File size for bird forum postings (1 Viewer)

janesmith · Mar 9, 2006

When I reduce the file size of my pictures for posting at bird forum, I lose a lot of detail and I notice that other posters keep more pixels - presumably smaller pixels. Could you please tell me how to reduce the file size to 200kb while retaining a large number of pixels.
Thank you,
Jane

rezMole · Mar 9, 2006

I crop the picture first to get the "wanted" part. Then i resize so that it fits into the 800x600 limit. Then i save in the best quality i can, within the 200kb limit.

Using PhotoShop, this is fairly easy.

robski · Mar 10, 2006

Hi Jane

Yes it can be a struggle to get files under the 200Kb barrier. The first thing to twig is to get some idea how compression works. Shots with little detail compress well. If you look at some of the bird shots with a very blurred backgrounds these can be offten as low as 50K. As the level of detail increases so does the file size.

There are two factors you have control over that affect the amount of detail.

1) Some cameras produce more Sensor Noise than others (Choice of camera). The smaller the sensor pixel size the higher the level of noise it will produce. Some of the newer cameras have some noise reduction built in. Higher ISO settings will produce more noise. Using a noise reduction program such as neat image or picture cooler can go a long way to make the shot look smoother and reduce file size.

2) Sharpening will increase both the wanted detail along with noise detail. I notice from your Broad Bean shot considering this was shot at ISO 100 the noise level is quiet high.

RezMole's approach is good for most clean shots but for very noisey shots you may have reduce the quaility to such a low level to get under 200Kb.

janesmith · Mar 10, 2006

rezMole said:
I crop the picture first to get the "wanted" part. Then i resize so that it fits into the 800x600 limit. Then i save in the best quality i can, within the 200kb limit.

Using PhotoShop, this is fairly easy.

Thank you so much. I will try this method.
Jane

janesmith · Mar 10, 2006

robski said:
Hi Jane

Yes it can be a struggle to get files under the 200Kb barrier. The first thing to twig is to get some idea how compression works. Shots with little detail compress well. If you look at some of the bird shots with a very blurred backgrounds these can be offten as low as 50K. As the level of detail increases so does the file size.

There are two factors you have control over that affect the amount of detail.

1) Some cameras produce more Sensor Noise than others (Choice of camera). The smaller the sensor pixel size the higher the level of noise it will produce. Some of the newer cameras have some noise reduction built in. Higher ISO settings will produce more noise. Using a noise reduction program such as neat image or picture cooler can go a long way to make the shot look smoother and reduce file size.

2) Sharpening will increase both the wanted detail along with noise detail. I notice from your Broad Bean shot considering this was shot at ISO 100 the noise level is quiet high.

RezMole's approach is good for most clean shots but for very noisey shots you may have reduce the quaility to such a low level to get under 200Kb.

Yes. I have a lot to learn. Thank you for your help.
Jane

File size for bird forum postings (1 Viewer)

More options

janesmith

Active member

rezMole

Well-known member

robski

Well-known member

janesmith

Active member

janesmith

Active member

Similar threads

Users who are viewing this thread