Adobe Photoshop (1 Viewer)

Hello Folks,
I am a new member today...I tried to reduce the file size of a photo to upload to the site, it was about 850k but i could not get it below 200k to upload. I managed to get a 350k one down to size ok. I am using Adobe Photoshop 5.0 , it is a bit more tricky than other types of software. The problem is me, i am not used to it yet. I use a 4MP Olympus 750uz and some of the SHQ files are 1.8 MB , will Adobe 5.0 crank a file size down that far...Roy.

I'm not familiar with version 5 but if it's got 'save for web' as later versions have then this will do the job for you with the file size 'on-screen' for you to monitor.

'save for web' will be under 'File' - the next one down from 'save as'

Hi Roy,

A very warm welcome to birdforum from all the staff here, we hope you enjoy the site.
As Adey says, use the 'save as' feature...save as a jpeg and you shoul'd be given jpeg compression options (remember to save in a different folder to the original or rename the image to something other than the original, otherwise you'll overwrite the precious original). Before you do this, you need to resize the image to something like 640x480 pixels, or maybe 800x600.
Regards,
Andy

Hi Roy
I'm assuming that you're using Photoshop 5 LE (which comes with alot of digital cameras). If this is correct follow these steps to create a smaller copy of your image for displaying on the web.

Open the original image that you downloaded from your digital camera.

On the menu at the top select Image, then select Duplicate from the dropdown list. (This creates a copy of your image and avoids any risk of overwriting your original). Now close the original image, you are now safe to play around with the copy without risk.

If you want to try and improve sharpness, try selecting the area you want to sharpen with the lasso tool (second from top on left in the tool pallete). Then select Filter then Sharpen then Unsharp Mask. Try a setting between 50-100%, Radius between 0.6 and 1.0 and Threshold 0. This will apply sharpening to the area you've selected with the lasso. you can apply sharpening more than once but be careful not to overdo it (there is only a single step undo in PS5).

When you're happy with the image, select Image then Image size
Depending on the image, set the longest dimension to between 500 and 800 pixels depending on how large you want the image to be. As you change the image pixel dimensions the file size will also change to tell you how large the image will be, be aware that this is telling you the uncompressed size of the image, when you save as a jpeg it will be alot smaller so the pixel dimensions of the image are a much better guide.

Now you have your image resized and ready to save for the web (you could give it a slight unsharp masking after resizing). Select File then Save As. Select where you want to save the image and ensure JPEG is selected as the Save As option and change the title of the image if necessary (you'll get a warning if you're going to overwrite a file with the same name), next you will get the JPEG Optimisation dialog where you have to select how much compression to apply (more compression = smaller files but poorer quality image). I would suggest the Medium or High setting and note that you can also use the slider to change this setting, I recommend between 3 and 6 for web use.

That's it! I hope it makes sense and helps.

Thanks for the help folks, it is working well now, a whole new world has opened up before my eyes..Roy. P.S sorry for the late reply.

Seems to me that the key change to make when preparing photos for sending on the web is to change the "dots per inch" setting from whatever it is for your printer (usually 300) down to 72, which is all you need for on-screen presentation. That in itself will reduce the size of your file considerably. You then check what the new image size will be. Sometimes if you have cropped considerably you actually have to increase the image size to where you want it.

When you go to "save for web," the finished file size will vary sometimes in surprising ways. Keep in mind that the "busier" an image is in terms of a complex background (as opposed to say, mostly water or blue sky), the larger the file size will be. So when it comes to the "quality level" of your "save to web" setting, you will be able to set a higher level of quality for a picture of a bird against a blue sky than you will be able to set for a bird depicted in the middle of a tree or in front of a morass of tall reeds. In my experience, quality settings about 70 add little to the final quality level.

I also will add that you should experiment with the "unsharp mask" settings to see what works best for you. I tend to use a higher sharpen setting than Andy has recommended, 175% or even higher. You can tell when an image has been "oversharpened" and you can back off. I usually set the "radius" to 0.3 and the "threshold" to 1. I also sharpen in increments, i.e., after I have reduced the image size I do another round of sharpening, this one much more gentle (maybe 75%). The point is not that I am claiming to do it the "right" way (certainly not), but that you should experiment yourself to see what gives you the results that you find pleasing.

Sorry, I made an error in my post. I wrote that when preparing images to be posted to the Internet you should change the resolution setting in terms of "dots per inch." I meant "pixels per inch." This is found within the "image/resize/image size" menu in Photoshop Elements. I don't know the corresponding setting structure in the full version of Photoshop.

Changing the jpeg image size also has a significant effect on file size.