Uncle Frank
Forum Pro
The reason we have cameras is that we like to take pictures and share them with our family and friends. It's particularly fun to do so on the Nikon Talk Forum, to show our fellow photographers our latest work, or illustrate a technical point, and Phil has made it easy by allowing us to imbed pictures in our posts. Actually, we're imbedding a direct link to some other website that's hosting our pictures, but the result is, our pics show up on the screen as part of our post.
A problem arises, when folks imbed pictures that are too large in pixel dimensions, which requires scrolling to see them, or large in file size, which takes too long to download before we can see them, particularly for those with dial-up internet connections. The problem is, some of us are unaware of the problem, and others don't know how to fix it. It's actually a two part fix, involving pixel dimensions and image quality (compression).
Here's a link to an untouched image directly out of my 5700. You really don't want to click on it though, because it's too huge to be of use. The pixel dimensions are 2560X1920 (5MP), and it was taken in the "fine" quality mode, which resulted in a file size of 1,653,901 bytes.
http://www.pbase.com/image/19094478
The first step would be to downsize it, so it can be seen on most people's monitors without scrolling. Easy enough to do in Photoshop. Just go to [image], click on [image size], and change the width to 640 pixels, which automatically changes the height to 480 pixels in this case. That's still pretty large, but can be seen in one shot on anyone's monitor running a resolution of 640X480, which is most everybody these days. Problem fixed, right?
No. Because if you save this picture and upload it to your hosting website without changing anything else, it will result in a file with a size of 477KB, which is still a huge download. Try it and see.
http://www.pbase.com/image/19094479
When you alter an image in Photoshop and go to save it, the program first asks you to name the file, and then asks you to specify [jpeg options]. It gives you the option of changing the compression of the file by moving a slider to select a number ranging between 0 (lowest quality/highest compression) and 12 (highest quality/lowest compression). At the bottom of that screeen , it actually allows you to preview the file size that will result from the degree of compression you choose.
Nobody wants to show a poor quality picture, but guess what? Quality is used in a different sense in Photoshop. Here's an example of my huge picture, downsized to 640X480, at several different "quality" levels. Let's see if you can spot a significant difference:
Compressed to level 8 (158KB)
Compressed to level 5 (108KB)
Compressed to level 2 (63KB)
I've got old eyes, but for purposes of sharing a picture with friends on this forum, I don't see much difference at all.
My own approach is to downsize pics to 640 pixels in the largest direction, and select a level of quality/compression that will result in a file in the range of 100KB. That makes them easy to see, and quick to download. I hope you'll all consider doing the same.
Thanks to Midnight2 for motivating me to write this little piece.
--
Warm regards,
Uncle Frank, FCAS Charter Member, Hummingbird Hunter
Coolpix fifty seven hundred and nine ninety five
http://www.pbase.com/unclefrank
A problem arises, when folks imbed pictures that are too large in pixel dimensions, which requires scrolling to see them, or large in file size, which takes too long to download before we can see them, particularly for those with dial-up internet connections. The problem is, some of us are unaware of the problem, and others don't know how to fix it. It's actually a two part fix, involving pixel dimensions and image quality (compression).
Here's a link to an untouched image directly out of my 5700. You really don't want to click on it though, because it's too huge to be of use. The pixel dimensions are 2560X1920 (5MP), and it was taken in the "fine" quality mode, which resulted in a file size of 1,653,901 bytes.
http://www.pbase.com/image/19094478
The first step would be to downsize it, so it can be seen on most people's monitors without scrolling. Easy enough to do in Photoshop. Just go to [image], click on [image size], and change the width to 640 pixels, which automatically changes the height to 480 pixels in this case. That's still pretty large, but can be seen in one shot on anyone's monitor running a resolution of 640X480, which is most everybody these days. Problem fixed, right?
No. Because if you save this picture and upload it to your hosting website without changing anything else, it will result in a file with a size of 477KB, which is still a huge download. Try it and see.
http://www.pbase.com/image/19094479
When you alter an image in Photoshop and go to save it, the program first asks you to name the file, and then asks you to specify [jpeg options]. It gives you the option of changing the compression of the file by moving a slider to select a number ranging between 0 (lowest quality/highest compression) and 12 (highest quality/lowest compression). At the bottom of that screeen , it actually allows you to preview the file size that will result from the degree of compression you choose.
Nobody wants to show a poor quality picture, but guess what? Quality is used in a different sense in Photoshop. Here's an example of my huge picture, downsized to 640X480, at several different "quality" levels. Let's see if you can spot a significant difference:
Compressed to level 8 (158KB)
Compressed to level 5 (108KB)
Compressed to level 2 (63KB)
I've got old eyes, but for purposes of sharing a picture with friends on this forum, I don't see much difference at all.
My own approach is to downsize pics to 640 pixels in the largest direction, and select a level of quality/compression that will result in a file in the range of 100KB. That makes them easy to see, and quick to download. I hope you'll all consider doing the same.
Thanks to Midnight2 for motivating me to write this little piece.
--
Warm regards,
Uncle Frank, FCAS Charter Member, Hummingbird Hunter
Coolpix fifty seven hundred and nine ninety five
http://www.pbase.com/unclefrank
.