JPEG exports - "optimize to file size"

just saw this tucked away in somebody's lengthy post, but i think it merits its own thread.
it would be very useful, and isnt very difficult, to implement a jpeg export option for auto-setting the quality slider based on "desired file size".
for instance, my web products need jpegs w/ a max of 800k. in PS, i have to dork around w/ the preview sliders to get this. in LR, there isnt a way. preferred for both would be UI for inputting the desired size and let the cpu do its job.
this would rock.
thanks
matt

Yes. Generally speaking, would be nice to know the exported file size in terms of MB / KB, in addition to pixel dimensions which are already there.
Gilles.

Similar Messages

Aperture Exporting JPEG's from RAW: file size and quality questions?

Hey Everyone,
So, I'm using Aperture 2 and I've got some questions about exporting from RAW to JPEG. I shoot with a Nikon D70 so original RAW files are 5-6mb in size. After doing some basic post processing when I export the pics at "full size" with picture quality of 11 out of 12 then the resulting JPEG is about half the file size of the original RAW file. For example a 5.6mb RAW becomes a 2.6mb JPEG. The resolution in pixels per inch and and the overall image size remain unchanged. Have I lost picture quality due to the exporting JPEG being smaller in file size?
My friend who works with me prefers to edit in Photoshop and when he follows the same workflow his saved JPEG from the identical RAW file in Photoshop is minimally smaller in file size, say 5.6mb to 5.3mb. He's telling me that my Aperture edited photos are losing quality and resolution.
Is he right, are my pics of lesser quality due to being a smaller file size? I've always been told that the quality of a picture is not in the mbs, but the pixel density.
I've bee told that Aperture has a better compression engine and that the resulting files are of the exact same quality because the PPI and image size are the same. Is that what explains the much smaller file sizes in Aperture?
I tried changing the picture quality in the export menu to 12 out of 12, but the resulting JPEG then becomes larger than the original RAW at over 7mbs.
Can someone please help me understand this better? I don't want to lose picture quality if that is indeed what is happening.
Thanks in advance for your help.

mscriv wrote:
So, I'm using Aperture 2 and I've got some questions about exporting from RAW to JPEG. I shoot with a Nikon D70 so original RAW files are 5-6mb in size. After doing some basic post processing when I export the pics at "full size" with picture quality of 11 out of 12 then the resulting JPEG is about half the file size of the original RAW file. For example a 5.6mb RAW becomes a 2.6mb JPEG. The resolution in pixels per inch and and the overall image size remain unchanged. Have I lost picture quality due to the exporting JPEG being smaller in file size?
JPEG is a "lossy" file compression algorithm. Whether Aperture or PS, *every time a JPEG is saved some loss occurs*, albeit minimal at the 11 or 12 level of save, huge losses at low save levels. Some images (sky, straight diagonal lines, etc.) are more vulnerable to showing visible jpeg artifacts.
My friend who works with me prefers to edit in Photoshop and when he follows the same workflow his saved JPEG from the identical RAW file in Photoshop is minimally smaller in file size, say 5.6mb to 5.3mb. He's telling me that my Aperture edited photos are losing quality and resolution.
*Both of you are losing image data when you save to jpeg.* IMO the differences between the apps is probably just how the apps work rather than actually losing significantly more data. The real image data loss is in using JPEG at all!
Is he right, are my pics of lesser quality due to being a smaller file size?
I doubt it.
I've always been told that the quality of a picture is not in the mbs, but the pixel density.
The issue here is not how many pixels (because you are not varying that) but how much data each pixel contains. In this case once you avoid lossy JPEG the quality mostly has to do with different RAW conversion algorithms. Apple and Adobe both guess what Nikon is up to with the proprietary RAW NEF files and the results are different from ACR to Apple to Nikon. For my D2x pix I like Nikon's conversions the best (but Nikon software is hard to use), Aperture second and Adobe ACR (what Photoshop/Bridge uses) third. I 98% use Aperture.
I tried changing the picture quality in the export menu to 12 out of 12, but the resulting JPEG then becomes larger than the original RAW at over 7mbs. Can someone please help me understand this better? I don't want to lose picture quality if that is indeed what is happening.
JPEG is a useful format but lossy. Only use it as a _last step_ when you must save files size for some reason and are willing to accept the by-definition loss of image data to obtain smaller files (such as for web work or other on-screen viewing). Otherwise (especially for printing) save as TIFF or PSD which are non-lossy file types, but larger.
As to the Aperture vs. ACR argument, RAW-convert the same original both ways, save as TIFF and see if your eyes/brain significantly prefer one over the other. Nikon, Canon etc. keep proprietary original image capture data algorithms secret and each individual camera's RAW conversion is different.
HTH
-Allen

