For web - Small JPG, or large jpg compressed?

Rowee

Rowee

Messages
547
Name
Mark
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi There

I'm not sure this is in the right place, but seems fairly appropriate.
I was wondering, if you are taking photos to go on the web (not for sale) and need a specific size (in pixels) but need the image to be small (in regards to memory) what would be best.

For example, an image that needs to be say 640x480 pixels, but need it to stay under 100kb, would you be better off taking a small jpg and compressing somewhat, or taking a large fine jpg (or even raw), then carrying out a hefty compression to get it down to size in photoshop (or similar)

Obviously the aim of the game is to get the best quality and clarity out of a small image.

any help would be greatly appreciated :)
 
I do some stuff for web that's 900x600. I try and take a lot of care in capture (shoot in RAW) and processing - trying to get composition/colour right. I then export at highish quality at 900x600 via Lightroom before upload. The pictures then get uploaded and get re-compressed by the web software, but there is little to no difference to my exported ones IMHO.

If at all possible capture/process large and raw and resize/convert to JPEG as the last stage and export in a format that doesn't need further work by the website hosting.
 
I wouldn't shhot small jpeg if thats what you mean, you never know when you'll need a big pic of something.
Have you tried eazy thumbnails? it's great fro a quick resize for web.
 
The short answer is you are much better off capturing the big file, and then compressing after you have edited. You want all your processing to be on the maximum amount of data, to retain the quality for as long as possible.

Having said that, whether anyone would actually notice the difference at 640x480 is another matter entirely!
 
Use Easy Thumbnails - resizes, reduces file size but without reducing quality (use 85%) and can also batch process hundreds at a time very quickly if wanted - can also increase sharpness, brightness, contrast etc.

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