Can't compress .jpg's to smaller than about 90k

[Nova]

I've got this 6.1 megapixel camera. Have set it to the lowest setting of 1.7 megapixels, standard quality. Using Ulead PhotoImpact 8, can't seem to get the .jpg files smaller than about 90K, which I feel is too large. Ulead PhotoImpact won't take it below a 10% compression even though it enables you to request lower settings. With the camera taking pictures on the highest image settings, the smallest I can compress the .jpg's to is about 195K, so at least it's an improvement.

If I were using something like PhotoShop, could I get the .jpg's substantially smaller than 90K? Is 90K actually not bad? Is it simply the camera? What about other software options besides switching to PhotoShop for this purpose? Thanks in advance.

Sorry about this duplicate thread - little mishap while seeking to edit.

[GlobalFusion]

THe size if a JPEG image file depends on the amount of information it contains.

That information is the # of different colours, and how many pixels are using them etc.

For example, an image that is mainly black/dark with a 'spotlighted' image in the centre, will compress much more than an image that is absoluptly busy with colours.


90k isnt that bad, but you need to ask yourself what you will be using it for, and who is your target audience.

If you require a 'photo like image' then stick with JPG, and consider resizing the image rather than compressing it.

While it is always good practice to keep your filesizes down no matter what, dont make your project suffer for it. If you know a large percentage of viewers will be using broadband, then 90k is absolutply nothign to worry about.

If however, you expect the majority to be Dial-Up users (56k) then 90k is only really ok if its something important that wont be bogged down by other page images loading.
In which case, perhaps consider providing a 'link' to the image rather than including it in a page - give your enduser a choice.


Best of luck!

- GF

[kokopelli]

JPGs store a lot of additional (sometimes, unnecessary) information about the image that can bump up the size. Using a program such as IrfanView you can optimize the image (resample) and also choose not to save this IPTC, EXIF and JPG Comment information. That can substantially decrease the size. You can also use IrfanView or a JPG optimizer to increase the compression rate (thus sacrificing quality for a smaller size).

[dotNetKing]

Using something like Corel Photo Paint, you can "resample" the picture.

i.e. if the image is 1024 pixels wide, and you only need an image that is 250 pixels wide, you can get a new image 250 pixels wide.

This will probably reduce a file size from something like 200kb to 20kb.

Photo Paint also gives you the option to give crazy compression like "100%" which leaves you with just a handful of colours and file size of a couple of kb.