JPEG File Compression

I just found out that when raw files are converted (via the export function) to jpeg, the file compression is extremely low. MY posted online picture quality certainly reflects the low jpeg file size.
When I export pictures, I get several choices, but none of the choices allows me to set the jpeg compression to a "high" level.
Can someone help me maximize my converted jpeg file size. I shot with a 21 megapixel camera and end up with a 1mb file (not good)

Thank you Ian ... I appreciate your quick reply. It seems that after I upgraded my camera from a Canon xti to a Canon 5D Mark II and from a PC to an iMac, I find that I am very ignorant of photography and post processing.
The combination of equipment above with Aperture is causing me huge problems since I can not get the picture quality (on screen or prints) that I got from the xti and pc. My pictures were post card quality - the upgraded equipment combination is giving me poor quality photo's. Very frustrating. I wonder where I can go for help ?

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Burning jpeg files without compression

I'm trying to burn a large number of jpeg files to a dvd. I have tried using the burn folder, but when I look at the file sizes in the burn folder they have been compressed some from 12 mg to 803 k. How can I retain the original file size. I also tried selecting all files and draging them into the remote disc window, then it said I needed autorization but I can't figure how to authorize. Lastly I tried to copy the complete folder, but it didn't seem to permit that either. I'm new to mac. Am and old windows user and it seems like it shouldn't be this difficult.Can anyone educate me?

Will have a host move your post over to the Maverick forum.
FYI: You have 90 days of free phone tech support from Apple under your warranty.

Trying to understand, being prompted the file compression rules on saving, or not

Hello,
I'm trying to understand something, could I ask for your help, please ?
After working on a jpg file, when I want to save it, still as jpg, with my Photoshop CS5,
- sometimes photoshop will just save the picture, and it's done
- sometimes photoshop will show me the compression dialog, "JPEG Options", in which I can choose the compression ratio, the format options (baseline, baseline optimized, progressive), and have an estimation of the total file size
While not being prompted any dialog is simpler, and I'll then simply assume Photoshop decides to retain the current image's compression and format rules, I must say I like to be in control, and I'd like to know under what form the file is being saved without having to resort to the much more complex "Save For Web" menu.
Please, would you know WHAT "triggers" the appearance of the JPEG Options when we close/save a jpeg file, in photoshop ? What makes this menu not to appear, what makes it appear ?
If there are trivial file operations/changes/filters that necessarily trigger its appearance when we want to save, something like that ? I've tried a variety of these, but I still can't figure it out, sometimes it shows in the end, and sometimes it doesn't.
Thank you very much if you can help me
Kind regards,
Oliver

@ c.pfaffenbichler
These are images from various sources, not just one.
I'm deliberately excluding Save For Web, this completely re-processes everything.
My purpose, precisely, is to know when photoshop takes the decision to retain the image's "rules", and when photoshop decides to pose us the question, how do we want it saved.
Simply taking a jpeg image, doing stuff on it, and hitting control-w to close the window, and seeing if it will be an
- «OK, sure, do you want to save ? You clicked OK to confirm you wanted the changes saved ? Good, now it's closed» or a
- «please sir, how would you like your image saved, tell me the compression ratio and the format options, thank you»

After syncing a JPEG photo from ITUNES to IPAD, how large is the file on IPAD? does the answer depend on the size of the original JPEG file in ITUNES?

1) Does downsizing the original jpeg photos to be synced with IPAD help reduce the total storage required on IPAD for the photos? What is the relationship between original JPEG file size in ITUNES vs final synced photo file size on IPAD?

Thank you for your response.
The sync process compresses the JPEG files -- the question is how much, so that I can determine a) how many photos 32 gigs will store in sync, and b) can I reduce the memory required by taking smaller jpeg files with my camera

Applescript:: PICT File Compression doesn't work [?]

