Who prints TIFF files and where?

[ooooops0]

HI,
I have a Canon 60D and I shoot in RAW, work/save as TIFF (Photoshop 5) and high res JPEG. But I notice a lot of places only accept JPEG for printing. The issue I have is my TIFFS are approx 50mb but the high res JPEGS only approx 8mb. I would like to print some fairly large images at times (30 x 20) if possible.

To confuse matter I see if I shoot in RAW and large JPEG from the camera, the JPEGS come out at approx 16mb? (double the re-worked saved JPEGS?) So what are my options for best printing?
I have zoomed in on both the TIFF and high res JPEG and look similar to my eye, but if I use an online printing company I get a warning on the image quality if using the 8mb JPEGS (for big prints) as they don't accept TIFF.

any advice and help options appreciated.

thanks
jas

[ricktas]

Depends how big you go, In the end a JPG that is 2000 pixels wide and a TIFF that is 2000 pixels wide will both degrade print quality if you try and print to big. It is not about the file format, but about the number of pixels and the size you are trying to print it.

[I @ M]

It doesn't matter a great deal whether you print from the TIFF file or the JPEG file, as Rick said it is the sum of the pixels that matters.
Your camera has 18 megapickles and that should ensure that print quality is acceptable at 20 x 30 inches. I have regularly printed that size from both 10 and 12 megapickle bodies.

The one thing that you do need to consider though is, have you cropped the image at all?
If you have and it is a substantial crop the quality will suffer enormously!

[ooooops0]

thanks for info.
I rarely crop and do minimal photoshop in most cases.
Is there a way to check the DPI on an image? as I see the printers refer to 300DPI?
I have ordered a 'test print' at poster size using the 8mb JPEG, so I guess Ill see next week when ready!

[ricktas]

thanks for info.
I rarely crop and do minimal photoshop in most cases.
Is there a way to check the DPI on an image? as I see the printers refer to 300DPI?
I have ordered a 'test print' at poster size using the 8mb JPEG, so I guess Ill see next week when ready!

No such thing as the DPI of an image, DPI is a printer term that says how many Drops Per Inch a printer is capable of, it relates in no way to the pixels in a photo. Basically the higher the DPI of a printer the more micro-droplets of ink it can lay down on a given area. So when you see the printer stating 300DPI, that is about the quality of their printer only.

[ameerat42]

HI,
I have a Canon 60D and I shoot in RAW, work/save as TIFF (Photoshop 5) and high res JPEG. But I notice a lot of places only accept JPEG for printing. The issue I have is my TIFFS are approx 50mb but the high res JPEGS only approx 8mb. I would like to print some fairly large images at times (30 x 20) if possible.

To confuse matter I see if I shoot in RAW and large JPEG from the camera, the JPEGS come out at approx 16mb? (double the re-worked saved JPEGS?) So what are my options for best printing?
I have zoomed in on both the TIFF and high res JPEG and look similar to my eye, but if I use an online printing company I get a warning on the image quality if using the 8mb JPEGS (for big prints) as they don't accept TIFF.

any advice and help options appreciated.

thanks
jas

Jas. There are a couple of underlying Qs here, so I will try to address them before trying for an overall answer. So, bit-by-bit:

"...I shoot in RAW, work/save as TIFF (Photoshop 5) and high res JPEG...."
I suppose you use (?16-bit) tiffs to maintain as much info as possible from your raw files, until you are satisfied with tone and colour then save as jpegs.

"...But I notice a lot of places only accept JPEG for printing...."
Such places would still expect the jpegs to be if highest possible quality, AND, jpegs can save ALL USEFUL information in a raw file, AND (I suspect) that
such places would hold that any "extra" info from larger files would be redundant info only and not worth the conversion to suit their processes, other reasons notwithstanding.

"...The issue I have is my TIFFS are approx 50mb but the high res JPEGS only approx 8mb...."
Firstly, what exactly is your issue? It is not specified.
Secondly, is the 8MB jpeg size the result of saving the tiff at MAX jpeg quality?
Thirdly, even the 50MB tiffs would probably contain redundant info from the original raw files (esp if the tiffs are 16-bit and the raws 14-bit).

"...I would like to print some fairly large images at times (30 x 20) if possible...."
From your camera (and most modern cameras of the ilk) this would be quite possible.

"...I shoot in RAW and large JPEG from the camera, the JPEGS come out at approx 16mb? (double the re-worked saved JPEGS?) ..."
Refer to a point above: are you saving the re-worked jpegs at MAX quality? I usually have the opposite result: reworked jpegs often double the size of the in-cam jpegs.
Also, does your camera output the jpegs at maximum quality? (I would tend to keep it that way.)

"...So what are my options for best printing?
I have zoomed in on both the TIFF and high res JPEG and look similar to my eye..."
This is a key observation. It's saying to you: "How much info do I really need?" I would say it is your best option
for printing. A fairly good guide is to make your file-to-be-printed the same size on the Photoshop canvas as you want for the print.
Do this by changing your image size in Photoshop WITHOUT re-sampling the image. Just put in the required size and let it do the job.
Go back to the edit window and click the "Print size" option. Have a good look at it. You can also do a "Soft Proof" in PS to give you
an idea of tones and colours.

"...if I use an online printing company I get a warning on the image quality if using the 8mb JPEGS ..."
If the company prints to your desired size they're telling you this size file will do.

Other than that, there should coys about that would accept tiffs, but they'd have their own conditions you'd have to meet.

Am.

[ooooops0]

wow lots of info and all Handy.
I was assuming that a higher MB TIFF would result in better printed images than the 8MB JPEG. I will experiment some more with prints and let you all know how they look once done.

thanks again for info, as it set my mind at ease as I was thinking I'd have to print from the TIFF for larger images.

[ameerat42]

...
I was assuming that a higher MB TIFF would result in better printed images than the 8MB JPEG. I will experiment some more with prints and let you all know how they look once done.
...

You are on the right track, Jas. Looking 4wd to your findings.
Am.

[JM Tran]

You wont find any if much of a difference printing the same TIFF file to a highest quality jpeg even at 30x20 inch.

[Speedway]

The online printer I use has printed good quality 12X18 (the largest they do) prints from a 2mb file, they ask you to keep your files under 3mb for the most efficient work-flow. They only print JPEG SRGB files and set the max size at 5mb.
Cheers
Keith.