What file format to work in?

I

Itti

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Itti
Edit My Images
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I shoot in RAW and then convert in Canon DPP and tweak in Photoshop 6.
But I'm a bit confused about what to convert to.

- Convert to jpg - the downside is that of course data is lost as I go so I'd rather keep files in a lossless format, and make a jpg conversion if I need one for uploading somewhere later
- Keep in RAW - well I don't think Photoshop 6 opens RAW files so this isn't an option.
- Convert to TIFF - the options are 16-bit TIFF or 8-bit Exif-TIFF. Does this mean that if I use 16-bit I don't retain the EXIF data?
Ideally I would like to work in TIFF and then convert to jpg at the end as and when I need it. But can my version of Photoshop cope with 16-bit files (I've heard some older versions don't work very well with it)?
- Work with some other lossless file format, then convert to jpg at the end. I've heard some people work with png files - Photoshop files (?). But DPP (presumably) won't make these and Photoshop won't open the RAW so if I did this I'd have to go RAW -> jpg/TIFF -> png.

So far I've been using a range of the above options, changing as I get new advice, but I'd like to be more consistent.

Edit: Thanks for the help but I'm not asking what to shoot in, I am asking what to work in when I am doing edits, as doing lots of saves in jpgs will affect the end image quality. Please read what I said above! Thanks!
 
It's only my preference but I shoot RAW. If the pictures are good at that stage I'll convert to JPG. If they need more work I'll convert to TIF and work in Photoshop before saving as JPG. If I am going to a lot of artwork and build layers I'll usually save as a Photoshop file (psd) because they are faster to save and open that layered TIFs. When I save TIFs I usually work 8bit because some PS options are not available for 16 bit files.

Don't use PNG unless you are going to use them on a web site because they are not loss-less.
 
I shoot in RAW, for archive it's tiff 16 bit, PSD for saving with layers, jpeg for e.mail or web, and depending on outside printers it may be PDF. Wayne
 
i shoot in RAW+jpg (jpgs for quick browsing)

then edit the RAWs and save in *.jpg
 
For what it's worth I shoot RAW, convert to 16-bit Tiff to edit, save as reduced compatability psd (smaller filesize than Tiffs) and finally convert to jpg for the finished photo on account of it's size and accessibility.
 
Itti said:
I shoot in RAW and then convert in Canon DPP and tweak in Photoshop 6.
But I'm a bit confused about what to convert to.

- Convert to jpg - the downside is that of course data is lost as I go so I'd rather keep files in a lossless format, and make a jpg conversion if I need one for uploading somewhere later
- Keep in RAW - well I don't think Photoshop 6 opens RAW files so this isn't an option.
- Convert to TIFF - the options are 16-bit TIFF or 8-bit Exif-TIFF. Does this mean that if I use 16-bit I don't retain the EXIF data?
Ideally I would like to work in TIFF and then convert to jpg at the end as and when I need it. But can my version of Photoshop cope with 16-bit files (I've heard some older versions don't work very well with it)?
- Work with some other lossless file format, then convert to jpg at the end. I've heard some people work with png files - Photoshop files (?). But DPP (presumably) won't make these and Photoshop won't open the RAW so if I did this I'd have to go RAW -> jpg/TIFF -> png.

So far I've been using a range of the above options, changing as I get new advice, but I'd like to be more consistent.
Click to expand...

hi photoshop 6 does open raw files you need the nikon raw codec from the website hth
 
To Andy and others - I shoot in RAW, that part's not gonna change and I'm not interested in discussing the merits of shooting RAW vs shooting jpg. I just want to know what file to work in when I'm post processing.


AndyB said:
It's only my preference but I shoot RAW. If the pictures are good at that stage I'll convert to JPG. If they need more work I'll convert to TIF and work in Photoshop before saving as JPG. If I am going to a lot of artwork and build layers I'll usually save as a Photoshop file (psd) because they are faster to save and open that layered TIFs. When I save TIFs I usually work 8bit because some PS options are not available for 16 bit files.

Don't use PNG unless you are going to use them on a web site because they are not loss-less.
Click to expand...

Ah okay, I think I got png and psd confused (I don't usually use either, so that figures).

So, assuming you're doing work in Photoshop, you go RAW > jpg > TIF > jpg?
 
tbm said:
For what it's worth I shoot RAW, convert to 16-bit Tiff to edit, save as reduced compatability psd (smaller filesize than Tiffs) and finally convert to jpg for the finished photo on account of it's size and accessibility.
Click to expand...

What's a reduced compatibility psd?
Not sure I'd want to end up with only a jpg - some people request TIFs.
 
