08/08/2020
MOST COMMON FILE FORMATS USED BY PHOTOSHOP
Have you ever asked yourself, “what format do I send this files as”, “what should I save this as..” etc. What is the difference between PSD, Tiff, Jpg, gif and png? In this short guide you will learn about the most popular formats and what they are used for.
There are lots of other file formats. But these are the most commonly used ones. These are the ones you will normally save projects to:
PSD (Photoshop Document)
This is the main file format for Photoshop. It’s the best for using as your working file. It supports RGB, CMYK, LAB and Duotone color spaces. This format supports all of Photoshop’s features. A PSD saves all the layers, masks, channels, paths etc.
Quality Loss: None
File Size: Large
Layers: Yes
Transparency: Yes
Animation: Yes
Uses for: Master working file
PSB (Photoshop Big)
A Psd is the same as a PSD, but supports larger files. A PSD has a file limit of 30,000 pixels or 2 Gb. If you need a larger file, save it as a PSB (Photoshop Big) which supports 300,000 pixels or 4 Exabytes. Exabytes = 1,024 Petabytes, 1 Petabyte is 1024 Terabytes.
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)
This is similar to a PSD in many ways and supports most of Photoshop’s features (Tiff v6). This is a lossless format, so file sizes can be large. It also supports RGB, CMYK, clipping paths, and alpha channels transparency. The most common use for Tiff is a print file. It’s very common to send a tiff for offset printing.
Quality Loss: None
File Size: Large
Layers: Yes
Transparency: Yes
Animation: No
Uses for: Hi-res delivery, lossless file for print.
JPG (Joint Photographic Expert Group)
Jpg is the most common format for saving photos when you need a smaller file size. When you need to email a photo, upload it to a website of social network, share on mobile etc. Most photos you see online are jpg.
Because they are compressed, they suffer from generational loss. This means if you keep saving a jpg file over and over, it will deteriorate in quality. When you save a jpg, you will see a quality slider. Higher quality looks better, but its also a large file size. Lower quality makes the file smaller, but the quality will be worse.
Quality Loss: Yes
File Size: Small
Layers: No
Transparency: No
Animation: No
Uses for: Uploading, sharing, webpages, social media.
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)
A gif file is also used online. It compresses by reducing the number of colors in an image to 256. It remaps all the colors in the image to it's cLUT (Color Look Up Table). It shifts colors to the closest match. Because of this, you will see posterization of photos. However, line art and solid colors do very well in gif. The main use for gif is small animation files. You have seen animated gifs, be it online, or in emails. Gifs also support basic transparency whereas jpg’s do not.
Quality Loss: Yes
File Size: Small
Layers: No
Transparency: Yes (1-bit)
Animation: Yes
Uses for: Online use, animation, solid color, text and line art.
PNG-8 (Portable Network Graphics)
png (pronounced “ping”) 8 is like gif, but smaller file size and doesn’t support animation. It has the same support of basic transparency as gif. This is either transparent or opaque, no semi transparency. A*o works best for text, line art and solid colors.
Quality Loss: Yes
File Size: Small
Layers: No
Transparency: Yes (1-bit)
Animation: No
Uses for: Online use, solid color, text and line art, basic transparency.
PNG-24 (Portable Network Graphics)
Png 24 is a high quality lossless format and supports 256 level of transparency. This would be a good alternative to jpg, except the files are much larger. It supports lossless compression so there is no loss of quality. This format is more common for software and apps. The high quality transparency also makes it a great format for video, multi media and print.
Quality Loss: No
File Size: Large
Layers: No
Transparency: Yes (8-bit)
Animation: No
Uses for: Excellent transparency, online & video photo, line art, logos.
PDF (Portable Document Format)
This is the most common way of out putting high quality print files that contain photos and text, and is the main output format used by graphic designers. (This replaces EPS).
I hope this information was useful to you. On next post we'll talk about RAW + DNG (Digital Negative).
