JPEG is the most widely used format mechanism for saving photographs, as the file sizes are quite manageable, and of a fair quality. JPEGS are particularly good at digital imaging, but less so for lettering or fonts.
PNG, or Portable Network Graphics are more useful for line art or text-heavy images with fewer colours.
RAW, or CR (camera raw) are unprocessed images, similar to the original image taken by the camera. They are not ready to be printed in this format or uploaded to the internet. RAW is particularly useful for use in high quality editing software e.g. photoshop, where it is possible to make detailed colour or technical adjustments like "content aware". These can then be saved as a simpler file like JPEG.
Celluloid film
This is film from conventional (non digital) cameras, which must be processed in a laboratory. Until about 2005 this type of storage was most widely used among professional photographers but since then digital quality has improved vastly. Despite the quality of digital imagery overtaking that of celluloid, some photographers still find the texture achieved by celluloid film magical.
JPEG IMAGE
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PNG IMAGE
Above is exactly the same picture, saved as a JPEG and a PNG image. The JPEG seems to have a superior level of quality to the PNG, particularly visible if you look carefully at the leaf on the bottom left of the pink camellia flower.RAW
RAW images are completely unprocessed, they are comprised solely of the data from the camera. They can be processed later into JPEG or PNG files, but in their original form, they are much easier to edit on programmes like photoshop, as photo manipulation is more accessible from the beginning. Below, are some examples of this easy manipulation, (the original image in the middle). From the beginning, there is a very large number of settings that can be adjusted, (such as "temperature", see below).
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After talking to some professional printers in Great Portland Street, Call Print, I learned that the best way to save an image without losing any colour saturation is to save it as a PDF file. This way, a higher level of picture quality can be achieved through more vibrant prints.
Evaluation
What Went Well:
- I now understand the different ways to save an image an which is more appropriate for a given situation
- I experienced the huge advantages of using the RAW setting to upload unprocessed pictures to photoshop for editing
Improvements
- I should have asked for tips from professional photographers for tips on how to save pictures to maintain the highest possible overall quality
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