RAW, JPEG, TIFF

[cidrmakr]

In order to maintain the most detail, most color info, and the least noise; open the raw file in acr - set for 16 bit, prophoto color space, and whichever resolution is native for your camera. Do as much adjusting in acr as you can. Open in ps. do whatever. save as a master psd file. then, first convert color space to adobe 98, then convert from 16 bit to 8 bit, then flatten and save as jpg. If you need to use filters that only work in 8 bit mode, then convert the color before you go to 8 bit.

 

[SMcNeill]

My advice is to manage your raw image as your master file, create a psd build file, then save your final as a tiff. It's not recommended to edit and resave your file over and over as a jpg. The integrity of the file isn't maintained when editing/resaving a jpg because of repeated compression. Jpg's should only be considered as reference files and/or for email purposes.

S. McNeill