.psd to .jpg

[jennifer_durrett]

I am noticing quite a bit of difference in the quality of the images when converting from the .psd format to .jpg. The .jpgs look like the flat boring image and the .psd maintains the sharpness and detail. I know and understand that this is due to the fact that .jpg is a compressed format and I do save the jpgs at the highest quality possible.

I'm curious to see some of your ways around this. What do you all do to help the details and sharpness stand out when they are saved as .jpg.

Thank you for the suggestions!

[AndrewCCM]

Make sure you CONVERT them to sRGB colorspace before saving and viewing in a browser. If it's another colorspace like AdobeRGB, it'll look flat on the web or in most browsers. Very common problem.

[DavidsStudio]

Jennifer

This site may give you a good explanation of the changes: Color change

David

[jennifer_durrett]

I have my camera and color space in Photoshop set to Adobe RGB b/c everything I read states that that is better. The further reading I do states that Adobe RGB setting is great for printing when sRGB was created when most of the use was for online. Obviously I will be doing both, so I’m a bit confused on the way to get around this. I want the photos to be sharp and clear (like they are when saved as .tiff or .psd) when printing them or posting them online.

[bondarnes]

In this instance when the word "printing" is used it is referring to offset printing and not printing on photographic paper.

[AndrewCCM]

Jennifer,

Just keep your masters in Adobe RGB. But if distributing to a client (that is not colorspace conscience) or saving for web display, make a copy of the file in sRGB. This is easily done within Photoshop or Lightroom. Otherwise, when posting an image to the web, a good portion of your audience will see washed out pictures. Many browsers are starting to become colorspace aware, but I wouldn't trust that yet. Best to always convert to sRGB before displaying electronically in anything other than a photo editing application.

Personally, I shoot RAW which is color space independent (you assign color space in your converter and setting in camera makes no difference). I convert mine in ACR or Lightroom to Prophoto RGB 16bit and do all my editing and printing from that color space. However, if I make a master image CD for my client or I post something on the web (for instance here on TPF), I convert my color space to sRGB before exporting. Actually, I have Lightroom setup to do it's exports for the web in sRGB, so it's an easy process. The PSD file remains in ProPhoto RGB, but the exported JPG is sRGB.

Good luck.

[jennifer_durrett]

Andrew, thanks for the help. That makes sense. I'll try it. At this point I'm just viewing the photos in Adobe Bridge. That's where I'm seeing the difference between the psd files and the jpg files. I'll try messing w/ a couple of my settings and see.

[JaertX]

I don't have anything to add, but recognized you from Katherine and Patrick's wedding and thought I'd say hi!

Oh, and I also shoot everything in RAW and save jpgs in sRGB (all that my lab will accept)