"Optimize to file size" script

Hi everyone,
I am currently writing an applescript to circumvent Photoshop's lack of scripting support for the "Optimize to File Size" option in the Save for Web command, but I'm having trouble with targeting the file sizes correctly.
Here is the code I'm using (forgive me, I know its not so graceful... I'm still very new). Basically it exports the image at 100% quality, checks the resulting file size against the desired file size, and if it's not equal to or less than that value, it deletes, reduces the quality level, and re-exports until it meets that criteria:
on optimizeFile(currentDoc, optimizeSize, exportPath, fileExtension, trimmedFilename, qualityIncrement)
set qualityLevel to 100
set optimizedFile to ((exportPath & trimmedFilename & fileExtension) as string)
tell application "Adobe Photoshop CS3"
tell currentDoc
export in file optimizedFile as save for web with options {class:save for web export options, quality:qualityLevel, web format:JPEG}
end tell
end tell
tell application "Finder"
set truncatedFile to files of alias exportPath whose name contains "#0"
repeat with thisFile in truncatedFile
set name of thisFile to (trimmedFilename & fileExtension)
end repeat
set fileSize to physical size of optimizedFile
end tell
repeat until fileSize is less than or equal to optimizeSize
tell application "Finder"
delete file optimizedFile
set qualityLevel to (qualityLevel - qualityIncrement)
end tell
tell application "Adobe Photoshop CS3"
tell currentDoc
export in file optimizedFile as save for web with options {class:save for web export options, quality:qualityLevel, web format:JPEG}
end tell
end tell
tell application "Finder"
set truncatedFile to files of alias exportPath whose name contains "#0"
repeat with thisFile in truncatedFile
set name of thisFile to (trimmedFilename & fileExtension)
end repeat
set fileSize to physical size of optimizedFile
end tell
end repeat
end optimizeFile
The problem that I am having is that when this script exports bigger images at bigger file sizes (even in the 30 to 40k range) it works perfectly. However, whenever I get to thumbnail sized images that i need to export at say 3k or 4k, it runs into an infinite cycle of deleting and re-exporting. I have tried using the "data size" property instead of "physical size" but that seems to ignore the loops altogether and export files at much larger sizes.
Can anyone out there help? I'd love to nail down a script that can do this function well, as I think there is a huge need for this functionality amongst people who regularly batch process images, i'm just afraid that my version may not be the most efficient.

You're right - I really could do with this functionality!
Sorry I can't help on the scripting side, but maybe someone who can will notice this post now.

Script to "Optimize to file size" (automatically) in "Save for Web"?

Hello, all,
I'm a novice when it comes to scripts in Photoshop, but I'm really coming to the conclusion that this is the only way to automate the actions I need to do, whithout having to do it one-by-one.
Is it possible to write a Script to automatically choose the option (and settings) to "Optimize to file size" in the "Save for Web" dialog?
Is it also possible to save the file in the document's original folder, instead of a single specific folder, using "Save for Web"?
I have a really big number of different files (some .JPEG, some .PNG, some .TIFF) and I need to generate a single "reference.jpg" in each one of those original folders. It's quite easy to use whatever method to separate all those files in some lists and later open them in Photoshop in small subgroups of files.
I only have a restriction of size (60Kb) for those "reference.jpg" files, and I would like to save all of them, in each document original folder, with the best possible quality within that size constraint.
Here's my problem:
I can easily do that with a very simple action, but, that specific way, I have no control whatsoever over the resulting filesize of those "reference.jpg" files generated. Moreover, I also find the "save for web" command create a more "slim" file, allowing for better quality within my size constraint.

