Saving in PSD vs JPG.

[Carl one]

I think I understand this, however I'm not positive. Saving an image in PSD vs saving the image in JPG. I shoot 98 percent raw and then create a duplicate copy of the raw file for editing purposes. If I understand correctly and I use layers in the edit process then the image should be saved as a PSD file as this will not collapse or flatten or close the layers and then in the future I can reopen and do additional editing on this image and the various layers within it. The JPG file with layers used in editing once it is saved as JPG then the layers are no longer available for additional editing and what I have is what I have. Is this correct? Thank you. Carl.

[frank abramonte]

Yes, if you save a psd as a jpeg the layers will automatically be flattened and you won't have use of the layers.
Save as Jpeg when your ready to print. You can keep the same name since he jpeg extension will not write over your psd file.

[annc]

I agree. I keep the .psd, but save to .jpg for sending to the web, or for inclusion as a whole in another montage or card.

[Carl one]

Hi Frank and Annc and thank you for your reply. Okay this brings up a question. Is it possible to open the PSD file with the layers available to do additional editing and after completing the additional work save the PSD file as a COPY. Close out the editor, open the PSD copy, convert the copy to JPG and still have the original PSD file in the organizer? If so this would allow having multiple JPG images of the same PSD image showing different editing effects or is this one more of my pipe dreams? Carl

[frank abramonte]

Yes as long as you save the corrected psd file with a different name, even if you add a letter or date to the name.
There are as many possibilities as you can dream up, however your storage space is going to fill up pretty fast. How are you going to keep track of what editing you did to which psd file?
What you can do is edit the psd file and save it as a jpeg, but not save the edited psd file. That will leave you with the one basic psd file which you can use to generate any number of jpeg files with different editings.
You will have to eventually get rid of some jpeg files, again unless you have limitless storage space.
Can you explain the reason for having so many files.

[dj_paige]

I shoot 98 percent raw and then create a duplicate copy of the raw file for editing purposes.

As long as the point has been raised about you possibly using up lots of disk space, let me point out that for Raw photos, this step isn’t necessary. Photoshop Elements never changes your Raw photos, so there really isn't any reason to make copies of your Raw photos so you're not editing the original. All of your edits to Raw photos are saved in "sidecar" .xmp files, which are separate files, leaving the files containing Raw photos unchanged even after you edit them.

[Carl one]

As I said the vast majority of my shots are in raw format for the advantages of the format. For me it is simply easier then shooting JPG and being limited to the in camera settings and I understand there is no need to duplicate the raw file prior to editing and I can create as many JPG variations of a raw image as I desire, HOWEVER, after re-reading my post I see where I wrote it improperly and thus the misconception that I meant Raw only when in fact I meant JPG only. When you are 68 you sometimes make mistakes (they are called "senior moments"). I was reading an article on layers and the subject was brought up but not discussed very well so I thought I would ask here, as to needing to keep multiple copies of the same images I do not but inquiring minds want to know. Here is the sunrise from yesterday straight from the camera, all I did to it was resize to 4 X 6 and convert to JPG. Several variations can be made to this but I like it as it is. Thank you. Carl

[frank abramonte]

Carl, you sound like you already know more than most contributors on this site.
I think you answered your own question.
As to how many jpegs to keep is really up to you, your naming system and your storage capacity.
The sunrise is a really nice photo.
Shooting raw gives you the greatest amount of color data in each shot. The rest is left to your talents as to what you can do with all that data.
Most people couldn't do better than jpeg the camera generates.
68 is not old, but full of knowledge.

[Linda559]

Just to stir the pot a little.... I usually save my layered image files as tiffs. A tiff file can be opened by any program, psd is an Adobe format. Also, and more importantly, I can not see the thumbnail images of my psd files, but I can see thumbnails of my tiff files.

On the file type drop down list, Tiff is on the very bottom.

[jim0004]

Linda, saving as .tif is a great idea. Thank you! Not only will Win-whatever display .tif thumbs but also PEx won't "forget" how to display the image as it does with certain RAW file-types in Organizer.

[TonyW]

And tifs are smaller than psds especially if you save them using the lossless compression ZIP option. And tifs are more reliable when it comes to updating metadata. Also if you don't use the maximize compatibility option in a psd file (which adds to file size) some programs won't open it. All in all tifs are the way to go - even Adobe admit it in Lightroom where tifs and psd are the options for exporting RAW files to an external editor (and Lightroom won't open psd files that aren't saved with the maximimize compatability option either).

If anyone knows any downsides to tiffs please speak up as I'm rapidly becoming converted :)

Tony

[ljameso1]

Tiffs have been my preferred way of saving for a number of years.