best settings to display image

[tmonatr]

I have a canon 30D and generally shoot in the raw format. These are very big files and I am not sure the proper way to downsize these images to the required spaecs, but still keep a nice looking image. I use elements 3 and decreased resolution to 150dpi and the 0 compression setting and the result is terrible. See below:

[Radtech1]

Assuming some sort of Photoshop product (Elements or Full Version), then you should ALWAYS use "Save For Web" feature when posting pictures. DO NOT use "Save As..."

Unfortunately, when posting photos, the word SIZE has two meanings. There is Image Size, which means the photograph must be less than 800 pixels along the longest edge, and File Size, which means the computer file "myshot.jpg" must the less than 100 kilobytes in size. "Save for Web" allows you the most control over each of these two meanings of Size.

"Save for Web" has a box to allow you to resize the dimensions (H&W - Image Size) of your shot. This will allow you to select a % of the original height and width, or a specific number of pixels. Personally, I find that 25% of the original H&W works best for me, because the the program removes exactly 3 out of every 4 pixels, without re-interpolation.

If 25% of your original file is still above the 800 pixel limit, alternatively, "Save for Web" can set Pixels rather than percent. So you can set the width at 800 (or whatever) pixels, check Constrain Proportions, and this will give you exactly the image size you want.

Then my adjusting the slider called QUALITY, "Save For Web" also gives you the the most delicate control over the final file size, in increments of percent. In other words, you can select any one of 100 levels of compression to get maximum quality and get in just under the 100k limit.

So first set the image size you want, then use the "Quality" slider to bring the file size to 99k, and there you go.

As a bonus, "Save For Web" also strips out all of the extraneous EXIF data that does nothing but take up valuable file space. This allows more image size and higher quality in your 99k file.

Finally, it will save the resultant image to a different folder (My Documents, in my case) so you don't have to worry about accidentally overwriting the full sized shot with a minified one.

Keep in mind that this is NOT for archiving or printing.

Go to the "Help" section and look up Save For Web to learn more about how to use it on whichever specific product you have.

Rad

[tmonatr]

Thank you very much.