Author Topic: For Eternity: Which format to use ?  (Read 3834 times)

Offline cockney rebel

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For Eternity: Which format to use ?
« on: Saturday 30 January 16 08:55 GMT (UK) »
Morning All

I am at last getting the chance to scan the family photos. Time and distance has prevented this up until now, although I have some simple photocopies I made way back in the seventies!

My question is, which format should I use.....tiff? png? jpeg?
I will be scanning at 4800dpi

If I convert from one format to another, for email or to print or whatever, where will there be the least loss of quality? Some are early photos, from the 1850s, with incredible depth and as far as I recall none are in sepia .

This is my last chance I expect to scan these photos....I just want to get it right.
Grateful for your advice

Rebel

Offline 3sillydogs

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Re: For Eternity: Which format to use ?
« Reply #1 on: Saturday 30 January 16 09:06 GMT (UK) »


I usually find I have to convert the file to eithr jpeg or png to be able to post or attach to an email.

Not really technically minded so perhaps someone has better advice, but I do find that those files work
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Offline stevew101

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Re: For Eternity: Which format to use ?
« Reply #2 on: Saturday 30 January 16 09:08 GMT (UK) »
Tiff is the format used by most commercial and professional photograthers.  Tiff files are very large in comparison to JPeg as no compression is used.  It is the best choice for archiving files as no quality is lost.  Having said that Tiff is not supported by most Photo sharing sites.

Converting Jpeg to Tiff - The file will not be compressed and you will not lose quality.

Converting Tiff to Jpeg - The file will be compressed and you will lose quality.

I save my important family history photos in Tiff and Jpeg formats.

That way you have the best quality photo saved in Tiff and also have a file in Jpeg which is easy to share by email etc

Steve
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Offline Guy Etchells

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Re: For Eternity: Which format to use ?
« Reply #3 on: Saturday 30 January 16 09:20 GMT (UK) »
I would suggest TIFF using no compression but if you need to compress the file to reduce file sizes use TIFF with LZW compression

Cheers
Guy

PS
It use to be said that TIFF stands for Thousands of Incompatible File Formats, things are better today but one does have to convert from TIFF for some applications.
For long term storage TIFF is the way to go
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Offline cockney rebel

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Re: For Eternity: Which format to use ?
« Reply #4 on: Saturday 30 January 16 09:58 GMT (UK) »
thankyou for what sound like competent replies!
I think I'll go for tiff and if I get time ,scan again in jpeg.
many thanks for your help
Rebel

Offline sarah

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Re: For Eternity: Which format to use ?
« Reply #5 on: Saturday 30 January 16 10:16 GMT (UK) »
I agree with what the guys have said, all my large files are .tiff files but I then keep a secondary .jpeg file for emailing & internet - I re-size my tiff file to something smaller, save for web and then add the word small to the title so I can easily identify the large and small files  :)

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Offline mike175

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Re: For Eternity: Which format to use ?
« Reply #6 on: Saturday 30 January 16 11:03 GMT (UK) »
I agree, uncompressed TIFF is the way to go. Then make at least two copies on different media and keep these safe, and possibly a third in 'cloud' storage. No need to re-scan as JPEG, it is easy to convert files as needed in a photo editor, but always from a copy, never edit the originals. Don't ask how I know  :'(

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Offline Treetotal

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Re: For Eternity: Which format to use ?
« Reply #7 on: Saturday 30 January 16 11:07 GMT (UK) »
I would agree with Tiff  as that is the most data rich format but create huge files...then I would convert and save copies as .jpeg for sharing then put the Tiff images on a memory stick...otherwise they will take up a lot of memory on your computer.
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Offline mike175

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Re: For Eternity: Which format to use ?
« Reply #8 on: Saturday 30 January 16 11:20 GMT (UK) »
I wouldn't keep my original files on a memory stick, at best they are only suitable for short term use and sharing. See recent threads on the subject!

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