Photo Size Limits

[Dale Noll]

My new camera makes photos too large to post, so resize is necessary.



Example above is Roger Schulz at NFLCC Nationals in Louisville. Photo was downsized by setting pixels at 100x100. The result also gave 3.6KB. The original size was 220KB having pixels of 1216 width & 912 height.

If I set pixels at 200 x 200, the size becomes 11.53KB, and if I set 300 x 300, the size becomes 24.08 KB.

Now, is there a "perferred" pixel size or a preferred KB size. Anyway what is the correlation?

Thanks for any help. Dale.

[Brian F.]

Dale, I don't think there's a magic number but I don't know anything about the correlation between pixels and kb. I do it the good old fashion trial and error method. When I load it up on my internet service space, I look at it with Internet Explorer first before putting it in a post on Reel Talk. I then adjust the size accordingly. I resize photos on my computer using the Microsoft Photo Editor software that came with my computer - no fancy graphics programs.

If you are uploading to the ORCA picture repository, I guess you will not have an opportunity to re-size it. It wouldn't be a good idea to keep re-loading more of the same photos to the repository. I'd say the 200 or 300 pixel size setting on your camera would be ok to view and not take up too much "download" time for viewers.

Hope this helps.

[Steve]

Think of the pixels as a collection of tiny pictures arranged to form a bigger picture. Each pixel appears on your monitor based on stored information on things like color, contrast, etc. The total amount of information stored for all the pixels in a picture gives you the file size in KB. You can manipulate the "size" of the picture in different ways. You can drop some of the info in each pixel by "compressing" the file, which tosses some of the color information. You can tell the computer to shrink the whole picture from, say, 5"x7" to 3 1/2" x 5". Then you're essentially using smaller pixels to form a smaller picture, requiring less stored information. Or you can tell the computer to use fewer pixels to form your 5"x7" picture, which decreases the picture resolution but requires less stored information.

For posting, the more important consideration is file size, in KB. I think the server rejects uploads of more than 65KB for photos or 15KB for avatars or whatever the numbers are. The picture dimensions, in pixels, are secondary.

Keep in mind, too, that what you see on your monitor is not necessarily what other folks see. If your monitor is set for a screen resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels, a 100-pixel-wide pic will look half as big as it would look on a monitor set at 640 x 512 pixels.

[Warren Platt]

Guestion:
I have the image size on my camera set at 3.1 M, which is a large picture and not a good email size. Before I download to my computer images that I intend to email to someone I downsize the image to VGA, the smallest size image on my camera. This image fits fine on the computer screen. Am I correct in believing that the image quality decreases with the downsizing of the image?
Warren

[john elder]

Warren: I could give you the proper answer, but I'd just be making it up. the quick answer is to do the Brian Test..i.e., run it up and see if it shows the info you want to show...then store conditions in your memory bank for the next time; i.e., remember what you did.

two other lo-tec answers.

1) remember that you have the joy of an "edit" button on posts here...so, if you put up a post with an unsatisfactory pic, you can just delete and make it bigger or smaller without burning board space or other than a bit of time.

2) For me, I have Photoshop and so I take my pics there and crop my feet, belly, or dead fruit out of the pics. I then set the "size" button to give me percent, rather than messing around with dimension measurements...and I know from trial and error that I'll almost always get it right by setting in the range of 40-50%. I would imagine that most any other edit package has a similar option. And re your original question, I always optimize for the camera pic and use the highest resolution settings on Photoshop...the board dictates the size you can put up...you just have to put on best res to fit that criteria.

LOL ...CHECK BRIAN'S POST DOWNSTREAM! HE SAW IT TOO :-]

[SWIM JIG]

cool-thumb Canadian USA I am going to offer the idea of a (CLINIC at the next ORCA nats in NEW YORK, a lot of us have no idea about placing pictures on any site picxes, slides. and all this other retoric! All of us is good at something, for me I couldnt get a pic on this site without a lot of help! Why not have all the members bring their camears to the NAT meeting and have a (school on how to do it)? bet the thing would be more popular than free reels! I would like to see or have a sheet that explains pixies, and other terms that we all can understand, Do it like I do my REEL FIX Column) and actualy have a hands on at the show where we can actualy set and load our cameras! Most of us know that a pic is a lot beter than words, we need to show how to do the best views , lighting, size, etc , with 3&1/2 floopys and the memory card, also make up a plain writen page for a handout, Keep It Simple, or posibly a NEW help section in the ORCA mag! With our web site most likly limited to space, then we must be well schooled on the proper way to do this! All others that belive this would be a good idea , please let our board know, onthis site or a short note to our editor and he can then list the for and against votes! Your Ohio Conection on Lake ERIE , Col. Milton Lorens aka SWIM JIG

[Harvey]

I use a picture program that is one of the simplest you can find. In fact, it is a version from 1991/1994. It is called paint Shop Pro 4.2 and is very simple and easy to use. You can browse all the photos on a disc, your memory stick, a floppy, anything that has pictures on it. It is easy to resize, change brightness, color, crop, rotate and anything else that you would like to do. I use a memory stick which stores better pictures that a floppy and take them at the highest resolution that my camera will allow (1472 X 1104) then reduce them down to the size that fits the application. For e-mail, I reduce them down to around 400 pix wide for faster up-loading. For this board, E-bay etc.,I try to limit them to 700 pix wide so they show up covering most of the screen. You will not be able to find this program to down load because it is so old but if anyone wants it, give me a shout. If you want it, send me an empty CD and I will copy it with instructions on how to use it and send it back. I will also provide it to anyone that wants it when we get to Lake George. I call it a Photo-Shop for dummies. That is why I can use it so well.
“H”

