[Shadow-X-]

Hey, I am just trying to trim down a 70kb pic down to 50kb or less. I'm using photoshop, it's saved as a JPG at Low quality setting (#3 on the meter, since it there really isn't any visual difference between 3,4 and 5). Anyone have any ideas on how I can get it to below 50kb without changing the image size, perhaps change the DPI or something? I'm totally clueless here. Thanks.

[wienerbot]

Yeah changing the DPI would do the trick, are you using Photoshop 5.5 or higher? because if you are then there is the Save for Web feature in the edit menu that seems to work like magic, seemingly better than just the compression options of the Save as function, but really, who knows?

[Shadow-X-]

I tried looking under EDIT, but no such option. There was however, SAVE FOR WEB under the FILE option, right under the SAVE FILE option. The hot key is ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+S, but for some reason it is greyed out. I can save, save as, etc.. but no SAVE FOR WEB. Any ideas? The original pic is a JPG if that matters.
And how would I go abouts changing the DPI in photoshop? or is it the scanner setting you are talking about?

[Frog]

Mmmmm, changing the DPI is not going to change the filesize. Changing the actual dimensions will (ie making the image physically smaller), but DPI is a setting that tells a printer how dense the information on the printed page is (in Dots Per Inch) and has no effect on filesize and is irrelevant to the web.

As for why that Save for Web box is greyed out I have no idea, but I would suggest that using Imageready is usually better for doing what you're trying to do than Photoshop, in my experience anyway. In Imageready you'll have a much better idea of what your optimised image will look like.

[Pat]

You may try saving the file using a seperate jpeg codec. First try using the baseline normal and then compare the file size to baseline optimized. If that's still not good enough, you may try a 3rd party jpeg compressor. I've used ProJpeg in the past with decent results.

If you can't afford a 3rd party compressor, try selectively bluring unimportant areas of the image. Sharper images make for much larger files.

-Pat

[wayfinder]

for some images, gif works better than jpg

[gekitsu]

jep. if it is a pic that can be kept in 256 colors or less, go for gif or even better: png-8 as it is smaller.

for compression issues, i recommend macromedia fireworks. a lot of settings to play with and direct preview and comparing between different compressions.