Photoshop file formats

[jrader]

Can someone explain the dis/advantages to the different file formats in PS? I've always wondered what's the point of having so many.

I almost always work my RAW files in DPP then convert to JPG to PP in PS, but I only work in JPG because of convenience and inexperience.

Any help is appreciated!

JOHN

[CyberDyneSystems]

Essentially you can ignore all but three of the file types. (or arguably all but two)

.psd
.jpg/jpeg
.tif/tiff


Only one file type is "Photoshop' and that is .psd, the rest of that long list is Adobe simply giving you options to handle and work with all the other dozens of file formats that are out there.

Tiff is a complete uncompressed image file that will retain 100% of your image information. It is scalable to include layers, 16 bit color and more.

Photoshops own .psd file is essentially simply a .tif with some added bells and whistles. In the past one needed to use .psd to take full advantage of all of PS features when saving a file. But as mentioned, .tif has scaled to accommodate the vast majority of these features so .psd is less pertinent to us now.


You already know what jpeg is, but you may not be fully aware of it's limitations.
By converting to jpeg you are using a "lossy" file format that means image information is "destroyed" during compression to make the file smaller and more portable. The data lost in the process and can not be recovered.
Further, jpegs are only 8 bit color. Modern DSLRs take photos with either 12 or 14 bit color. So when shooting RAW and converting, ideally to keep all of your cameras color information in tact, you will convert to 16 bit tiff as opposed to 8 bit tiff or worse yet, jpeg.

Now jpeg does have a lot of other advantages, size, compatibility etc, but no matter what anyone may argue, image quality and the ability to maintain all of your cameras color and IQ simply are not part of jpgs advantages.

The "standard" processing workflow for those interested in maintaining as perfect an image file as possible is shooting RAW, outputting a 16 bit tiff file for further work in PS if needed.
Jpeg is then only used as a copy of the tiff for times when the files NEED to be made more portable or for specific clients needs, and of course for display on the web.

[René Damkot]

To add:
Tif files can be compressed in a few ways (4 IIRC). Some lossy, some lossless.

Also, IIRC, a layered tif (without lzw compression) is larger then a psd. Not sure, but that should be easy enough to try.

I use psd files for anything that contains layers, tif files only for flattened images. If only to prevent confusion: "It's a psd, oh, then it must be layered."

There is one that also might be usefull: .psb (large document format; you'll need it if you ever have a huge file (over 2Gb).

[jrader]

Ok, both of these response are extremely helpful. Things I obviously did not know. I think from now on, I will change from RAW to 16 bit TIFF for editing and save, and only convert to JPG if I need to post or share. It makes more sense to do it that way, at least in my mind.

Thanks for the resonses. If you come up with anything else, I'm all ears.

JOHN

[CyberDyneSystems]

I use psd files for anything that contains layers, tif files only for flattened images. If only to prevent confusion: "It's a psd, oh, then it must be layered."


:lol: I do the exact same thing!
the .psd is a file that may be "done" but still is ready to be re opened and tweaked etc..

Tifs are flattened done and a final product.