Photo and Art Information Photo Information Image File Formats | Image File Formats |
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The JPEG File Format The JPEG file format is the most popular image file format in the world today. It’s very popular because it saves a lot of hard drive space. A high-resolution picture with 25MB of color information can be shrunk down to about 1MB using JPEG compression. The downside of JPEG? Well, bear in mind that each time you edit and save a JPEG image, you’re losing image quality. Some photographers who want maximum image quality will avoid using JPEG totally. The TIFF File Format The TIFF image format is the reverse of the JPEG format. A TIFF image consumes a huge amount of disk space. We’re talking about 6MB to 18MB for a typical TIFF images. That’ll eat up your hard disk in no time. However, TIFF images are of extremely high quality – there is no data discarded when you work with or save a TIFF file. The RAW File Format The RAW image format offers you the purest possible pictures, ready for your editing on the computer. The RAW format is proprietary and each manufacturer (Canon, Nikon, Olympus and the like) use their own version. When you take a picture in RAW format, the camera does nothing to the photo. There is no adjustment at all – the picture is purely what is recorded by the image sensor on the camera. When to Use Which Format How do you know which format to use, and when? Well, my first piece of advice is to avoid the RAW format. Unless you’re a very experienced photographer who wants to manually correct all your photos, the RAW is not a very good choice. The next question, inevitably, is whether to use JPEG or TIFF. Personally, I use JPEG most of the time. The simple reason is that you can choose the amount of compression used in a JPEG image. In Paint Shop Pro, for example, you can choose File > Save As, then select the JPEG compression factor under the JPEG options dialog box. Select a low compression setting and you get a higher quality JPEG, select a higher compression setting and you get a lower quality JPEG. |
| Canvas Printing |
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Printing on canvas is incredibly versatile and a great way to create a ready-to-hang image or artwork. Every canvas that we print is protected with a UV coated acrylic finish to guard the print from dust, moisture and fading. Do you want your canvas stretched on bars or non-stretched? Framed or unframed? Customize the work to make it truly your own. |
| Art Prints – How are they made? |
 Photography by Laurie Barone-Shafer Here are a few tips, tricks and techniques on how to make art print poster ready photographs and print ready digital files. Don’t get overwhelmed, there is a lot of information here, but a lot of it is just intuitive. Well, a bit of patience will always help. First thing – Photo Size |
| Learning to Paint Watercolors |
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Watercolor is an easy, fun medium for creating art. Color theory, composition and design can be explored freely with watercolor paint, paper, and brushes. Several techniques may be used with watercolors for varying effects including painting wet on wet, wet on dry, layering washes, and more. Watercolor paper comes in cold press, hot press, and rough. Rough paper has the most texture, and its hills and valleys can result in interesting effects when paint is added. Hot press is the smoothest and has the finest texture. Cold press has a moderate amount of texture and is the paper most commonly chosen by watercolor artists. Watercolor paper comes in several weights ranging from 90 lb. to 300 lb. based on the pounds per ream of paper. Most artists prefer to use at least 140 lb. paper. Papers vary somewhat between manufacturers, so sampling different papers is advisable. Paper can be purchased in pads, in blocks or in large sheets. The large sheets are usually the most economical and can be torn into whatever size is desired. |