Topic: Posting pictures

[Colin Maitland]

I have attempted to post some pictures, then after reading the forum on posting pictures, I learnt I had to download suggested software to re size the photos. It is suggested that the photos be about 100KB. I re sized mine but they are all quite small.

I was looking at some very impressive photos  by Michael Bath and others, and noticed they had a good size photos to observe instead of having to re open the photos to see a larger view.

How the heck do you do that? Or is it a trade secret and you would have to kill me if you told me.

Just curious how to post properly and add the best photos for everyone.

Cheers

Col

[Michael Bath]

Hi Col and all - what program are you using to do the resizing?   It's all about finding a nice balance between image size (in pixels) and the file size in kb. Clouds compress very well with JPEGs so 50kb for an 800x600 pixel image is about right. Photos with more foreground detail will not compress as well, so you may end up with 100-150kb for hail photos etc.

Photoshop appears to do the worst job (older versions at least). I notice Mike from Darwin still battles with getting file sizes down after all this time! - but not sure what software he uses - just don't use that

I use ACDSee for some resizing and a very old batch resizing program called JASC Image Robot - you might find that on the net. It was made by the same company that made Paint Shop Pro - which is called something else these days.

With Paint Shop Pro and Jasc Image Robot I have the JPG compression scale set to 18 (on a scale that goes from 1 to 99). With ACDSee I use a compression of 85%

Michael

[Richary]

I would also recommend Paintshop Pro. Have been using it for years. While shareware the basic features work for nothing.

I have also noticed the camera when it saves doesn't compress very well, so even just opening and saving the photo in Paintshop can drop a lot of size. That said, I have never really compared the capabilities of Paintshop versus the commercial new Photoshop versions in touching up pictures. Of course if you take it right in the first place you don't need to touch it up!

But the One Step Photo Fix option in Paintshop works a treat on most exposures of normal subject matter, yet to test it out on lightning.

[Colin Maitland]

Thanks Michael and Richary,

I have downloaded Irfanview and Pixreiser, both programes are new to me, I will  also try the above mentioned programes and try the suggested steps.
I think I will have to copy the photos and play around with them.

Thanks again
 col   

[Mike]

...just pulling that knife out MB!  Yes, I'm guilty of being slack at times due to rushing to post pics I've just taken.  But this year I've promised myself to do the right thing.  I use the program below when actually posting compressed pics.  It's free and it works great.  You simply choose your pic from your file, resize it and when it's done you right click and 'save file as' to whatever new folder you have for your compressed images.  Then simply post the pic from that file to the forum. Just like this one! 

http://www.jpeg-optimizer.com/

[Colin Maitland]

Just trying out new programme called picasa. I am using some earlier photos from 2005 storms and trying two different re-size options.

I was complaining to my wife about trying to re size and just wanted an easy programme to use. She had just finished reading a RACQ review feature regarding a programme called Picasa.

It is a free download and very simple and quick to use. To download the programme visit picasa.google.com.

I just get frustrated with some programmes, but this seems a very simple and straight forward. But, please if you notice something, not right with the photos, the quality is lacking or what ever, let me know, I am just learning the tricks of resizing and appreciate the support and suggestion to date. There is a duplicate photo in 2 different KB. I was just trying to reduce KB as low as possible with this programme to see how it pans out.