Photoshop is primarily used by print designers for graphic imagery and generally isn’t the “final” format for any particular piece of work. Most designers with very little exception end up with the files in either InDesign, Illustrator or Quark XPress. But Photoshop has a lot of users in other industries including video, multi-media and photography. For this reason there are a lot of file format options available when you go to save your file. Below is a brief explanation of some of the formats you may use or come across as a print designer, along with some opinions about them that I’ve formed over the years: Photoshop (.psd) Photoshop’s native file format and can be read only by Photoshop, Preview and few select other applications. When saving your file in the .psd format, you retain all editability of fonts, layers and effects. If you wish to use the .psd format with other applications you can tick a preference to maximize file compatibility to save a “flattened” version of the layered file inside the file so it can be previewed by the other applications. With Quark XPress recently adding the ability to import layered Photoshop files, the .psd format is probably the only format you ever need to use for print design – since it includes spot channels, clipping paths, transparency, etc. It’s about the only format I use anymore when dealing with Photoshop images. Bitmap (.bmp) The Bitmap format is a Windows-based format and is generally restricted to flat black and white artwork, though it can contain color. Because of its limited use even on the Windows platform, I don’t recommend using it for any real work. EPS (.eps) EPS, which stands for Encapsulated PostScript, can contain both vector and bitmap information in the file, but is very different than Illustrator .eps formatted files. EPS format used to be the preferred format by designers when a clipping path was used to “cut out” the background of an image for use in Quark XPress. With the release of InDesign and the updates to Quark, this file format has really fallen by the wayside. If you are saving your files as EPS, I recommend you use 8-bit TIFF preview and Binary encoding for maximum compatibility with other platforms. JPEG (.jpg) This format probably needs little explanation. JPEG or JPG, which stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, provides lossy compression to image files, thus making the image files much smaller than they actually were before compression. Most all standard applications (graphics and otherwise) can save or import the JPEG format, but it should be used with caution. Because JPEG is a lossy compression format, your images should be saved with the Image Options/Quality no less than 10 and the Format Options – left at Baseline (Standard) – anything less and you run the risk of image artifacts showing up. Large Document Format (.psb) Large document format is for saving huge files (300,000 pixels in any dimension) and can only be read by Photoshop CS and CS2. I can’t imagine the need for any print designer to use this format, but there probably is call to use it in the outdoor imaging markets. Photoshop PDF (.pdf) This is yet another way to save a PDF file which can include layers, alpha channels, spot colors and metadata, but gives you the flexibility of everything that the PDF format offers such as font embedding, flattening, etc. I really see no reason to use this format other than it allows you to set security options on an image file. Photoshop RAW This is NOT the same as digital camera RAW format, which is more of a digital negative. Photoshop RAW is really a bare-bones way of transferring the file between applications and platforms. I’ve never used this format or come across anyone else in the industry that uses it, and as a print designer I can’t see any reason start. PICT File and PICT Resource(.pct) The PICT format was used by older versions of the Mac operating system as the native way of displaying graphics in the OS. PICT images are rarely seen or used anymore. One way they may be used is when trying to pull graphics out of other applications that don’t offer a way to export the graphic to get it into Photoshop for further work. Scitex CT An old format used by early graphics technology in the pre-press industry. It has virtually no use anymore. TIFF (.tif) The TIFF file format has been around for a long time and is widely accepted as a “standard” format. TIFF, which stands for Tagged-Image File Format, can by saved as CMYK, RGB, LAB, Indexed Color, Grayscale and Bitmap mode and can include (as of recently) layers, alpha channels, paths, transparency and metadata – though only the flattened image is used by other applications like InDesign, Quark and Illustrator. TIFF used to be the preferred method of saving image files and is the most widely adopted format by the graphics industry, however with graphics applications accepting native Photoshop formatted files (.psd), TIFF’s days are probably numbered. Not only that, but the newer features such as the ability to save layered TIFFs appear to not work too well with other graphics apps like InDesign and Quark XPress and many print industry RIPs. If you do save your files as TIFF, you should make sure that the LZW Compression box is not ticked when saving to prevent any issues at print time. Photoshop DCS Desktop Color Separations (DCS) format is a version of the standard EPS format, and allows you save color separations of your images which includes spot-color channels. This used to be the only format you could use to place an image with spot color into a standard graphics application such as Quark XPress – but you can now simply save your file as .psd (layered Photoshop file). This format gives you the option of ticking check boxes to save the file as a composite file with a preview or separate files for each color used in the file which are joined later in the printing process. You may run across a few printers or applications that require the use of this format, but I highly doubt it. As you can see, the print industry has pretty much been limited to TIFF and PSD for the last few years, with even TIFF beginning to erode as the wide adoption of .psd compatible apps find there way into users hands. JPEG has a strong hold on the Web design field and as a means for backup of original images for most print designers, but I don’t recommend using it for much more than that. Overall the native Photoshop file format is all you should need for modern day applications and use.
