For some reason all of my images are coming out of processing between 3.3 and 4.3 MB. How do I get them below the 300 Kb necessary for posting? Thanks in advance.
I don't know where you are in your workflow, nor how much of this you know. But here's a basic overview of what goes on in general terms for anybody with similar concerns.
1. The camera generates a jpg or raw file; as an example a Nikon D200 produces: 3872 x 2592 pixel file, = 10,036,224 or 10MP, and is about 15.5 MB as an uncompressed raw file.
2. This raw file is converted (by Adobe Camera Raw) into a file of 3872 x 2592 pixels that gets saved as .psd as it is processed with adjustment layers added to it.
3. The .psd file is flattened and converted from a bit depth of 16 bits to 8 bits and saved as a tif file, still 3872 x 2592 pixels in size.
4. The full frame tif file might get cropped in Photoshop: say that brings it down to 3600 x 2400 pixels.
5. The cropped file gets resized to 1200 x 800 with another copy resized to 720 x 480 pixels.
6. The resized images get Saved As jpeg files for posting. The quality slider in the Save As dialog controls the file size in KB.
Right, Step 5 is what you need to do. After you save the processed file as TIF, duplicate the file, flattening it, and then you'll have two copies and you do a resize of one setting the height or width, whichever is the largest, to 720, and then you resize the other copy to 1200. Then you do Step 6 and use the slider to bring the 720 file to under 300 and the 1200 file to under 500. Then when you close the files say No to save the changes to them, otherwise you'll save the downsized TIF file over the full-size version.
Are you using any selections that are saved as channels in PS? Open the Channels pallet and check. You should have only four channels, RGB, R, G, and B. If you have any others, drag them to the trashcan in the channels pallet. Alpha channels increase file size and are not removed when you flatten an image.
Most images have meta data embedded in them. This data also increases file size. You can use Save for Web and Devices in PS to strip it. Make sure the box "Optimized' is checked. This strips the meta data. In the upper right corner is a little arrow to open a sub menu. Click it and then select Optimize to File Size. Set this to about 297 for the 720px image and about 496 for the 1200px image. This gives you a little cushion for uploading.
Oh, and while I'm here...Step 3-1/2 should be convert the image color profile to sRGB.
"Then when you close the files say No to save the changes to them, otherwise you'll save the downsized TIF file over the full-size version. "
Barbara, it's a good idea to save the newly created *.tif files under a different name using Save As.... By selecting Save As... you will not run the risk of over-writing a master file. Additionally, you will have them available for other uses, and don't have to recreate them. These files are small, so unless disk space is at a real premium, keeping them around is a good thing.
Preston, I do save them under their own names as JPG files (the small ones) but not TIF files, but then since the original TIF and the copy of the TIF are what remains open it asks me if I want to save the resizing changes to those. Does that make any sense? So I've already saved everything, original and small, but since the original is what's still open after the resize it asks me if I want to save the original file after the resizing and I say no. I don't know if that makes any sense the way I explained it.
Yes, your comment makes sense. You would not want to save the changes to the 'master' tif file, and you could save the copy if you choose. My main thought for using Save As...is so that you don't accidentally over-write your 'master' file.
As long as you keep close track of what you're doing, you'll be OK.
Discussion
8 repliesThanks
1. The camera generates a jpg or raw file; as an example a Nikon D200 produces: 3872 x 2592 pixel file, = 10,036,224 or 10MP, and is about 15.5 MB as an uncompressed raw file.
2. This raw file is converted (by Adobe Camera Raw) into a file of 3872 x 2592 pixels that gets saved as .psd as it is processed with adjustment layers added to it.
3. The .psd file is flattened and converted from a bit depth of 16 bits to 8 bits and saved as a tif file, still 3872 x 2592 pixels in size.
4. The full frame tif file might get cropped in Photoshop: say that brings it down to 3600 x 2400 pixels.
5. The cropped file gets resized to 1200 x 800 with another copy resized to 720 x 480 pixels.
6. The resized images get Saved As jpeg files for posting. The quality slider in the Save As dialog controls the file size in KB.
Just a couple of thoughts, here...
Are you using any selections that are saved as channels in PS? Open the Channels pallet and check. You should have only four channels, RGB, R, G, and B. If you have any others, drag them to the trashcan in the channels pallet. Alpha channels increase file size and are not removed when you flatten an image.
Most images have meta data embedded in them. This data also increases file size. You can use Save for Web and Devices in PS to strip it. Make sure the box "Optimized' is checked. This strips the meta data. In the upper right corner is a little arrow to open a sub menu. Click it and then select Optimize to File Size. Set this to about 297 for the 720px image and about 496 for the 1200px image. This gives you a little cushion for uploading.
Oh, and while I'm here...Step 3-1/2 should be convert the image color profile to sRGB.
Barbara, it's a good idea to save the newly created *.tif files under a different name using Save As.... By selecting Save As... you will not run the risk of over-writing a master file. Additionally, you will have them available for other uses, and don't have to recreate them. These files are small, so unless disk space is at a real premium, keeping them around is a good thing.
--P
Yes, your comment makes sense. You would not want to save the changes to the 'master' tif file, and you could save the copy if you choose. My main thought for using Save As...is so that you don't accidentally over-write your 'master' file.
As long as you keep close track of what you're doing, you'll be OK.
--P