which format should I ask from photography studio?

[vblanche]

Hello,

basically, we (my little family) went for a photography session at an art photography studio. we bought them some of the photos the photographer made (w/ canon EOS-1Ds mark II) of us. They gave us a CD containing high res photos. These photos appear as jpeg, gif on my pc. is that ok? I thought gif was the worst format for photo. what should I ask for? which format to get the best quality?
Can I ask for raw data?
Photos have been "photoshoped", some have res ~5000 x ~3000, some 3600x3600...

any help here would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
vincent

 

[Big Mike]

These photos appear as jpeg, gif on my pc

Are they Jpeg or are they Gif?

You should expect to get Jpeg image files.

 

[vblanche]

I know, I'm confused. In the title of file, jpg appears. I'll check tonite and re-post.

 

[vblanche]

What would be the best way to know the format? properties in windows? I don't have photoshop or any photo software. thanks

 

[Big Mike]

A JPEG file should end in .jpg
A GIF file should end in .gif

In windows explorer, go to where the images are and click on 'view' in the menu. Choose 'details'.
Under 'Type' it should then give you the file type.

 

[vblanche]

A JPEG file should end in .jpg
A GIF file should end in .gif

In windows explorer, go to where the images are and click on 'view' in the menu. Choose 'details'.
Under 'Type' it should then give you the file type.

thanks, that's what I understood. But from what I can remember is that under type I have gif and in the title .jpg...
I'll check later on and post here. Thanks

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

You want it to be JPEG (.JPG) and NOT GIF.

The title or file name is made up by the person who created or edited the file. Look at the file in Windows Explorer. it will be XXXXXXXX.YYY where the chatacters on the left side of the period (X) are the file name and the 3 (sometimes 4) characters on the right side of the period (Y) represemt the file extension.

The file extension tells you the file format or type of an image.

If the file extension is one thing, and the properties or details of the file are different... Well then, the person who named or edited the photos made an error when naming/editing the files.

Generally, if the file does not have the correct file extension, the file can not be opened.

The following info was taken from the Wikipedia Website and IS accurate.

JPEG/JFIF

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) is a compression method; JPEG-compressed images are usually stored in the JFIF (JPEG File Interchange Format) file format. JPEG compression is (in most cases) lossy compression. The JPEG/JFIF filename extension in DOS is JPG (other operating systems may use JPEG). Nearly every digital camera can save images in the JPEG/JFIF format, which supports 8 bits per color (red, green, blue) for a 24-bit total, producing relatively small files. When not too great, the compression does not noticeably detract from the image's quality, but JPEG files suffer generational degradation when repeatedly edited and saved. Photographic images may be better stored in a lossless non-JPEG format if they will be re-edited, or if small "artifacts" (blemishes caused by the JPEG's compression algorithm) are unacceptable. The JPEG/JFIF format also is used as the image compression algorithm in many Adobe PDF files.


GIF

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is limited to an 8-bit palette, or 256 colors. This makes the GIF format suitable for storing graphics with relatively few colors such as simple diagrams, shapes, logos and cartoon style images. The GIF format supports animation and is still widely used to provide image animation effects. It also uses a lossless compression that is more effective when large areas have a single color, and ineffective for detailed images or dithered images.

​

In short, the GIF format is used for icons,avatars and other images where size and level of detail are not important. If they truly have been converted to GIF. That is bad. Go back to the people who did it and have it fixed.

The answer to your original question: Ask for a LOSSLESS (RAW) file format that you can edit and convert to JPEG on your own. Remember that you'll want the software you are using (Photoshop, Lightromm, Gimp, etc) to be compatible with the specific lossless format you decide on.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

Also, since a GIF is limited to 8-bit and 256 color, the file size will be quite small in relation to a JPEG. So if your pics seem fairly small (less then 1 gb) they are likely GIF's and not JPEGs.

Of Course this will depend greatly on the camera, resolution used, etc...

 

[bigtwinky]

If the OP does not have any photo software, not sure they will be able to do anything with a RAW file other than finding someone else to open and save the file as a JPG. RAWs are often considered as a digital negative. Unless otherwise requested and agreed upon in a contract, a photographer does not give out their RAWs.

If under type it says GIF, its a GIF, regardless of what the title says.

You should request JPG files at max resolution.

If some you get are smaller resolution, it is probably due to them cropping the image down to something they want. If they are giving you GIF images, I would put in question their expertise in handling digital media.

 

[vblanche]

thanks everyone for your help.

So, I just checked: they are gif under type and xxxx.jpg in filename (which does not matter).

I'm quite disappointed for the price I paid to get gif files. I will contact them and ask for lossless files.

Many thanks
vincent

 

[Big Mike]

Ask for a LOSSLESS (RAW) file format that you can edit and convert to JPEG on your own.

Would you turn over RAW files to a client? This has come up before and most photographer's have said that they would not turn over RAW files. I wouldn't expect this one to either.

I will contact them and ask for lossless files.

Just ask for full resolution JPEG files.

It sounds like they might have just accidentally picked the wrong file type when saving the images for you.

 

[KmH]

Also, since a GIF is limited to 8-bit and 256 color, the file size will be quite small in relation to a JPEG. So if your pics seem fairly small (less then 1 gb) they are likely GIF's and not JPEGs.

Of Course this will depend greatly on the camera, resolution used, etc...

Uh,,,,,JPEGs are also limited to an 8 bit color depth. If a JPEG has been cropped the file could easily wind up being less than 1 GB.

Edit: My bad, I mean 1 MB.

 

[musicaleCA]

Also, since a GIF is limited to 8-bit and 256 color, the file size will be quite small in relation to a JPEG. So if your pics seem fairly small (less then 1 gb) they are likely GIF's and not JPEGs.

Of Course this will depend greatly on the camera, resolution used, etc...

Uh,,,,,JPEGs are also limited to an 8 bit color depth. If a JPEG has been cropped the file could easily wind up being less than 1 GB.

Er...if the original RAW file were left untouched it would easily be under 1GB. So would an uncompressed TIFF unless we're talking medium-format, 50MP cameras. I'm confuzzled.

And for goodness sake don't ask for RAW files. Any self-respecting photographer will think you're just being downright rude. At most, you could ask for TIFF files, which are loss-less, but only if that was agreed to in your contract. I don't know any working photographer that would hand-over files to a consumer client so that that consumer could edit the images themselves. That's generally reserved for commercial clients with their own in-house editors/designers.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

Big_Mike... My bad... I didn't read well enough. I though vblanche was the original artist and the place doing the processing was giving GIF images.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

KmH... Yes JPEG is also limited... but to 8-bits per color (RGB). So it is actually a 24-bit format...

What I was getting at, is that JPEG is a better compression than GIF for photos.

Sorry to be unclear.