c.pfaffenbichler wrote:
"I can’t make that out in the ScriptingListener code, but maybe someone else knows better or has a Script for the task already.
I seem to remember a thread where it was discussed to save a copy, check its size and overwrite it with different settings if it was too big … that should be possible, but may run longer."
Many, many thanks for your reply, c.pfaffenbichler! I spend the whole day (and night) yesterday learning (or rather trying to learn) about javascript, OOP, and how it should be applied in Photoshop's Scripts.
I was able to modify some snippets of code I found on the web to suit my needs (temporarily):
//SaveforWebSP.jsx
//Save a fixed width image with a size constraint in its original folder
var docRef = activeDocument;
var outputFolder = docRef.path;
NamesaveRef = new File( outputFolder + "/reference.jpg" );
var NewfileRef = new File( NamesaveRef )
// quality/size constraints
var w = 300; // new file width
var MaxSz = 61440; // max. 60Kb
var Qlt = 100; // initial quality 100
var x = 1; // decreasing step
// resize the image to the right width
docRef.resizeImage(UnitValue(w,"px"),null,100,ResampleMethod.BICUBICSHARPER);
// Perform the first SaveForWeb Operation
ExpWeb(NewfileRef, Qlt);
// Keep trying to save the file with max. Qlt, but under MaxSz
while (NewfileRef.length > MaxSz)
      Qlt = Qlt - x;
      NewfileRef = new File( NewfileRef );
      NewfileRef.remove();
      ExpWeb(NewfileRef, Qlt); // Perform a new SaveForWeb Operation, with slightly lower Qlt
         if (Qlt <= 50) {
           alert("The file can't be saved with the desired size AND quality.");
           break // break the loop whenever the quality is as low as 50 (this shouldn't need to happen)
var FileSz = NewfileRef.length/1024;
FileSz = Math.round(FileSz);
// close the original file without saving
activeDocument.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);
// SaveForWeb Export, with the desired constraints and parameters
function ExpWeb(FileNm, Qlt)
      var options = new ExportOptionsSaveForWeb();
      options.quality = Qlt;   // Start with highest quality (biggest file).
      options.format = SaveDocumentType.JPEG;   // Save Format for the file
      docRef.exportDocument(File(FileNm), ExportType.SAVEFORWEB, options);
This works, but it takes a long time and keep the HD disk "going crazy" during the time it is processing the images.
This is too bad, because the "Optimize to file size" dialog in the "Save for Web" would have been so much faster, efficient and much less "disk-intensive"...

Action to "Optimize to File Size"?

I often need to resize multiple sizes of JPEGs to be exactly 40k for websites. My current process is to:
Open a file in Photoshop
"Save for Web"
Click on the menu drop down on the Optimize window and select "Optimize to File Size"
Enter 40k and click OK
Save.
This is a tedious process when I have to do it for dozens of files a week. I've tried creating an Action to speed up the process, but it doesn't recognize the "Optimize to File Size" setting.
Is there a script or other solution to automate this process?
(I'm on a Mac with Photoshop CS6.)

Perhaps someone has create a script to do something like that. I'm quite sure one could be programmed, However a script like you want is not supplied by Adobe with Photoshop.
I also do not think it is possible to save all image as jpegs that are exactly 40K in size. Less than or near 40K yes exactly 40K no.

Exporting with specific file size possible ?

