To start out, you’ll learn how to save your image in various file formats and explore the characteristics and best uses for all the standard print formats. Which format you choose can make a big difference in how compatible your images are for various types of output, and your final image quality. In many circumstances, you will ultimately print your final Photoshop file through another application—a page layout program such as InDesign or QuarkXPress, or a distribute-andprint application such as Acrobat. In these cases, when you are not printing from Photoshop, you will want to save your Photoshop image in a file format that is best suited or optimized for that purpose. And if you are printing to a high-resolution color-separation-oriented PostScript device, you will want to choose your file format carefully.
There are more than 400 graphic file formats from which to choose, each with its own acronym:
TIFF, EPS, DCS, PDF, PSD, JPEG, WMF, BMP, SWF, PNG, and more. This alphabet soup can be a bit daunting to say the least. Here is a helpful way to think about file formats: file formats are simply containers into which we place and store graphic file contents. There are only two types of graphic file contents: pixels and vectors. In Photoshop we most commonly work with pixels, but we can add in a vector now and then when want to have a nice hard edge. File formats are the containers in which we keep these pixels and vectors. File formats are created for various uses, some specific and some more general. For instance, Shockwave format is used for animation to be played in Flash-based media. There are also some specific content-to-use file format matches; for example, vector-only content (such as an Illustrator vector logo image) to be printed in a PostScript environment should always be saved in an EPS file format container.
Most of the 400 formats do not print worth a hoot in a PostScript-based printing environment. After you have created your Photoshop images, you will want to save your image in a file format that is compatible and useful for printing. In the early days of PostScript printing, only two file formats were acceptable—TIFF and EPS—and except for the simplest of files, EPS was often the preferred file format. Photoshop native format files (PSD) could not even be recognized by or placed in a page layout document page, never mind printed. Today there are a greater number of acceptable file formats and a more complex decision-making process for selecting the most appropriate one for output.
In Photoshop we have four graphic file format containers that are made with PostScript printing in mind: TIFF, EPS, PDF, and PSD. The first three are the most optimized for PostScript printing. The file formats you can use in commercial printing are TIFF, EPS, DCS, PDF, and PSD. Which of these file formats you choose will depend on your editing needs and workflow, and on your color separation requirements. Later in this section you will find an in-depth look at each of these formats and have a chance to practice creating each one. You will notice that many common graphic file formats are not included in this list—file formats such as JPEG, WMF, BMP, SWF, and PNG. These and many other graphic file formats are not Post- Script print-oriented file formats. They have not been optimized, or even intended for use, in PostScript printing or PDF workflow and printing. PostScript and PDF workflows and printing employ the use of RIPs (Raster Image Processors), which are optimized to receive and process into printable images certain types of file formats.
If used in a PostScript/PDF printing environment, these graphic file formats may not print at all or may yield low-quality or unpredictable results. The JPEG format is so common that I will cover it later in this chapter. Even though I don’t recommend its use, you will inevitably encounter it and should know how to handle it.
TIFF --> Tagged Image File Format --> RGB and CMYK colors. Can contain layers, channels, and so forth, but best used for flattened simplified images. Simple open file format, good for cross-platform applications as well as printing.
Although lossless compression saves some file size, best/simplest output practice does not recommended compression for printing. Note: CMYK color space versions recommend for most commercial print applications. RGB version should only be used if client and printer agree that RGB to CMYK conversion will be accomplished by the printer and/or at the RIP.
EPS --> Encapsulated PostScript --> RGB, CMYK , and multitonal colors. Use for duotones and sometimes when images contain clipping paths. Not good for images with editable type and other layers, because all type is rasterized when opened. Lossless and lossy compression options. Again compression, and especially lossy compression, is not recommended for best practice high-quality printing. Note: See color space note under TIFF above.
DCS 2.0 --> Desktop Color Separations --> Used for separating five or more colors from Photoshop.
DCS 1.0 will preseparate only four colors, usually CMYK. Again lossless and lossy compression options are not recommended for best-practice high-quality printing.
PDF --> Portable Document Format --> RGB and CMYK colors. Can be used much like a TIFF, but with many more options for compression and downsampling. This is a good format to use to exchange images cross-platform with others who might not have (or know how to use) Photoshop or another image-editing program. Note: See color space note under TIFF above.
PSD --> Photoshop Document --> RGB and CMYK colors plus layers, masks, editable type, vectors, and alpha channels. Used to maintain editability through page layout. No compression options—none needed or wanted! Can be used for output, and especially in a PDF workflow, to maintain layers, transparency and editability further into the workflow. But doing so also increases the complexity of the images and the opportunity for complications during output. Note: I recommend consulting your printing company prior to submitting .psd images to discuss options, and also sending in test files.
