[Gunna Do]

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Ok fellow forum members,
So i understand the size of the file is important..
But how do I reduce the file size without screwing my picture to hard, Ive cropped it, and saved it in a smaller file format
and all I get is a blurred image
any Help in simple Step by Step instructions would be gratefully appreciated or a direction to another thread covering this same thing
regards
Steve

 

[MartinS]

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Steve
What software are you using to crop/reduce?
If you don't have a decent photo editor, try .Irfanview (freebie) - it's great and allows you to resize, convert files (or batches of files) and for a free download is one of the best I've used.  I can't say I've ever seen a file go blurred when reducing, only enlarging.
The file type will need to be GIF or JPG (although am sure you already know this).  Let me know if you need any more help.
Martin

 

[JohnK]

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Hi Gunna

I am starting with some basic assumptions.

1.  You are using photo software such as Photoshop
2.  You are downloading the pics from your camera and saving as jpegs
3.  You are manipulating the jpegs (cropping etc)

OK - Rule number one with digital - dont manipulate jpeg files - every time you modify you will LOSE quality. Always download and convert/save a copy as a TIFF file. TIFF is a lossless format so you will not lose quality every time you adjust the pic.

Cropping jpeg files is also a bummer - you get a smaller pic but those pixels become stretched and ultimately will blur or cause the final pic when enlarged to look like lots of overlapping squares. Again do all cropping in TIFF mode (or better still resize the pic but at the end of all other adjustments.

This is what I do, using photoshop 7

1. Download jpegs to PC (these are about 1mB each)
2. Convert to TIFFs and save in a different folder - each pic grows to about 10mB !!)
3. Adjust the pic - colour, crop, resize etc and save the TIFF in another folder
4. When ready - save the adjusted TIFF in yet another folder as a jpeg sized either to your liking or for the web (generally 300x300 pixels)

By doing this you will have up to 4 copies of the pic on your PC which you can go back to and start again with. If you just work on the original jpeg you will end up with a poor quality pic (from a printing perspactive) and potentially lose what was a great pic needing a bit of adjusting.

Does this help

 

[Gunna Do]

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You guys are the bomb.
I only have microsoft photodraw at the moment.
but it should do what i want, now the basics have been explained..
many thanks
Steve
and well now see what I can produce tonight
should be a nice mission
Steve

 

[Gunna Do]

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heres hoping