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1. Re: What is the best file format to work in, with PSE11
MichelBParis Nov 22, 2014 8:54 AM (in response to Peter Hewitt)Let's divide the question in three stages:
- Originals. They can be jpeg or raw for photos from cameras, or jpeg or tiff (also png?) for scans. You can always keep them and use copies instead of overwriting them. Raw format is special, you can't alter their data so that editing is saved in non-destructive way.
- working or archive format: what you have read is true. To keep the best quality, you use either tiff or psd (not much difference). PNG, which stores transparency, is good for web work, but if you edit with layers, use tiff or psd in the working stage. This can be summarized : don't use jpeg if it's not the final output format.
- final output : jpeg is perfectly ok if it's the final stage and you don't choose too much compression. It's up to you to choose if you don't want to re-edit your pictures later on. If you think you might re-edit, see above for working stage (tiff or psd). With raw files, keep the raw file and the edits (xmp sidecar files or DNG format); if you keep the 'recipe', you don't need to keep the final output, you can recreate it when needed.

