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June 23, 2004
Photoblog News
I've managed to post at least one new photograph per day in the photoblog. One of the things I've had difficulty with is photo compression in Photoshop. My aim is for a compression where the photo's load time is around 10-15 seconds maximum; but in working in black and white, a recent photo I tried to compress resulted in heavy duty pixelation. I don't know how to fix it where the quality is decent and the load time isn't extreme. Suggestions appreciated.
In other PB news, a professional photographer recently critiqued my photographic efforts. For me, I was just happy that the photographs I've taken came out decently, but when you receive an honest review by someone who knows much more about photography than you do, you see what else is in the photograph -- pixelation, horizons off, off-focus, etc. It's like going to photography class. :-)
Cindy
Comments
You *are* using "Save For Web" in PS, aren't you? Is so, there really isn't much you can do except play with the settings in the 2-up view until you find a compromise between sie and quality. It's pretty much trial and error.
For black and white, much of the difference is going to be in how you convert. If you split the channels and tweak the one closest to what you want discarding the others you may save a few k. Fiddling with the mixing is going to result in a larger files since more color data is retained. Simply converting to grayscale isn't really an option because of the loss of detail in dark areas.
Also keep in mind that each time you sharpen the image your adding some heft, with b&w oversharpening can give the appearence of pixelation where there is a clear division between light and dark. The edge halos and looks awful. You can work around this by applying a blur to the edges, I have an action you may want to try at: http://www.fultonchain.net/junk/28/als-sharpener
Also, keep in mind that some pictures just don't optimise well and the only solution is to reduce the dimensions. Feel free to send me a copy of the picture your struggling with and we can compare results.
Brain matter deposited by: Al on June 23, 2004 10:58 AM
Oooh! I didn't even think to do that, either, Al! Thanks for the tip.
Brain matter deposited by: Da Goddess on June 29, 2004 1:31 AM