Skip to main content

Difference between image formats (JPEG, TIFF and RAW)


JPEG, TIFF and RAW are image file formats that nearly all DSLR cameras can use. Beginning cameras typically only offered JPEG file formats, but now most of the DSLRs can shoot in JPEG and RAW simultaneously. And only some high end DSLRs offer the TIFF format as it’s the best among all three and most of the professionals prefer this. Continue reading to learn more about each type of photo file format.

JPEG
JPEG is the standard image format in digital cameras, especially inexpensive point and shoot cameras. JPEG uses compression format to remove some pixels that the compression algorithm deems unimportant, thereby saving some storage space. The compression will take place in areas of the photo where the colors of the pixels repeat, such as in a photo that shows a lot of blue sky. The software inside the camera will compute the compression level at the time the camera saves the photo, so the reduced storage space occurs immediately, saving space on the memory card.
Most photographers take photos in JPEG format as it is the standard format and every DSLR supports this format and you can use JPEG files anywhere like website, social media and even for printing. JPEG is also good for post production process as long as your main focus is not color correction as the final result of color correction in JPEG is not as good as TIFF and RAW.

TIFF
TIFF is a compression format that does not lose any information about the photo's data. TIFF stands for Tagged Image File Format, TIFF files are much larger in data size than JPEG or RAW files. TIFF is a more common format in graphics publishing and printing industry, usually photographers don’t shoot in TIFF unless the project where a TIFF file format is required. Very few cameras have the ability to shoot in TIFF. TIFF is not a good choice if you want to post the photos on your website or anywhere on the social media this is also the reason why photographers don’t usually shoot in TIFF.

RAW
RAW is close to film-quality, requiring a lot of storage space. As the name suggests RAW means unprocessed therefore the digital camera does not compress or process a RAW file in any way. Some people refer to RAW format as a "digital negative" because it doesn't change anything about the file when storing it. The RAW format may be called something else, such as NEF or DNG depending on your camera manufacturer. All of these formats are very similar, even though they use different image formats.
Few beginner-level cameras allow RAW format file storage. Some professional and advanced level photographers like RAW because they can perform their own editing on the digital photograph without having to worry about what elements of the photo the compression program will remove, such as with JPEG. RAW is best for post production process and it is preferred by most of professionals as editing is one of the main part of photography to get the final result as you want and specially it is preferred by glamour photographers and digital artists.
One disadvantage of shooting in RAW is the large amount of storage space required, which will fill your memory card quickly. Another issue you may encounter with RAW is that you cannot open it with certain types of image editing or viewing software. And it is also not best for social media as most of the social media platform does not support RAW files.


Which is best for you?
Unless you're a professional photographer who is going to make huge prints, a high-quality JPEG setting is probably going to meet your needs for photo data. TIFF and RAW are senseless for many photographers unless you have a specific reason for shooting in TIFF or RAW, such as the need for precise image editing or you need to make huge prints.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What is Beauty Retouching?

Beauty Retouching is not anything new, photographers have been using it for years to get the perfect picture. People who don't know what is Beauty Retouching must be thinking what is it and how does it work? Well you are in the right place as in this blog I'm going to tell you everything you need to know about Beauty Retouching . Beauty Retouching  goes a step beyond normal editing/adjustment. This is where, in a portrait we can smooth the skin, reduce or eliminate lines and wrinkles and remove black spots on face and even remove some stray hairs. Most of the retouchers use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop as Adobe is the Gold Standard. Beauty Retouching is very common as we all know that no one is flawless and picture perfect so for models to look picture perfect, it is used as a tool to get the perfect look for the photo project. With the Beauty Retouching it is impossible to tell if the photo has been retouched or not, it looks very natural. It's totally no...

What Is Digital Photo Restoration and How Does It Work

Digital photograph restoration is the process of restoring the appearance of a digital copy of a physical photograph which has been damaged because of environmental causes or simply affected by age or neglect or any other reason. Digital photograph restoration uses a variety of image editing techniques to remove visible damage and aging effects from digital copies of physical photographs. At Uretouch we use professional software to repair the appearance of the digital images and add to the digital copy of the photo where pieces of the physical photograph are torn or missing. Evidence of dirt, scratches, and other signs of photographic age are removed from the digital image manually. Unwanted color casts are removed and the image's contrast or sharpening may be altered in an attempt to restore some of the contrast range or detail that is believed to be in the original physical image. In addition image processing techniques such as image enhancement and image restoration are a...

Portrait Photography: 5 Tips to begin with

If you are looking to sharpen your portrait photography skills, this blog post is for you. As a Photographer you already know the basics of portrait photography but that isn’t enough for stunning Portraits.   As per Wikipedia, Portrait photography or portraiture in photography is a photograph of a person or group of people that captures the personality of the subject by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses.  If you want to capture the true personality and emotion of your subject, you need to plan the scenario in which you can express them with your portraits. So here are 7 tips that will help you improve your Portrait photography skills: Frame of the portrait Play with lights Use of Props Take candid shots Planned timing and location   1. Frame of the Portrait: Having your subject in the middle of the frame with a good background makes a stunning portrait but you should try more angles to discover which is the best suited frame for your portrait. You should...