Preview tiff distortion

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Level 1

5 points

Preview tiff distortion

Am having a problem with Preview. I process large size film scans in tiff format in Aperture. When I export these images and view them in Preview they appear distorted (huge snowy grain/noise distortion). I have figured out that this is a scaling problem specific to Preview--the distortion goes away if I zoom in to 100%. I am relieved that the data of these files is fine--it seems only to be a rendering issue. But this is still problematic, as these images are often larger than three feet wide at native resolution, so I frequently need to view them smaller than 100%. They display fine in Aperture and Photoshop, but I need to be able to open them for simple viewing purposes without using one of these behemoth applications. Only tiff files are affected, by the way. jpegs display fine. Anyone else have this issue? A solution?

Macbook Pro Core 2, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jun 5, 2010 3:10 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 5, 2010 10:34 PM in response to Kent Corbin

You could report it to the Apple feedback page as a bug. Have you tried this with Snow Leopard? Perhaps it has been fixed there.

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Answer 2

K Shaffer

Level 7

34,966 points

Jun 5, 2010 11:48 PM in response to Kent Corbin

Elsewhere, over the past few years, I have read of a similar situation to
the one you mention regarding the distortion in larger image file types.
Not sure if there is a cure in the newest OS X version.

You may be able to use a freeware or low cost image editing software
to view images and do secondary minor adjustments for other projects.
Have you looked into the fairly nice (esp to those who don't need to own
or use photoshop and other advanced tools all the time) more simple app
by the name of ToyViewer? It may offer a few options outside of Preview's.

• ToyViewer for Mac OS X:
http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~ogihara/software/OSX/toyv-eng.html

While this does not answer your initial question, it may provide another tool;
such as GraphicConverter has a niche place among other purpose tools.
And it also does some things without the bulk of a larger app, too.

• GraphicConverter:
http://www.lemkesoft.com/

The issue you face with Aperture may be one to address to Apple bug reports;
though it is likely to have been reported. It previously was discussed online. If
there is a lesser preview-capable tool that could do some aspect of the task &
not add more effort into the process, that would be a good thing.

Some digital image creators who make and edit their work, can do fine with an
even lighter software set, and create significant works of large file size in high
quality. Even something as comparatively simple as Color-IT® can do miracles.

Hopefully the issues will have a reasonably fine resolution.
Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

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