[Rob Barron]

When people join Pixalo they are naturally keen to show their pictures but are often confused by the problem of how to resize pictures to the allowed size on Pixalo. This tutorial is designed to show how to do this in Photoshop. it will work in any of the later versions of Photoshop and also in Elements though the screenshots might appear slightly different. The tools are still there.

Pixalo sets a size limit of 300kbs file size and a maximum physical size of 1000 pixels. I would remind you though that 1000 pixels displayed on a computer monitor is quite big. Although you might have a super-sized monitor, other people might be viewing on a smaller monitor. Using the generally accepted screensize resolution of 72dpi, a 1000 pixel wide picture is nearly 14 inches wide and some people will have to use the scroll bars to look around your picture. Now, I don't know about you but I prefer being able to see the whole shot on my screen in one go!

So, I recommend taking your picture a bit smaller than that, especially with regards to the height of your picture as monitors are not as tall as they are wide. However, the choice is yours as long as you respect the two limits mentioned.

Ok, so how are we going to do it. You'll be pleased to know it is easy BUT there are a couple of important points to remember so let's get started.

Ok, you have a picture open in Photoshop and it looks something like this:

You look down the bottom left and see it has a huge file size of 26mbs but IGNORE THAT, those figures are nothing to do with physical file size. So how do we know how big our picture is? The way to do it is to look at the Image Size:

Either go to IMAGE > IMAGE SIZE or press Crtl+Alt+I and you will get a window with some very useful information:

Ok, let's take a quick look around. Ignore the very top where it says Pixel Dimensions: 26.0M, that does not concern us. However, the two underneath do. Here we have the width of our picture in pixels and we see it is 3675 pixels wide and 2475 high. That is HUGE and way too big for our needs.

Underneath we see the information called Document Size. This shows you the physical size that this picture will look if printed out right now OR if viewed full size on your monitor. It doesn't look too big at 31cm by 20cm BUT look at the resolution: 300 pixels per inch! OUCH that's big! It is ideal if you are printing out but not if viewing on a monitor as your monitor simply can't show as many pixels as this so we need to get it down. We want a resolution of 72dpi (dots per inch) so that we can view it properly. If we have any higher, it does NOT make your picture look better. It just means we can't see any more detail to you are just wasting file space.

Ok, what should we change? Well, the most important thing for us is how big this is going to look on screen so let's make a couple of changes....

A good width is roughly 600 pixels wide. You can go a bit bigger if you want to but remember, no longer than 1000 pixels and the bigger you go, the more we will need to compress to get the file size below 300kbs.

You might be wondering how I managed to type in the pixels size as there is no box. Well, this is where we need to look down at the bottom left. Check all three boxes: Scale Styles, Constrian Proportions and Resample Image. If you are using an older version that only has two of these, that's fine, just check them both. I keep the resample image option to Bicubic pretty much all the time so do the same, not going to bore you with the details there for now. If you really must know, let me know and I'll do a tutorial on that!

Ok, now those boxes are checked, we can type in the pixels size. Because the 'Constrain Proportions' box is checked, you only need to type in the width, the height will be worked out for you to keep the picture in the same ration. You also want to type 72 in the Resolution box. The physical size will be worked out by the computer as it is entirely dependent on the resolution.

Ok, now we know our picture is the right physical size and resolution, we need to get it to the right file size. So, hit OK and let's move on.

What do you mean your picture has become tiny? Don't worry, it hasn't. You are now viewing the picture from too far away. But what we do want is to see exactly what size the picture is looking on the screen. So...

Select the magnifier tool and on the top tool bar, select 'Print Size':

Now you will see exactly what the picture looks like on screen. If it is a bit big or a bit smaller than you want, you can do the above again and adjust it to the size you want. Just remember other people's monitors might not be as big as yours so don't go too big!

Ok, let's get the file size sorted and then we are done. On the menu bar, go to File > Save for Web (or press Ctrl+alt+shift+S) and you will see a big window showing either 1, 2 or 4 pictures. I always choose '4 up' so click on that tab if you don't already see 4. We are only going to look at the top right hand picture though.

Ok, a quick look round again...

Just underneath where it says 'Preset, you should have JPEG showing. If it isn't, select it now. NEVER save a photo as a .gif file, it will look terrible and will be a huge file size! PNG is an alternative but I don't usually use those for photos, let's stick with jpegs.

