RAW? TIFF? DPI? Help!

[RbrtPtikLeoSeny]

So, I've been using raw for a while and it's pretty nice. Kind of useless to me right now because I can't figure out how to calibrate my lcd screen but anyway, I was wondering what should the DPI be when I convert it? Seems the default is 350 DPI.... good? And, why should I save as a TIFF? Any advantages to this? Disadvantages?

Thanks!

[mrclark321]

Bump for interest also

[CyberPet]

The dpi only comes into play when you're working in the graphical business... it all comes down to the amount of pixels anyway, so you could very well use 72 dpi if you send pictures to a lab. It's only interesting if you are going to send images to a magazine etc, then they *might* ask you to save the images in 300 pixles/inch.

Tiff is a non-destructing file format, compared to jpeg. However the file sizes will be bigger too (around 10 megs in size if you use zip compression). So if you don't want to hog down your harddrive with photoshop's own file format (psd), which is double the size, and keep the files in good condition, then tiff might be the way to go. However... jpeg's saved in it's best (highest quality) will last pretty good, if you keep the amount of "save as..." to a minimum.

So....

Tiff Pro: non-destructive format.
Tiff Con: larger file sizes than jpeg.

[rent]

the raw conversion dpi really doesn't matter when you are doing conversion because you can set the dip to whatever is appropriate when you print your image; and it is only then the dpi comes into play.

when you convert from raw you'll always get a 3504 x 2336 (20D, slightly fewer pixels from XT). the dpi setting determines the print size, so at 350 dpi, you'll get a print size of 10" x 6.67" (3504 pixels divided by 350 dpi = 10 inches). for 6x4 prints, at 350 dpi, you are actually downsampling your image to 2100 x 1400. for larger sizes, you'll be upsampling.

i save my image as PSD files at intermediate intervals as i work on it. the final version is saved both as TIFF and PSD. since TIFF is a common (and very straight forward, no compression) format, i trust it will be around for a long time, so saving to TIFF guarantees forward compatibility. i can't see any disadvantages really, as long as you save the RAW file itself, too.

-alex

[Curtis N]

My monitor isn't calibrated either (yet), but you would have to twist my arm pretty hard to get me to shoot anything but RAW.

DPI is a number to ignore.

Here are a few articles that should help.
http://bobatkins.com/photography/digital/raw.html
http://bobatkins.com/photography/digital/digital_image_resizing.html

[RbrtPtikLeoSeny]

Alright! TIFF files work like JPEG's on the computer though right? Can print em, can be viewed on my and other peoples computers without special software? And I can edit them in PS and they wont lose as much image quality as they would if I did the same with a JPEG?

I don't mind if the files are larger with TIFFs. No big deal, but saving all these different file types to my comp is a pain. Keeping them all organized is a true challenge. :-)

[rent]

unlike JPG, TIFF is lossless. so save away!

-alex

[CyberDyneSystems]

Yes.. save as Tiff. :)

Liek jpeg it can be viewed on pretty much any PC :)

[RbrtPtikLeoSeny]

That's awesome! I didn't know that. I'll save as tiff from now on then. :-)

[PhotosGuy]

I keep a web jpeg in the root folder so I can quickly see what is in there. RAW images go into an "Originals" subfolder. RSE puts the tiffs in a "Converted" subsubfolder by default. Prints go into a subfolder of the primary folder named "Prints". ;-) I change the filenames to xxx_4X6_00x.jpg.

I've used the free RSE (RawShooter Essentials) since it came out & wouldn't be without it now. I usually only go into PS to crop, resize & do some final sharpening unless it's a complex shot. For the simple shots, RSE saves the conversion info so I can delete the big tiff file & save a lot of hard drive space in the long run.

[Curtis N]

The only caveat that should be added here is that images uploaded to POTN or any other website need to be in JPEG format. Web browsers are not designed to display TIFFs.