Picture File Formats in the Digital Age
A subject that never came up prior to the technological advance of digital photography was file formats for photos. The arguments and debates were about film types, speeds, size, and companies along with the development and lab processing of each. Today we hear about file formats. Should I shoot RAW, JPEG, RAW + JPEG, etc.? Then the questions go further when it comes to saving and using your images. Which is best for printing, TIFF, RAW, GIF, PNG, PSD, or JPEG? What about the web, archiving, in which should I edit, and so on?
For the person starting out, or just upgrading from a point-and-shoot to a DSLR, these questions can cause a severe migraine. I hope to dispel some of the confusion as well as keep you from needing any aspirin that you might have otherwise needed. Here are some basic tips and pointers.
Since Photoshop seems to be the standard by which everything is compared, we will start with their proprietary format PSD.
PSD
PSD means Photoshop Document. PSD is the standard, or default, file format that Photoshop will use when you edit a photo using layers. Here are some things to know about PSD:
- PSD will help you in saving or archiving your photos with the layers you have applied. Adjustment layers, blending modes, clipping, and masks will all be retained in the file in case you need to make specific changes or adjustments in the future.
- PSD files, because of all the information they contain, are typically large.
- PSD files can only be viewed by Adobe programs or certain graphics programs and therefore are not useful for displaying photos on the internet.
- Most printers do not support PSD files unless you are printing directly from Photoshop and even then, some printers will not be able to handle the large amounts of information.
TIFF
TIFF means Targeted Image File Format. Most photo editing applications will allow you to save your edited photos in this format. Here are some of the pro’s and con’s of TIFF:
- You can save files with their layer properties, but this will greatly increase the overall file size.
- TIFF is a great way to prepare files for printing, as it is a lossless format, which produces the best quality prints.
- TIFF photos cannot be used to display photos or images on the internet.
- TIFF files, even without layers included in the save, are very large.
PNG
PNG stands for Portable Network Graphics. PNG images and photos have some uses that only a few people will be concerned to maintain.
- PNG allows you to save the alpha channel information, or transparency, in your images. This is especially helpful if you need to use the image in a composite or even a video project.
- PNG allows for the resizing of an image that is displayed digitally without losing much detail or causing the image to become pixilated.
- PNG is a lossless format, allowing you to retain all of the color depth information. This means there is no compression.
- PNG files can be viewed on the internet.
- PNG files can be large because of their lossless format.
GIF
GIF means Graphic Interchange Format. GIF images are not typically used for photos, but some people like the ability to save in this format for other reasons.
- GIF images are most often used in animation applications.
- GIF file sizes are typically small. This is due to the amount of compression GIF images undergo.
- GIF images are easily viewed on the internet as well as in the majority of image processing applications.
- GIF images are not recommended for photographs. It is technically a lossless format; but the algorithm it uses was designed for animation, not photography, and causes significant issues.
JPEG
JPEG means Joint Photographic Experts Group. JPEG is probably the most widely used and misused file format in photography. Here are some tips:
- JPEG is a lossy format. This means that there is a lot of image compression taking place, even at the highest or best quality in the saving process. Each time you open a JPEG image, make a change, and then re-save the image, you lose more information. Sort of like making a copy of a copy, eventually you will end up with a very poor image.
- JPEG can be easily viewed on the internet.
- JPEG files are relatively small and easy to transfer to other applications as needed.
- JPEG files can be printed by virtually any printer, consumer or professional.
- JPEG files do not save transparency information.
- JPEG files do not save any layer information.
These are the basic types of files used to edit, archive, and print photographic images. As you can see, some make more sense than others do, depending upon how you intend to use your images. Some are better for archiving, some for printing, some for animations, and some for the internet. There is not one “end all, be all” file type that will do it all. So depending upon what you want to do with your images, you now have the information to make an educated choice.
However, the debate remains over if it is better to shoot in JPEG, RAW, or JPEG + RAW in your DSLR. Rest assured there is an answer and I will address it in a future article coming soon. In the meantime, I hope this information has been and will be a help to you in your workflow.
There are 2 comments on this post.
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feedi personally use raw and convert to jpeg when needed. i would have said differently a couple of years ago however with hard drive space becoming so cheap i find it better to keep the digital negatives and buy a new terabyte drive every 6 months.
Great info for me..