I have tried many options for getting Pict file compression to work via scripting but to no avail. Can anyone confirm if this works in PS CS4?
PICT file options I am trying to get to work are: {class:PICT file save options, compression:maximum quality JPEG, embed color profile:false, resolution:thirty two, save alpha channels:false}
All option **except compression seem to work.. :/
Example code:
set newPictFilePath to ((path to desktop folder) & "newPictFile.pct") as string
tell application "Adobe Photoshop CS4"
set docRef to current document
set photoshopSaveFormat to PICT file
set photoshopSaveOptions to {class:PICT file save options, compression:maximum quality JPEG, embed color profile:false, resolution:thirty two, save alpha channels:false}
set kSavedDocument to save docRef in file newPictFilePath as photoshopSaveFormat with options photoshopSaveOptions appending no extension with copying
end tell

Hello,
I did not have any problems with the script you posted, but I ran into issues when my document was not flattened, or was not RGB. After I added that to the script, everything seemed to work.
I also have a habit of telling a document to save instead telling the app to save a document, but that might just be my quirk.

Help, i am trying to print my JPEG file that i created in photoshop at a photo lab but it is coming out like an X-ray. I have printed these files before so i have no idea what i am doing wrong.

Help, i am trying to print my JPEG file that i created in photoshop at a photo lab but it is coming out like an X-ray. I have printed these files before so i have no idea what i am doing wrong.
Could it be something i have done in my settings?
or when i am saving the file to JPEG?

Basically you're approaching this the wrong way around. What you need is the extreme sections to be quieter, not louder. The problem with moving the lower end of the audio is that you'll move the noise floor too, and get what's generally referred to as a 'pumping' effect. So what you do is to use a compressor to tame the peaks, and leave the lower level sound alone. When you've done that, you amplify (or normalize to a level you can determine) the whole signal. So the noise floor will be higher, but constant and not pumping. 'Match Volume' is a completely different tool for setting the overall levels of different tracks so that they sound approximately the same - it doesn't even begin to do what you want.
If it's music you are treating, then I'd almost certainly use the multiband compressor, because you get less artefacts with this. You need to experiment with the threshold levels, and almost certainly not use a massive compression ratio - 3:1 or 4:1 should be sufficient (although it's hard to tell without actually hearing the audio). You can tell what it's doing at any given point because the downward meter indicates how hard it's working. In theory you can apply make-up gain with it as well, but personally I leave that until everything's treated and use the 'Normalize' tool to set an absolute max level.

Why is jpeg file size different in CS 5 and Photoshop CC?

If I open a jpeg file in both CS5 and Photoshop CC, and then "save" the files, the file from CC is much smaller than the file from CS5.
The size and compression ratios are the same, but the file size is different. (It is about 1/2 the size).

Bridge does not compress any files whatsoever. Bridge is not an image editor, it's nothing but a browser that hands the files to their respective applications. Bridge does not "open" or "save" files, it can't compress them in any shape or form.
What you are seeing is the difference between the opened, uncompressed file in RAM and the space the file occupies on disk once
Photoshop has saved and compressed it.
The Bridge cache has nothing to do with any of this.

My jpeg file sizes are much larger than they used to be.

Just recently the file sizes on my .jpeg files have become excessively larger than they used to be just a week or so ago. Where I used to go almost a week to need to archive to DVD a bunch of saved images, I've now got to save to DVD almost daily.
For example, a 300x300 pixel image which shoud be about 32 Kb reads 383 Kb in the finder. I'm not doing anything to these images, just draging and droping.
Where I used to get 7 K files on a DVD, I'm now getting less than 2 K files to each disc.
Any thoughts on what's changed and how to fix it?

What App & JPEG compression rating are you using, some apps can reduce file size by dropping colors for instance...

Converting JPEG files to DNG in Lightroom

Is there any advantage to converting JPEG files to DNG when I import them into Lightroom? I am trying to maintain the quality of the file.
Would it be better to save a JPEG file as a PSD file after I import it to use it in Photoshop and Lightroom?

(Please pardon the change of subject:)
Fred T. said, "If you are editing a JPEG in Photoshop going from Lightroom, let Lightroom create a TIFF. "
I am wondering how to do this. I'm just an amateur and my non-SLR camera doesn't even save RAW images. ("Yup, need to take care of that one of these days.")
My Preferences for "External Editors" (in my case Photoshop Elements 4.0) is set as: File Format: TIFF; Color Space: sRGB; Bit Depth: 16 Bits/component; Compression: ZIP.
When I right-click on a file, and choose "Edit in Photoshop Elements 4.0.app", and pick Edit a Copy from the dialog box, the new file that is created and passed over to PE is a .JPG file not a .TIF file.
I get the feeling that the functionality to create a TIFF, or a PSD, only works if my original image is RAW or DNG. But perhaps I am overlooking something???
Life would be a lot easier if I could send the file to PE as a TIFF. At present, as a workaround, I tell LR to edit the original (so it doesn't create a copy), immediately Save-As in PE as a TIFF so I don't overwrite the original, and then when I'm done editing in PE, save the results (still TIFF). Once back in LR, I have to import the new file.
Any Thoughts?