Hi,
say I have master files in the region of 50 - 350Mb and need to upload the versions at best possible JPEG quality with a file size restriction of say 8Mb.
How would you do this straight out of Aperture ?
AppleScript ?
Thanks for any pointers,
chris

Thanks Ian,
I thought so.
If anybody could point me to a nice AppleScript/Automator workflow that could help me with full size exports on Finder level, please let me know.
Thanks a lot in advance,
chris

Shedding light on export settings and file size

I am trying to learn about exporting images and file size. I have a combination of RAW and JPEG images in my library. For the sake of this discussion, I am going to limit this to JPEG's. I need to export my images, so that I can then upload them to an external photo processing site like Kodak.com. I was going to export versions of my images because I have made adjustments to many of them. I was going to choose the top level preset of "JPEG - original size." For the sake of example, the file that I try exporting this way has a file size (in Aperture) of 1.94 MB. After exporting it (with a DPI of 72) and a color profile of sRGB IEC61966-2.1 (I am not sure what the significance of the DPI and color profiles are either), I get an exported image with a file size of 4.6 MB. When I export the master image, I get a file size of 2.0 MB. I'm completely confused and at a loss as to what is going on here.
Can someone please shed some light on how to go about exporting images so that I can be certain that I am exporting the best quality image possible.
Also, and possibly more importantly, I export image files to sites like MobileMe Galler, Flikr and Phanfare, etc, for the purpose of archiving my images and now I am not sure if the files I am exporting are of the optimal most quality they can be. Do these settings have any bearing on the images that are being sent to my archival folders?
Thanks in advance for any input on this important topic.
Mac

This confusion is because of the way Jpg files handle data. Jpg is a kind of file that compresses data to achieve a balance between image quality and file size. The jpg file that your camera saves to disk is also compressed, that's why the difference in size between a 2 MB jpg and the same image in Raw is for example 18 MB.
Jpg is a lossy compression format, every time you save a jpg some compression is applied, say after editing in Photoshop. Aperture must be reading your jpg masters to export jpg files to disk, so the difference in size should be the compression quantity applied to the newly created jpg file. I could have a 1 MB jpg file previously compressed with a quality level of 7, but if I export it at a compression quality of 10, the file could easily become a 2 MB file. The problem is quality doesn't increase with file size when the original file is a jpg.
Also some files include a preview image inside the file, increasing the final file size. The color profile embedded should't increase size by much, since most camera jpg files already include a color profile embedded (color profiles tells computers to display color consistently between applications and peripherals like printers. sRGB is widely used for images published on Internet).
As for the images you are sending to the archival folder, I would suggest you to export the masters, instead of exporting a new jpg file from an already compressed jpg master.
I know this is a complex subject so I hope I haven't confused you.

[Photoshop CS5] Optimize to File Size working not correctly.

******BUG******
Concise problem statement: Optimize to File Size working not correctly.
Steps to reproduce bug:
1. Open any photo.
2. Draw a slice
3. Save For Web, choose Optimize to File Size, type 10KB (Current Slice).
4. Save "selected slices" only
Results: File result larger than expect (over 10KB)
Expected results: <=10KB filesize.
I uninstalled whole Adobe CS5 Master Collection (Trial) & tried to reproduce the bug in Photoshop CS4, but it was not happened, it's ok on CS4.
Finally, Windows 7 is not reason, it's a bug of Photoshop CS5. Please fix, I don't want to buy a bugged software.
I really need the feature "Optimize to File Size" in my works.
P.S: I tested on 4 PCs, and the results is the same.

In the SFW dialog change the Metadata dropdown to None

Automating "Optimize to File Size"

I have been using PS7. An ongoing frustration has been that if I record an action using Save for Web and do the Optimize to File Size dialog, the action does not include the file size optimization. So for each image I have to have the action stop at the Save for Web step and do the file size optimization manually. I've searched the web and apparently there is no workaround for this.
Skip four versions ahead - I just downloaded a trial version of CS4 Extended. One of the first things I tried was to record an action that included the Optimize to File Size dialog. When I ran the action, lo and behold it still does not appear to remember the Optimize to File Size step. I checked that the images were capable of being compressed to the desired file size by manually doing Optimize to File Size.
Please tell me that I am just doing something wrong and that it should be possible for the action to remember the Optimize to File Size step.
Thanks.

Okay, I've done some searching into the "image processor" and found it fairly quickly. Unfortunately, that only lets you specify the maximum pixel dimensions of the image, not the file size. Many web sites have file size limitations for posted photos, e.g., 100 kB. The Optimize to File Size lets you meet the file size criterion as closely as possible without exceeding it.

