File formats

CMYK vs. RGB, JPEG vs TIFF, PDF vs. IDDBy Bradley [email protected]©2013

mailto:[email protected]




Color modes

• CMYK – cyan, magenta, yellow and black• Used in the printing process• For reflected light• A subtractive process

• RGB – red, green and blue• Used when the output is a monitor (TV, computer screen, etc.)• For transmitted light• An additive process

• Hexadecimal – red, green and blue• Simply a re-numeration of the RGB model• #ffffff = white, #ff0000 = red, #00ff00 = green, etc

Photo file formats

• JPEG

• TIFF

•EPS

•GIF

•PSD

•Raw

Photo file formats

• JPEG — Joint Photographic Experts Group

• TIFF — Tagged Image File Format

•EPS — Encapsulated PostScript

•GIF — Graphic Interchange Format

•PSD — Photoshop Document, the native format for Photoshop

•Raw — raw, uncompressed data (not an acronym)

Other file formats

• IDD — Adobe InDesign native format

•PDF — (Adobe) Portable Document Format

JPEG vs. Raw

http://www.photo.net/learn/raw/



JPEG vs. Raw

• JPEG is faster

• JPEG files are smaller

• JPEG is a compression scheme (so is TIFF)

•Raw files require post-exposure processing

•Bob Atkins: “You lose nothing by shooting raw except for time and the number of images you can fit on a memory card.”

Printing terms and formulas

• LPI — lines per inch; the number of halftone lines in a published photo (LPI=DPI * 10%)

•DPI — dots per inch; the number of dots in an image formed by a laser printer or imagesetter (ex: 600dpi, 1200dpi)

•PPI — pixels per inch; a pixel is the smallest component of a digital image (PPI=LPI*2)

•So, if you’re printing in a newspaper at 85LPI then the PPI = 85LPI * 2 = 170PPI.

•So, if you’re printing in a yearbook at 150LPI then the PPI = 150LPI * 2 = 300PPI.

So…

•So, if the maximum data your printer can print is, say, 85LPI for the typical newspaper, why capture information at greater than 170PPI?

• 4”x6” photo

•RGB, JPEG=12, 300ppi — 196KB

•RGB, JPEG=12, 150ppi — 92KB

•CMYK, JPEG=12, 300ppi — 788KB

•RGB, TFF, 300ppi — 6.2MB

Scenario: Do you get it?

• You take a picture with a digital camera. It comes in as a 17”x22” RGB JPEG file right out of the camera at 72PPI. (Incidentally, this about a 5MB file.)

• What is the largest size it can be used in the yearbook?

• Turn OFF resampling in Photoshop and type 300 in the Resolution field.

Extension

• Can you run that photo as a dominant, 8”x10”? What are the ramifications for doing so? An 8”x10” photo at 300ppi would be about a 21MB file.

• Can you run it as a 2”x3” photo? What should you do? Why?

• Notice that the finished result is a 1.79MB file.

How do you compare?

•Pick one of your publications.

•What file format do you submit pages to the printer? PDF. InDesign. PageMaker. QuarkXPress. Online only.

•What file format do you save photos for use in that publication? PSD. JPEG. TIFF. EPS.

• In what color mode do you save your color photos? RGB or CMYK.

•At what resolution do you save your photos? 72PPI. 85PPI. 130-170PPI. 266-300PPI. I have no idea. Other.

Newspapers: file format

81%12%

3%3%

PDF IDDPM6 QXP 86%

5%

9%PDFIDDPM6QXPOnline only

94%

5%1%

PDF is the best answer

SOURCE: Spring 2006 survey of 124 advisers and spring 2009 survey of 138 advisersand spring 2013 survey of 160 advisers

Yearbooks: file format

43%

47%

8%2%

PDF IDDPM6 QXP

47%

26%1%

25%

PDFIDDPM6QXPOnline

PDF is the best answer

43%

34%

23%

PDF IDDPM6 QXPOnline


Newspapers: photo format

9%

36%

48%

6%

PSD JPEGTIFF EPS

1%

66%

30%1%1%

PSDJPEGTIFFEPSPDF

4%

54%

36%

3%2%

PSD JPEGTIFF EPSPDF

JPEG is the best answer


Yearbooks: photo format

6%

50%

38%

6%

PSD JPEGTIFF EPS

2%

82%

15% 1%

PSDJPEGTIFFEPS

8%

66%

25% 2%

PSD JPEGTIFF EPSPSD

JPEG is the best answer


Newspapers: resolution

4% 6%

42%

48%

72 85130-170 266-300

10%1%

25%

64%

7285130-170266-300

2%

37%61%

72 85130-170 266-300

170ppi is the best answer


Yearbooks: resolution

5%

95%

72130-170266-300

1%2%

96%72130-170266-300

2%3%

95%

72130-170266-300

300ppi is the best answer


Newspapers: color mode

7%

93%

RGB CMYK 18%

82%

RGBCMYK

21%

79%

RGB CMYK

RGB is the best answer


Yearbooks: color mode

21%

79%

RGBCMYK

45%

55%

RGBCMYK

45%

55%

RGBCMYK

RGB is the best answer*


From designer Mike Williams

Most designers think if they are designing FOR print they should use CMYK, or FOR screen use RGB.

Instead, they should be thinking if they are looking at color ON screen use RGB, and if they are checking color ON a print use CMYK. While working on a screen keep the colors RGB and before sending the files to proof and print convert to CMYK.

You just cannot trust CMYK colors on a screen. Period.

From designer Andrew Kelsall

•RGB files are about 25 percent smaller than CMYK.

•Many filters and functions are only available to use in an RGB color mode in Adobe Photoshop and similar programs.

• The RGB color gamut is larger than CMYK

•Working in RGB means that the images are Web-ready with no color conversion (as opposed to designing for print in CMYK and converting the color to RGB for web-use).

What do the companies recommend?

JPEGCMYK300ppi

JPEG, TIFF, PSDRGB, CMYK

300 ppi“We will convert files to CMYK so anyone that want to see if there is a slight color shift with their images should convert before supplying

to us.” • Paul Friesen

RGB“Our pre-press admin system manages

them to CMYK” • Mike CobbJPG, TIFF or PNG (no PSD)

300ppi

RGB“The Prinergy process in the plant, the final

step before plates are made, converts to CMYK using our profiles to get the best color

possible.” • Gary LundgrenJPG

300ppi

Who prints the yearbook?

22%

31%

3%

15%

21% 8%

Herff Jones JostensLifetouch TaylorWalsworth Other

25%

31%

19%

13%12%

1%

Herff JonesJostensLifetouchBalfourWalsworthOtherFriesens


25%

33%

19%

17% 5%2%

Herff Jones JostensLifetouch TaylorWalsworth OtherFriesens

Conclusions. Thoughts.

•Always do what your printer tells you.

• For native InDesign files, it seems as though CMYK, JPEG is the preferred format for newspapers but for only about half of yearbooks. Change to JPEG from TIFF is significant. RGB is gaining ground. For PDF files, JPEG, CMYK leads in both media.

•Still have to ship fonts and linked files with native files. Missing links alone result in about a 23 percent error rate.

• Vast majority of newspapers submit their pages as PDF files. Why not yearbooks?

•Move to online submission of yearbook pages (usually a form of PDF) and online-only newspapers is significant.

Contact me

By Bradley Wilson, [email protected]

bradleywilsononline.net • Twitter: bradleywilson09

©2013



File formats

Documents

ppi pixels

raw jpeg

17x22 rgb jpeg file

mb file

digital image ppi

file format43g

file format81

smaller jpeg