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glennphoto
Participating Frequently
January 12, 2018
Answered

Photoshop Camera RAW v. Bridge Camera RAW

  • January 12, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 2657 views

I have a Nikon D800.

Why when I save a max jpeg from Bridge Camera RAW the file size is around 4MB but if I save the same max jpeg file from Photoshop Camera RAW the file size is around 39MB?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Per Berntsen

    Thank you for your reply.

    So would I have to uncompress the jpeg I saved from Bridge before taking it for printing?


    You don't have to do anything - this happens without any action on your part.

    But if you resave the jpg in Photoshop, it may compress to a different file size.

    Also, editing and resaving a jpg is not recommended, image quality will suffer.

    Assuming that you start out with a raw file, do all the editing you can in Camera Raw, and if furhter editing in Photoshop is needed, do this on a PSD or Tiff, and save a jpg when you're done editing.

    The jpg format uses lossy compression, which means that every time you save a jpg, some information is thrown away. Repeatedly saving a jpg can cause serious quality loss to the image.

    If you have to edit a jpg, do the editing in Camera Raw, or use the Camera Raw filter in Photoshop. This will reduce the quality loss.

    For more information about jpg and other formats, see File formats

    1 reply

    Sahil.Chawla
    Adobe Employee
    Sahil.Chawla
    Adobe Employee
    January 12, 2018

    Hi Glennphoto,

    Please have a look at this article as it might shed some light on the topic: Working With Camera Raw In Adobe Bridge vs Photoshop

    Regards,

    Sahil

    G
    glennphotoAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 13, 2018

    Hi Sahil,

    Thank you for your reply. It was very helpful in explaining the differences between the Photoshop and Bridge versions of Camera RAW but it didn’t explain why there is such a big difference in the saved maximum jpeg file sizes (4 mb in Bridge v. 37 mb in Photoshop), using the same raw file.

    Can you help me with that?

    Or maybe you can suggest where I can look?

    Thanks,

    Glenn.

    G
    glennphotoAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    January 16, 2018

    However, if after editing my RAW file in Bridge RAW, I save it as a max jpeg then that should be the best quality jpeg I can get. correct??

    Yes, max quality (12) is the best you can get.

    Unless you want to resize the image, make sure that Resize to fit is unchecked under Image sizing in the Save dialog.

    Resizing (reducing size) will not affect quality as such, but there will of course be fewer pixels in the image.

    I also have Nikon D800E, and use Lightroom for editing. But I looked at the Save dialog in Camera Raw, and noticed that when Resize is unchecked, it says Default (36.2 MP). I wonder if you are confusing megapixels (MP) with megabytes (MB), because the uncompressed file size of a 36.2 MP jpg will be 103.4 MB. Although it is possible to get a 4 MB max quality jpg from a 36 MP file, the original will have to be be very smooth and/or out of focus. But maybe you had Resize checked, and saved a jpg with reduced pixel dimensions?


    I’m sure My resize is unchecked but not 100% sure.

    I go on vacation tomorrow morning so wouldn’t have time to check it for 2 weeks. I will let you know ASAP.

    Thanks.

    Glenn.

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