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Photography Question 

Tom R. Fleeman
 

Picture Quality


Does anyone know how much JPEG files will be affected if you transfer files from one computer to another for post-processing and then back again? Will quality of photos be harmed very much? Thanks.


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September 19, 2011

 
- Carlton Ward

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  Hi Tom,
JPEGs are not a lossless format like TIFF and Raw files, but the loss is very minimal. I shoot everything Raw and save the images as .tif or .jpg, but I always have my original Raw files to revert back to.
I have old small JPEGs that have been transferred over a dozen times through different PCs, MACs and hard drives going back 12+ years, and they still look fine.
Hope this helps,


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September 19, 2011

 

Tom R. Fleeman
  HI Carlton,
Thanks for the information I was hoping that was the case, I just wanted to be sure. I am glad we have people like you That actually know what they are talking about. Thanks again.
Tom


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September 20, 2011

 

Kathryn Wesserling
  Thank for posing the question, Tom - and for your usual helpful answer, Carlton. That thought had occurred to me on occasion, and then I would forget to ask.


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September 27, 2011

 

Dan W. Dooley
  True, just transfering the image as a file from place to place will have no impact on its "quality". Opening and resaving will affect it as has been said. How much, depends on too many factors to touch on here but you're ok just moving it about.


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October 18, 2011

 

Randy A. Myers
  Dan is correct. The problem with JPG is the compression that takes place when saving. Transferring has zero effect on the file.


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October 18, 2011

 
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