How to Save a Photoshop Image to an Alternative File Format

When you SAVE an Adobe Photoshop image it is by default saved as a PSD file. This is the native file format of Photoshop. You may want to save the image in an alternative file format. You may want to choose TIFF if you are printing the file or JPEG if you are sending the file to a screen. The SAVE AS command allows you to choose close to 20 different file formats for your image.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Adobe Photoshop 6.0 or later running on a PC or MAC computer.
• An image file

1. 
   Save AS Menu

   Select the SAVE AS command from the FILE drop down menu. The save as menu allows you to specify your location from the top drop down menu. You can then select the file format from the drop down menu and change the name of the file if you prefer. In this case we chose JPEG. You may also save as a copy which will keep your original intact. The ICC Profile is the profile selected under Adobe Gamma. In this case the default is the the ICC profile for our Nikon camera. To save without a profile,remove the check from the selected profile. To change the profile, exit Photoshop and use Adobe Gamma under control panels. When you have made your choices click SAVE.

2. 
   JPEG Options

   When you click save,the JPEG OPTIONS window will open. You can specify your file size and quality level you need. The higher the quality, the larger the file and smaller the compression. Medium size files are fine for web applications. Click Preview to see your file displayed when complete. After making your choices, click OK

3. 
   Saved image

   After clicking OK, your image is displayed in Photoshop. If you have given an alternate name or selected SAVE AS COPY, your original file is still intact. You will notice there are a lot of functions that can not be used on a JPEG file. You should only save to an alternative file when all editing to the original Photoshop file is completed and saved.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are going to print your image, save as a TIFF file.
• If you are going to use your image in a Page Make Up program like Quark, save as an EPS file.
• If you are going to use the image as an icon, save as a GIF file.
• If you are going to use the image on a website, save as a JPEG file.
• Compressed file formats like JPEG and GIF can not be edited after they are saved. Make your editorial changes and color corrections before saving to alternative file format
• Save your PSD file as your archival file for making future changes.

Resources

• Adobe Photoshop

[looptheloop]

on 4/21/2009 Thank you

[oneloved]

on 9/1/2008 Good tips for the technologically challenged!

[Cherst1031]

on 9/1/2008 This is all new to me, thanks for the info!

[BlacksmithJoe]

on 9/1/2008 Thanks for the tip on saving a file you want to print as a TIFF. I found that one out by trial and error!

[vikki9]

on 9/1/2008 This is a valuable 'photo' resource. Thank you. 5*