Tagged: Photoshop
Adding realistic fog to your images using Photoshop
Get more bang for your buck by depositing a fog bank into your landscape photos using the Dissolve brush mode and the Gradient tool to vary density. Fog is actually transparent unless you try to look through layers and layers of it. Then it becomes dense, and in some places, impenetrable.
The secret to realistic fog is to vary its density…
David Diotaveli offers a pretty decent tutorial on how to add realistic fog to your images.
Hide multiple Photoshop layers quickly with this shortcut
Many times when you’re working on a Photoshop document that has many layers, you want to see just one layer at a time. It’s a pain to turn off all the other layers, especially if you don’t use Layer Groups. You can quickly turn off all but the one layer you want by holding down the Option key and clicking on the eyeball next to the layer you want to see – all the other layers will automatically hide. To get all your layers turned back on, simply repeat the process.
Get better details when sharpening your image in Photoshop
To get sharpening on steroids, try using Filter>Other>High Pass on a copy of the layer that you want to sharpen. Make the layer’s Blend Mode Overlay, Soft Light, or Hard light. Try using smaller High Pass settings to emphasize small details in the image.
Getting better gradients in Photoshop
You wouldn’t think that making gradients in Photoshop as a skill, but let me tell you that it’s quite easy to see the difference between a good gradient and a great one. In the sample above you’ll notice the lack of saturation and harshness in the “good” and “better” gradients and how natural and realistic the “best” gradient appears. 9rules Network’s Mike Rundle has a Gradient Tutorial to help you make more realistic, vibrant gradients.
Work in RGB, view in CMYK
One thing I believe helps me get the results I see on screen when a job is printed is to work in the CMYK color space to begin with when starting a design job that includes images. Before I start adding or changing color or adding elements, I’ll switch to CMYK Preview mode in Photoshop. This gives me the added bonus of being able to use all of Photoshop’s editing and filter features that are only available in RGB mode. By doing this, I know what my image is going to look like when it’s converted to CMYK before printing. If you forget to switch to CMYK, or at least use the CMYK Preview mode, you run the risk of falling in love with the beautiful vivid color in your image, only to see it washed out and flat when printed.
Changing your brush in Photoshop
When you’re working with the brush tool in Photoshop there are a lot of shortcuts to make it a bit easier on you. The following shortcuts assume you already have the brush tool active. You can jump from one brush to another in the brush list simply by using the Arrow keys on your keyboard. Once you have a brush you like active, you can make the selected brush larger or smaller by using the Left [ and Right ] Bracket keys. If you have the Brushes drop down menu from the Control palette open, you can have it automatically close when you select your brush simply by double clicking the sized brush you want. This ONLY works in the Control Bar drop down menu, not the palette. Once you have your brush selected, you can use it to paint a straight line by holding down the Shift key. And if you really want to get some cool effects with your brush, go to your brushes palette and select your brush, then turn on or off some of the Dynamic Brush settings (the check boxes to the left of the brush.
Photoshop’s Layer Mask in brief
When working with layer masks in Photoshop, you start out with black as the color that hides and white as the color that reveals. To switch these without using the Toolbox to set your foreground color, press the X key on the keyboard to toggle the painting color between black and white.
Fade your healing brush results in Photoshop
If you’re using Photoshop’s Healing Brush, and the results are too dark for your taste, you don’t have to undo and start over, simply choose Edit>Fade Healing Brush and then lower the Opacity setting in the dialog box. The Fade menu item works on many tools and filters, so I encourage you to take a trip to the Fade menu item once in a while to see what you can do. Keep in mind that it only works on the last operation you made.
Photoshop brush previews without clicking
If you’re like me, you collect Brushes for use in Photoshop. And you don’t just collect good Brushes, you collect ALL Brushes you find! I have about 25 to 30 brushes that make perfect clouds, another 50 or so that give some nice industrial texture, yet more that simulate broken glass. Brushes are fantastic! The problem is finding the right one for the job. This usually involves a trip to the Brushes palette to preview them until I find the right one. As you can see in the picture at the right, I have the 39pixel brush selected, but I’m previewing the 59pixel brush circled in green. If you want to preview various brushes In the Brushes palette but get frustrated with clicking on each brush, then simply hover over a brush preset until the Tool Tip show up – then run your cursor over all the brush presets to see a Preview at the bottom of the Brushes palette without having to click on each individual brush. With all the “clicking” involved in your daily life, saving a few is a real treat!