Export to jpeg: Show jpeg file size prior to export

Photoshop save to jpeg dialog box shows the jpeg file size associated with each jpeg compression level (1 - 12). Lightroom export dialog box does not show jpeg file size. Showing the expected jpeg file size is useful when needing to limit file size while maximizing jpeg quality. For example, some email applications limit attachment file size; some photo hosting sites (e.g., Zenfolio) limit file size to 12mb. If I export a cr2 file at 100 quality, it may result in a file size of 14mb. However, I cannot determine this until after I export. Then I may try 90 quality and find that the resulting file size is only 8mb. So, I try 95 quality, and get a 12.5mb file. This iterative process is a waste of time. I need to se the file size resulting from each jpeg quality setting in the export dialog box.

I have tried trashing the plist file. The files look fine through the media manager when copied to the other profile. They look like they are suppose to. The small videos also look fine when played on that computer. Unfortunately our other mac pro computer doesn't have final cut so i can't open and play proress files and my laptop, due to the extreme resolution can't be played on my laptop with final cut studio installed. Tomorrow i'm going to install the proress decoder on the one mac pro to check the files and make sure the self contained is checked but i'm almost positive on that. Other than nuking the profile i don't know what else to do. This is really weird.

Print to JPEG File

For enlargements to be sent to a photo lab, I mostly use the option "Print to JPEG file" because this alows me the have wider borders than the photo lab's own, small borders. However, exporting to a JPEG file requires that a name be entered each and every time. It would be a very welcome feature for LR to autocomplete the photo's existing name, similar to what is done when "exporting" to JPG. It would certainly make my workflow easier and quicker.

What do you mean by lower quality? If I export at the same quality setting and scale to the same pixel size/resolution in both export and Print, I cannot really see any significant difference. They use the same scaler and the same compression algorithm as far as I know.

Match RAW to JPEG File

Hi,
I moved my iPhoto library to Aperture over a year ago and so far this has been an excellent move. Previously in my iPhoto library I would import RAW+JPEG. Once the import was completed in iPhoto I would export the raw to an external hard drive for archive and then remove the raw file from the iPhoto library. When I upgraded to Aperture I imported my iPhoto library as it was with the jpeg images - no raw images. What I would like to do is somehow link the jpeg files that are now in Aperture back to the RAW files that are sitting on the external hard disk as a referenced master. Is this possible or do I need to look at importing the RAW images from the external hard disk into the Aperture library and set them as referenced? I have approx 8000 images so im looking for a way to make this as painless as possible.
Any suggestions on this would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Mark

I totally agree with Rob. JPEG file size limiters should not be used unless you absolutely don't care about image quality degradation. I can't imagine what application where that would be acceptable.
JPEG compression efficiency at any given Quality setting varies typically in the range of 5:1. Using a file size limit means the images with the least detail will be saved at very high quality setting (i.e. 90-100), and images with the most detail will be saved at much lower Quality settings (0-50). This is the exact opposite of what you want to do!
Unless you use a large file size limit some of the exported JPEG images will probably have visible JPEG artifacting. You are better off determining your threshold of acceptability for JPEG artifacting (i.e. Quality 50-70?) Then use that Quality setting for your exports without restricting files size. The resulting "average file size" will be less than using a larger file size limit.
Tips for further reducing files size of Exported JPEG images:
1) Use conservative sharpening settings in the Develop and Export modules (i.e. don't over-sharpen)
2) Use sufficient Color and Luminance Noise Reduction settings to reduce visible noise in the image.
3) Make sure "Remove Chromatic Aberration' is checked in the Lens Corrections Color panel.
Following the above suggestions can reduce exported JPEG file size by 50% or more, especially for high ISO raw image files.

