A good file format? What"s a good lossless file format to put photos in? I keep mine in RAW format, but I often convert to send to other people. JPEG isn't good if they want to do...

DoninIL Loc: East Central Illinois

What"s a good lossless file format to put photos in? I keep mine in RAW format, but I often convert to send to other people. JPEG isn't good if they want to do anything with them other than view or print because of the loss every time you re-save. I hate to use TIFF because the files are so huge. Is there another lossless format that isn't so big that people who can't use the RAW files can use?

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

Well...you are stuck. You want a lossless format, but not one that is a large file. Sorry, but TIFF or PSD is the answer and those are largish files BECAUSE they keep so much data.

You say jpg is not good for other than view or print. What else is there? Actually, today's jpg at quality of 11or 12 will take MANY open and save cycles to show any noticeable degradation. BUT if you want to be able to open/process/save many times, then TIFF/PSD IS the answer.

This is like asking for a car that can tow a 10,000b trailer AND get 40MPG. Sometimes we have to choose what is MOST important.I'd like a 12-600mm f/1.4 lens that costs under $200. ;-)

Really - storage today is dirt cheap. If you are concerned about image quality then just save things as TIFFs. It is a universal format that most software can read. If file size is a concern, then choose JPG. If you are sending files by email, the TIFF files might choke the system.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

CaptainC wrote:

Well...you are stuck. You want a lossless format, ... (show quote)

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

CaptainC wrote:

Well...you are stuck. You want a lossless format, ... (show quote)

That pretty much covers it!

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

Hmmm, unless I'm selling my images, I don't provide any format other than JPEG - set for video display or print.

But, there are some short articles that give some insite to various formats -

FLIF - http://petapixel.com/2015/10/02/flif-is-a-new-free-lossless-image-format-that-raises-the-compression-bar/

or Jpeg 2000 - discussed here (along with some other options)-
http://www.bionixwallpaper.com/articles/best%20file%20format%20for%20your%20wallpapers%20or%20digital%20images/image-formats.html

Here is a discussion on the top 5 -
JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF and PNG
http://1stwebdesigner.com/image-file-types/

Hope this helps...

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

CaptainC wrote:

Well...you are stuck. You want a lossless format, ... (show quote)

Well, Don, there you have it.

One format not mentioned was png. It has some advantages over jpg, but the drawback is jpg is more widely used.
--Bob

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

DoninIL wrote:

What"s a good lossless file format to put photos in? I keep mine in RAW format, but I often convert to send to other people. JPEG isn't good if they want to do anything with them other than view or print because of the loss every time you re-save. I hate to use TIFF because the files are so huge. Is there another lossless format that isn't so big that people who can't use the RAW files can use?

Perhaps you should reconsider your question and your understanding of the situation. There are many potential formats. If you want people to process your raw files, they can acquire software that can do so. Some is free, some they pay for, it is not hard, but they do need software that can interpret your specific flavor of raw file.

You could convert files to something like DNG, which is not a standard, but is an open and widely supported format.

Small and lossless can be an issue. Perhaps if you explain your issues or concerns in more detail we may be able to help.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

CaptainC wrote:

...I'd like a 12-600mm f/1.4 lens that costs under $200....

Do you have a link to ebay or somewhere I can get one of those too?

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

rmalarz wrote:

Well, Don, there you have it.

One format not mentioned was png. It has some advantages over jpg, but the drawback is jpg is more widely used.
--Bob

I was about to mention png. It's supported by all the browsers I'm familiar with and all the word processing programs I use. (I'm on Win7). In size, it is between jpg and tiff unless you have layers in it. It comes in either 8 or 16 bit and can support transparency.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

DoninIL wrote:

What"s a good lossless file format to put photos in? I keep mine in RAW format, but I often convert to send to other people. JPEG isn't good if they want to do anything with them other than view or print because of the loss every time you re-save. I hate to use TIFF because the files are so huge. Is there another lossless format that isn't so big that people who can't use the RAW files can use?

Are you sending pictures to other people to post process them for you? That is about the only situation where re-saving might possibly cause degradation. Cropping, lightening or darkening for printing and most other general adjustments will not degrade the jpeg image.

blackest Loc: Ireland

DirtFarmer wrote:

I was about to mention png. It's supported by all the browsers I'm familiar with and all the word processing programs I use. (I'm on Win7). In size, it is between jpg and tiff unless you have layers in it. It comes in either 8 or 16 bit and can support transparency.

There is one more nice thing about png
in say affinity photo use the eliptical marque tool to select a round or eliptical area copy to the clipboard and select new image from clipboard you now have a round image with transparent borders

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

This isn't 1999 anymore - storage is now cheap! Don't make compromises. Just get yourself an external hard drive and keep your images stored in TIFF format.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

rook2c4 wrote:

This isn't 1999 anymore - storage is now cheap! Don't make compromises. Just get yourself an external hard drive and keep your images stored in TIFF format.

Why TIFF? Files are huge and still lose information from raw files...

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

.png is lossless, holds a gradient beautifully, and contain layers and alpha channels. is lossless, and is one of the formats accepted at UHH. Oh, and smaller than either TIFF or PSD.

blackest Loc: Ireland

Bob Yankle wrote:

.png is lossless, holds a gradient beautifully, and contain layers and alpha channels. is lossless, and is one of the formats accepted at UHH. Oh, and smaller than either TIFF or PSD.

A good file format depends on what you intend to use it for. PSD for example contains a stack of 1 to X layers Tiff is generally one layer but adobe have a layered version, which may be a little less supported outside adobe software. png and jpg are single layer formats gif has limited colors but has support for animation.