Exploring Different File Types in Photoshop: How to Open Files

In this video, we will begin examining different types of files that Photoshop is able to open. Let’s start by discussing how to open files in Photoshop.

There are a couple of ways to do so. The first, and probably most common, way to open a file is by navigating to the top of the screen. Under the Menu Bar, we will select File, Open. Here, we can navigate to the C drive where we have unzipped our DAC 221 file.

Opening that folder, we will see that we have various files, as well as the Lesson 1 file type. Here, we can see that we have four different gradient files, each with a different file type. Let’s start by clicking on the gradient.jpg file and click Open.

Here, we can see that the file has been opened. As we can observe, gradient.jpg is displayed here. Let’s close this file, as I will show you another way to open files.

We can close it by clicking the X on the right-hand side of the tab. The next way that I will show you to open files involves the File Explorer. With our File Explorer open, we can again navigate to the C drive, the DAC 221 folder, and we will open the Lesson 1 file types again.

Here, we have all four gradient files. To select all, I can drag a box selecting all four gradient files. With these files selected, I can drag them into the Photoshop interface, where they will be opened.

Let’s close our File Explorer, and we can see along the top that we have four tabs, each with a gradient file open. With the gradient.jpg file active, let’s discuss what makes up this file. First, let’s zoom in by selecting the Zoom Tool from the Tools panel.

We can then click on the image to zoom in. Additionally, if we click and hold, the image will zoom continuously until we release. Let’s zoom a little bit closer until we begin to see the small squares that make up the image.

These small squares are called pixels. Raster images are composed of individual pixels that together form the entire image. For example, a photo taken with a camera is a raster image composed of thousands or millions of pixels that ultimately produce the photograph.

As we can see, this JPEG is an example of a raster image. Let’s zoom back out now by either selecting the Zoom Out icon in the Options Bar or by pressing CTRL + MINUS (–) on the keyboard. Additionally, in the Zoom options, we can click Fit Screen to fit the image to our window, or choose Fill Screen to fit the image from top to bottom.

Let’s zoom back out to Fit Screen. Zoomed out, let’s discuss image file types. There are a few different types of raster images, and you may already be familiar with some of them.

The first and most common is called a JPEG, written either as.jpg or.jpeg. Both formats are synonymous. The JPEG is widely used because it is a compressed image format and often results in a relatively small file size, making it convenient for computer storage.

While you can control the number of pixels in a JPEG for image resolution, compression may reduce clarity and cause the image to appear pixelated, as seen here. While a JPEG may work for small on-screen images or file size constraints, I certainly would not want to print this version on paper.

Next, let’s navigate to our tabbed files and discuss the PNG file. The first thing you may notice is that, unlike the JPEG, there is a checkerboard background beneath the gradient. Let’s zoom in further by either using the Zoom Tool or pressing CTRL + PLUS (+) on your keyboard.

This checkerboard background indicates transparency. Unlike JPEGs, PNGs support transparency. Therefore, PNGs are ideal when you need an image with a transparent background such as a logo, a border, or an image to layer over another.

One downside to PNG files is that they are often larger in size and take up more storage space on your computer.

Next, we will navigate to our gradient.gif file. There is currently a lot of debate about whether it is pronounced “gif” with a soft ‘g’ or “gif” with a hard ‘g, ’ so I will use both pronunciations. The GIF format is excellent for saving space.

It uses a limited color palette compared to JPEGs, which can display millions of colors. In addition, GIFs can also be animated, which has contributed to their increasing popularity online in recent years. However, as we zoom in using CTRL + PLUS (+), we can see that this file has again lost definition.

Finally, let’s discuss the TIFF file. TIFF files are uncompressed, and as a result, they can be significantly larger than JPEGs of the same dimensions. This format is ideal when you want to preserve maximum image detail and file size is not a concern.

High-quality printing and proofing processes often benefit from using TIFF files. As you can see, the detail in this image is significantly better than in the other images we’ve discussed.

Moving on, let us discuss one last type of file found in our dataset. We will navigate to File, Open, and go back to the DAC 221 folder. Here, we can open the DAC221sky.arw file and click Open.

This file is a raw image file, meaning there has been minimal processing by the camera sensor that captured it. While this gives Photoshop more control in editing the file, as shown by the dialog box, it also means the file contains more editable information.

Additionally, raw camera files are much larger than JPEGs because they are minimally processed. This specific.arw file extension indicates a Sony raw file, but depending on the camera or settings, there are about a dozen different raw file types.

Let’s be done with this image for now. In summary, Photoshop supports many different raster file types composed of pixels. Depending on how you intend to use an image, that will help determine which file type is best suited to your needs.

In the next video, we will be discussing basic tools and shapes. I will see you there.