JPEG files embedded into PDF

Hi,
We know that the JPEG files suffer from a destructive process as we make changes to them and save the file several times; just the act of opening a JPEG file and saving it results in a loss of data and quality, due to its nature, right?! So, what I'd like to know is: does the JPEG files that are embedded into a PDF [like an ebook, for example] have the same behavior of loosing quality? I mean, in some cases we need to make changes on a PDF [creating notes, highlights, etc] and this demands saving the file over itself several times.
I have a lot of photography ebooks, but I'm afraid of creating notes on them because I don't wanna end up with a lot of ebooks with poor quality images after some time. Does anyone know if this proceeds? Thanks in advance.

I've yet to encounter the PDF that absolutely HAD TO BE high definition. Most I've read were license agreements, or tutorials, with "screenshots" at best. High def = big file size and the larger the PDF the more difficult it is to transfer (FTP or e-mail). You can put it on a site for download but if each person downloading it transfers 50-100Mb pretty soon you run out of bandwidth unless you own the server.
If your only use is personal and you're not worried about stroage space (I'm getting 4Tb later this month and it will no longer be an issue ) The by all means leave them "as is". Acrobat Pro does allow saving as "large files" to preserve "most of" the integrity of HD images, but the more you save a PDF the more images will degrade, to certain extent. Eventually they can't be compressed any more, and it will level off, but... it sounds like that's not something you'll like. I have a few freinds who are "photo buffs" and they can't stand any file degradation in their pics. It drives one girl up the wall when I "save for web" to put stuff on her site, but she understands that she can't take the 10-15mb hit every time someone opens a picture to view in her gallery.
Happy July 4th!

Saving a JPEG file for printing

When saving a JPEG file for printing using Elements9, should one use "baseline standard, optimized or progressive"?

Thanks, Andromeda.... I see that PSE8 Organizer has the ability to update the Caption as you have described. The caption appears in the Description field in the General area and in the Description field in the IPTC area of the image file. I was unable to update the Title or any other fields using Organizer. Looks like PSE8 Editor must be used to update all the metadata fields in the image file. Thus far, the only way I have been able to update the metadata in a JPEG file without having to re-compress it is with a HEX editor. This, however, is a slow process at best. Too bad Organizer or Editor does not provide the abilty to update all fields in the metadata without having to recompress the file. I am not a programmer; however, it would appear to be a fairly straight-forward process. Thanks, again.

File Compression Problem

Hello all,
I'm having a strange file compression problem with CS5 on our new Mac Pro. We purchased the Mac Pro to scan and process images, but the JPEGs and GIFs we create from this computer are much larger than they should be when closed (e.g. images that should be compressed to 6KB are reading as 60KB, and the file size is often smaller when opened than closed). Furthermore, anytime we use these image files in other programs (e.g. Filemaker Pro) the inflated file size will carry over. What's even more puzzling is that the same files that are reading as 60KB on our Mac Pro will read correctly as 6KB from a PC. Similarly, if we embed these images -- that were created on the Mac Pro -- into Filemaker from a PC, the image file size is correct. We cannot use the compressed files we create on our Mac Pro because the inflated file size will be passed on to whatever application we use on the Mac Pro (except for Photoshop).
We have been processing images for years on a PC and haven't had any troubles with this. We were thinking for a while that the problem was with the Mac operating system, but after many calls with expert Apple advisers it seems like Photoshop for Mac has to be the issue. We have already tried reformatting and re-indexing the hard drive, and at this point there is nothing else that can be done from Apple's end. The last expert I spoke with at Apple said that it sounds like the way Photoshop for Mac compresses files and how Mac reads file sizes is very different from the way Photoshop for PC compresses files and how Windows reads file sizes. If he was correct, and there is no work-around, we'll have no other choice and will have to return our Mac.
Has anyone else experienced this before? The experts at Apple were thoroughly confused by the problem and so are we.
Thanks,
Jenny

This has nothing to do with compression.
Macintosh saves more metadata, and more previews than Windows - that's one part.
Macintosh shows the size of the file on disk, including wasted space due to the disk block size - that's another part. (look at the byte count, not the size in K or MB).
When you upload the files to a server, or use them in most programs, that extra metadata is lost and the file sizes should be identical.
I can't believe that your advisors spent any time on such a trivial issue...

JPEG File Compression

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