Jpegs Tiffs & RAW Files

7 Building Blocks of Photography 2

Most cameras give you the option of three image file formats - Jpeg, Tiff and RAW.

There are often combinations like Jpeg + Raw available too and when you're not sure what they're for or what the benefits of each one are - it can be confusing.

Which one should you use - and when?

Each of these file formats have something going for them - but sometimes you have to sacrifice one thing to gain another.

Jpeg files are small so they're easy to manage but they're what's called 'Lossy', they lose a bit of data each time you save them. Tiff files are virtually indestructable but very big and RAW files aren't image files at all. They're like a recipe for what's in the image and have to be processed into an image file.

The great thing about making image files from your original Raws yourself is that you can make a much more exciting image from a Raw file because you can be creative - your camera can't.

In this File formats video I'll explain the things for and against each one - especially why RAW format is so important.

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