PS Lesson 12 — Exporting

Photoshop · Lesson 12 — Finale

Your Edit Is Done.
Don't Blow the Finish.

You spent an hour perfecting your edit. The last mile — exporting — is the step most photographers get wrong. Format, color space, quality: each one matters.

📁

Format

PSD, TIFF, JPEG, PNG — each has a specific job. Wrong format = lost quality or lost layers.

🎨

Color Space

sRGB vs Adobe RGB. The wrong choice makes vivid colors look dull and flat on screen.

⚖️

Quality

JPEG 100 vs 80 — the file-size difference is huge. The visible quality difference is almost nothing.

🏁 This is Lesson 12 — the final piece of the Photoshop Foundation Series. Let's close it out right.

Critical Concept

Save vs. Export

💾

Save (Ctrl/Cmd+S)

Saves your working PSD with all layers, Smart Objects, masks, and adjustment layers intact. Your master file. Your safety net. Do this constantly.

≠

📤

Export

Creates a new output file — JPEG, PNG, or TIFF — for delivery. Your working PSD is left completely untouched. Export is the copy you share. Not your original.

🚨

NEVER go File → Save As → JPEG

Photoshop will flatten all your layers, compress them, and overwrite your file. Every layer, mask, and Smart Object you built — gone. Always use Export to create a JPEG. This is the single most destructive mistake in Photoshop.

⚠️ The rule: Save your PSD constantly while you work. Export when you need a deliverable. Two completely separate operations.

Reference

Four Formats — Four Jobs

PSD

Working File

All layers, Smart Objects, masks fully preserved. Your master. Never deliver this — archive it forever.

TIFF

Lossless Print

Zero quality loss. The gold standard for print labs and archival output. Can optionally retain layers. Larger files than JPEG.

JPEG

Share & Web

Lossy compression for small file sizes. Universal compatibility. Use for web, email, social, client galleries. No layers.

PNG

Transparency

Lossless with alpha channel support. Ideal for web graphics, logos, and anything needing a transparent background.

🧠 The decision tree: Print lab → TIFF · Web/email/social → JPEG · Transparent background → PNG · Working file → PSD

Workflow

Export As — The Modern Method

1

File → Export → Export As

Opens the modern Export As dialog. Shortcut: Alt+Shift+Ctrl+W (Mac: Option+Shift+Cmd+W). Clean, focused interface — worth memorizing.

2

Choose Format and Quality

Select JPEG, PNG, GIF, or SVG from the Format dropdown. For JPEG, set quality in the right panel — 80–85% is the photographer's sweet spot.

3

Set Output Dimensions

Enter a width or height to resize on export without touching your original. 2048px wide for social, 1920px for general web, full resolution for print.

4

Check the File Size Preview — Then Export

The bottom of the dialog shows estimated file size at your current settings. Adjust quality or dimensions, then click Export All.

✅ Recommended default: JPEG · Quality 82% · sRGB · 2048px long edge — visually identical to quality 100 at roughly half the file size.

Also Know This

Save for Web (Legacy)

🔢

Side-by-Side Preview

The classic 2-up or 4-up view shows original alongside compressed versions. Compare JPEG 80 vs JPEG 60 pixel-for-pixel. Great for evaluating compression artifacts.

🎛️

More Format Options

GIF animation controls, granular PNG-8 palette management, and SVG export options not available in Export As. Web designers often still prefer this dialog.

📊

Export As vs Save for Web — When to Use Which

For most photo exports (JPEG for web, PNG for transparency) use Export As — it's faster and cleaner. Reach for Save for Web (shortcut: Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S) when you want the side-by-side comparison view, when exporting GIF animations, or when doing granular PNG-8 palette work. Same output quality either way — it's about the workflow.

💡 For photographers: Export As is your primary tool. Save for Web is your backup when the comparison view would help you make a judgment call.

Quality vs. File Size

JPEG Quality — The Real Numbers

100%

Maximum quality — enormous files, no visible benefit

85%

Visually indistinguishable from 100%

80%

Sweet spot — roughly half the size of 100%

60%

Compression artifacts starting to appear

40%

Blocky artifacts clearly visible

20%

Severe degradation — avoid entirely

🎯 Use 80–85% for web, email, social, and client galleries. Only go higher if a client specifically requests uncompressed delivery.

Output Control

Resizing for Export

🖥️

Screen Output

Pixel dimensions are what matters — not PPI. 2048px wide is a solid general-purpose web size. 1080px for standard social media. The PPI metadata number is irrelevant for screens.

🖨️

Print Output

Target 300 PPI at the final print size. A 24MP camera produces roughly a 20×13 inch print at 300 PPI. Do the math: 6000px ÷ 300 = 20 inches.

⬆

Upsizing — Preserve Details 2.0

Image → Image Size → Resample → Preserve Details 2.0. Adobe's AI upscaling — significantly sharper than Bicubic. Use when a print lab needs more pixels than you have.

⬇

Downsizing — Bicubic Sharper

When reducing image size: Resample → Bicubic Sharper (reduction). Applies a subtle sharpening pass as it downsamples, compensating for the softening that occurs when reducing pixel counts.

