Downsizing Images in PhotoShop Elements
This is a brief summary of the PhotoShop Elements downsizing process using PhotoShop Elements V5.0. It assumes that you have previously edited the image including cropping, color correction, and sharpening. Further it assumes that you have the image open and ready for downsizing.
1) With the target image selected, select: "File -> Resize -> Image Size...":
The "Image Size" window will open:
2) Ensure that the "Constrain Proportions" and "Resample Image: Bicubic" checkboxes are checked, and that the "Pixel Dimensions" boxes are set to "Pixels".
3) Modify either the "Width" or "Height" boxes. If you held the camera horizontally, when taking the picture, the "Width" box will typically have the larger dimension. For this tutorial, let's change that to "800". If you have NOT changed the proportions of your image by cropping, the "Height" box will show now "600". In this screen shot of "Image Size" my crop was slightly vertical so the vertical dimension was larger than 800 pixels:
4) Click OK. Notice that the image is now much smaller. Click "Window" menu and ensure that the "Navigator" window is checked. Find the Navigator window and click the "+" spyglass to 100%. Then stretch the picture window so that you can now see the full image.
5) Click "Enhance -> Unsharp Mask" to sharpen the image. The "Unsharp Mask" window will open. (When reducing the size of an image, you will typically loose a bit of sharpness.) Ensure that the "Preview" checkbox is checked. Although there are several ways of using unsharp mask, let's just change the amoung of sharpness - try 60-80% at first. Look at the result in the image preview behind the "Unsharp Mask" window. If it still looks a bit fuzzy, click move the slider to the right a bit to sharpen more. Click OK to exit.
If you start getting halos around some objects, move the slider back to the left a bit. Here's an extreme example of oversharpening (463%). Notice the harsh look in the pic and the white halo to the right of the handle?
Click OK to exit.
6) If satisfied with the image, select "File -> Save for Web...". The "Save For Web" window will open. On the left side is the original image that has not been changed by "Save For Web". On the right is the modified image. Below each image is the size of the image and the target File Type. We are concerned about the size of the right image.
7) In the top right, under the word "Preset", notice that you can save the image as "JPEG", "GIF", or two varieties of "PNG". Ensure that it is set to "JPEG" for this tutorial.
8 ) To the right of the "Quality:" label is a box with a number and a right angle bracket (">"). Click the right angle bracket. Notice that a line with a triangle pops up. Select the triangle and move it back and forth. Notice that the Quality number changes. Also notice that the size below the right image changes. Your goal is to achieve the best image quality possible (highest number) AND keep the image size UNDER the forum limit. Move the triangle, release the mouse button, and observe the file size. Keep clicking, moving, and releasing the triangle until you achieve the right size. Let's say 150Kb. In the image above, we achieved 149.6K by setting the "Quality" level to 59.
9) Now Click OK. The "Save Optimized As" window pops up. Change the name of the image to something appropriate. I suggest the original name + "_Reduced" or "_Small". For example, if the original image is "MyPic.jpg", change it to MyPic_Small.jpg". This ensures that you don't overwrite the original image.
10) Click OK. You will go back to the original image that you've been working with. The smaller version is saved on your disk and is ready for uploading.
11) Close the image. If you want to save the changes to your original file, you can. But I find that I typically like to leave the original pristine and reedit. It's your choice.
This is a brief summary of the PhotoShop Elements downsizing process using PhotoShop Elements V5.0. It assumes that you have previously edited the image including cropping, color correction, and sharpening. Further it assumes that you have the image open and ready for downsizing.
1) With the target image selected, select: "File -> Resize -> Image Size...":
The "Image Size" window will open:
2) Ensure that the "Constrain Proportions" and "Resample Image: Bicubic" checkboxes are checked, and that the "Pixel Dimensions" boxes are set to "Pixels".
3) Modify either the "Width" or "Height" boxes. If you held the camera horizontally, when taking the picture, the "Width" box will typically have the larger dimension. For this tutorial, let's change that to "800". If you have NOT changed the proportions of your image by cropping, the "Height" box will show now "600". In this screen shot of "Image Size" my crop was slightly vertical so the vertical dimension was larger than 800 pixels:
4) Click OK. Notice that the image is now much smaller. Click "Window" menu and ensure that the "Navigator" window is checked. Find the Navigator window and click the "+" spyglass to 100%. Then stretch the picture window so that you can now see the full image.
5) Click "Enhance -> Unsharp Mask" to sharpen the image. The "Unsharp Mask" window will open. (When reducing the size of an image, you will typically loose a bit of sharpness.) Ensure that the "Preview" checkbox is checked. Although there are several ways of using unsharp mask, let's just change the amoung of sharpness - try 60-80% at first. Look at the result in the image preview behind the "Unsharp Mask" window. If it still looks a bit fuzzy, click move the slider to the right a bit to sharpen more. Click OK to exit.
If you start getting halos around some objects, move the slider back to the left a bit. Here's an extreme example of oversharpening (463%). Notice the harsh look in the pic and the white halo to the right of the handle?
Click OK to exit.
6) If satisfied with the image, select "File -> Save for Web...". The "Save For Web" window will open. On the left side is the original image that has not been changed by "Save For Web". On the right is the modified image. Below each image is the size of the image and the target File Type. We are concerned about the size of the right image.
7) In the top right, under the word "Preset", notice that you can save the image as "JPEG", "GIF", or two varieties of "PNG". Ensure that it is set to "JPEG" for this tutorial.
8 ) To the right of the "Quality:" label is a box with a number and a right angle bracket (">"). Click the right angle bracket. Notice that a line with a triangle pops up. Select the triangle and move it back and forth. Notice that the Quality number changes. Also notice that the size below the right image changes. Your goal is to achieve the best image quality possible (highest number) AND keep the image size UNDER the forum limit. Move the triangle, release the mouse button, and observe the file size. Keep clicking, moving, and releasing the triangle until you achieve the right size. Let's say 150Kb. In the image above, we achieved 149.6K by setting the "Quality" level to 59.
9) Now Click OK. The "Save Optimized As" window pops up. Change the name of the image to something appropriate. I suggest the original name + "_Reduced" or "_Small". For example, if the original image is "MyPic.jpg", change it to MyPic_Small.jpg". This ensures that you don't overwrite the original image.
10) Click OK. You will go back to the original image that you've been working with. The smaller version is saved on your disk and is ready for uploading.
11) Close the image. If you want to save the changes to your original file, you can. But I find that I typically like to leave the original pristine and reedit. It's your choice.
