of fun to write haha! Andrew
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Denise M. Snyder |
Thank you all so much for such detailed responses!! I really appreciate it, and I think I have a much better understanding. Thanks!
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