Itti said:
To Andy and others - I shoot in RAW, that part's not gonna change and I'm not interested in discussing the merits of shooting RAW vs shooting jpg. I just want to know what file to work in when I'm post processing.




Ah okay, I think I got png and psd confused (I don't usually use either, so that figures).

So, assuming you're doing work in Photoshop, you go RAW > jpg > TIF > jpg?
Click to expand...

Noooo - keep away from JPG until the last save. So RAW > TIF > JPG
 
Personally I save my Raw to a Tiff open in PS and save as a psd. When finished I keep the layered psd and make a flattened Tiff as well. If you can get the Canon plugin for PS then let PS open the raw and work with that.

I changed my workflow slightly recently from doing the above to letting CS2 open the raw file, as CS2 did a better job than converting to Tiff and then opening in CS2 which seemed to give a slight colour cast and more jagged edges. Of course you don't have that option with 6 so try the plugin.
 
I'm slightly confused by the reference to codex and plug-ins, photoshop should open both Canon and Nikon raw files provided you have the correct version of ACR.
The only time you could have problems is with cameras newer than the software, in those cases you can either update photoshop to the latest version of ACR (for that version of photoshop) or if your using an older version of photoshop which doesn't support your current camera (say CS2 and the Nikon D3x) then you can use the DNG converter free from Adobe, this converts your cameras RAW files to .DNG (adobes native raw) these will open in any version of photoshop from CS onwards.
Wayne
 
I don't use DPP so this may or may not be relevant.

I open and edit the RAWs is Lightroom (so using the ACR engine). I do as much work as possible here, and that's all that's needed usually so I just leave them there with the edits saved in the catalogue for my archives.

For stuff that goes online for whatever reason, or CD for a client I output as a JPEG straight from Lightroom.

For the few that I want to do more with I open the file with the Lightroom edits as a PSD in Photoshop for faffing about and save it as a PSD with all the layers. I can then export that as a JPEG or TIFF for printing, or whatever need be.
 
I shoot RAW and use DPP to do all my processing convert/save to jpeg for sending to the printers.

On the few occasion I use photoshop I save as jpeg if for web/printing. Only if I know I'm come back to do more editing will I save in photoshop format.

Originally Posted by Slimbert View Post
Is it possible to convert a 16 bit TIFF to an 8 bit TIFF?
Click to expand...
Yes - in photoshop CS4 - Image/Mode/8 bit...
Click to expand...

Also in CS3 same way up or down 32 bit 16 bit 8 bit.
 
swanseamale47 said:
I'm slightly confused by the reference to codex and plug-ins, photoshop should open both Canon and Nikon raw files provided you have the correct version of ACR.
The only time you could have problems is with cameras newer than the software, in those cases you can either update photoshop to the latest version of ACR (for that version of photoshop) or if your using an older version of photoshop which doesn't support your current camera (say CS2 and the Nikon D3x) then you can use the DNG converter free from Adobe, this converts your cameras RAW files to .DNG (adobes native raw) these will open in any version of photoshop from CS onwards.
Wayne
Click to expand...

As I said I have Photoshop 6, this came before CS :p
 
AndyB said:
Noooo - keep away from JPG until the last save. So RAW > TIF > JPG
Click to expand...

That makes more sense! (I now realise there was an "instead" missing from your original post.) I think this is probably what I'll go with; it was what I was leaning towards anyway.
 
Rattrap said:
Personally I save my Raw to a Tiff open in PS and save as a psd. When finished I keep the layered psd and make a flattened Tiff as well. If you can get the Canon plugin for PS then let PS open the raw and work with that.

I changed my workflow slightly recently from doing the above to letting CS2 open the raw file, as CS2 did a better job than converting to Tiff and then opening in CS2 which seemed to give a slight colour cast and more jagged edges. Of course you don't have that option with 6 so try the plugin.
Click to expand...

I might try that too if I'm going to be doing a few layers.
Is the plugin free to download or extra ££?
 
whiteflyer said:
I shoot RAW and use DPP to do all my processing convert/save to jpeg for sending to the printers.
Click to expand...

I find DPP doesn't display the histogram very well - you can end up losing data because the data's not displayed.
 
Itti said:
I might try that too if I'm going to be doing a few layers.
Is the plugin free to download or extra ££?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I misread an earlier post to read that a plugin was available for 6, I now realize it isn't. There are 3rd party converters such as Silkypix and Capture 1 but of course they cost. If that's not possible, continue converting to Tiff, it's really fine as a workflow.
 
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