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psd or tiff

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
July 26, 2018
4 replies
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Until I returned to Adobe last week I had been using other workflow tools and pixel editors, mostly Dxo's PhotoLab and Serif's Affinity Photo. PhotoLab did not handle psd files so I had gotten into the habit of working with and transferring tiff files but, upon my return to Adobe LR, of course, defaulted to psd files. Of course I can work with either but I was wondering if there was any advantage to using psd files rather than tiffs.

Psd files appear to be a bit smaller than tiffs, but there is not much of a difference. Again, if I want to use smart objects in PS I probably need to be using psd files, but other than that is there any inherent advantage to using psd over tiff? I don't object to psd, but was only wondering.

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Correct answer Terri Stevens

A lot of experts will say if you are saving a file with a single layer then use Tiff as the file size will always be smaller and Psd if your image contains a more complex structure. When it comes to RGB colorspace it's best to choose the colorspace that supports the greatest number of colors even though your monitor might not display them all. Adobe RGB (1998) is usually fine, personally I use ProPhoto RGB even though my monitor only covers 98% of the Adobe RGB colorspace. It's a personal choice but as I use mostly RAW images and good cameras can capture more than the gamut of Adobe RGB it seems appropriate to use ProPhoto-you don't see much benefit on screen though as no monitor yet invented is ProPhoto compliant. The snag is unless you just use color managed apps you need to convert to sRGB to view images outside of Photoshop-that's also technically true of Adobe RGB but it also depends how good your monitor is.

Terri

ScooterD76

Legend

PSD, for editability.

Back in the day we HAD to flatten our work and save as a TIFF file to use it elsewhere.

M

MikeFromMesaAuthor

Known Participant

Thank you to all. There is a lot of very good information in this thread, most of it stuff I did not know.

What I assume is the "take away" from this is that psd is preferred for use in Adobe apps, and to preserve layer information but, other than that, tiff is fine. Of course I use psd when working with LR and PS, and would use it if I wanted to preserve any complex adjustment work. My work with tiff was prompted by older versions of my previous workflow tools, mostly Optics Pro, which did not support psd.

I rarely print images so I have not paid enough attention to color space. My family just views images either on computers or on our TV, but I guess I should change to something with a wider gamut.

rob day

Community Expert

I rarely print images so I have not paid enough attention to color space. My family just views images either on computers or on our TV, but I guess I should change to something with a wider gamut.

For screen only uses sRGB would be less of a problem. The limited sRGB gamut would only be an issue when you make a conversion for print and you want to capture the print device's full color capabilities.

J

jdanek

Inspiring

I work mainly with print files and use .psd's whenever I need transparency. Otherwise, .tiff files ( tagged image file format ) are used. In the past, I used .eps files with clipping masks applied. However, customers would complain about proofs looking pixelated ( they were due to the preview file ). Many times it depends on what you intend to do with the file(s) and what your workflow calls for.

Derek Cross

Community Expert

Terri is a brilliant and knowledgeable commentator and we normally agree with one-another, but In my view ProPhoto RGB is for experts!

By the way, EPS is an obsolete format.

Terri Stevens

Legend

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Derek+Cross wrote
Terri is a brilliant and knowledgeable commentator and we normally agree with one-another, but In my view ProPhoto RGB is for experts!
By the way, EPS is an obsolete format.

Wow Derek nobody has ever called me brilliant before-I think the heat we are having in England is going to your head Seriously though ProPhoto is no more difficult to use than sRGB really, but does take a little getting used too I must admit.

Derek Cross

Community Expert

I meant to add working in PSD format gives you flexibility – for example I mentioned using an image on a website, you might want to produce a low res version in PNG format for this purpose.

Derek Cross

Community Expert

It's generally better to work and save your bitmap images in PSD format, though if you want to distribute the image(s) to others for use in, for example, Office apps, for websites, or for a print bureau etc, then, personally I'd save them as uncompressed JPGs (compressed for websites of course). But always keep your original layered PSD file in case you need to do further changes to it. If you are going to place your images into InDesign documents keep them as PSD.

(Always work in RGB color mode.)

M

MikeFromMesaAuthor

Known Participant

> It's generally better to work and save your bitmap images in PSD format

OK, but why? Just for convenience? Or is psd an inherently better format? And, if so, why?

I am not trying to be difficult. I am only trying to understand why psd is better than tiff. I am perfectly prepared to believe that, but I am curious as to why.

> Always work in RGB color mode.

There are a number of RBG modes - RGB, sRGB, AdobeRGB, etc.

Which is best?

Derek Cross

Community Expert

Those you mentioned are color spaces, I'd recommend sRGB unless you know what you're doing with color management (there are lots of different views on this matter!).

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