fjrwillie Loc: MA

When sending out a photo for print is it preferable to send a JPG or a TIF file or does it make no difference

Willie

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

By sending out, do you mean out of your pp program to your printer, or some company to print your images? When printing yourself, it really does not matter, while sending to a company, it may be better to send a jpeg ( that depends on the firm you're dealing with)!

fjrwillie Loc: MA

Sending to company to print image

Willie

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Some helpful links -

https://www.ephotozine.com/article/jpeg-or-tiff-for-the-best-quality-prints--28996
http://www.reedphoto.com/tiff-versus-jpeg-is-bigger-always-better/
http://www.smartimage.com/whats-the-difference-between-gif-png-jpeg-and-tiff/
http://kenrockwell.com/tech/jpg-or-tiff.htm

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Ask the print lab.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

The best approach, as someone has said, is to review the information put out by the vendor and follow the recommendation. I use Bay Photo and I usually send a tif as the file format is a higher level format than jpg and they take either one. You might also want to download on your computer the ICC profile they use to see your print with that ICC profile, you'll have fewer surprises that way. And, be sure you have the correct format for the printer. If you have not cropped, for example, and are asking for an 11 x 14 print, they will crop for you and perhaps not the way you would want them to. In Bay Photo I choose my print size so no surprise there when it arrives. I don't use the retail vendors such as Costco so don't know about those but do know that they will crop for you.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

The TIFF will give the best quality print on professional quality equipment.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

You'll need to check with the lab you're using. Some accept TIFF. Some only want JPEG. It's their call.

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

Images in .tiff format contain more information and should make better prints, especially if enlarged a fair amount. The photo lab will have their own specific requirements for the format and file size posted on their website. [If you upload an image whose file size is too large, the website will let you know.] And with regard to print size and cropping, they also probably have a way to see for yourself how the image will fit on a particular size paper.

I use Adoramapix, which has all of these features. Since I do not like having the photo lab deciding how to crop my images, this is the right fit for me. Recently I started playing around with paper sizes to avoid cropping, and as a result my images mostly filled the paper chosen. I cut my own mats, so some consistency is nice, but not essential. If your photo lab prints the larger paper sizes all the way to the edges, and you want a bit of white around for matting, it is fairly simple to create a white border in PS. I inquired about this issue and the person I spoke with at Adoramapix suggested doing this.