Action to export with maximum file size

I'm looking to export a whole load of images that must not exceed 20Mb. I'm sure this is possible to set up, but how?
Thanks in advance

Photoshop simply doesn't give you a "target size or smaller" capability directly, so folks are trying to be creative in helping you. A simple "Thanks, but I really need these big files" would do.
Keep in mind there are a lot of folks using Photoshop who don't know the difference between "JPEG file size on disk" and "photographic file size". If you want folks to understand that you DO know better, consider writing more than a single sentence in your original post. Expecting people to assume you're an expert right after posting a basic question seems a bit of a stretch.
You're saying that, with an RGB 8 bits/channel image, do File - Save As, choose JPEG, then look at the estimated file size in the JPEG save dialog and adjust the quality level - because it's manual - isn't good for you. You need automation. Fair enough.
Chances are you could do something with Photoshop's Scripting facility. I imagine it might have to be iterative (e.g., pick a quality level, save, check file size, adjust quality level, repeat...). The forum for that is down the hall. There are some very talented people there who give freely of their time. Please try not to insult them.
http://forums.adobe.com/community/photoshop/photoshop_scripting
-Noel

Optimize/Reduce File Size

I'm working with a PDF that I did not create but have been asked to try to reduce the size of. It was created in InDesign CS4 (don't know if it was Mac or Windows). It is a large book (600 pages) but entirely text, other than one graphic on the cover. A similar book that I had worked on produced a PDF of about 2.8 MB. The one in question is over 6MB. Using the Reduce File Size command and using the Optimizer both increase the file size.
Auditing the space usage shows that 86% of the space is "Structure Info." I believe the InDesign file was done by someone not very versed in the ways of InDesign, and that there were many places where text was threaded in strange ways, with lots of overlapping text boxes. I don't know if that would have anything to do with the "structure info" in the PDF. "Structure Info" isn't even listed in the audit results of the normal PDFs I'm comparing this one to. The InDesign file was actually several InDesign files, and I don't know how the PDFs of the individual files were combined, but that's another piece of information.
Given the above facts and the little I know about how the PDF was really exported and assembled, does anyone have any ideas about actually making the file smaller? Based on the other PDFs we've done of simlilar books, it should be somewhere around 2.5 to 3MB in size, not the 6 to 8 it currently is.

Auditing the space usage shows that 86% of the space is "Structure Info."
It would appear that the PDF is a Tagged output PDF.
As discussed in ISO 32000-1, Tagged PDF facilitates content use/consumption by:
--| users of AT for Accessibility
--| users of mobile devices (reflow)
--| content export with format/layout information
--| simple copy/paste
If the PDF is, in fact, a well-formed Tagged PDF then the author actually has commendable competency with InDesign.
Oh yes, using Acrobat Pro you can use either Optimizer or a Preflight to remove all structure. This would help reduce the PDF's size.
Be well...
Message was edited by: CtDave

Any way to export to specified file size?

Is there any way to export images so they are sized to fit within certain dimensions AND a specified file size? Similar to 'image processor' in Bridge/CS3 or the older Doc Brown's image processor.
Example: (processing images for web use)
I want to export a batch of RAW files to jpg,
Size them to fit within 800px x 800px,
And have them be a consistent file size of around 100kb
(This has been possible to do in Adobe Bridge for years)
I know I can edit Aperture's export preferences and adjust the image quality slider but final images have a range of file sizes and I find myself having to re-export some images over again after adjusting image quality to reach the desired size. This is a trial and error process each time.
Another workaround is to export the images as .tif files, then open in Adobe Bridge and process into jpg's using 'image processor' to reach the desired size. But that effectively negates the use of Aperture in the first place for batch processing files for size. In this case, it'd be more efficient to take Aperture out of my workflow completely and do everything in Adobe Bridge.
Has anyone found a plug-in or less tedious workaround for this?
Cheers,
J

James, you said "my website provider places an upper limit on file size and dimensions per image."
Aperture does take care of half of that, the pixel dimensions. If it was me, I would test out a few images at various levels of jpg quality (5, 6, 7 etc.) and see where both the file size ends up and how the quality looks. Then, just go with one your favorite combinations. Images with more detail will be larger and images with less will be smaller. In the long run, it should even out. If you had the ability to request a certain size, some of your images may look good and others bad. Personally, I would be more concerned with quality than a few k of pixels.

