Saving Tiff files

[MrIconoclast]

I have large number of photos I am saving in the Tiff format. They are two to three times the size of the RAW file.

Is there a way to reduce the size of the TIFF files but not lose any image quality?

thanks.

[PeterAit]

Saving TIFF from what program?

[Jack Hogan]

If you are a Nikon man, you may want to try Capture NX2.  It holds everything (including the original raw data, subsequent global and local adjustments, plus a final Jpeg) in a neat tight package called a NEF.  Entropy.

Jack

[aduke]

I have large number of photos I am saving in the Tiff format. They are two to three times the size of the RAW file.

Is there a way to reduce the size of the TIFF files but not lose any image quality?

thanks.

Yes there is, save the TIFF's with a zip-compression, which is lossless.  Your raw file is n-MegaPixels of, at most, 16 bits. The tiff file is n-MegaPixels of, at least, 24 bits, and probably should be saved as 48-bit pixels, so the tiff will be larger than the raw without compression.

Alan

[MrIconoclast]

I am using PS6.  I save with no compression at the moment, but I am wondering if the LZW compression will help.  But, I do not want to lose image quality. 
Maybe I should buy a larger hard drive. :-)

[aduke]

A Google search on LZW produced the answer, it is non-destructive.

Alan

[Schewe]

If you are using 16-bit, you'll want to use zip compression as LZW can actually end up producing larger files compressed than uncompressed...

[craigwashburn]

It used to be that LZW was better supported than zip in other programs, so I tend to default to LZW except for 16 bit.