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DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> JPEG vs. TIFF/PSD for backup
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06/18/2006 11:50:07 PM · #1
I was told today that during my back up I should convert all of my jpeg images to either a tiff or photoshop document. Any thoughts?
06/18/2006 11:52:24 PM · #2
silliness and redundant. if you don't save and resave and resave... jpg is fine. RAW would be better though, imo. :)
06/18/2006 11:55:00 PM · #3
my vacation photos - high quality JPEG
my artsy-fartsy photos - RAW, but only the selected few that matters
my snapshots of anything and everything - med quality JPEG
06/18/2006 11:55:25 PM · #4
This person's defense was that everytime I opened and closed the file I would be tossing data. However, I don't find myself constantly re-editing data after I archive them.

Also, quick question: For someone who hasn't caved in and bought an external hard drive, how often should I be backing up the old cds?
06/18/2006 11:56:01 PM · #5
A general purpose workflow was posted once by Bear_music... it has been tuned for DPC, but is probably a good idea to keep a good handle on your HD space... CD's are cheap. Apologies if it's a little distorted...

step 1. archive all original pictures (either RAW or JPG) on CD

step 2. choose the pictures you like/want to edit and sort however you usually sort them (some do this before step 1 so their CD is more organized, some do this after, leaving the CD as it was in-camera, and keep the organization on their HD)

step 3. open a worthy picture in Photoshop, and IMMEDIATELY save as .psd (all changes and saves will then be done ONLY on the non-original, AND changes saved to a .psd (or tiff for that matter) do not need to be compressed, so there is no loss of information regardless of how many times you save and come back to it....)

a jpg is a lossy type of compression, so you will generally lose a bit of information each time it is saved.

EDIT: Incidentally, I do a lot of stuff in jpg because I too don't usually re-edit photos... I'm not that good :)

Message edited by author 2006-06-18 23:57:14.
06/18/2006 11:56:34 PM · #6
Why aren't you saving all of these files in your backups?:
-The original capture (RAW, JPEG, TIFF)
-The edited intermediate(s) (Photshop or other layered format)
-The final composited image for printing (TIFF or JPEG)

As long as you have the first two, the format of the last one doesn't matter, becuase it can usually be easily recreated.

I typically have several more versions, sized for DPC, composited but unsharpened, bordered/titled .PSD for prints, etc.
06/19/2006 12:20:19 AM · #7
Originally posted by GeneralE:

Why aren't you saving all of these files in your backups?:
-The original capture (RAW, JPEG, TIFF)
-The edited intermediate(s) (Photshop or other layered format)
-The final composited image for printing (TIFF or JPEG)

As long as you have the first two, the format of the last one doesn't matter, becuase it can usually be easily recreated.

I typically have several more versions, sized for DPC, composited but unsharpened, bordered/titled .PSD for prints, etc.


I have them all saved in that fashion, but was told that high quality JPEG wasn't as great as TIFFs. Should I go through and resave these images as TIFFs or PSDs?
06/19/2006 12:28:03 AM · #8
Personaly I shoot everything in Raw, and I store everything in raw. Then if I like a photo I will play with it in photoshop then save it as a PSD so it has all my work saved. Then I will save a web copy. My photo storage is about 16gigs of just raws. Memory isn't an issue you can buy hardrive for around 100 bucks and get a whole years worth of raw photos on there.

Jpegs are only for output the way I see things they are far to compressed to realy do any great Photoshop work in.

Message edited by author 2006-06-19 00:29:38.
06/19/2006 01:04:14 AM · #9
I'm using external hard drives. I'm saving raw and uncropped psd. There is no reason to archive a converted tiff because it is all in the psd. Always work on a dup copy of the background layer. And save before you crop. I keep copies of print versions and archive them together if I choose. I'm considering not saving the raw versions. I'm afraid I will want to reconvert them later.

Tim

Circuit City has a good sale on external drives for a few days.

Message edited by author 2006-06-19 01:05:41.
06/19/2006 01:12:19 AM · #10
If your files are curently jpegs then converting to tiff/psd won't improve them, it just prevents further loss of quality. The data is compressed when you saved the jpeg.

If on the other hand you have RAW files then save those, they are the original. When editing the PSD format is the equivalent.

Opening and closing a jpeg (to view it) does nothing to it. Saving is the only time the compression is applied...

I guess it just depends - for many purposes a jpeg saved at a high quality setting is fine. I'm happy to keep most of my personal snapshots as jpegs.

If you need 100% quality by all means save as a tiff/psd/raw but you need a way of storing all that extra data - they are BIG files.
06/19/2006 02:35:02 AM · #11
Originally posted by thevesselsinyourbruises:

I have them all saved in that fashion, but was told that high quality JPEG wasn't as great as TIFFs. Should I go through and resave these images as TIFFs or PSDs?

Most people would advise you to save them all in RAW or TIFF for quality's sake. But ask yourself if you are ever going to edit all 100% of those files in the future, or print large prints out of them? If no, then a high quality (heck, or medium quality) JPEG is good enough for archiving-viewing. Yes, and storage medium are cheap nowadays (a DVD-R disc is only like a dollar?). Also, re-converting a JPEG back to TIFF will NOT improve the quality because it was already compressed earlier.
06/19/2006 03:42:28 AM · #12
Originally posted by Niten:

I'm using external hard drives. I'm saving raw and uncropped psd. There is no reason to archive a converted tiff because it is all in the psd. Always work on a dup copy of the background layer. And save before you crop. I keep copies of print versions and archive them together if I choose. I'm considering not saving the raw versions. I'm afraid I will want to reconvert them later.

Tim

Circuit City has a good sale on external drives for a few days.


Ooo, will look along with newegg. Thanks!
06/19/2006 03:52:59 AM · #13
Originally posted by crayon:

[quote=thevesselsinyourbruises]Also, re-converting a JPEG back to TIFF will NOT improve the quality because it was already compressed earlier.


AWESOME, that's the answer I'm looking for. I take it that it is pointless to resave my jpegs as tiffs?
06/19/2006 03:56:48 AM · #14
Originally posted by thevesselsinyourbruises:

AWESOME, that's the answer I'm looking for. I take it that it is pointless to resave my jpegs as tiffs?

Yup, besides making the file larger than it should - pointless :)
06/19/2006 05:01:42 AM · #15
Originally posted by crayon:

Originally posted by thevesselsinyourbruises:

AWESOME, that's the answer I'm looking for. I take it that it is pointless to resave my jpegs as tiffs?

Yup, besides making the file larger than it should - pointless :)


Thanks, Crayon!

*cooks you e-dinner as a token of appreciation*
06/19/2006 05:06:04 AM · #16
Originally posted by thevesselsinyourbruises:

Thanks, Crayon!
*cooks you e-dinner as a token of appreciation*

oooh!
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