Saving Jpegs Question

[aironmax_1]

When do you crop your Jpeg without loosing more data? I heard Jpegs were lossy files and that when you save, you'll lose some info in the photo.

[jorgemonkey]

When I'm working with Jpegs (I use PS2) I'll make a copy of the file, then do my cropping/editing and I'll save that copy.

When you open & save a jpeg, each time you do that it throws away file data. If you plan on editing a file again, you can save it as a PSD or TIF file which is a lossless format, and you can open, edit, save it as many times as you want and it won't loose data

[aironmax_1]

What if I start out with a raw file? Should I convert the Raw to TIFF and then do the retouching & cropping on PS, then save it as a JPeg?

[jorgemonkey]

You can open & edit RAW files to your hearts content, and then either save it as a raw file or a TIFF.

My workflow is when I shoot RAW, I'll open it in Nikon Capture, do all my tweaking, then open it up in photoshop. There I'll do all my cropping & other stuff, then save it as a jpeg.

[transparency]

Just make back-up or save the image you edit with PSD.

About RAW and JPG image information and conversion, this really helps me I hope also to you:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/raw.htm

[mjs1973]

Like others have said, the more you open and save a jpeg, the more info you are going to loose. Depending on the output of the file (what size prints you plan on making or web display), you may or may not even notice it. I'm guessing you could resave a jpeg several times and still print a nice 8x10 witout any noticeable loss.

My personal workflow doesn't involve jpeg files until I'm ready to send the files to an online printer. Sometimes I will send TIFFS, but mostly it's jpegs because of the faster upload times. Even then, it is only a copy of a file I have already saved as a 16bit PSD. Tiffs are good too, but they are very large. I prefer PSD's.