# How do you save your images?



## domromer (Nov 19, 2007)

I shoot everything at jpeg. I was told everytime you open and close a jpegs it degrades a litle bit more. How many times can you look at a jpeg before you start to notice it degrading? 

Also do you save your files as Jpegs or tiffs. I've got a digital arts teacher who says we should save everything as tiffs. If I did that I would need three more hard drives. What are you guys doing?


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## BAB (Nov 19, 2007)

Yes you are correct and for that reason it is best not to save as a JPEG.  Rather save a master as a TIFF or other non compression format.  If you need a JPEG for e-mailing or web, do a save as from your master.


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## domromer (Nov 19, 2007)

How much can you open until you begin noticing degridation?


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## ann (Nov 20, 2007)

opening and closing are different than saving something.

for example, you open a file , rotate it and then save the rotation, which is a change. At that time the file re-arranges itself and re-compresses itself which over time is degrading.

I use only raw files, change them to a TIff file if i am going to use it; and keep 4 copies of every file; the orginal and 3 back up copies. External Hard Drives are very cheap these days.


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## domromer (Nov 20, 2007)

So If i'm just opening them in preview then nothing happens? I actually need to make a change and save it and they will be compressed again? Am i getting that right?


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## fido dog (Nov 20, 2007)

domromer said:


> So If i'm just opening them in preview then nothing happens? I actually need to make a change and save it and they will be compressed again? Am i getting that right?


That's my understanding.


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## Josh66 (Nov 20, 2007)

Yeah, it only compresses when you actually save it.

I don't think most people are going to save it enough times to see a change though (maybe I'm wrong, but I've never noticed any quality loss).

I keep all of my RAWs and process the ones I like into JPEGs.  I used to use TIFFs, but like you said - I saw that it was going to use all of my disk space very fast.


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## wildmaven (Nov 20, 2007)

I save all images which I will be using for sale as TIFFs. Other images get saved as JPGs. You never know when a customer is going to come in and ask if you can make a print larger than what you have for sale, and with the TIFF, you have a better chance.


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## TCimages (Nov 20, 2007)

wildmaven said:


> I save all images which I will be using for sale as TIFFs. Other images get saved as JPGs. You never know when a customer is going to come in and ask if you can make a print larger than what you have for sale, and with the TIFF, you have a better chance.


 
How does a tiff allow you to print a larger image than a jpg? It's just an uncompressed version of the jpg. Still maintains the same dimensions.

maybe I'm missing something.


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## TCimages (Nov 20, 2007)

domromer said:


> I shoot everything at jpeg. I was told everytime you open and close a jpegs it degrades a litle bit more. How many times can you look at a jpeg before you start to notice it degrading?
> 
> Also do you save your files as Jpegs or tiffs. I've got a digital arts teacher who says we should save everything as tiffs. If I did that I would need three more hard drives. What are you guys doing?


 
Only saving a jpg impacts quaility. And this is marginal.  I would consider always making a copy of a jpeg to work on.  Leaving your originals as is OR at least do a "save as" which would be the same thing.


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## D-50 (Nov 23, 2007)

Check out the thread on jpeg compression that was recently posted. Youll see the true effects of JPEG compression.  I see no reason to ever save as a jpeg unless your emailing the photo to someone.  Also why would you shoot in jpeg if RAW is an option, makes no sense.


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## domromer (Nov 23, 2007)

File size. I don't have the money for multiple external hard drives.


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## D-50 (Nov 23, 2007)

You can get 300 to 500 GB hard drives for about $100 USD.  I know money is tight for everyone but unfortnatly photography gets to be an expensive habit very quickly.  I would strongly suggest saving up $100 and getting an external HD and stop shooting in JPEG.


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## domromer (Nov 23, 2007)

Wow. Thats cheap. I haven't seem them locally for that cheap. I thought I was  going to have to spend at least 250$. Could you give me a link for a reputable selller that has drives for that cheap. Thanks


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## Alex_B (Nov 23, 2007)

and they are getting cheaper and cheaper everyday.


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## D-50 (Nov 23, 2007)

try bestbuy.com.  I got mine a couple months ago I bet the prices have come down since then.
Just checked the site 
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8355399&type=product&id=1177112455014

500gb for $145.  I would suggest buying two though one for regular use the other for back up. I made the mistake of using a single HD without backup and lost my first 10,000 images when the thing had a mechanical breakdown!

They were selling a 320gb hard drive for $70!!! but unfortunatly it sold out.  Check out the whole site Imsure yopu can find something that suits your needs and is in your price range.


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## Garbz (Nov 24, 2007)

File size. I don't have the money to expand a fully redundant external HDD array. Try and find a bargain there


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