Which Digital Camera File Formats Should I Use?

Last updated: 23 January 2009
Published in: Creating new digital media
Tags: cameras | compression | file formats

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Summary

Our camera offers so many file formats, which one should we use?

Our camera offers so many file formats, which one should we use?

Like most digital cameras, yours presents you with a sometimes-baffling choice of formats. We would normally discourage you from using the JPEG format as it will sacrifice detail in the compression process. The uncompressed TIFF format will produce larger files, which retain all of the original detail. Some cameras also offer their own native or RAW format, this is the pure data as captured on the camera chip without any ‘on board’ processing. The RAW format will normally provide the highest quality file.

So in a nutshell, TIFF, and better still RAW, for high quality capture, if you must use JPEG (but we don’t recommend it) choose the high quality option.

Our camera has been saving images as JPEG (high quality) can I change these to TIFFs?

You can, but you will not retrieve the data sacrificed during the JPEG compression process.

RAW or TIFF?

Because the TIFF file has received in-camera processing it will not retain the exact data as captured by the light sensitive chip. The RAW format is unprocessed and therefore retains all captured data without interpretation. This unprocessed data can then be processed on a PC with far greater control over contrast, sharpness and colour temperature.

Before you use the RAW format ensure that your image optimisation program supports it. Some camera manufacturers supply their own RAW format processors, though sometimes at an additional cost.

If our camera is capturing the maximum amount of detail in the RAW format should we use this format for our master archive?

The RAW file is an unprocessed ‘digital negative’ and requires processing and optimisation prior to delivery. This format is also proprietary and therefore while we would recommend saving all RAW files captured we also suggest that these are converted to a non-proprietary format such as uncompressed TIFF for the optimised master archive.

Should we archive our original un-optimised scans?

We would normally recommend storing the maximum amount of pure captured image data. This is not always practical as these files may be larger than those in the master archive and can add considerably to the amount of space occupied by the collection and its back ups.

Last updated: 23 January 2009
Published in: Creating new digital media
Tags: cameras | compression | file formats

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