richard_emerson

I have just purchased Photoshop Elements 2 and Photoshop Album - what is the best way to get my photos from my camera to the PC in the best format.
Import into Album or Import into Elements (via Batch Processing?)and then later into Album.

Also what format should I be importing into - my last software seemed to import in JPEG but now Elements or Album does either TIFF or PSD by default? What should I use for best quality and simplicity?

Thanks

ray

Album will only import what's in your camera, it will not convert them at the download time. So, if
your camera shoots JPG, that's what you'll get. However, PSA2 now imports RAW files from certain
cameras. If yours is supported, that would be the best thing to do to do lossless pictures.

I haven't tested Elements to import pictures from my camera, so I can't tell.

Ray

richard_emerson

Actually I tried this but PSA converts the JPEG to TIFF - I guess the TWAIN driver is set up to do this - may be to create a lossless version rather than JPEG? In any event there seems no way to download just the JPEG from the camers without using a card reader or secondary conversion.

nancy_s

Richard,

For about $20 you can get a card reader. They are fast and safe. Your camera doesn't have to teeter on your desk either.

beth_haney

Richard, most of us do use a card reader for a number of reasons. Compatibility for downloading images is one of them, but probably the most important is that readers let you keep your camera separate from the computer. Even though problems severe enough to cause damage to the camera are rare, it only takes one time for that $20 card reader to look really cheap and easy to use. Also be aware that some software packages designed to download directly from a camera often have a setting to automatically delete all images from the card after the download. That's not always a good thing!

And the fact those JPEGs are automatically converted to TIFFs is a good safety mechanism, too. Many people aren't aware of the fact that JPEG is a very poor format for the purpose of editing images. It's great for small e-mails and compact storage, but the file compression method that makes it so good for storage also costs a lot in terms of lost digital information. There's a recent thread on this you might want to read if you've been doing much of your work in JPEG.

jim_hess

My images are downloaded from my camera as JPEG files. I don't worry about converting them; I just leave them in the same condition as they were in when they were downloaded. I was listening to a Photoshop "expert" on an Internet radio program the other day. He says that as soon as you load an image to begin working on it the first thing you should do is create a duplicate layer. According to him, whenever you start making adjustments to your image you are removing pixels. So by creating a duplicate layer you still have the original on the bottom that you can revert back to. Then he recommended to do as much of your work as possible using adjustment layers. Doing so will allow you to make adjustments without taking anything away from your picture. Now, since you have a multi-layered image, it cannot be saved as a JPEG. So I routinely save that image that I have been working on as a Photoshop (PSD) image. It is my understanding that PSD files are lossless - or at least close enough that I haven't encountered any problems from having used them. After I have finished all of the editing, I save the PSD, then I flatten the image and then save it again either as a new JPEG or TIF image. Personally, I have been very satisfied with the results.

beth_haney

Jim, I agree with all that you've said and use pretty much the same system, except if what you are saying is that you work on that original JPEG image straight from the camera without keeping a copy of the "virgin" file in some archive. I wasn't clear on that part of your workflow.

jim_hess

I actually do not bother to create a separate copy first before I start editing. I haven't found that step to be necessary. I open the original, downloaded JPEG and start working on it. But then I always SAVE AS and create the PSD file, which leaves the original JPEG intact. I suppose the only problem with that procedure is if one were to forget to save the modified image as a new, different file.

chuck_snyder

Jim, I agree with your approach. The original image, in whatever format,
should be saved intact. It doesn't have to be converted to a lossless
format so long as it's not edited and resaved with the original name.

Chuck

richard_emerson

Thanks for all the help and advice