Photo Resizing and Crunching and Munching

[OhThatGirl2001]

Help! I have a wonderful photo I wanted to post the the Photo Art Watercolor area. The original image file size was massive. I used my new Nikon 5 mega pixel camera on this image and after adding a few filters and effects... the image was a whopping 7,200 KB (and yes, it was a jpeg)!

Each time I tried to resize the photo - I had challenges making the image visible enough for people to see the details. I mean, when you resize the photo by 50% it's still enormous. Then resize it to 25% and it's still too big. In the end, I was left with a really small photo with very little detail.

There must be a way to resize the photo without losing everything.

BTW - I reduced the resolution to 72 dpi and still it was too large. I find the resizing of an image a real challenge.

Any words of wisdom or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Lisa

[Doug Nelson]

Try using the PS "Save for web". Use jpg, and try different compressions. Use the 2-up compare window to show any differences in your original and what the final will look like. The biggest change will come from changing the physical dimensions. Save for web will also let you experiment with that.

Running a denoise filter such as Neatimage or Grain Surgery will also vastly decrease the size of your jpg.

[rondon]

I'm sure you will quickly get some good answers on the resolution / image size problem.

but I wanted to add something that seems a bit off ... but seems to work very well afterwards.

well hopefully... if you have Paintshop pro as well... as photoshop ... but this may work with other software as well.

first with photoshop I use "save for web" at the highest quality " 100% ) .... then open it again in Paintshop ... and save it again just adding a letter to the name or such.. to compare.

the file size shrinks to less than a third..... and although I'm sure this wouldn't stand up to professional work ... I can't see the difference.
To make sure it was really worked I just ran a trial.....

on the attached photo... the eye on the left came from a 2.35mb file... that on the right 673kb... then I saved it again without web optimization as jpg. highest quality on ps7 (12 )

anyhow have found this is good for using the internet to send photos around.
hope that helps.

ps.... nice to see you winking

[DannyRaphael]

Ditto what Doug said...

I downsize image to 72 ppi first...then File/Save for WEB. You can tweek final size with the 'compression quality' dropdown. (Not labeled as such in 5.5; maybe it is in newer versions.)

Works peachy keen.

[Doug Nelson]

Ron:

I'd be interested if PSP offers a 100% quality jpg option.

Do an experiment for me. Open your jpg again in PSP, save again as jpg copy using the steps you recommended. Close it. Open the copy, save again as jpg copy, close, repeat.

Does the size continue decreasing or stay the same?

I suspect all you're really doing is increasing the compression, which can be done in either program without bothering with the other one. You can get away with some pretty monumental compression for web presentation (of course it depends on the original image).

The point of my little experiment is that jpg has a lossy compression scheme, but it doesn't require loss. Loss is simply one of many compression algorhythms jpg uses, and can be turned off (ie: Quality 100%).

[OhThatGirl2001]

Thank you! I knew I would get some great answers. It did the trick. I guess I am still stuck in the "higher" the quality the better. I used Doug's method however - can you believe it, I know and do exactly what rondon was suggesting. As a matter of fact, I generally use PSP to resize. I'll test the experiment out Doug and let you know the results. In the meantime, I'm gonna post my photo art resized!

Cheers,
Lisa

[Ed_L]

Lisa,

Take a look at the new thread I just made on file size/resolution .

Ed

[rondon]

ok... think I have what you mean doug.. and really thought I had the option set at zero or 1 as it turns out...

but it was at 15% (of 100%)

I ran it 3 times after I had set it at 1 and file size only dimished slightly !

so I guess the answer is just to save it at 70% or so with "save for web "... using photo shop..

so If you want all I wrote seems to be meaningless... and prehaps confusing to readers ... shall I delete my postings ?

[Doug Nelson]

Not meaningless. It's all educational.

[rondon]

well ... guess that explains a lot...

somehow I thought "save for web" had more to do with setting colors right for the web...

was always annoyed that it also changed the print size.

I usually send something for another to print at 150ppi and a 72ppi to view.

so what is the one step method for sending at 150ppi (for instance) .

sorry if I've missed it somewhere

[Doug Nelson]

Two steps:

1. resize to 150ppi
2. save as copy

Optional steps (but still important)

USM before saving (really the best time to use it)
Clicking "Don't Save" to preserve your original

[rondon]

USM

[Ed_L]

Unsharp mask.

Ed

[rondon]

thanks ed... now that you told me what it was I remember reading it in a forum on here somewhere.... and stick to it ...
does make a difference for sure... in fact I also use it much less.

[jeaniesa]

I was searching through the lnks database right here on RetouchPro and came across the following tutorial on "Saving for the web":

http://www.myjanee.com/tuts/save/saveweb.htm

Just thought I'd add it to the discussion.

Jeanie