Baseline standard or optimized??

[ChristopherP]

I have searched and can only find comments with regards to how these two options relate to web browsers and posting images on web sites....much like what you read in the Adobe Help file. But what about for personal viewing on the computer?

Which option provides the best quality and least degradation when saving a JPEG in CS2? Baseline standard or baseline optimized? I select a maximum image quality of 12 but am never quite sure which format option to choose.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Kent C]

I have searched and can only find comments with regards to how
these two options relate to web browsers and posting images on web
sites....much like what you read in the Adobe Help file. But what
about for personal viewing on the computer?

Which option provides the best quality and least degradation when
saving a JPEG in CS2? Baseline standard or baseline optimized? I
select a maximum image quality of 12 but am never quite sure which
format option to choose.

http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/gelardin/guides/photoshop_basics/photoshopbasics1 (new).htm
scroll to “about jpeg format”

I'll just quote it:

"You can also select a format option for the JPEG file. Select Baseline (“Standard”) to use a format recognizable to most Web browsers. The Baseline Optimized format optimizes the color quality of the image and can produce a slightly smaller file size, but is not supported by all Web browsers. The Progressive format causes the image to display gradually as it is downloaded. However, progressive JPEG images files are slightly larger in size, require more RAM for viewing, and are not supported by all applications and Web browsers.."

As someone pointed out to me not long ago - Baseline Optimized is compatible with almost all current browsers so there's no reason not to use it.

--
Kent

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[ChristopherP]

Thanks, but I'm already aware of how these relate to web browsers. My question is which is best for archiving your photos and viewing them on the computer. Which setting will produce the best quality with the least amount of degradation.

 

[Peano]

Have you tried a Google search? I did, and immediately an answer to your question. Invest 30 seconds and you'll see.
--
~ Peano

 

[poind]

Well, I myself couldn't find a definitive answer with several minutes of web searching and a review of Martin Evening's Photoshop book, etc.

I use baseline standard. Forget what I read where once upon a time that led me to do it. I believe there should be no noticeable difference with optimized, other than optimized should be slightly smaller and more efficient with colors.

I don't believe most can detect any difference in quality from 10 to 12, though file size goes up a lot above 10.

I usually don't worry too much about such things as all masters I have are 16-bit ProPhoto RGB TIFFs, and I create JPEGs of various size and quality (and convert to sRGB) as needed from them. If I want a high-quality JPEG for transport or something to show someone, I use baseline standard, quality 12.

Dunno if that's a method to follow or not.

 

[ChristopherP]

I too did a Google search before posing the question to this forum and did not find an adequate answer either. Nonetheless, I have been saving JPEGs as quality 12, baseline optimized. I'm beginning to think there's little noticable difference between standard and optimized, especially when saving at quality 10 or higher.

 

[Kent C]

Thanks, but I'm already aware of how these relate to web browsers.
My question is which is best for archiving your photos and viewing
them on the computer. Which setting will produce the best quality
with the least amount of degradation.

I think the part in the quote where it says that baseline optimized:

"optimizes the color quality of the image..."

... would have been the operative phrase. I've read the math on it a long time ago and didn't save out the link. Sorry.
--
Kent

http://www.pbase.com/kentc
For prior discussions on most questions:
http://porg.4t.com/KentC.html
or d/l 'archives' at:
http://www.atncentral.com

 

[dezinerd]

Hi,Christopher Was reading the manual for Canvas 9 this week it says;

"Optimized-This option can help produce smaller file sizes. When Optimized is selected, some of the least important color information is discarded to produce more efficient compression".

So you would be giving the sofware permission to throw color info away when you check that box.
--
deziner-d