PSD vs TIFF

I have recently been playing around in Lightroom and PS2 and am running into a bit of a problem. My current workflow is to edit in Lightroom and then send to PS2 for some final edits. I have noticed though that in PS2 the file is automatically in a PSD format. When I save the file as a TIFF the image becomes darker and slightly more saturated when viewed out of photoshop. Is there a reason for this, and how can I avoid it. Naturally, I want my saved file to look like I see it after edits.

Thanks,
Andy

Andy, do you have a color-managed workflow (i.e. is your monitor calibrated and what color space are you working in?).
Also, what do you mean by "outside of Photoshop"? Which application makes the file look dark?

Guy

Andy,
What are you using to view the tiff outside of PS2? The Tiff file format is one of the harder formats for programs to fully support, especially if it contains layers. So it may be inherent in the rendering from the program you're using. Also, if you're viewing the tiff in a program that doesn't honor color profiles you won't get a good rendition either.

Personally, I use PSD for all of my adjustments and for my master file. Then, I'll save to tiff or jpeg if I need to share the file with someone that doesn't have PS2, for web, etc.

Try saving in PS2 to a non-layered tiff and maybe in sRGB to see if those factors are involved.

the external application is just the windows image and fax viewer. i know its not the best, but on my old computer system i didnt notice any difference between the image in the windows viewer and photoshop.

I do have a color-managed workflow but this is on a new system. i have just recently bought a new computer and new monitor. on my old system i had a 19" lacie crt monitor that i used for all photo work. using the old system i never had lightroom so i never used PSD's and never noticed a difference between PSD and Tiff. On my new system I am using the HP 30" lcd monitor calibrated with a Eye1Display2. On this monitor i notice a difference between Tiffs and PSDs. in photoshop though, both appear to be similar so maybe it is just poor color management of the windows viewer. it is curious though that i didnt notice this problem before.....

thanks for the help,
andy

Andy, is it possible your working color space is different between the 2 systems? If your new system is using something other than sRGB as the Photoshop default workspace (as it should) it's very likely that images will look different in PS vs. applications that are not color-space aware (like the Windows viewer).

Guy

Ah duh! Thanks Guy. I guess it is the simple things that will get you if your not paying attention.

On a seperate note, is it better to just leave all my images as PSD's instead of converting them to Tiffs's? I guess I can print both, and it looks like leaving them as a PSD would hold a bit of an advantage over converting them.

thanks

andy

With layered files, better to always save as PSD.

With flattened files that are sized for print, TIF or PSD is fine.

Make sure your Color Settings have the boxes checked to prompt you before converting working spaces.

I have now set up all my color management settings and I am still getting more saturated colors. The thing that is weird, is that some of my older images that I worked on my old CRT look the same in both Photoshop and the Windows viewer. Additionally, the color is consistent with what I remember from viewing them on my CRT. So its only the newly edited photos on my LCD that seem to have this problem.

Not sure what the problem is, but any insight is appreciated.

Thanks,
andy