Re-Saving a JPEG Image and Losing Quality

A
Posted By
Applebrown
Jul 7, 2003
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590
Replies
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Can I re-save a JPEG image without losing it’s quality again? For instance, I have a digital camera which saves in JPEG format. When I work on a photo, and try to save it, it appears that I must re-save it in JPEG form, choosing to further incur lossiness in the picture. Will saving the photo as a .PSD file stop this from happening until I’m ready to save the final version?

Thanks… not knowing this has always bugged me.
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A
Applebrown
Jul 7, 2003
Thanks. I’m assume this is the preferred method for working with Jpeg’s then, unless I’m missing something.

"Johan W. Elzenga" wrote in message
Applebrown wrote:

Can I re-save a JPEG image without losing it’s quality again? For
instance,
I have a digital camera which saves in JPEG format. When I work on a
photo,
and try to save it, it appears that I must re-save it in JPEG form,
choosing
to further incur lossiness in the picture. Will saving the photo as a
..PSD
file stop this from happening until I’m ready to save the final version?

Yes, resaving in JPEG will cause loss of quality.
Yes, saving in .PSD or .TIF will stop this from happening

—
Johan W. Elzenga jwe<<at>>johanfoto.nl Editor / Photographer http://www.johanfoto.nl/
EG
Eric Gill
Jul 7, 2003
"Applebrown" wrote in
news:n6kOa.407972$:

Thanks. I’m assume this is the preferred method for working with Jpeg’s then, unless I’m missing something.

Nope. I keep a copy of the original JPEGs from the camera, make a working copy in Tiff format for just those that need work, then use "Save for Web" if a new JPEG is needed.
A
arosenblat
Jul 7, 2003
"Applebrown"

wrote:>
Can I re-save a JPEG image without losing it’s quality again? For instance, I have a digital camera which saves in JPEG format. When I work on a photo, and try to save it, it appears that I must re-save it in JPEG form, choosing to further incur lossiness in the picture. Will saving the photo as a .PSD file stop this from happening until I’m ready to save the final version?
Thanks… not knowing this has always bugged me.

Yes. You cana also save it as a TIFF file which compresses the inamkge without loss.
&
"pioe(rmv)"
Jul 8, 2003
Applebrown wrote:

Can I re-save a JPEG image without losing it’s quality again? For instance, I have a digital camera which saves in JPEG format. When I work on a photo, and try to save it, it appears that I must re-save it in JPEG form, choosing to further incur lossiness in the picture. Will saving the photo as a .PSD file stop this from happening until I’m ready to save the final version?

If you re-save in JPEG you will introduce further degradation of the image because of the data loss inherent in lossy compression. This can be stopped by saving the file in TIFF or another uncompressed format, so that you can work with it without further loss caused by compression.

However, this technique, although it is the best you can do, does not bring back the quality that would have been in a file which was never JPEG compressed. It only stops further deterioration from compression. Still, if the original file was a JPEG you will have less latitude for adjustments than you would have if it had been a TIFF/RAW file.

Therefore it is always best to record and/or scan in uncompressed formats rather than in JPEG. If that is not possible you can nevertheless make decent images. But the ideal is to start out with a file that was never compressed lossily.

Per Inge Oestmoen, Norway
http://www.alpha-gruppen.com/
A
arosenblat
Jul 10, 2003
Can I re-save a JPEG image without losing it’s quality again? For instance,
I have a digital camera which saves in JPEG format. When I work on a photo, and try to save it, it appears that I must re-save it in JPEG form,
choosing
to further incur lossiness in the picture. Will saving the photo as a .PSD file stop this from happening until I’m ready to save the final version?

If you re-save in JPEG you will introduce further degradation of the image because of the data loss inherent in lossy compression. This can be stopped by saving the file in TIFF or another uncompressed format, so that you can work with it without further loss caused by compression.
By the way, merely viewing an image on the camera screen repeatedly does not degrade quality. even though you are opening a file that is jpeg when downloaded from the camera.

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