I'm trying to submit a photo in a contest (due tomorow) asking for a 3X4 300ppi 2M file. My original file is about 20m and I can only bring her down to 4m. How can I reduce it to 2M without compromising print quality and respecting these specs. I know it's a basic question but you assitance is greatly appreciated. Thanks! Michel
If it's 16-bit, converting to 8-bit will cut it in half. Or, if they accept JPG files, increase the compression until the file is small enough.
Guy
Posted by Brent Murphy on February 26, 2008 at 12:32 PM
What Guy said . . . And make sure you're in RGB mode, not CMYK.
Also, as Guy said, when you use Save As to create a JPG, you can see a calculation of the expected file size. Just drop the compression number until you get under the file size you need. Unfortunately, you're limited to whole numbers between 1 and 12.
However, if you use Save for Web instead, you can best bang for your buck. First, Save for Web strips out metadata that increases your file size. Second, you can click on the options within Save for Web, and select Optimize to File Size. You can enter a file size of 2MB, and it will adjust the compression as needed to give you a file size of exactly 2MB. This assumes you are using Photoshop. I'm not sure if other software has something similar.
"...you can click on the options within Save for Web, and select Optimize to File Size. You can enter a file size of 2MB, and it will adjust the compression as needed to give you a file size of exactly 2MB."
This has been a very useful feature for us with our frequent adjustment of file sizes to meet client specs. I haven't found a faster or more reliable method.
Many thanks Guy and Brent. I really appreciate this web site and I hope to be posting one day, once I'm further up on the learning curve. Thanks again! Michel
Discussion
5 repliesGuy
Also, as Guy said, when you use Save As to create a JPG, you can see a calculation of the expected file size. Just drop the compression number until you get under the file size you need. Unfortunately, you're limited to whole numbers between 1 and 12.
However, if you use Save for Web instead, you can best bang for your buck. First, Save for Web strips out metadata that increases your file size. Second, you can click on the options within Save for Web, and select Optimize to File Size. You can enter a file size of 2MB, and it will adjust the compression as needed to give you a file size of exactly 2MB. This assumes you are using Photoshop. I'm not sure if other software has something similar.
This has been a very useful feature for us with our frequent adjustment of file sizes to meet client specs. I haven't found a faster or more reliable method.