/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/when-i-view-files-on-the-desktop-my-tiff-files-look-different-to-my-jpegs/td-p/10121667Oct 13, 2018
Oct 13, 2018
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I've noticed other forums discussing with terminology like gamuts, but I'm fairly new to photoshop so please explain to me like you're explaining to a child, if you can.
I made a picture (I coloured it in CMYK because I only ever intended to use this project for print) and then saved some JPEG versions as tests, before saving the final product as a TIFF file. When observing them on the desktop however, whereas the JPEG files seemed largely unchanged the TIFF files seem somewhat greyed. Even the black tones, which I assumed would go unaffected.
I haven't got a proper printer available at the moment to test out if the final product will look normal in print, so in the meantime does anyone know if this is something I could fix?
what software is reading the tiff file from your desktop?
I would first assume that software is not set up to read Tiff correct... in most senarios a Psd file is the better thing to save a Photoshop as because Tiff is an uncommon file type made for reading raw images
Psd is fast becoming a standard in its own right and there are a few (free) options if you need to send it to someone without Adobe... there is even a way to use your Adobe id to send it to someone without an Adobe sub
back in the film days a photographer would always keep the raw negative that came with the camera and just makes prints from it... we don't use film anymore but the term raw stuck and a raw image is a special kind of digital file which resists editing, when you open a raw image in Lightroom for custom edits its sends a tiff copy of the file to Photoshop i.e, the raw image is not edited but copied and a seperate file is attached with whatever edits so the orginal can always be recovered
I did keep the original Photoshop PSD files, and whenever I boot them up again the colours do look normal. I was moved to use TIFF because it was adaptable, and could be read by computers that didn't have Photoshop built in.
/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/when-i-view-files-on-the-desktop-my-tiff-files-look-different-to-my-jpegs/m-p/10121673#M200575Oct 14, 2018
Oct 14, 2018
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I suspect the complicating factor here is CMYK. Very few standard image viewers can handle CMYK correctly.
Thomas, unless this is going to an offset press, don't use CMYK. Inkjet printers are RGB devices that expect RGB data, and you should work in RGB throughout.
CMYK is strictly for offset print and has its own set of special requirements that you need to know and consider.
To add to D Fosse's excellent reply, alway work in RGB Colour Mode (the choice of RGB Colour Space is yours). Never convert to CMYK (unless there is a very specialised requirement). For commercial printing, such as when you place a PSD file in to InDesign, you normally would select PDF/X-4 for the output, which will do then correct conversion to CMYK to supply the printer.
For printing by a Bureau from your PSD file, follow their particular spec – they will often ask for the image(s) to be in JPG format in sRGB.
For printing to your desk-top inkjet CMYK and CMYK Plus printer, print from RGB and allow the printer's software to undertake to conversion.
Thank you for your answer, I just want to clarify a few things. I'm still very new to a lot of this terminology.
Are you saying that if I wanted to print something for, say, a T-Shirt, I should always process the PSD through InDesign? (I also don't know what you mean about selecting the output).
One problem for me though is that the project I'm currently working on is being sent off to someone else, who in turn will send it elsewhere again to get printed, so I have little clue what kind of setup would be preferable for the printers. Is there a generally safe option for this kind of circumstance?
Regarding your last question, the safe option is to ask the printer what they want. If that's not possible send them a JPG (with very little compression - say 10). and also a PDF and the native PSD file and they can choose which one they want. You can see how it might look in CMYK by soft proofing in Photoshop.
By the way – are you sure the T-shirt is to be printed in CMYK – it might be printed with spot colours.
If there's a plus side, colour proofing between CMYK and RGB didn't show any obvious changes. So there's that.
The guy I'd sent it to seemed indecisive himself on what kind of printing method it'd be. The problem is that, with this little set of projects I'm doing, doing little imagery for folks around town, a lot of them put a lot of faith in me, so if it helps I suppose I'll go with your suggestion and send JPGs, PDFs and PSDs (would TIFFs have no value?). I guess that way, they in turn can send all three to their printers to decide which one would be best?
I was also under the assumption that JPGs were not recommended for this sort of thing, considering how much they downscale the file.
The fact that I wasn't sure was one reason I needed to save it in a file that would maintain different layers, so a blank background would come through as well, and I was under the impression that I could only trust TIFF files to do that.
The layered PSD will do that, assuming you haven't flattened the image (by the way never flatten your original image, in case you have to go back and make further corrections).
But send them a TIFF is you like and why not a PNG whilst you're about it!
Oh I don't flatten the original image, don'y worry.
And I'm not sure if I already asked this but, can PSD files be transferred to computers that don't have photoshop? Will they be able to do anything with them or would they just appear as a flattened image? Or even a blank?
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