Image quality loss...Help needed desperately!!

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2,134
Name
Matty
Edit My Images
Yes
Ok,
In a nutshell i have a 5d Mk2 and shoot neutral in RAW. I then download from the card to Elements 7 for processing. I then export as a jpeg back to my hard drive ready for posting onto my web or Bird guides.com.
I am noticing quality loss though and have been told that i should be
A...Using the layer tool to process in Elements7
B...Have been told that when making adjustments you are effectively destroying pixels and ruining your raw file.
Can anybody tell me what i should be doing to keep my raw files from being corrupted. :help:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/matty2020/
 
I depends on how many changes you are making. Layers are great because they are non destructive.

I would hazard a guess though that it's the resizing for web that's causing you a problem. The 5D has more than enough resolution and you should only be using about 1% of the information gathered when you post to web.

I usually open the raw file, make any adjustments as layers and if I want the layers to remain available I save as a TIFF with the layers still available. If I don't need the layers I flatten it before saving.

The TIFFs from the 1DsII are 50mb so bags of info in there. :)

For web I use Faststone Photo Resizer and it only uses 1% of the info.
 
The raw file shouldn't be affected, your not actually making any changes to it, your just changing the way it appears in photoshop, once you save it out the changes are "baked in" the jpeg, but the raw file isn't altered in any way, you just alter the data that tells photoshop how it should look.
 
The raw file shouldn't be affected, your not actually making any changes to it, your just changing the way it appears in photoshop, once you save it out the changes are "baked in" the jpeg, but the raw file isn't altered in any way, you just alter the data that tells photoshop how it should look.

Now i'm even more confused, Why is my image quality degraded ever so slightly when i export as jpeg for my website?
 
what size and resolution are you saving at?
 
Your website could be hosting images a lot smaller that your original.

My TIFF's come out at 50MB but when I post anything on here I only use less that1% of that information. It's only a few Kb. So there is no way that they are ever going to look anything like as good as they will at full resolution.
 
If you go on my website and look at the Goldfinch and robin then go on birdguides and type matty fidler in on the search and look at the same birds you will see what i mean. It seems ok on bird guides but a little softer on the website. May just be the way they are both hosted as i have tinkered with all the settings. It could also be the fact that i'm not using layers to adjust my raw files which is degrading the image slightly.
 
If you are processing the image the same way for both but can see the difference in quality it would suggest that it's the resolution or size of the hosted image that is your problem rather than anything processing wise.

What is the size of the image on your website?
 
Ok, the robin on your site:

http://www.mattfidlerphotography.co.uk/html/wildlife_images_13.html

and on birdguide

http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?rty=0&r=1&contid=77036&off=215585&v=0

which has been shrunk to 295px from around 700px so it's no wonder that it seems sharper. Also, am I right in thinking that the shot has been cropped quite a lot?

Hi Andy,
Yes it had been cropped quite a bit. Trouble is when i reduce it for my website it is still a tad soft compared to bird guides. Obviously i am doing something wrong :bonk:
 
What size are you saving the jpeg at?

If you are saving the original files at 72dpi then cropping an area and then enlarging it they are going to look poor /reduced quality.

Can I suggest you save the original in Elements at 300dpi (handy if you wish to print them)

Then crop and reduce to 72dpi for use on the web, perhaps add a little sharpening afterwards too.
 
What size are you saving the jpeg at?

If you are saving the original files at 72dpi then cropping an area and then enlarging it they are going to look poor /reduced quality.

Can I suggest you save the original in Elements at 300dpi (handy if you wish to print them)

Then crop and reduce to 72dpi for use on the web, perhaps add a little sharpening afterwards too.

I will give that a go tonight
 
DPI won't affect the quality as it simply defines the physical size of the image when printed on paper, see this recent thread: http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=156957

I think the step you're missing is sharpening after re-sizing the image for web. When an image is shrunk detail is lost as pixels are merged together. Sharpening recovers that detail. Search the forums for sharpening as there have been lots of good threads about the subject but as a quick example here's the robin shrunk and again with some sharpening applied:





Finally severe cropping doesn't help, after all if you printed the image it would be tiny at 300 dpi :eek:
 
What size are you saving the jpeg at?

If you are saving the original files at 72dpi then cropping an area and then enlarging it they are going to look poor /reduced quality.

Can I suggest you save the original in Elements at 300dpi (handy if you wish to print them)

Then crop and reduce to 72dpi for use on the web, perhaps add a little sharpening afterwards too.
FORGET changing the dpi to anything, It has no use for web.
Just change your size to the the size you want in pixel. and set your sharping mode to sharpen for reducing
 
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