Zip compression should not harm the file but unless it is your intention to bundle many files into one, I would not chose it over using an internal graphics compression scheme.
Your TIFFs may already be compressed internal, using LZW or Packbits. If so, zipping them will not reduce the file size and may even increase it. LZW is an internal standard for TIFF files. Both schemes are lossless. I use LZW routinely and never have a problem. I just did a quick test on a very large, uncompressed TIFF. Zip compression was only slightly more compact than using internal LZW compression: A 105MB uncompressed TIFF compressed to 56MB with LZW and 52MB with Zip. Other more aggressive strategies would be to convert to PNG or JPEG-2000 lossless. Both use internal “lossless” compression, though some question whether PNG is truly 100% lossless. PNG is widely recognized now, but JPEG-2000 is rapidly become an archival standard. JPEG-2000 (entirely different from plain JPEG by the way) is NOT universally recognized by graphics software. My PNG test compressed to 52MB, the same size as the Zip file. The JPEG-2000 “lossless” was 38MB. > On Mar 10, 2017, at 11:02 AM, Elizabeth Chiang <echi...@eastman.org> wrote: > > Hi there, > > Does your institution compress master TIFF files? I am particularly curious > about zip compression - have you used that and if so, are there any > downsides? > > Thank you, > Elizabeth > > -- > > > *Elizabeth Chiang* > > Photographer > > George Eastman Museum > > 900 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607 > > > E: echi...@eastman.org > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l@mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/mcn-l@mcn.edu/ _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l@mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://mcn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://www.mail-archive.com/mcn-l@mcn.edu/
