Stored Image Sizes

[eric black]

I am running out of room on my collection of hard drives again!!! I have searched the forums for guidance, but my tries at various Boolean entries are returing way too many hits that dont seem to answer my question- sorry if this is a revisit to this subject- but...

Im interested in hearing opinions on how much information is needed to be stored as a hard drive file per image, including resolution/file size/storage format etc...

I typically scan my 4x5 color images at 2200 dpi using a Aztek HiResolve 8000 drum scanner. I scan as a 16 bit image with a file size of about 450MB. Processing using layers in Photoshop CS gets me to file sizes of 2-3 GB at times which upon printing test copies and coming up with a final product I condense down by combining layers. Uptimately I typically save a file that can be anywhere from 450 MB at the scanned resolution to approx 900MB if I choose to keep a layer around for futzing with later. My final save is as a TIFF file still in 16 bits. I dont suffer for computer speed, but am currently maxing out my 500 GB disks and would like to revisit my workflow.

My print output is typically sizes up to 40x50 when using canvas media or 28x35 on smooth fine art paper and I typically print at 300 dpi on an Epson 9600. Are there parts of my methodology that any of you see that I can save some disk space- am I saving too much info for these types of images?

Apologies in advance if I screwed up any of the nomenclature here and if I wasnt clear on any point- Ill correct on the fly as anwers hopefully come my way.

[Marko]

Hard drives are cheap these days, much cheaper than the time and effort invested in your work.

The best thing you can do is store your images on external drives and simply buy more as you fill the existing one(s) up. To improve on this and to add a bit of security, it would be best if you kept two physically separate copies in two physically separate places.

[QT Luong]

Your scan file size is about the minimum I'd consider in a "scan once" workflow, in fact I'd go to 600MB.

If you really want to reduce final file size, crop and spot first, then create a smaller image to hold adjustment layers (this also speeds up workflow) and save separately the large image. You rescale the layers to create a print. If that doesn't sound familiar, check http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqWrh7OG5yQ

But indeed storage is less than .5$/GB with redundant backup, so unless your have large quantities, this might not be worth the complication.

[riooso]

How about a dual layer DVD burner which can store 8.5 Gigs? I use one to archive my older scans. I do not know if you own the scanner but if you do then it is possible not to worry about data loss because you can dig up the negative and rescan. Of course if you do not store images on two drives it is only a matter if time that they will be lost anyway when the drive crashes.

Richard Adams

[RDKirk]

Are you saving the original scan, the PSD, and a final TIFF?

Unless you have a client who demands a TIFF, I wouldn't save that. Save the original scan, save the layered PSD (if you think you'd want to play with it later), and save the final as a high-res JPEG.

[chrisbair]

one problem with saving a layered tiff version is that unless you have the LZW or ZIP compression turned on - each layer increases the file size dramatically. A 100MB file with 1 layer is 200MB, two layers: 300MB. These don't even have to be full image layers, even a text or adjustment layer will REALLY bump up the file size. So if you must save as a TIF you will probably want to use the compression. An interesting side note is that if your processor is fast enough it can be faster to save and open a compressed file because the disk would be the bottleneck and a file compressed down from 2GB to 500MB has less to read or write.

Also, a ZIP compressed TIFF with layers will probably have a smaller file size than the same file saved as a PSD. Mostly because the PSD doesn't really do any compression other than a bit of RLE and mostly only in solid areas of white or transparent.

I would also recommend turning off PSD compatibility in the preferences. It saves a flattened version of the image along with the layers. I never open PSD files in anything but Photoshop so the added "expense" of flattening, saving the flat version and then saving the layers is a waste for me.