Software

RE: Share Your File-Selection Tips

bsatterfield — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 20:55:00 GMT

Sjanzen,

Sorry for the omission, but we wanted to focus on "major" file formats that most nonprofits would encounter in order to keep this article relatively short.

It sounds like you guys are doing something unique where the JPEG 2000 format might be a good choice. As I understand it, JPEG 2000 files basically look better at higher compression ratios than normal JPEGs.

Here's a link that demonstrates this:

http://www.geocities.com/ee00224/btp2.html

As you can see, JPEG 2000 only really looks better if an image is heavily, heavily compressed. With light compression, there's not a huge difference between the two.

Hope that helps

RE: Share Your File-Selection Tips

sjanzen — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 20:25:00 GMT

why is jpeg2000 not discussed? we're looking for a format suitable for downloading/printing large scanned antique maps (original format was provided to us in TIFF).

RE: Share Your File-Selection Tips

karlchwe — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 19:30:00 GMT

Clarification re RAW files:

RAW is not a newer or older thing. It is the output from the CCD sensor before any processing is done to it. To turn it into a JPG, the camera has to crunch the output, and in doing so, it makes certain assumptions about what the picture should look like.

Generally the camera does a good job, but some photographers want the camera to give them RAW files so they can have finer control over the photo. To work with RAW files, you need software like the full version of Photoshop, and that software has to support your particular camera, since different cameras process their RAW output in different ways.

Generally ony serious photographers will want to work with RAW files, so it isn't even an option with most compact digital cameras. It is common in cameras aimed at pros or prosumers. I think you can find it in all DSLR's.

The disadvantage of RAW files is that they are very, very large. My 8 MP camera can generate RAW files that are 5 MB. They fill up your memory card quickly (but there are gizmos to deal with that.)

Karl

RE: Share Your File-Selection Tips

akrasne — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 00:33:00 GMT

I'm not a regular user of AutoCAD, but I do know that there are many free CAD viewing programs out there. Just do a Google search on "free cad viewer" and you should find a few options.

AutoDesk, the makers of AutoCAD has a couple of free downloads.

Finally, I believe AutoCAD offers an option to save a CAD file as a PDF. If you know someone who owns the program, you could ask them to save the file in that format so you can view it easily.

Hope this helps.

RE: Share Your File-Selection Tips

bsatterfield — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 18:19:00 GMT

Mtbaker,

Thanks, and good point about the exclusion of the RAW format. I'm not much of a shutterbug, but as I understand it, a lot of newer digital cameras default to shooting in the JPEG format, meaning a lot of organizations would never encounter the RAW format. But I could very well be wrong about that, and, at any rate, many nonprofits probably are using older digital cameras.

Perhaps we'll amend the article to include this information, but at any rate, thanks for the comment.

RE: Share Your File-Selection Tips

donc — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 00:30:00 GMT

Hi Mtbaker,

Most CAD programs provide, or have available a free viewer. Which CAD format are you working with? (AutoCad, MapInfo, CivilCad, IntelliCad etc. etc.)

Cheers, Don

RE: Share Your File-Selection Tips

mtbaker — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 21:29:00 GMT

Good article. Surprised that there was no mention of RAW files in relation to JPEG. Would like to know the benefits. Also, I'd like infomation as to whether their is a way to view CAD files without buying the expensive CAD programs.

Share Your File-Selection Tips

wcook — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 17:13:00 GMT

Have you ever struggled over whether to save an image as a JPEG or a TIFF? What tips and tricks have you learned over the years when it comes to selecting the right file?

For a list of common file formats and best practices, check out TechSoup's article Understanding Images: A Guide to File Formats. Share your feedback and questions here.