At what file size/format/resolution do you STORE your images?

Hi

Always store your Raw files - as others have said conversions get better as time moves on and Raw convertors improve. Raw files are usually 12 bit or 14 bit so even without taking into account jpeg compression, using the 8 bits of jpeg you throw away a lot of information.

For images where I have done some pixel editing, I store a 16 bit PSD copy with layers but without a resolution change (up or down) and without final sharpening. That way I can scale up or down in the future then sharpen for output, whatever that might be.

Dave

I do not save the CR2 files. I usually edit them than save jpg:s with the least amount of quality loss i can

Whoa. Stop right there...

Never delete raw files (aside from out-of-focus and other unusable mistakes). A big chunk of data is lost in the conversion into a rendered RGB file, which can never be recovered later. A raw file is the full set of data recorded by the sensor at exposure time, no less. It's your negative, from which you produce copies as needed.

Never use jpeg as your working/archive format. Use PSD or TIFF. Jpeg is a highly compressed, lossy and destructive file format, and information is irretrievably lost every time you resave the file. The destruction is cumulative and with time the file turns to mush. The purpose of jpeg is as a one-off final delivery format, to save bandwidth where that's a consideration.

Always archive files at maximum resolution. Save out copies at lower resolution as appropriate. 8500 x 11500 is a big file, but there's nothing "crazy" about it. You never know what you need in the future.

I recommend you store the RAW files and save the layered images at full resolution as psd (or if necessary psb).

jpg employs lossy compression, so even if you do not want to save the layers saving tif with a non-lossy compression like LZW or ZIP would seem preferable.

In what scenarios could you want it to be more than that?

An image’s resolution is barely meaningful in itself from a prepress perspective, its effective resolution is what counts – photographers often can have no idea what part of an image the graphic designers/customers will ultimately use and at what sizes, so shooting images at higher resolution can have a pay off in the long run.

And if one prepares files for large format prints one may create them at a scale of 1:10 for example and depending on the process the images should have a resolution of considerably higher than 300ppi at that scale.