Home » Photoshop Basics » 02 - Get to know Photoshop CS
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Common Color Modes and File Types
A color mode determines the way that Photoshop will process an image. In Photoshop you can choose different color modes for different tasks. Similarly when you save a file you can choose from different file formats for the image.
Common Color Modes determines the way Photoshop will process an image. Each color mode has a different channel configuration. To change the color mode choose Image > Mode.
- Grayscale - For Black and White and duotone images.
- RGB (Red, Green, Blue) - Best working mode for most color images. Used for online and multimedia work.
- CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black) - Best for offset printing.
- LAB (Luminosity A and B channels) - For performing image correction.
To save files choose the best format available.
- TIFF (Tagged image format) - For printing and saving a flattened image without any loss of quality.
- EPS (Encapsulated postscript) - To include a clipping path on the image or when printing to a PostScript printer.
- PSD (Photoshop Document) - Native working format for Photoshop. For all working files. Saves all the layers channels, notes and color profiles.
- GIF (Graphical Interchange Format) - Best for image with repeating patterns or are cartoon like and saving images to the Web. Supports transparency and animation
- JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) - Most popular format for images on the web. Reduces the quality of images and the size of the file.
- PNG (Portable Network Graphics) - Lossless format for the web. File sizes are larger than JPG or GIF.
