Exporting Digital Art for Editing

[CherylJones]

Hi! I've been having to transfer my art between two computers, from one which has my drawing program to the other which has my editing program. So I wonder if it is better to use png or Tiff (or would either be fine) for flattening and saving my art to transfer it to the computer which has Photoshop for editing. Thanks!

[PenguinPower]

Adobe does a great job explaining the differences - https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/file-types/image/comparison/tiff-vs-png.html

[CherylJones]

Thank you. Great article but I'm wondering if the quality between png or tiff would make a difference. I'm leaning toward png just to keep it simple, and to use tiff just for scanning. Thoughts? : )

[Barbara]

I work with and save everything as a PSD (essentially, a TIFF format). When I'm totally done with a file, I back it up to my external drive and delete it from my internal drive along with any PNG or JPG files produced for Zazzle. Is this the official way of doing things? I've no idea, but it gives me confidence that, in the future, I'll be able to work with the real deal if necessary.

Colorwash's Home

[CherylJones]

Thank you, Barbara! You got me considering saving as a Tiff now before editing to capture all the colors vibrantly. But I think I can also save as a psd, although I don't know if that would work with transparent images.

[CherylJones]

To add to my confusion, I just read an article about my drawing program that says RGB works best with jpg, png, and psd, while CMYK works best with pdf or tif files. I don't know if this refers only to my drawing program or not. : )

[Barbara]

Cheryl, I suspect you're doing too much research! LOL

I checked one of your stores to see what kind of work you're doing. It's graphics, and for that, you need not worry so much about the print end of things, which is where CMYK comes in, and where we don't want to see orange or purple faces. PSD format works admirably with transparency.

When it comes to flattened images, I use PNG unless it's a Godzilla-sized file, in which case, I save as a JPG with the least amount of compression.

You're driving yourself nuts. Choose a way that suits you, and make sure to save a copy of the original for the inevitable day you desperately need it.

[CherylJones]

Thank you sweet Barbara! You are probably right about me doing too much research LOL! I do drive myself nuts with it to the point of not creating because of it. Thank you sooo much for your great advice as always! I really appreciate you taking the time to help so often. : )

[Connie · Accepted solution]

When exporting from Procreate to Google Drive to download my design to my computer for further editing in Photoshop, I use PSD, so that I can keep all the layers. If I don't need the layers, I use PNG to save space.

[CherylJones]

Thank you so much, Connie. That is REALLY helpful. I wish I didn't have to go between two computers but that is the case for now. : )