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Joan Chasan
07-12-2008, 02:59 PM
Could someone post a tutorial as to how to size the images correctly for posting in photoshop elements?

thanks

Julie Kenward
07-12-2008, 08:09 PM
Joan, there are a lot of ways to resize an image but I'm going to tell you how I do it using Photoshop CS3 knowing it will work exactly the same way in Elements (because I used to work from that program!)

Open your image and choose image/duplicate. You never want to change the size and resolution on your original image in case you want something different later on so duplicate it and leave the original file alone!

Now, choose the crop tool from the toolbar on the left side. Once you click on that tool you'll see a row appear above the image that will give you a place to enter the width, height and resolution. Set those first two boxes to 5" & 7"(for a vertical crop) or 7" x 5" (for horizontal crop) and enter a resolution of 100. Make sure the box right after resolution says pixels/inch. If it doesn't, hit the drop down box and change it.

(Just so you know, anything between 75-100 for resolution is perfect sizing for the web but it will be too small to use for printing so always save this as a separate image - that's why we duplicated it first! I save mine with a "W" for web and "P" for print as the last part of the file name so I know which image is for the web and which is for printing. For printing you'd want a resolution of somewhere between 150-300 pixels per inch.)

Now, make your crop using the tool - either vertical or horizontal. The thing to realize is that there are approximately 100 pixels per inch so when BPN (Bird Photographers.net) says "The longest side can only be 800 pixels" this will be just under that size because it is 7" long - or approximately 700 pixels.

Now, go to file/save as but don't choose the web version - just do a plain "save as." The first screen you see will let you name the file and save it as a jpeg. Once you do that you'll get a second screen that will pop up called "JPEG Options" and this is where you want to adjust the image to get just below the 200kb mark. You'll see where it says "Image Options" and on the left it says "quality" and it will have a number between 1 and 12 - choose 12. (12 is the best quality and it goes down from there as you lower the number.)

In that same dialog box right below where it says "preview" it says how many kb's the file is at that quality level. If 12 is over the 200kb mark, then lower it to 11. If that is still too high, try 10. I usually can get a 5" x 7" image at 100 resolution to fit somewhere between the 8 and the 12 with almost all of my images in the 10-11 range. Once you have your file size at a number that is at or below the 200kb size, save it by clicking on "okay."

Now you have a file that is no longer than 800 pixels and less than 200 kb. It should upload without any trouble and fill the entire frame so everyone can have a really nice detailed look at your image.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Joan Chasan
07-12-2008, 11:15 PM
What if I have already cropped and created the image. why would I crop it again? will change it.

Julie Kenward
07-13-2008, 01:55 AM
This would be for a new uncropped image. If you've already cropped it then you'll have to make sure you are no longer than 8" long on the long side and under the 200kb mark but upsizing and downsizing will only make the image look worse...this is why it is so important to never change your original - so you can go back and redo it without messing it up.

Joan Chasan
07-13-2008, 01:35 PM
well since my image is already cropped and set to go before I resize it to send to bpn, I still am having problems. Thanks Julie for your info but it doesn't work in my case.

I am able to get the size ok and it looks like the kb are ok, but if I sharpen it after downsizing then the kb goes up. Anyone know why? using elements 3.

Joerg Rockenberger
07-13-2008, 02:54 PM
Perhaps the discussion in the following thread might help (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11916).

Good luck. JR

Ian McHenry
07-13-2008, 03:02 PM
Hi Joan
As someone else fairly new to Photoshop Elements I understand your dilemna.
My system is as follows.
1) Crop & straighten as required.
2) Resize edit to longest side 800mm.
3) Save for Web.
4) Choose Custom Jpeg.
5) Click Quality in top right and adjust slider till image on right is around 170 Kbs.
6) Click OK & Save.
7) Sharpen as required but if sharpened image above 200Kbs you might have to redo using slider for a smaller amount of Kbs pre-sharpen.
Hope this works as this is my standard way of re-sizing.
Cheers: ian Mc

Joan Chasan
07-13-2008, 03:44 PM
Ian, What version of photoshop elements are you using?

Ian McHenry
07-13-2008, 04:52 PM
Photoshop Elements 5.0.