Lightroom Question

[LisaMarie]

Hi there just curious what settings should be used when exporting a picture out of Lightroom to achieve the highest quality? There are several different settings that can be used including Tiff, Jpeg, Psd, Dng, and original, please help with this? Also if somebody could explain further what each exporting method is used for?
Thanks!

 

[Josh66]

I guess it depends on what you're going to do with it after export.

I export as JPG, but typically the only thing I'll do after export is print.

If you plan on doing further editing, I would use a lossless format like TIFF. File sizes will be much larger though.

 

[Big Mike]

That's right. Your export option should depend on what you plan to do next. The way lightroom works, it does not lower the quality of your images at all...it's a completely non-destructive workflow. So it make sense to keep the images in Lightroom until you need to export them.

If you are going to send files for printing, then jpeg would probably be the way to go. If you are gong to print yourself, it's probably best to do it right from Lightroom as it's got a great print engine.
If you are going to edit the file in Photoshop, your best bet for top quality is probably PSD...but you can send images from LR, directly to Photoshop (and bring them back) without going though the export (if you want).

There are plenty of good Lightroom tutorials to be found. Check out Adobe TV and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Killer Tips to start.

 

[LisaMarie]

Thanks again all, and i will check that link out right now

 

[davebmck]

The Export option is confusing to some people. It is really the same as the Save As option on other programs. The Export function is handy though as it features many options you want while doing this, like resizing, sharpening and so on.