File transfer degradation question: If you have an image that you know you are going to use a lot, for various media, print etc., when you transfer it from you card to another storage...

Bolton Loc: jacksonville, fl

If you have an image that you know you are going to use a lot, for various media, print etc., when you transfer it from you card to another storage device, how much is degraded during that transfer and will it happen each time. For eg., from computer to thumb drive, from thumb drive to whatever you're choosing, print or transfer to other computers for other work. Then will it happen even further more upon further use. I hope I'm making sense. Thx Bolton

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

There is no degradation in a file by copying a file from one media to another whatsoever.
A file is a file. If copying a file would cause degradation in the data, documents would get messed up also.
Copy 'till your heart's content.

Opening and then saving via an image editor would be a different story!

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

I assume you're talking about a jpg and are concerned about degradation by recompression.

Rest assured, that if you're just copying a file there is no change in quality. It's re-writing the file that re-compresses it and causes degradation.

jmizera Loc: Austin Texas

There should be zero degradation, unless there is a problem with your storage. If the file was changed for this reason, it probably would either not load, or something more dramatic.

Sirsnapalot Loc: Hammond, Louisiana

Bolton wrote:

If you have an image that you know you are going to use a lot, for various media, print etc., when you transfer it from you card to another storage device, how much is degraded during that transfer and will it happen each time. For eg., from computer to thumb drive, from thumb drive to whatever you're choosing, print or transfer to other computers for other work. Then will it happen even further more upon further use. I hope I'm making sense. Thx Bolton

This may help.
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/2897631

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

In moving image files between various devices, even moving the same image from device to device, I have never noticed any degradation.
I have notice degradation after several "open and save" operations.
Both of these for .jpg files.
When using a "lossless" file format, I have never noticed degradation.

See this:
" What Is the Difference between Lossy and Lossless Formats
" Images in GIF and JPEG formats are lossy, while PNG, BMP and Raw
" are lossless formats for images.
" Audio files in OGG, MP4 and MP3 are lossy formats, while files in
" ALAC, FLAC and WAV are all lossless.
" Lossless vs. Lossy File Format | Online file conversion blog
" https://blog.online-convert.com/lossless-file-formats/ "

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

The short answer - NONE.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

Bolton wrote:

If you have an image that you know you are going to use a lot, for various media, print etc., when you transfer it from you card to another storage device, how much is degraded during that transfer and will it happen each time. For eg., from computer to thumb drive, from thumb drive to whatever you're choosing, print or transfer to other computers for other work. Then will it happen even further more upon further use. I hope I'm making sense. Thx Bolton

There will be no degradation from merely moving a file, as long as you don't alter the file!

Bolton Loc: jacksonville, fl

Okay, what if you have to do multiple edits on a shot. Is it best to try to do all in one attempt, b/c each time you edit and save you loose quality? Do you keep the original 'as is' as a 'master' and keep saving additional edits as different finals?? Thx for all you help. Bolton

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

If the file is a JPEG I'm editing, I always keep the original.
Each save in an editor does a compression, open/<mod>/save a bunch of times will wind up degrading the image. I try to do all my changes at once. The RAW editor I use does not change the data upon saving the RAW file, but stores the slider info. (The latest version does not save the slider info, which I dislike, so I use the older version.) Saving a RAW file (convert and save?) as a JPEG will go through a compression process.
Think of the degradation as making a Xerox copy of a copy of a copy of a copy... of a document.

jbk224 Loc: Long Island, NY

Shoot RAW. Edit the RAW file. Export in format that works for your purpose (Usually jpg). Just make sure you use a PP editor that is 'non-destructive'. This basically means that the original RAW file remains intact no matter what edits you have made. Therefore, if you make edits to the original RAW file, save them, and export-- you never degrade the original RAW file. Hope this helps.

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

Use something like LR to do your jpg editing. LR does not avoid jpg compression on output but you have the option of specifying how much compression you want to use so you can minimize the effect. The compression only happens once. LR will strongly resist overwriting your original jpg so you have to store it in a separate folder. That means that if you ever want to re-do your edits, you will be starting with the original. Also, since the edits are in the catalog you can start where you left off (if you want to). When you export from LR after the second edit, you get jpg compression, but since you're starting with the original you haven't lost anything from the first edit in terms of compression.

Also, since LR will do virtual copies, you can easily have multiple versions of your jpg, each with the same degree of compression.

jcboy3

Bolton wrote:

Okay, what if you have to do multiple edits on a shot. Is it best to try to do all in one attempt, b/c each time you edit and save you loose quality? Do you keep the original 'as is' as a 'master' and keep saving additional edits as different finals?? Thx for all you help. Bolton

You will see very little degradation with multiple saves as long as you keep the quality settings high. However, if you expect to do multiple edits on a file, you can save it as a lossless format (e.g. TIFF) until you are done editing, and then save it as a high quality JPG.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

If you have a RAW file there will be no degradation no matter what you do with the file. Same with a Tiff.
JPEG images can withstand many "saves" before they degrade. What I see more often is degradation of sharpness with JPEG files.
Copying files, irrespective of file type, should not cause degradation.

drklrd Loc: Cincinnati Ohio

DirtFarmer wrote:

I assume you're talking about a jpg and are concerned about degradation by recompression.

Rest assured, that if you're just copying a file there is no change in quality. It's re-writing the file that re-compresses it and causes degradation.