Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 10/27/2009

Question
QUESTION: previous question from Chris <Hi, I have a new Mac and new Photoshop CS3. When I save JPEGs, they have a .jpg file extension, but show up as a different "kind" of file, and have very
poor-quality previews. The overall file size also seems to be greatly reduced,
though I can't compare it to saving a regular jpg... >

I was having the same problem even with saving at the maximum image quality. (note: this is previewing them in the finder window) I was able to take the photos into Bridge and resave them in camera raw and the previews looked beautiful. It would be nice not to have to take that extra step. Any new ideas as to why this happens or what can be done.

ANSWER: Hi Michelle,

Previews are previews and you should not judge your file based on these. Changing a jpg to a camera raw may give you a great preview, but it is still a jpg file and there are cons about changing your overall file this way just so you can have a nice preview.

If you don't mind me asking why are high quality previews so important? What are you using these for?

Kevin


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Kevin,
When I hand over the finished jpg files to someone, I want to be sure that I see it how they're going to see it. Nothing fancy. If 100 of them look great and the 20 I spent the most time on look bitmapped and crappy, they'll skip over them.

What are the cons of changing the file in this way?

Thanks for taking the time to answer my inquiry.

Answer
Hi Michelle,

When you transfer your file through camera raw, it will always open through the Camera Raw portal even if you resave back to jpg. You would have to resave as a copy of the jpg to make it accessible to everyone. If you don't this means that your previews will look good but they wont be able to open them without Photoshop.

Previews just aren't the way to go for viewing files unless you are using Bridge or another browser app to see them. OS previews are meant to be lo-quality quick previews, not final representations of a file.

Kevin