Kilobytes

[allfurme]

Can anyone explain pic sizes in kilobytes (One syllable words please)

 

I reduced the size of a pic to 90% bout its size in kilobytes went from 1070 to 1300???

[Guest]

nevermind

Edited June 25, 2006 by Guest

[Mr Barguzin]

Thanks Moso

 

Was wondering how an image could shrink and yet incease in size, but furgot all about bitmaps.

 

Allfurme,

 

It could well be that you have saved the reduced file as a bitmap... hence the increase in file size. Try the reduction again, but this time make sure that you have the end product a JPEG/JPG file. This will reduce the file size, even if you set it to retain 100% of the clarity of the original pic.

 

[allfurme]

Er, well, um he said, not understanding a word you have written.

 

I am afraid i do not understand anything about bitmaps, jpegs etc; whatever they are called.

 

If it is too complicated there is no need to explain; i can live with my ignorance!!!!!

[Worker 11811]

The amount of space a file takes up on your hard drive is a combination of several factors:

 

The size (Physical dimensions.):

If it's measured in inches, how tall and wide is it? How many dots per inch?

If it's measured in pixels, how many pixels (dots) tall/wide is it?

 

Color information:

Is it limited to a number of colors? A picture that's limited to 128 colors is going to take a lot less space than a picture that uses 1,024 colors. (8 bit color vs. 12 bit color.)

 

File format:

Is it a JPEG? Is it a GIF or a PNG? Is it a TIFF or a BMP?

GIF and JPEG are compressed formats. They take a lot less space. TIFF files can be compressed or not. BMP are usually not compressed. Compressed formats are usually smaller. On the other hand, using compression is a trade-off for quality.

If you are going to just send it over the internet, go ahead and compress it more. If you are going to print it out just for you to look at, don't compress it so much. If you are sending this picture for professional publication, don't compress at all.

 

Compression:

Most compressed formats have the ability to turn compression up to a higher level, giving you a smaller file size in trade for a little less quality. The program you use to edit the pictures ought to give you the ability to control compression.

Photoshop gives good control of compression.

If you use GIMP, you can get exquisite control of compression and quality. I have used GIMP to get some truly minimal file sizes, yet still have very good quality!

 

I don't know what you did to the picture you're talking about but it sounds like you changed it from one format to another, thus losing compression even though you made it smaller. TIFF and BMP files can be truly HUGE for the size of the picture you get.

 

Did you take a JPG and turn it into a Photoshop or a TIFF? (Photoshop uses a fancy form of a TIFF to save its files.)

 

Tell us... What is the picture. (General description. You don't have to give gory details.)

How big is it? How many pixels wide/tall? What is the "DPI"?

Is it a JPG or a TIFF, etc.??

Finally, what is the intended purpose? Are you just e-mailing it to somebody?

 

When I reformat pictures for the internet I usually size them down to about 300-500 pixels wide/tall. I make them 72 dpi. I compress them with JPEG. I turn the compression to about half.

 

A JPEG picture that is set to 500 X 375 @ 72 dpi and is compressed at level 6 (out of 12) will yield a file that takes up about 80 kilobytes. (KB) That's about 81,900 bytes.

When it's printed out on a printer or displayed on a computer screen it will appear approximately 5 in. tall and 7 in. wide. (This can vary a little, depending on the computer monitor or printer you use.)

 

If you still have trouble you can just e-mail the picture to somebody here and they can resize it for you then send it back. I do that for people all the time.

 

My mother likes to scan articles from the newspaper and e-mail them to relatives who live all across the country. If SHE can learn to resize pictures for the internet, YOU certainly can!

[allfurme]

Worker11811, Thank you.

 

It was a pic of Claudette Colbert i posted. I didn't have any problems posting it, i was just surprised that it got 'bigger' when i made it smaller that's all. I will read your post in more detail tomorrow (it is 11pm here)

Once again; thank you

[White Fox]

All:

They talked around this but did not actually say it.

 

When you worked with the file, it would ask you to save it. When you were picking the file name, right underneath the actual name is a box with a small down arrow beside it. When you click that it gives you the file options you can use. You should generally pick JPEG for pics. Especially for things like Avatar, or sending a photo over the net.

 

Hope that helps.

W

[Worker 11811]

You're right, White Fox.

 

I didn't know which program he was using. I was afraid it would be more confusing if I said, "Click this box.", but when he looked for it, it wasn't there.

 

What program are you using? If it's something I'm used to, I can try to write a tutorial or something.

 

I use two different flavors of Photoshop at work and GIMP at home.

(I have to use Photoshop at work because other people don't know how to use it.)

 

If you are willing to put in some time to get over the learning curve, GIMP is quite powerful and, best of all, it's FREE!