TIFF question: PC vs. Mac "byte order" [2010]

[JoJo_Jenkins]

When saving an image as a TIFF, in the TIFF options dialgoue box, the user is given the choice of "Mac or PC byte order." If I

choose PC, does that my TIFF file can ONLY be opened on PC's? I've never heard of platform-specific TIFF's before...

Thanks....

[ssprengel]

TIFFs aren't the most standard things in the world, and there are programs that only work with the byte order one way or the other, especially programs that are written for only one platform or the other. I don't have a Mac so cannot confirm if PC-byte-order works on a Mac or not, but I would guess Photoshop should be able to handle both ways, but other programs might not.

[Guest]

ssprengel wrote:

I don't have a Mac so cannot confirm if PC-byte-order works on a Mac or not...

It works fine. The byte order difference is an ancient hangover from older days. I cannot think of an app that cannot handle PC byte order... at least from the past decade.

[ssprengel]

I know of some smaller PC apps that are confused by the Mac byte order.

[Guest]

ssprengel wrote:

I know of some smaller PC apps that are confused by the Mac byte order.

...which is why saving as PC byte order is ideal. Mac is a minority and a Mac app that cannot handle PC byte order is in an even smaller minority. So we (Mac and Windows) are all safest with PC byte order.

[Hudechrome-sd9sPI]

It's called "Taking a byte out of the Apple"!

[Chris Cox]

TIFF is very standard, but some programmers skip reading the specification and write non-conforming TIFF readers.

(and a few standout examples even manage to write non-conforming TIFF files)

The byte order doesn't really matter unless you're dealing with a poorly written program that fails to read one byte order or another.

[Mylenium]

JoJo Jenkins wrote:

When saving an image as a TIFF, in the TIFF options dialgoue box, the user is given the choice of "Mac or PC byte order." If I

choose PC, does that my TIFF file can ONLY be opened on PC's? I've never heard of platform-specific TIFF's before...

Thanks....

Look up Little Endian vs. Big Endian on Google. As Marian said, mostly historical.

Mylenium

[the_wine_snob]

At one time, the Byte Order made a difference. Nowadays, it is less of an issue.

Actually, I have not needed to do a PC/Mac TIFF Save_As in about 15 years. Once, the client got both platform's TIFF's for both RGB and CMYK - just in case. Lot of extra files in those days.

Good luck,

Hunt

[JWMcNeill]

This seems really silly, why isn't photoshop smart enough to default to the pc byte order on a pc and mac on a mac. Why [removed] does it default to a mac on a pc.

John McNeill

[D Fosse · Accepted solution]

It doesn't matter. Both platforms read both.

[jane-e]

---

@JWMcNeill wrote:

This seems really silly, why isn't photoshop smart enough to default to the pc byte order on a pc and mac on a mac. Why [removed] does it default to a mac on a pc.

You replied to a 13-year-old thread. It's a holdover from the days when it used to matter and was a legitimate question in 2010. Some of us remember those days and are glad we have moved on.

A better question today is: can it be set in Preferences or can it be removed altogether?

Jane

[TheDigitalDog]

This seems really silly, why isn't photoshop smart enough to default to the pc byte order on a pc and mac on a mac. Why [removed] does it default to a mac on a pc.

By @JWMcNeill

You replied to a 13-year-old thread. It's a holdover from the days when it used to matter and was a legitimate question in 2010. 

By @jane-e

As former Adobe engineer Chris Cox said in 2010, it doesn't matter.

Why this old thread was resurrected is what seem “really silly”. 

[TheDigitalDog]

http://digitaldog.net/files/TIFFvsPSD.pdf

[Stargeyzer]

You should in most cases use the prechosen default option. Most systems and apps today can handle both, and there is a small risk converting might lead to unwanted  side effect flaws in color or contrast or worse. If you're absolutely 100% sure the target computer, the OS and/or the app is to old to handle one or the other you have to choose the correct one, if not just leave it as it is by the omni-binding law "If it's not broke, don't fix it."

Best of luck!
Stargazer

[D Fosse]

@Stargeyzer 

Again, there is no need to beat this dead horse.

It does not matter in the slightest.

Both platforms read both byte orders equally well. There will certainly not be any "unwanted side effect flaws".