JPG, PNG, or TIFF? Scanned photos image format.

[Flying_Pencil]

JPG is NOT a good photo format. It is "lossy", that is image data (image detail/resolution) is discarded to make smaller file size. For airplane (and similar categories) this is an unacceptable format.

TIFF is usually the standard for scanning photos, as it is "Loss-less" and can be opened by most platforms, however:
1. image file is HUGE
2. there are a few "Flavors" of format, which can cause problem opening it up with different software.

PNG is a Lossless format that is smaller and universal. File size is manageable, the only downside is it was designed for computer created images, not scanned images.
The issue is the "color scheme" (RGB or CNY) is not the same, so it is possible a print of a scan may not have the same colors.
If working with "Greyscale" (B&W, which is not really B&W, or Sepia images), monotone / monochrome images, I do not think is an issue, but not 100% sure.


My question is what do you prefer, why, experience, etc.


On a side,
GIF format may be an excellent alternative for monochrome images!
It offers 256 shades, which is just enough to preserve detail but have incredibly small file size.
But I would suggest only for posting only, not storage.

[Brenden S]

TIFF for scanned images, edit and then export as a JPG/JPEG to maintain a smaller image.

[Archer]

Same for me, scan as TIFF and then export as JPG when I want to use them anywhere. Both PNG and GIF use a limited colour palette and as you mentioned, are ideally suited to digital drawings. For archiving purposes I would not use these formats, just TIFF.