Now look at the bottom left of the picture and you will see the file size (327.3k at the moment) and over on the right you will see an option called 'Quality'. It is this that will allow us to get the picture to an appropriate size. Right now, I am using 100% quality, all well and good but the picture is also too big. The limit is 300kbs but I generally aim for roughly 180kbs. You may well find the file size will jump by 10-15kbs when you have saved it (no, I don't know either but it often does!) so if you go for 180kbs that will keep you safely under the 300kbs limit. (N.B. this tutorial was written when the size limit was 200kb. The references to the max file size has been amended from 200kb to 300kb, but other references to sizes, such as the 180kb mentioned here, have not.)

So, click on the little arrow next to the Quality number and you will get a slider. Click on this and slide down to the left and let go. You'll see the number magically change in the File Size at bottom left of picture. Play around with this moving to left or right until you get somewhere around the 180kbs mark:

For my picture, I found at 83% I have a file size of 179.6kbs. Perfect! If you find the slider awkward, you can just highlight the number and then use your up and down arrows on your keyboard to adjust up or down.

Right, I now have a file that is sized correctly both in terms of what it looks like on screen and the file size. All we need to do now is save it so hit SAVE. Another window opens, the same sort of thing as you will be used to when saving. Browse to where you want to save your new picture and type a new name. Make sure it is a NEW name, not the same as your old one (unless in a different folder) as you will write over your high res version otherwise.

You will notice from my one that I have added the word 'web' to the end of my file name so I can always remember that this is sized for the web. Click on SAVE again and you now have a nice new file all saved.

IMPORTANT:

When you close your picture showing in Photoshop now, it will ask you if you want to save it. Say NO. If not, you will write over your lovely high res picture as it has now got all these changes we have been making to it. So just hit NO and let it close down untouched:

Ok, there you go. If you look in the folder where you saved the new low res picture, you'll find it and can upload it to your personal Gallery on Pixalo and then let us all see your hard work :o)

I hope you find this helpful and look forward to seeing your work.

Cheers,
Rob

[Dabhand16]

Nice one, Rob. Could I suggest that the Crew provide links to this tutorial in the places that new members will see them? That is on the registration form, home page, tutorials page or even as a link under the Pixalo banner on all pages?

[Dave]

Link added Free Photo Gallery for every member & http://www.pixalo.com/community/rule...oad-12057.html & http://www.pixalo.com/community/rule...oad-12056.html

Thanks for the tutorial Rob...some rep points whizzing your way

[milkod2001]

thanx a milion Rob, helped me a lot

[chickadee]

once again thanks for your well layed out tutorial , unfortunately went to have a go at your last tutorial ,the one where you dragged the item you want to remove but found i was to late is there any way i am able to get a copy.As can understand the way you use diagrams to explain.From now on am keeping or your tips and tutorials as well as any others that i find i definately understand and need ,As there is no way i will remember them all.
cheers sue

[thelmasman]

Why choose four in(File-save for web),when you only look at one.
"thelmasman"

[Steve]

Personally I choose '2' at that stage which gives me the original on the left and the right hand version shows the 'quality' of the final file at the selected reduced file size. Comparing the two side by side allows a comparison of quality vs reduced file size and often allows me to use even smaller files sizes without noticeable loss of quality.

[thelmasman]

Thanks Steve.
I can undersatnd your reason for two.

[Russell01]

Great idea an all, i can use it at school. but i dont have photoshop at home and want to subit pictures, can i resize them in paint?

[Dabhand16]

Originally Posted by Russell01

Great idea an all, i can use it at school. but i dont have photoshop at home and want to subit pictures, can i resize them in paint?

I've just had a quick look at Paint, and although there seems to be couple of re-sizing options, they look like physical size only, so might not have the flexibility to reduce the file size.

You could always give it a try and see what you end up with, but I don't think it is the best way to edit photos.

[Angela]

Russell, try downloading Picasa from Google....it's free which is also a bonus! You can re-size relatively easily.

[Russell01]

Thanks, Ill have a nose around

[Russell01]

Oh, Ive got Picasa, Ill try that. Thanks

[sandygates]

I guess,this would work on irfan view too.....lemme try it out..wud post if it does