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Djuna_A_
Djuna_A_
Known Participant
October 6, 2017
Answered

Preparing files for printer: 8 or 16 bit?

  • October 6, 2017
  • 4 replies
  • 10222 views

Hi there,

Half of my files were shot in JPEG and therefore have low tonal variation in the histogram. The other half in TIFF have high variation. All are converted to PSDs for the printer.

For the best quality, should I send the first half out as dithered 8 bits and the second as 16 bits?

Thanks!

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer D Fosse

    There's no reason to send out 16 bit files, they'll get converted to 8 anyway. However, there's very good reason to work in 16 bits.

    If you receive jpegs that you need to do further work on, save them as PSD or TIFF immediately. A jpeg deteriorates with every resave.

    Don't send out PSD. Keep master PSDs and prepare copies for print. These can be jpegs for convenience, but if quality requirements are high, send TIFF, which is widely supported on all platforms.

    4 replies

    Martin_Bns
    Martin_Bns
    Inspiring
    October 6, 2017

    In 2017 a lot of services print directly in jpg. It really depends what are going to print and on which kind of printer.

    Of course, never send psd files to print. Usually send Tiff, jpg or pdf.

    From my experience most of print service ask for a high quality jpg file instead of a tiff file, because of the file size and their ability to print great images also from a jpg file. Said that, tiff is a format with better quality but can be really (really) large size.

    Regards,
    Martin

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 6, 2017

    Any file can be modified, there's no way to "lock down". But with a PSD or TIFF you can do that without inflicting too much damage to the data, especially in 16 bit color depth.

    So if you know things will be done downstream, and you're OK with that, 16 bit PSD is probably the best choice.

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    October 6, 2017

    There's no reason to send out 16 bit files, they'll get converted to 8 anyway. However, there's very good reason to work in 16 bits.

    If you receive jpegs that you need to do further work on, save them as PSD or TIFF immediately. A jpeg deteriorates with every resave.

    Don't send out PSD. Keep master PSDs and prepare copies for print. These can be jpegs for convenience, but if quality requirements are high, send TIFF, which is widely supported on all platforms.

    Djuna_A_
    Djuna_A_Author
    Known Participant
    October 6, 2017

    Okay, yes, I did work mostly in 16. So now I should convert to 8, or just leave them all as they are? The publisher has requested PSDs. And, yes, I did save all JPEGS as TIFF immediately... check check check.

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    D FosseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 6, 2017

    https://forums.adobe.com/people/Djuna+A.  wrote

    The publisher has requested PSDs.

    OK, that's an odd request indeed. It suggests they're going to modify them further - that's the only plausible reason. If you're comfortable with that, just give them what they want (personally I wouldn't - I'd ask them why).

    Djuna_A_
    Djuna_A_Author
    Known Participant
    October 6, 2017

    Correction: some of the pictures have gaps in tonal variation; some do not. The ones shot in JPEGs tend to have no shadows.

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