My new iMac

This page is primarily a tutorial on how to resize photos for the web and email. And it is directed to my father.

Here is an example of BIG and small pictures:

Here is a small picture approximately 65,000 bytes. It would transfer over a modem connection in around 20 seconds, perfectly acceptable.

If you click on the picture above (or CLICK HERE) you'll go to a page that has the FULL SIZE picture on it. That picture has around 2,674,823 bytes in it It won't fit in your browser window but you can use the scroll bars to move around the picture. A normal modem would take around 12 minutes do download it over the net.

The only difference between the picture above and the BIG picture on the other page is the size. Nothing else has changed.

But it is possible to further reduce the size of a picture even after you have reduced the physical size. JPEG pictures use compression to squeeze more information into a smaller file. There is a cost in clarity (sharpness and detail) but sometimes it doesn't matter too much.

This picture is around 12,408 bytes.

Both pictures on this page are EXACTLY the same size in physical dimensions. They are around 500 pixels wide by 375 pixels high. However the bottom picture has been compressed to just about the maximum JPEG can manage. So, even though it looks sort of close to the eyes, it is 1/5th the size of the one above. Look carefully, maybe even get out a REAL magnifying glass and hold it up to your monitor. You will see that the bottom picture is really pretty bad. But, just to the eye on a computer screen, it isn't all that unacceptable.

If you are using Photoshop 6 (I believe you are) then on the File menu there is an option to "Save for Web". Open one of your BIG pictures from the Nikon in Photoshop. Then just click "File/Save for Web" and a new window opens. There are several tabs along the top of the screen marked

Click on 2-Up.

On the left side is your original picture with no compression just as it came in from Photoshop. On the right is the picture compressed.

There are several controls on the right side of the screen.

The first step for reducing the file size, and thus the time it takes to travel over the internet, is to change the actual image size.

There's a box with the labels

Click on Image size.

There is a checkbox in the box below the image size tab. It's labeled "Constrain to Proportions". Be sure this is checked.

Next click inside the width or the height fields (whichever is larger, usually the width) and type in 500. The other dimension will automatically resize.

In the quality box below "Constrain to Proportions" be sure you are set to "Smooth (Bicubic)". This quality control helps keep the photo looking smooth with even color flows.

Click on the Apply button at the bottom of that box.

You picture will be resized to 500 pixels wide by whatever number of pixels high (that maintain the aspect ration or proportion of the picture).

The photos that appear side by side will shrink to show you what the result of the image size operation was.

Under each picture are their file sizes.

On the left you picture might now be around 600,000 bytes.

On the right under your compressed picture the size will be smaller but by just how much depends on something called compression.

So far we've made a picture that was maybe millions of bytes much smaller.

You can use the magnifying glass (in the tool bar on the left) to magnify your picture. When you click on either picture BOTH pictures enlarge or zoom in. This is a handy way to see just how degraded the optimized (compressed) picture on the right is compared with the original on the left. To get back to normal magnification, double click on the magnifying glass.

Now lets reduce the picture further. But, this time we aren't going to change the physical size of the photo, instead we are going to set and adjust the compression.

Once again on the right side of the screen, inside a box, about the fourth item from the top of the screen is a entry field labeled "Settings:" with a drop down arrow. Click the arrow and select JPEG-LOW.

As soon as you click on JPEG-LOW, the picture on the right is compressed.

Now you can see your original on the left and the highly compressed copy on the right.

Use the magnify glass to examine the results. It it is too blotchy and hard to look at, decrease the amount of compression.

Remember that box where you clicked the down arrow a second ago, well below it are numerous other boxes. On the left side you should see a box with JPEG and below it another with the word LOW. Click the down arrow in the box with LOW. You'll be offered several choices:

Select Medium next and see how this affects your compressed picture (the one on the right).

If it's still not up to snuff, change that setting to High. You should NEVER have to set it to maximum but ... what was that old saw about "never saying never".

Once you are satisfied with the results of the change Click on "OK" and a file dialog box will open asking you to give a name to the new file you are creating. Be sure you KNOW which folder the saved picture is going into. This part of Photoshop always points to the LAST folder you saved to. So, it may NOT be the same folder where your source (BIG) picture came from.

When I select a name for the new file  I almost always use the same filename but add something to the end. For instance,

The first filename refers to the picture at the top of this page. I added "sm" to remind me it was a smaller version of the original. The next refers to the much lower resolution version of that picture "sm_low". And that really huge picture attached to the other page is the original picture. I named that one first, then used Photoshop to make the other two pictures using EXACTLY the same process I just described above.

Finally, I used the iMac as my photographic subject because I am very enamored with the thing so, here is a final shot of the computer.

That is the ENTIRE thing. Just that basketball thingie, the screen hanging out off the chrome arm and a keyboard. The speakers that came with the computer were ok, but I wanted something better so I got those clear plastic things that appear beside the monitor. You can see them better above in the first picture.

Well, that's the scoop on how to reduce photos using Photoshop.