What is the best seeting to export as smaller file size AVI from FCP?

Hi, I know the topic sounds very similar to many of AVI post it had been up, however, somehow, I do not find the right answer that I'm looking for.
I have a couple animation created from QT as "image sequence".
I simply want to export as avi file.
Here is the question I have.
1. If I choose DV/DVCPRO-NTSC, and choose scan mode as Progressive, I get interlacing looking quality video.
2. If I choose compressor type as "NONE" then even I set as "least" quality, the file size will be over 1G..although, that's the quality I'm trying to archive.
Is there any other setting I can choose to get good quality with lower file size avi? I have seen or download avi file on the net with very good quality and still download-able file size...

What is the QT method? (Export from QT Player?)
Yes, 10 hour plus is ridiculous. I'm guessing that there was either something wrong with your Internet connection and/or at the You Tube end of the uploasd/compression process.
Innocentius and Hugh are right; using Compressor (or MPEG Streamclip) and using YT's uploader is the most reliable workflow.(Since Google changed the account verification process, there have been reports of upload problems using Share>You Tube.) In addition, you have more control over the quality of your movie. You can create multiple custom settings in Compressor and then Share > Compressor custom settings. It will go faster if you export out of FCP as a Pro Res 422 file; should take 3-4 minutes top. The Web encode for a 3 minute video in Compressor might take 15 minutes, depending on your system. MPEG Streamclip is probably a little faster.
Russ

Export to Word file size is huge

Sometime after the end of March, the "Export to Word..." action in Pages has started producing very large file sizes. The Pages file itself will be 119KB, but after exporting to .doc, it will become 1.5MB. I have to export Pages files to Word all the time, to submit files to submission systems that have max file sizes, so I've been unable to upload my files, which is obviously a problem (and didn't used to be).
To fix this I have tried... restarting. I have deleted the Pages plists, restarted. I have tried exporting on a different computer with the newest version of Pages, which produced the same file size result. I have copy/pasted the text into a new file, tried again. Etc, etc. In the end, I had to borrow a friend's computer to pull the 1.5MB Word export into Microsoft Word itself and resave, to get the expected smaller file size of 47KB.
Please help. Or, if there is no solution, I'll report as bug to Apple Feedback. Thanks!

To my knowledge all Pages 5 Exports have been particularly bloated.
Since I have not considered Pages 5 worth using for serious work I can't compare between Pages 5.1 and Pages 5.2 as to whether the problem has actually got worse.
All I know is that Pages 5 files & Exports are massively bigger than Page '09 files & Exports.
Peter

Exporting to PDF - file size too big

Hello! Hope you are all well
I have a Price Guide that i have converted from Quark to InDesign. When the price guide was exported as a PDF at smallest file size possible in Quark, i could get it down to 5mb. At smallest file size (and modified to be even lesser quality images) in InDesign, i can't get it below 8.7mb. We need it to be below 5mb to send via email. The images it is linking to are exactly the same as the images the Quark file was linking to, but just to make absolutely sure i could get the smallest size possible, i went into photoshop and made every image that was over 10mb smaller.
I wouldn't mind telling my boss it can't be done - but we know it can be in Quark....so i don't see why not in InDesign.
Any ideas anyone?
I'm on a Mac, OSX 10.5.8, InDesign CS3.

linziloop,
I've run into the same problem. Some of my clients insist on the smallest possible PDFs, regardless of (poor) image quality. I've been able to reduce the PDF sizes dramatically by printing to PS and then distilling the PS file (someone else mentioned that this was the Quark method).
Don't know why it works, since I use the same settings (compression, etc.) as I use when printing directly to PDF or exporting to PDF. But it works for me.

JPEG exports - "optimize to file size"

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