Enhancing Images

Saving Images

Images displayed in Nikon Capture can be saved in a variety of file formats. Hints for choosing a suitable file format may be found on the pages that follow.

Choosing a File Type

Nikon Capture 4 supports the following file types when saving images:

File type

Compression

Extension

NEF

Available

.NEF

(Nikon Electronic Format)

 

 

16-bit TIFF (RGB)

Available (LZW)

 

8-bit TIFF (RGB)

.TIF

 

TIFF (CMYK)

Uncompressed

 

JPEG

All images compressed; amount can be selected

.JPG

Nikon Electronic Format (NEF)

Images saved in NEF format maintain the high quality of the original photograph; adjustments to settings are not applied to the original image data, but are instead saved separately in the same file. NEF images can later be opened in Nikon Capture and saved again in a format that can be opened in other applications. As changes to settings are only applied to the original image data when the image is saved in another format, this minimizes any loss of image qual- ity that may be produced when the image is edited. Save images in NEF whenever you are unsure of how they will be used or when you want to process the original image in a number of different ways.

NEF images created in Nikon Capture 4 can only be opened in Nikon Capture 4, or in Adobe Photoshop 6.0 or later using the Nikon NEF filter supplied with this product. Photographs recorded at an image quality setting of uncompressed NEF (RAW) can be compressed when saved in NEF format (compressed RAW images are automatically saved in compressed NEF format, and can not be saved in uncompressed NEF format).

TIFF

Use TIFF when saving images for high-quality output or publishing. Images can be com- pressed using LZW, a “lossless” algorithm that preserves image quality while reducing file size for most images (results vary with the type of subject; note that LZW compression may occasionally result in increased file size). TIFF also preserves the ICC profile and caption infor- mation. This format is supported by a wide variety of applications on a variety of platforms.

JPEG

This file type is adequate for images that will be output at low resolution or distributed in electronic form. Compression allows more images to be saved in the same amount of disk space while preserving the ICC profile and caption information. Note, however, that JPEG compression results in loss of image information that can not afterwards be restored. Save files at the lowest compression ratio possible; if necessary, they can always be saved again at a lower compression ratio.

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Nikon 4 user manual Saving Images, Choosing a File Type, Nikon Electronic Format NEF, File type Compression