💡 Never upsize for screen — screens cap at their native resolution. Upsizing only matters for print output where pixel count determines sharpness at size.

Critical Setting

Color Space:
sRGB vs Adobe RGB

🌐

sRGB

The language of the internet. Every browser, social platform, email client, and consumer device speaks sRGB. When in doubt — use sRGB. 99% of digital destinations expect it.

🖨️

Adobe RGB

Wider gamut — captures more saturated greens and cyans that professional printers can reproduce. Use only for print labs that specifically request it. Never use for web or social.

🔄

Converting — Edit → Convert to Profile

Working file in Adobe RGB and need an sRGB export? Edit → Convert to Profile → sRGB IEC61966-2.1. Use Relative Colorimetric rendering intent with Black Point Compensation checked. Always convert — never just assign — when changing color profiles.

⚠️ Editing in Adobe RGB and uploading without converting = colors appear dull, flat, and slightly greenish in every browser. Always export sRGB for anything digital.

Final Touch

Output Sharpening

🔍

Why Your Edit Needs a Separate Sharpening Pass

When you sharpen during editing you're at full resolution. Downsizing for web or print scales that sharpening differently than expected — resampling subtly softens fine detail. Output sharpening is a final pass applied after resizing, tuned for the specific output medium.

A

Screen — Smart Sharpen

After resizing to output dimensions: Filter → Sharpen → Smart Sharpen. Amount: 80–100%. Radius: 0.5–0.8px. Remove: Lens Blur. Tightens edges at the final pixel size without halos.

B

Print — Camera Raw Filter Detail Panel

For print output: Camera Raw Filter → Detail. Amount 60–100%, Radius 1.0–1.5px. Print needs more aggressive sharpening — ink on paper is inherently softer than backlit pixels.

C

Always Evaluate at 100% Zoom (Ctrl/Cmd+1)

Sharpening that looks right at fit-to-screen will be over-sharpened at actual size. 100% is the only honest view for sharpness evaluation.

✨ Lightroom's export dialog includes dedicated Output Sharpening (Screen/Matte/Glossy). For batch exports from Lightroom, use that — it's fast and well-tuned.

Comparison

Lightroom Export vs
Photoshop Export

📚

Lightroom Export

Best for: batch exports
✓ Export presets — one click, saved settings
✓ Batch export entire catalog selections
✓ Watermarking built in
✓ Output sharpening with media presets
✓ Token-based file renaming on export
✓ Publish Services to SmugMug, Flickr

🖥️

Photoshop Export

Best for: specific finished files
✓ Precise format, quality, and crop control
✓ Export individual layers or artboards
✓ PNG with true transparency
✓ TIFF with layers optionally preserved
✓ Complex composites as single files
✓ Web-optimized GIF and SVG formats

🎯 Shot 200 photos? Export from Lightroom with a preset. Built a single composite in Photoshop? Export from Photoshop. Use both — they complement each other.

Your Workflow

The Export Checklist

Run through this before every export. Click each item as you complete it.

Save your layered PSD first (Ctrl/Cmd+S)

Choose the right format — JPEG for web, TIFF for print, PNG for transparency

Set color space to sRGB (for any digital destination)

Set JPEG quality to 80–85% (not 100%)

Set output pixel dimensions — 2048px wide for web/social

Apply output sharpening after resizing (check at 100% zoom)

Use File → Export → Export As (NOT File → Save As → JPEG)

Lesson 12 Recap

Three Rules. Every Export.

1

Save PSD First

Your PSD is the master. Export creates a copy. Never let the copy replace the master. Save constantly while you work.

2

sRGB for Everything Online

Every digital export — web, social, email, client gallery — should be sRGB. Convert via Edit → Convert to Profile if needed.

3

JPEG 80–85% Sweet Spot

Visually identical to quality 100 at normal viewing sizes — at roughly half the file size. This is the correct default for all web exports.

📋 Format → Color Space → Quality → Dimensions → Sharpening → Export As. In that order, every time. Twenty seconds once you know it.

Foundation Series Complete

You Did It. All 12.

🎉

Photoshop Foundation Series — PS-01 through PS-12

The Foundation Is Built.
The Real Power Begins Now.

You've covered how Photoshop thinks, how layers and blending modes work, how to select and mask with precision, how to edit non-destructively with adjustment layers and Smart Objects, how to retouch with the Brush tool, how to color grade with Camera Raw Filter, and now how to get your finished work into the world correctly. You didn't just learn features — you learned how to think in Photoshop.

PS-01 How PS Thinks PS-02 Layers PS-03 Blending Modes PS-04 Selections PS-05 Masking PS-06 Adjustment Layers PS-07 Smart Objects PS-08 Camera Raw Filter PS-09 Brush Tool PS-10 Retouching PS-11 Color Grading PS-12 Exporting ✓

🏆 Everything from here builds on this foundation. Compositing, sky replacement, advanced retouching, automation — it all starts from what you just learned.