From the course: Photoshop 2021 Essential Training: The Basics

Understanding file formats - Photoshop Tutorial

From the course: Photoshop 2021 Essential Training: The Basics

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Understanding file formats

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- [Instructor] There are a variety of file formats that you need to familiarize yourself with when you're working with images in Photoshop. To simplify, I'm going to divide them into three areas of the workflow, the original source or capture file formats, then the working formats or the master file formats, which will most likely be like your multilayered, retouched and composited images in Photoshop, and then the output formats created to output your work for specific devices. So we'll start with the capture formats. When you start with a photograph, the most common file formats are JPEG and RAW. So JPEG is currently the most widely used file format in photography because it's the default file format that mobile devices such as phones capture and it's almost always an option on a digital camera. Its popularity is based primarily on the fact that JPEG files are really small so you can store a large number of photos on a single device or a card, and they can be written to those devices very quickly. However, in order to decrease a photograph's file size, the JPEG file format throws away information through a process called lossy compression. So the quality of a JPEG can range greatly depending on how much of that information is thrown away. Unfortunately, on some devices like mobile phones, we don't often have a lot of control over the amount of compression that's applied to those images. When the highest quality setting or the least amount of compression is applied, it's usually unnoticeable to the eye in most circumstances, but these files have significantly less flexibility when making adjustments such as brightening shadows or darkening highlights in the image after capture. So when given the option, I would choose not to capture in a lossy compression format like JPEG, but in a RAW format instead. So RAW is a generic term for a file format traditionally used to describe images that are captured by a digital camera and more recently by mobile devices. And the primary difference between JPEG and RAW files is that the RAW file format contains all of the data that the sensor captured. So RAW files still apply compression to files, but they do so using a different type of lossless compression, so the quality of the image isn't compromised. This gives RAW files much more flexibility when making edits and enhancements to the image after capture, because there's much more information to work with. Now, most camera manufacturers have their own proprietary RAW file formats and because they're all written differently, these extensions and file formats will be different. So for example, Nikon's RAW files are .NEF files and Canon uses .CRW and Sony uses .ARW, but they still fall under the generic blanket term of being RAW files. The DNG format, the digital negative, is another RAW file format, but it has a significant difference, it's not a proprietary file format. So the DNG format was created by Adobe with the intent of DNG becoming the archival format for all digital images. So Adobe makes its file specifications available to other software developers and not only do several camera manufacturers capture directly into the DNG format, it's now also available in several mobile devices. In addition, any RAW file from any camera manufacturer can be converted to the DNG file format using Lightroom, or Camera RAW, or the free Adobe DNG Converter. So the next group of file formats are used to save what I would refer to as your working or your master files. And they're used primarily when you're saving your multi-layered documents from Photoshop and they include PSD and TIFF and the Adobe Cloud Document format. So both PSD and TIFF files save all of Photoshop's features such as layers and masks and type and shape layers and smart objects and paths, and much, much more. And they both use lossless compression to decrease the file size, but because it's lossless, the quality of the image isn't compromised. So my personal preference is to save my working files, this PSD files, but really that's only because TIFF wasn't as robust of a file format when I started working in Photoshop. Today really the biggest difference is just that a TIFF file can save a larger file, up to four gigabytes, whereas PSD files can only save up to two gigs. Now that Adobe Cloud Document, that's a special format designed to help transfer files across devices. So for example, between Photoshop on the desktop and Photoshop on the iPad. And when you save a document as a cloud document, that file is saved in Adobe's Cloud. And those files have special features such as the ability to save only those portions of a file that have been edited, making it much more efficient to share them between devices over the cloud. All right, the last group of file formats are used when it comes time to output or to share your files maybe to be printed or to be displayed on a specific device. Now, in most instances, you would want to save a copy of your image, probably resized and optimized for that specific device. To reduce file sizes, these output file formats often flatten and compress images, and that makes it easier to upload or transfer files more quickly. In addition, if you export or you save a copy that allows you to return to your working file or to that master file, if you need to make changes to individual layers at a later time. So if you're preparing your images to be printed, it's probably best to ask what format the lab or the service provider prefers. I mean, ideally they would request flatten TIFF or PSD files in order to maintain the highest quality possible, but often it's much faster and therefore much more desirable to upload or transfer and print JPEG files. So if you are sending JPEGs to be printed, just make sure that the quality setting remains high. Now, if you're saving files to view on a screen, such as a phone or a computer, or you're posting images online, JPEG once again is the most common format because of its ability to create those small files that download quickly. But there are a bunch of specialty formats that I need to at least mention. PNG or ping is a popular file format to save graphics for the web when the graphic requires a single layered or a flattened file, but still needs to display transparent areas. For example, a ping file would be an ideal solution for displaying like a round logo or a button with rounded edges that require those transparent edge areas because the PNG format will render the smooth edges around that transparency. So like I said, this file format is most commonly used for graphics like a logo or more flat looking artwork, not necessarily a photograph. Now the GIF file format is also a single layer or a flattened file format. It has lossy compression applied, but in a different way than a JPEG. So to save as a GIF file, you have to convert your image to a different color mode called index color, which only allows 256 colors. Because of that, this file format is also commonly used for graphics like logos or more flat looking artwork. Although the GIF file does support transparency, it only supports one level, which means if you do have that circular logo, the edges are going to look jagged. Because GIFs have the unique ability to contain an animation within the file, today they're most often used for creating ad banners and other short animations to be viewed on screen. Photoshop also supports several popular video and audio file formats such as .mov or .264, AIFF, and MP3 for working with video and audio within Photoshop's timeline. The Photoshop PDF file format is very convenient when you need to distribute a secure document. For example, you might need to send a client a set of images or a mock up for a design of an unannounced project, which is really important that no one else can see or open. So as you save a Photoshop PDF, the settings enable you to password protect the file from being opened or from being printed. All right, that wraps up this overview of the most important file formats that you'll run across while you're working with Photoshop and why you choose one over another.

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