JPG back to PSD?

On Tue, 26 May 2009 14:43:20 -0500, Gonzo wrote:

Hi . . . I made this really cool picture yesterday using the channel mixer and have decided to make a print. Is there any way to convert the web sized jpg back to psd so i can see what the hell I did?
Lessons learned . . . take notes just like I did in the darkroom

Nope

On Tue, 26 May 2009 14:43:20 -0500, Gonzo wrote:

Hi . . . I made this really cool picture yesterday using the channel mixer and have decided to make a print. Is there any way to convert the web sized jpg back to psd so i can see what the hell I did?
Lessons learned . . . take notes just like I did in the darkroom

You can make a .jpg a .psd, but the history of steps taken earlier is permanently lost. There’s no need to take notes, though. When you finish editing your .psd, "save as" a .jpg and use that for the web.

—
Tony Cooper – Orlando, Florida

On Tue, 26 May 2009 16:47:09 -0400, tony cooper wrote:

There’s no need to take notes, though. When you
finish editing your .psd, "save as" a .jpg and use that for the web.

Heaven forbid that you take notes 🙂 You can save the history log, which has a text only record of the operations you did to the image. —
Mike Russell – http://www.curvemeister.com

On Tue, 26 May 2009 15:49:50 -0700, Mike Russell
wrote:

On Tue, 26 May 2009 16:47:09 -0400, tony cooper wrote:

There’s no need to take notes, though. When you
finish editing your .psd, "save as" a .jpg and use that for the web.

Heaven forbid that you take notes 🙂 You can save the history log, which has a text only record of the operations you did to the image.

That would work, but what’s the advantage of saving a history log over saving the .psd and using "save as" to make the .jpg? It seems like retaining the .psd would allow changes – especially if they are adjustment layers or layer masks – and not just a record.

You usually have the better way, so I’m curious why you suggest this alternative method.

—
Tony Cooper – Orlando, Florida

On Tue, 26 May 2009 22:53:29 -0400, tony cooper wrote:

That would work, but what’s the advantage of saving a history log over saving the .psd and using "save as" to make the .jpg? It seems like retaining the .psd would allow changes – especially if they are adjustment layers or layer masks – and not just a record.

There are clear advantages to both. Saving the psd file saves the actual work that was done for that particular image. Keeping an automatic history log saves a record of what was done to each image, whether jpg or psd, and can be useful in re-creating the same set of effects later.

Just guessing, but I had the feeling the OP wanted to recreate some tricky channel mixes. Having the PSD would not necessarily do that. In any case the History log is an automatic process that is, IMHO, easier and more accurate than taking notes.

BTW, I’m working on an encryption gig right now, and it’s possible to digitally sign the history log, creating your own signed endorsement of what was done to the file. Why you would ever want to do that is escaping me at the moment, but there you are 🙂
—
Mike Russell – http://www.curvemeister.com

On Tue, 26 May 2009 21:51:24 -0700, Mike Russell
wrote:

On Tue, 26 May 2009 22:53:29 -0400, tony cooper wrote:

That would work, but what’s the advantage of saving a history log over saving the .psd and using "save as" to make the .jpg? It seems like retaining the .psd would allow changes – especially if they are adjustment layers or layer masks – and not just a record.

There are clear advantages to both. Saving the psd file saves the actual work that was done for that particular image. Keeping an automatic history log saves a record of what was done to each image, whether jpg or psd, and can be useful in re-creating the same set of effects later.
Just guessing, but I had the feeling the OP wanted to recreate some tricky channel mixes. Having the PSD would not necessarily do that. In any case the History log is an automatic process that is, IMHO, easier and more accurate than taking notes.

BTW, I’m working on an encryption gig right now, and it’s possible to digitally sign the history log, creating your own signed endorsement of what was done to the file. Why you would ever want to do that is escaping me at the moment, but there you are 🙂

There have been times that I’ve made a series of edits to a photograph that have worked out very well, but have been unable to recall the exact steps and settings even when looking at the .psd. However, the odds are astronomical that I will have another photograph where that exact series of steps and settings will work out so well *and* be able to match the new photograph to the log of work done to an older photograph.

—
Tony Cooper – Orlando, Florida

Gonzo wrote:

Hi . . . I made this really cool picture yesterday using the channel mixer and have decided to make a print. Is there any way to convert the web sized jpg back to psd so i can see what the hell I did?
Lessons learned . . . take notes just like I did in the darkroom

The lesson is to save as PSD or TIFF, and a copy as JPG for web use.

You can also set up a log file of your steps (see preferences). It gives you a general idea of what you did, but is not a real history.

Mike Russell wrote:

BTW, I’m working on an encryption gig right now, and it’s possible to digitally sign the history log, creating your own signed endorsement of what was done to the file. Why you would ever want to do that is escaping me at the moment, but there you are 🙂

That is perfectly possible and not complex – the log can be added as a metadata file (or pointer).

Another point that I’d like to address is this: The academic community is very interested in forensic tools that can find whether images have been digitally manipulated. We often find that people modify images not to deceive, but just because they can, or they are marinated in digital culture so that they do not understand evidential issues of scholarship. Oh, and because the vast majority don’t know squat about making pictures properly in the first place and then make it up on PS.