From Feathers to Bits

Final compression and using the right format can be as important as taking good photos and scanning them correctly.

The formats
Platform considerations
Macs and pc's - and other types of machines - are readily mixed in today's computer environments. This means that proprietary file formats are no longer useful, because you want to be able to exchange files with other people using other types of computers. Web formats are excellent exchange formats, but unfortunately not well suited for archival purposes. This list covers the most common file formats and comments on their characteristics.

BMP
This format is the native Windows format, but it has no advantages over TIFF apart from support in Windows Paint. It is accurate but compresses poorly and has nothing close to the flexibility of TIFF. Use TIFF for archiving in stead. Useless on the web.

GIF
The most common format for logos and graphics on the web. GIF compresses fairly well and has no quality loss with respect to pixels, but will convert all colors to fall within a range of maximum 256 colors - sometimes even less. GIF can be used for photos using certain techniques, but JPEG is easier to handle. Useful on the web.

JPEG
The most common format for photos on the web. This is an extremely well compressing format, but any compression leads to an unrecoverable loss of quality. Use JPEG only for the finished pictures. Useful on the web.

PICT
This is a Mac format, which suffers from some of the same problems as BMP. It is also used exclusively on Macs, which makes it difficult to exchange pictures with friends and coworkers. Useless on the web.

PSD
Native Photoshop format is a good format for Photoshop users. It maintains all relevant information for that particular program - layers, masks, filters etc., but cannot be read in many other programs. It works equally well on Mac's and pc's and will keep more than adequate quality in stored pictures. Useless on the web.

TIFF
The best format for storing originals and transporting files. TIFF is accurate and compresses well without loss of quality. TIFF can store all types of pictures - simple and complex, B/W and color, photos and logos. TIFF is platform independent and works on both Mac's and pc's. Useless on the web.

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