[Steve]

There's a neat little program called IrfanView you can download for free:
http://www.tucows.com/preview/194967

It's meant to be a viewer, but you can resize your pics with a few clicks:
1. Open your picture in IrfanView.
2. Click Image
3. Click Resize/Resample
4. A window will open showing the size of your pic in pixels, cm, or in. (You choose.)
5. To resize without distorting, check the "Preserve Aspect Ratio" box.
6. Type in the desired width (or height) in the "Set new size" box, then click OK.
7. By clicking "Image", then "Information", you can read the file size of the resized pic.
8. Click "File", "Save as," and save it as a .jpg. You'll be amazed at how small the file will be.

Here's a pic that started as a 14MB .tif image (2560 x something). I resized to 200 pixels wide in IrfanView (90KB), then saved it as a .jpg file (20KB). It's too small for most purposes, but at least you can see how simple the process is. You can even do batch file conversions and other neat tricks.

[Brian F.]

... I have Photoshop and so I take my pics there and crop my feet, belly, or dead fruit out of the pics...

I thought I'd show you what John was talking about!



By the way, that is NOT me in the picture...I don't own any old lures.

Seriously though, this is a 300 x 400 pixel image at 42k. I imagine a little larger would still be ok without long download times for viewers.

[Dale Noll]

Thanks to all. This is a review of my understanding of posting photos.

1st: My camera is a Kodak 330 with Mega pixel settings of 1.1,2.1,3.1,3.5,4.0. Rogers photo was taken at 1.1 Mega setting. This gives a photo of 6-1/2x9" on my computer, and pixel sizes of 1216Width x 912 Heigth - and 227.44KB.

Now, our Forum is limited to 64KB, but no limit on pixels that I am aware of. Except the avator is limited to 100x100, but I don't know how to process the avator, so will leave that up to the experts.

Background: The resize program I used was a free download from the web called: Online Digital Photo Resizer from www.resize2mail.com. This can only be used while on line. (I am still working on another program suggested by Steve to use offline. ) When using this program, there are options to set the pixel levels or the photo size. There are programed levels, or you can select any level you want of pixels, but only three levels of photo size; i.e., 25%, 50%, 75%.

Onward:
The pixel setting of 100x100 shows Roger in the avator size. I did not use the % settings because the sizes available don't give the range I am looking for, i.e., under 64KB, and about 4x6 - my standard Walmart size.

Using the Landscape view and pixel settings of 480widthx360heigth gives 43.40 KB. The photo is 5-1/2x7-1/2 size shown below:


Using Harvey's 400 Horizontal automaticall provides 300 vertical and gives photo of 4-1/2 x 6-1/2 and 30.92 KB, which is also shown below:


Summary:
1. Pixel settings can be used to reduce photo size to get under the 64KB limit, but this may not provide the desired photo physical size.
2. Photo physical size settings can be used to reduce KB totals, but you may need to have % variabilty to get desired levels below 64KB.
3. It seems best the crop photo before resize.
4. Milt, I agree. Photos are so important, we all really need to learn. I am sure many others do not attempt to post because of the seemingly complexity involved. Maybe this post will help someone else.

Thanks to all, as I now understand how the pixel stuff works. Need to get a program than has more flexability and can be used offline. Have downloaded the program Steve suggested, but am not sure how to select all the settings. Next project.

Dale.

ps. Roger sure helps make this a neat Photo!

[Steve]

Dale, stop worrying about dimensions and file size together. For example, the ORCA server will accept any pictures under 64KB, whether they're one pixel in size or a million. Brian's and my avatars have the same file size, but his is obviously "bigger" on the screen.

If you want to post an avatar, aim for below 15KB and don't worry about the dimensions. For other posting, you might want to aim at 400-600pixels wide, to fit on screens comfortably, then reduce quality (resolution, etc.) until you get below 64KB. Usually, you can choose various levels of compression when you save a file and can reduce the file size that way.

[drexelantiques]

www.xat.com, image optimizer. You will be shocked how it can reduce the file size of a picture with little, if any, loss in what you can see with the naked eye. It is a really good program.

[Steve]

Folks who have the time and inclination can try a lot of image (graphics) viewers and managers by downloading free programs from this site, which is an amazing source of freeware: http://nonags.com/nonags/
Scroll down the home page to see the download categories. Each program is graded by the editors on a scale of 1/6 to 6/6(best). Before downloading anything, check to make sure the program will work with your operating system; some of the programs are fairly old.

I've installed and uninstalled many programs from this site for years. The only problems have been with the programs themselves, not the downloading or Nonags. Stick to downloads rated 5/6 or 6/6 and you should be in good shape.

"PIXresizer" and "PhotoRazor" on this page (http://nonags.com/nonags/grmisc.html) sound like good bets.

[Ron Mc]

for posting on a thread, you want to resize your photos to about 400 to 600 pixels wide.



for avatars, in addition to compressing the pixel size (feature resolution), you can compress the color/contrast resolution - the bit size. This is usually referred to as "Image Quality" on image processing tools.

[m3040c]

I have been looking for a simple program to resize photos so I can do some posting on ORCA and your suggestion of PIXresizer at nonags.com was the perfect program for me. Thank you for the lead. The program is so easy even I can do it. Now I do not have to bother Harvey anymore.