Do I need to convert to .TIF?

[Resinger]

I've been told that because jpeg is a lossy format, I should convert a jpeg to either TIF or BMP to do any work on the picture, and then convert the finished product back to jpeg. Otherwise, every time I click "save" while working on a jpeg, I'm degrading the picture further and further. Is this true?

[Mary]

It is very true. I would also suggest that bmp is not a good choice. Work in tif or psd during all editing and even storage. Convert to jpg only for sharing purposes such as email, web etc.

The thing to keep in mind is that as long as you are looking at your image on a monitor, digital display or through a data projector you are limited to 72 dpi so even a degraded image looks great. When you want to edit or print an image is where the jpg loss really affects the output.

(There are differences of opinion on this subject to be sure).

[Wendy]

Hi there ...

... and welcome to the forum :)

It is indeed true ... but it doesn't have to be tiff that you save to although you can if you wish.

My workflow is I open up the jpg do some work on it if I have completed the work in one go I then resave as a jpg (with another name). If I need to do more work on it I then save as a psd (Photoshops own format) ... and at some later stage open it up again finish off the work before finally saving again as a jpg.

Some people prefer to leave their final images as psd's (or tiffs) but I tend to convert back because of the file sizes.

Images do deteriorate when resaved as jpgs but you do have to do it quite a few times before you notice the changes ... the odd once or twice isn't going to be a problem ... :)

Wendy

[Wendy]

Mary,

I guess we were typing at the same time :)


Wendy

[Resinger]

Mary and Wendy,

Thank you both. I had been converting my JPGs to TIF, just in case. And of course it's nice that Elements 3.0 saves all the EXIF data from the JPG. I was pleasantly surprised to learn this.