JPEG --> Joint Photographic Experts Group --> RGB and CMYK colors. Always applies lossy compression. Not recommended for highest-quality printing. If used, use only at the highest-quality settings.
There are more than 400 graphic file formats from which to choose, each with its own acronym:
TIFF, EPS, DCS, PDF, PSD, JPEG, WMF, BMP, SWF, PNG, and more. This alphabet soup can be a bit daunting to say the least. Here is a helpful way to think about file formats: file formats are simply containers into which we place and store graphic file contents. There are only two types of graphic file contents: pixels and vectors. In Photoshop we most commonly work with pixels, but we can add in a vector now and then when want to have a nice hard edge. File formats are the containers in which we keep these pixels and vectors. File formats are created for various uses, some specific and some more general. For instance, Shockwave format is used for animation to be played in Flash-based media. There are also some specific content-to-use file format matches; for example, vector-only content (such as an Illustrator vector logo image) to be printed in a PostScript environment should always be saved in an EPS file format container.
Most of the 400 formats do not print worth a hoot in a PostScript-based printing environment. After you have created your Photoshop images, you will want to save your image in a file format that is compatible and useful for printing. In the early days of PostScript printing, only two file formats were acceptable—TIFF and EPS—and except for the simplest of files, EPS was often the preferred file format. Photoshop native format files (PSD) could not even be recognized by or placed in a page layout document page, never mind printed. Today there are a greater number of acceptable file formats and a more complex decision-making process for selecting the most appropriate one for output.
In Photoshop we have four graphic file format containers that are made with PostScript printing in mind: TIFF, EPS, PDF, and PSD. The first three are the most optimized for PostScript printing. The file formats you can use in commercial printing are TIFF, EPS, DCS, PDF, and PSD. Which of these file formats you choose will depend on your editing needs and workflow, and on your color separation requirements. Later in this section you will find an in-depth look at each of these formats and have a chance to practice creating each one. You will notice that many common graphic file formats are not included in this list—file formats such as JPEG, WMF, BMP, SWF, and PNG. These and many other graphic file formats are not Post- Script print-oriented file formats. They have not been optimized, or even intended for use, in PostScript printing or PDF workflow and printing. PostScript and PDF workflows and printing employ the use of RIPs (Raster Image Processors), which are optimized to receive and process into printable images certain types of file formats.
If used in a PostScript/PDF printing environment, these graphic file formats may not print at all or may yield low-quality or unpredictable results. The JPEG format is so common that I will cover it later in this chapter. Even though I don’t recommend its use, you will inevitably encounter it and should know how to handle it.
TIFF --> Tagged Image File Format --> RGB and CMYK colors. Can contain layers, channels, and so forth, but best used for flattened simplified images. Simple open file format, good for cross-platform applications as well as printing.
Although lossless compression saves some file size, best/simplest output practice does not recommended compression for printing. Note: CMYK color space versions recommend for most commercial print applications. RGB version should only be used if client and printer agree that RGB to CMYK conversion will be accomplished by the printer and/or at the RIP.
EPS --> Encapsulated PostScript --> RGB, CMYK , and multitonal colors. Use for duotones and sometimes when images contain clipping paths. Not good for images with editable type and other layers, because all type is rasterized when opened. Lossless and lossy compression options. Again compression, and especially lossy compression, is not recommended for best practice high-quality printing. Note: See color space note under TIFF above.
DCS 2.0 --> Desktop Color Separations --> Used for separating five or more colors from Photoshop.
DCS 1.0 will preseparate only four colors, usually CMYK. Again lossless and lossy compression options are not recommended for best-practice high-quality printing.
PDF --> Portable Document Format --> RGB and CMYK colors. Can be used much like a TIFF, but with many more options for compression and downsampling. This is a good format to use to exchange images cross-platform with others who might not have (or know how to use) Photoshop or another image-editing program. Note: See color space note under TIFF above.
PSD --> Photoshop Document --> RGB and CMYK colors plus layers, masks, editable type, vectors, and alpha channels. Used to maintain editability through page layout. No compression options—none needed or wanted! Can be used for output, and especially in a PDF workflow, to maintain layers, transparency and editability further into the workflow. But doing so also increases the complexity of the images and the opportunity for complications during output. Note: I recommend consulting your printing company prior to submitting .psd images to discuss options, and also sending in test files.
JPEG --> Joint Photographic Experts Group --> RGB and CMYK colors. Always applies lossy compression. Not recommended for highest-quality printing. If used, use only at the highest-quality settings.
Choosing File Formats in Photoshop
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